Official PS3 FAQ Master Thread - Page 2

I agree with you. The general PS3 discussion should probably be saved for the general purpose thread, and keep the discussion in this thread related to improving the FAQ or questions by users regarding FAQ answers that aren't completely clear to them.

That's my opinion.

Brandon

I can only edit my own posts, like everyone else. Only the Mod could delete off-topic posts.

Ron Jones

was my question out of topic then? I apologize if so

Does that mean EX flags work both on bitstream and LPCM modes?

I don't believe EX flags are carried on to the AVR in LPCM mode. However, since the earlier EX DVDs never included any EX flags, the Dolby statement from their web site (linked in my earlier post) implies that AVRs should contend with such sources (normally in bitstream mode) and provide the user with the option of manually selecting EX processing. It appears that your Onkyo AVR does this even without having any EX flag. It would be interesting to try several more DVDs known to have DD EX tracks as well as several with regular DD 5.1 tracks and see how consistent the Onkyo is in offering EX processing for the EX discs and not offering it for the non-EX discs.

sticky

Thanks to the OP for this

if you see an off topic or inappropriate post: please report it to mods (red triange button)

Not sure as I was simply speaking in generalities. I'm not trying to police the thread, just offer some suggestions. Even if a question is off-topic a person can politely point the poster in the right direction (either to the answer in the first post or to another thread).

No need to apologize.

Brandon

Is there a MEMORY feature in the PS3? Say if I am watching a movie and I need to stop and finish watching the movie at a later time, is there a way I can start exactly where I left off? I tried this today. I never took the BD out of the PS3 yet when I turned it back on to finish the movie, it took me all the way to the start of the movie.

A resume play function was added with Firmware version 2.2. Here is a brief overview:

Resume play for BD and DVD discs. Note: you must use the 'Stop' function to end playback of a disc, not just eject the disc during playback, in order for the resume play to work. Resume works with all DVD disc. However, for Blu-ray discs the resume feature works on all Profile 1.0 titles but appears to not work on Profile 1.1 and Profile 2.0 titles with bookmarking facilities or BD-Java content.

I'll add this FAQ info to Post #1.

Ron Jones

Just got a ps3 and hooked it up (HDMI) to my Pioneer VSX-1018AH. I am confused by the PS3 Audio Output Settings screen. The instructions say to:

"Select an output format supported by the TV or AV amplifier in use. The system will automatically adjust the output to match the selected format."

So from the instructions it sounds like I should pick a single audio format but the input control is a multiselect listbox. Does this screen just tell the PS3 which formats the AVR can handle? How does the PS3 know which one to pick at playback time? What are the optimal settings for the 1018 AVR?

thanks!

Case 4 in the example configurations toward the end of Post #1 of this thread should apply for your case for the audio setup of the PS3.

I have the same combination - and I just set the PS3 to LPCM over HDMI, and left all other audio settings as they were. It works great with the 1018.

From Post #1:

Case 4: PS3 connected to a recent model AVR, with HDMI inputs, and the AVR HDMI output is connected to your recent vintage HDTV.

In this case you can simply use an HDMI cable to connect from the HDMI output on your PS3 to an available HDMI input on your AVR. Then use another HDMI cable to connected the HDMI output of your AVR to an available HDMI input on your HDTV. Your AVR will receive the digital audio data (decoded and provided in multi-channel LPCM format) from the PS3, will process it then output the audio to the connected speakers. The AVR will also pass the digital video data on to your HDTV for display.

Suggested PS3 Audio and Video additional Settings for Case 4 (starting from XMB and Settings drop down menu):

XMB>>>Settings>>>Display Settings>>>Video Output Settings = HDMI>>>Setting Method=AUTOMATIC

XMB>>>Settings>>>BD/DVD Settings>>>BD/DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI)=LINEAR PCM

XMB>>>Settings>>>Sound Settings>>>Audio Output Settings>>>HDMI>>>Method for Setting the Output Format=AUTOMATIC

Fist thanks for all the work on the FAQ.

The HDMI core audio output seems incorrect for DTS HR and MA. The chart was the first I had ever seen DTS 6.1ES output on the core. I can't beleive the HDMI bitstream output would ever be differenet then the optical bitstream output.

I tested this tonight with a Bluray rental Semi-Pro that has DTS-HD MA 7.1 and the bitstream output on HDMI is DTS 5.1 at 1.5 Mbps not DTS 6.1 ES as the chart states.

If I'm not mistaken, the DTS core can be encoded as 6.1 ES. It's just that not many titles actually take advantage of this.

I believe this is correct. Some forum members have reported that on some titles you do get ES 6.1 output in bitstream mode from BDs that also have DTS HD-MA tracks.

I have updated the audio table in Post #1 and added a new note to clarify that the bitstream output will be either DTS 5.1 or DTS ES 6.1 depending on what is recorded as the Core DTS on the disc.

Ron,

Kudos to you sir for taking the time to create this FAQ. I have pointed several co-workers to it already.

Thank you!

-ack

Hi,

I happened to stop by my local BB to pick up a universal remote and the salesperson reacted when I said that I was using the PS3 as my Blu Ray player.

With my Pioneer Elite TV, he was adamant that the difference between the PS3 and a stand-alone Blu Ray player (even the Sony ones) was "night and day". His assertion was that the PS3 had 8-bit video while the stand-alones were 10-bit and I was wasting the display's capability. Makes me wonder what the new Pioneer players use.

Reading the many articles and posts, I know there are two camps on the PS3 as a top-notch player but can anyone confirm what he's saying? I tend to take most tech advice at BB with very large grains of salt.

Thanks,
Adnan

All blurays discs are an 8bit source. Upsampling the colour output IMHO is of very little use unless you are heavily colour tweaking on the source player (IMHO this sort of thing is better done at the display anyway). Overall deep colour output's benefits are questionable for Bluray and "Night & Day" differences between 8bit colour and deep colour are unlikey to ever exist with a Bluray source.

Summary: BS

Yep. He just wanted to make a sale.

I completely agree--or he simply did not know what he was talking about--probably both!

The PS3 supports deep colour as well so the BB guy must have been trying to make a sale.

"Do not attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence." Especially at Best Buy.

Thanks for the reassurances regarding the PS3's color capability. It is pretty amazing how little the BB folks seem to know. He insisted that the reviewers who rate the PS3 highly are more interested in gaming. That's when I said "thanks" and began edging towards the door.

Adnan

You can go back and tell him the PS3 is a 12 bit player as are others and show him this:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13...lu-ray-player/

He probably wasn't talking about deep color but a term for the D/A converter used on the analog output. Early DVD players and cheap DVD players used 8 bit D/A conversion (at 27mhz) for video because the DVD stored video signals are 8 bits. High end DVD players use D/A converts like 12-bit/108mhz. I am not sure what the PS3 uses on the analog side (I don't care because I use HDMI, but it must be 10-bits because that has been used since Toshiba's 3rd generation 1998 with color stream outputs). Anyways if the BB sales guy knew anything, he would realize that Healey3000 is going to use HDMI as well.

http://www.pioneer.dk/no/products/45...converter.html

UPDATE: Maybe the analog side could be weak on the PS3. I see that the LG BH200 only uses a 8bit/27Mhz D/A for the analog output. http://us.lge.com/download/product/f...spec_sheet.pdf

I do not own a PS3 but kudos to Ron Jones for the amazing FAQ.

Nice fkn job, a true AVS contributor.

Gman

Here is a question:

Does the PS3 physically and hardware-wise lacks the ability to ever be able to send lossless audio format in bitstream mode, or is it just a matter of waiting for a firmware update to enable this feature?

It appears that the HDMI output chips used in the current PS3 do not support bitstream output of the lossless formats. This can not be changed by software alone.

Sony could, of course, change the hardware for new models, but that won't bring bitstreaming to the installed base of PS3s out there.
--Bob

bummer..

Keep in mind that even if you've already purchased an HDMI AVR that includes bitsream decoders for these formats, that AVR must *ALSO* support high-bandwidth HDMI LPCM from the player. If not, you wouldn't be able to listen to raw PCM tracks from Blu-Ray discs with those.

And so you lose nothing by letting the PS3 do the decoding of these formats to HDMI LPCM unless there's a bug in your AVR's handling of HDMI LPCM input.

The PS3 does the decoding to HDMI LPCM just fine right now for both TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.

So buck up! It's not really a problem.
--Bob