Official PS3 FAQ Master Thread - Page 13

Then perhaps you should have made this distinction in your original answer to prevent confusion.

For 1080i video or film on BD, the PS3 won't deinterlace. 1080p24/p60 output is available for film sources, 1080i for video. The display will need to deinterlace for a 1080i BD video source such as a concert/documentary. That pretty much covers it for most of us.

Just received mine from Amazon yesterday decided to take care of the issues before watching it that evening. When I first put the disc in it loaded pretty quickly on my PS3 and on the first screen that appeared I was given the option of going directly to the movie or downloading additional information for BD live. I chose to download to see how long it was going to take, since I wasn't planning on watching till later. It was done in a few minutes, two or three.

BD-Live is a quiz about the movie, I just briefly looked at it. Disc 2, I have not explored yet.

The sound was great, thanks for your suggestions

Could you add that the 20GB does not have WIFI??

I just went thru an hour of trying to set it up only to find out that it doesn't do wireless. lol

I'll update Post #1. By the way here is how to add WiFi to a PS3 20GB if you really need it: http://boardsus.playstation.com/play...read.id=932379

Having set up a PS3 at a friend's place for use with a plasma screen, and later setting them up with a Wii, I noticed the Wii has a handy anti-burn function which activates after a few minutes.

Does the PS3 have any sort of screen saver like this?

These people like to play CDs for hours on end, with the TV on so they can see what track is playing. The white text at the bottom-left could be a potential burn problem. At least if it floated around, that'd be something.

Anyone know?

I get slow moving horizontal red and green lines and the afforementioned persistent white noise.

I have it connected to my old sony trinitron TV via composite (red blue green) and the white/red audio - it's all hooked up correctly (no brainer) and there is nothing else there at all in terms of other devices. I even tried pulling the ps3 about 8 feet away and it persisted. If I disconnected the cable from the back of the ps3, it stops completely.

I have it all hooked up correctly, i went through the ps3 menus and made sure the audio / video was correctly setup.

It only happens on the input of the TV with the ps3 hooked up too (ie: tv/vid1/vid2/vid3)

Any ideas?

So, anyone care to help out? Just made the dive buying this

Just a wild guess, but perhaps you have the two red connectors mixed up? The red audio connector sending video noise and the red video connector creating audio noise?

(Oh, and the RGB RCA connection is called component, not composite which is a single RCA connection that is limited to 480i.)

That was my first thought, but I checked and double checked it and it's setup correctly (I even switched them in case they messed up the labels, but still same issue)

And yea sorry, component I'm a newb thanks for the correction

If you have not already done so, try another component cable. You could have a bad one. Also, there could be a connection problem on either the input or output jacks. Are the cables connected tightly?

Did you try connecting to a different input on your TV? I'm slightly confused with your tv/vid1/vid2/vid3 comment... did you try all 4 inputs?

Failing this, your PS3 could have bad component output driver circuitry.... take it back to the store and get another one.

probably because WMV is a microsoft codec, a competitor to sony in the console universe of products.

I'd love the PS3 to be able to play all video formats too, quicktime, wmv I agree should be added since they are the dominate internet website used formats. I tried to use apple.com/trailers and was unable to watch the video's via the PS3 because it didn't support quicktime.

My other complaint/mystery is when surfing (not very long I might add) the PS3 (my PSP has this same issue too), tells me its out of memory, when I know there is TONS of memory available still. I navigate to the browser tools and empty the cache/cookies/history but it acts as if the PS3/PSP only use RAM for internet cache rather than hard drive space. At least when a PC runs out of RAM it uses a pagefile (virtual memory) where uses hard drive space as a way to extend the memory capacity, I guess the Sony doesn't know about to accomplish this extending of memory to use hard drives as virtual memory. Its aggrevatingly annoying to run out of memory so quickly.

The other annoyance is that there seems to be some other limitation in the browser, which prevents checking hotmail.com email. A missing plug-in I think.

It would also be nice if the PS3/PSP would allow you to save all internet plug-in's, that aren't native to the firmware, to the harddrive or memory stick. This way you could pop-in a memory stick with all the 'net tools' you need to surf/watch whatever/whenever and not have to worry about missing plug-ins and have the vertial memory I mentioned solve the out of memory issue.

These enhancements would really open/unlock a lot of internet usability.

Additionally, it would be nice if the PS3 allowed for video pass-thru cabling with active upconversion processing, so you could hook up your cable TV (or other non-HD 480i/p source) and let the PS3 upconvert it to 720/1080. Sales would boost pretty hugely if they added this ability. It would easily corner the market as the upconverter on the PS3 is really well done. Kudos to sony on their upconversion processing -- though its missing a 'black-level enhancement option.

For the most part the non-sports games suck and/or are too japan animae balloony cartoon style for most of the American market [which is why the non-sports gamer typically chooses XBox306 and/or Wii -- those titles are more American market designed games -- I've always viewed Sony to not do we well to address this weakness in their game designs intended for US sales]. I have a PSP also and when I first got it, it was VERY easy to find movies (UMD's) to use it as a video player, but it keep coming up short on good/fun/repeatable games worth spending hard earned money on.

Okay, sorrry, got off topic a bit there.. Anyhow, the PS3 is great as a blu-ray player & DVD upconverter (and sports game machine), but with some enhancements outlined above, it would really out-do itself & all the competition for years to come.

It has a series of video backgrounds that you can select from when playing CD's, which you can pop-up the on-screen to see track/disc info when/if needed. So, yes. there is a feature on it you're asking about to address IR/burn-in issues.

When on any non audio playback, if left without any imput from the remote or anything it changes the alpha level of the screen to be very muted/minimal brightness, which allows images to be on-screen for several hours before any IR could occur.

The part that isn't well done to address IR/burn-in are the games themselves (which isn't sony's fault (though they could do better about this too)), static location placements of game info on the screen (HUD/Heads-up display) in most games are perminately in same places on screen at all times and often at bright levels, which will lead to IR/burn-in issues, I would like the PS3 to add some sort of game screen override ability you can set, which would shift the pixels every few minutes to avoid it's potential IR/Burn-in.

Sucks to spend two grand on a plasma TV and let a $35 game screw-up your TV with IR or worse perminate Burn-in.

The universal fix would be to have the PS3 be able to override pixels placement, like Panasonic's pixel orbitor in their plasma TV's every few minutes. The better method would obviously be to have the gaming industry do a better job of offering Anti-IR options on their games, such as ability to set gamma/Alpha brightness/transparecy levels for static images from the game and allow the user to customize placement of gaming HUD's (including turning them completely on/off), or nifty tricks like displaying only when those locations are hovered over (pop-up or full brightness level style) when you navigate to those portions of a game screen.

I just switched to the analog cable that comes with the ps3 and routed it to my sourround sound then video to my tv - even louder.

Then directly connected it to my tv, once again even louder - actually overpowering the audio itself.

When I use the component its audible, but not this loud. Really think this is an issue with the ps3? Is it common or something? I'm mildly aggravated.

also i had my dvd player / surround sound hooked up to this TV with no white noise whatsoever, which leads me to believe its the ps3 as thats the only variable.

Hmmm... so it does it with either the COMPONENT cable, or the COMPOSITE cable????

OK... sorry not insult you, but please recheck the first post in this thread, under "Example Configurations for Connecting your PS3" - CASE #3. That sounds like how your system should be set up. Verify that the PS3 video/audio options are set correct.

One more thing to try is to do a factory rest of the PS3 to get it back to the original manufacturer settings. Then try the settings in CASE #3.

If this fails, I would suspect a bad PS3. Not, this is not common, but with all things - there are defects in some. You could have one. The good thing is,since you just got it, you can exchange it at the store pretty easily.

Just did exactly what you said step by step and followed the instructions in the first post, and nothing. Same buzz. The second everything is powered on the buzz starts, whether or not it's actually outputting everything.

Also, i'm not insulted i don't know what the heck all this stuff is, i'm a newbie or i wouldn't be here.

I have a new onkyo receiver coming with HDMI - going to run HDMI to it via ps3 then output the video to TV and see if it still does it.. if it does then it has to be the ps3... although i already am kind of thinking that. Totally sucks, if I hadn't bought a game i would just return it and not exchange it.

Two possibilities:

1) You have a defective PS3.

2) You have "ground loop". A ground loop causes electrical interference to travel between the devices in your system along the electrical shields of the cables connecting them. It can hop from device to device over any electrical connection between them. Eventually the interference finds a path back to "ground" usually via the power plug of some device, and now, with a complete circuit, power flows through the ground loop and plays havoc with your setup. Typical symptoms are "hum" noise (60Hz interference originating from power lines), "hiss" noise (higher frequency interference often originating from room light dimmers), and interference lines on your TV screen. Note that since this stuff hops from device to device but needs a complete circuit to travel at all, it is easy to confuse yourself as to where the source actually is. In your case, the addition of the PS3 may be the thing that completes the circuit for example. The single most common source of garbage like this is the cable or satellite TV feed line coming out of your wall. Temporarily disconnect that to see if the problem goes away. If it does, there are ways to fix it (better grounding of the feed where it enters your house, or a little "ground blocker" gadget that you put on the feed line before it connects to your TV setup).

See this "HUM FAQ" sticky thread for suggestions:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=322698

The easiest way to see if you have a defective PS3 is to attach it to a different TV in an entirely different setup (so you don't just reproduce any ground loop you might have in your original setup). For example, take the PS3 to a friend's house and hook it up using the same style of cables you are using now. If the problem still happens there, then call Sony tech support for repair.
--Bob

Thank you very much, just gave me a few things to try there which I intend to do when I get home from work.


Just note, I had my dvd player in place of the ps3 with everything else exactly the same and no hum whatsoever. I even had my surround sound hooked up with that too (extra device) with no issue.


Something that I JUST noticed that is likely very relevant - I have a dimmer switch light positioned about 4 foot to the left of my home theater setup - when it is dimmed the buzzing gets louder, when it is all the way on the buzzing grows much louder. (with it completely off, i still have the white noise just not half as loud) Note, these are normal light bulbs on the dimmer switch they are either on or off, they do NOT dim - and also note that i DID NOT have this issue regardless with my old setup.. so i don't know if thats just coincidental. I'm going to test some of the things you said, but just wanted to put that out there too.


Thanks alot so far for help guys, great forum

Bob caught something that I overlooked (the ground loop potential)... worth looking into. However, since according to what you say, you had your old DVD player connected the *exact* same way - with no problems...

I am leaning toward a bad PS3. The dimmer may be contributing, but again... no problems with your old DVD player, makes that less probable.

Don't get soured on the PS3 beause of this. It is a GREAT BluRay and DVD player. And, if you enjoy games (I do not play them) it's a real bonus. Let's get the problem solved and you'll see first hand

BTW... you may not see a problem when you go PS3/HDMI -> ONKYO/HDMI -> Component/TV. That is an entirely different circuit path within the PS3 for HDMI. Does your TV have HDMI inputs?

But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.... fix this first. Plan on a trip back to the store for a new PS3. We'll tackle the HDMI when your Onkyo arrives!

You did just buy the PS3,right??? So, it should be WELL within the time to return for an exchange at the store, without the need to send it to Sony (I hope).

No HDMI on the TV. It's an old trinitron CRT (old being 5 years or so, pretty nice for a CRT)

Just got the PS3 two days ago now, so it's within it's range to return. I'm leaving for work shortly, but when I get home i'm going to lug it to the upstairs TV to see if I get the same humming.


Also, I tried to mention it before with bad terminology - so i'll simplify it. I tried routing things through my receiver (only yellow input for video no red green blue) then just video to the TV via receiver (yellow), same thing only louder because it comes through the home theater speakers then instead of the TV.

I also then tried bypassing that and just hooking up red/yellow/white directly to the TV from the ps3 and it was about 3x louder (white noise) then the red/green/blue hooked up the same way.


And yea, I had my DVD player hooked up the same way, both directly through my TV and through the receiver (both with the red/green/blues and with yellow separately because i didn't know what was better at the time) and can recall no white noise whatsoever. I think when I go upstairs to hook up the ps3 to see if it works on the other tv, i'll rehook my dvd player up just to confirm, but i'm 99% sure.

I'm going to wait for my onkyo setup before i return the ps3, because frankly... if the HDMI output can eliminate it then it's not really a concern to me - or do you think even IF I get it working then I should return it? I just don't like the hassle. onkyo should be here before the end of the week I got an amazing deal on the 6100 that I couldn't pass up (550 with free shipping and no tax brand new) but yea thanks again so far.

I found it. It's my cable wire connected to my TV. I just bought a new belken cable line thats 25 feet because i was forced to move my setup.

Why it's doing it with the ps3 and not my DVD player is beyond me, however when i connect it , it starts - and the more I tighten it the louder it becomes.

I'm not sure if theres more to it then that, but I can't hear anything anymore with it disconnected.

Bob, you're my hero. But what do I do now?

OK, this is good. This problem is solvable.

The garbage coming in on the ground shield of your cable feed is hopping around to any device it can get to -- via any electrical cabling connecting them -- trying to find a path back to ground to complete the circuit. Apparently the PS3 provided the missing link in this. Presumably there is a path from the cables you were using with the PS3, through the PS3's chassis ground shield, to its power plug and thus back to ground. Your DVD player didn't provide that path either because of differences in the cables you used (for example, an optical audio cable has no electrical signal path) or due to the way chassis shielding is implemented in it compared to the PS3.

The bottom line in all this is that if you fix the problem at its source you will be all set. It is unlikely your PS3 is defective.

-------------------------------------------------------

Now, the cable lines feeding your house pick up all sorts of garbage on their ground shield since they are typically run in proximity to power lines, etc., on the utility poles. The PROPER fix for this is to have the cable feed correctly tied to ground where it enters your house. This gives all that garbage a place to go before it gets into the wires inside your house.

If you are comfortable with such stuff you can do this yourself. Otherwise call your cable company for service.

The cable line will come in at a service box on the outside of your house and your in-wall cable feeds go from there. It is the service box that needs to be grounded. That means a sturdy wire from it attaches to something metal that actually goes into the soil. Check that this has been done and that the connections are not corroded. A common mistake here is that the ground wire is attached to a metal pipe which actually changes to PVC (plastic) before it enters the soil -- thus no grounding.

Next each length of coax cable has a connector on the end that is attached by stripping back the insulation, folding the ground shield back over the wire, slipping on the connector and crimping it into place on top of that folded-back ground shield (using a crimping tool that's kind of like a specialized pair of pliers -- see Radio Shack). The connector then gets screwed into the socket for that end of the cable. If the connector is not screwed down tight onto its socket, or if the connector was not crimped tight enough onto the end of the wire, or if the ground shield was not folded back properly under the connector after removing the outer insulation of the coax then that connection point will not be properly tied to ground.

So -- go check each end of each cable and fix the connector as needed (re-crimp a loose connector, or cut off the bad connector and crimp on a new connector correctly). Also check for corrosion on the threaded part of the connector and socket, as that too will screw up the connection of the cable's ground shield to ground on the socket.

It is possible that your new Belkin cable has a bad ground shield like this, and is picking up garbage from being placed close to things like the wall-power plug for some device. The fix for that is just to replace the faulty cable.

Most of the time this will fix the problem. Rarely however your cable feed will pick up garbage from running next to the power lines inside your house. If it has an internal break in its ground shield, that garbage can't exit back to the ground connection you made at the service box. This is a nuisance because such wire is typically inside the walls and hard to replace.

So instead what you do is use a "ground breaker". This is an inexpensive little gadget that goes between the cable feed coming out of your wall and your cable receiver box (or TV if you have it screwed into your TV directly). The gadget is made of a pair of transformers (that have no common electrical connection) which pass the cable signal itself while breaking the connection between the cable shield on one side and the cable shield on the other. The upshot is that none of that nonsense on the cable feed's ground shield can get past it. Example:

http://www.smarthome.com/81285/Xante...-634-00/p.aspx

[NOTE: This gadget is for CABLE TV feeds and will not work properly for a SATELLITE TV feed like DirecTV or Dish.]

Remember, if you have a cable TV receiver set top box, this gadget goes on the INPUT feed to that box, not on the output feed from that box to your TV.

Now the problem with these cheap gizmos is that the cheap transformers they use don't pass the entire range of cable TV frequencies equally well, and so if you have some weak stations on your cable you might not be able to receive them cleanly with this in the path.

So for that reason, and also because having your cable feed properly grounded is a good safety measure (lightning protection). It is ALWAYS best to try to eliminate the problem first by getting your cable service properly grounded to begin with as described above.

Getting your cable service provider to take this seriously and actually fix the grounding is another problem. Often they will just plug in a ground-breaker and skedaddle....
--Bob

hey all, this is an awesome thread.

I have a quick question, and do apologize if it's been covered in these many pages... but..

When I was watching Golden Compass the other day, which is a 7.1 HD Audio Sound track... (cant remember if it was Dolby True HD or DTS-MA)...... anyway.. when I was watching, I pressed select on the controller, to see what the data and sampling rates were... and it was only 48KHz, although it was definitely 7.1 HD audio.

Isn't this meant to be 192Khz?? I then tried with another movie, which was in 5.1 Dolby True HD, and it did say I was getting True HD, but again only 48Khz sampling rate.

Is this correct? Or should it say 192Khz??

Scottie

It should be 48kHz. That is the sampling rate of the source material. That is true to the studio master. I believe 96kHz is the highest available sampling rate on commercial Blu-ray discs, and those are mostly concert Blu-rays.

Brandon

That's right. I've spoken to a couple of mixers in the past who've agreed that there's little benefit in going beyond 48kHz with film mixes.

On the other hand, 24-bit is definitely worthwhile over 16-bit, and at least some Blu-rays are released with this. (I think only Disney is releasing 24-bit so far... pity.)

It sounds like the problem IS a ground loop. It could be that your cable isn't properly grounded at the point where it enters the house, or it could just be that the ground potential where your cable enters is (for some reason) wildly different from the ground potential where your AC system is grounded.

I had a similar problem when I first set up my system. I first verified that both the AC and cable were properly grounded as required by local code. Then I simply interconnected the cable and AC grounds near the system that exhibited the problem. The hum went away completely.

BTW, dimmers are very common sources of electrical noise. If you have a dimmer that is causing problems, you should replace it with a standard switch.

If on a dimmer and unwilling to switch it out for a standard switch, at least make sure its at full strength (providing 100% power to the fixture/outlet its tied too). Anything less will cause any number of 'mystery' issues. Power issues can disguise themselves as seeming to be other problems, as such power issues are often tricky to troubleshoot as the source of a problem until all other issues have been eliminated, although a 'hum' will almost always make anyone who has had the issue before, immediately start checking power issues, usually related to grounding and/or shielding.

I used to have a Ham radio operator next door to me that caused issues like that when his gear was in-use.

Which of the PS3 is HDMI 1.3 capable? I heard its only the 60 GB or the 80 GB version?

All of them are.

That is easy. I bet your DVD player used a 2 prong plug right? The PS3, like a computer, uses a 3 prong plug and that introduces another ground into the system.

Try a 2 prong to 3 prong adapter on the PS3 plug. I bet your interference will disappear.

All the other suggestions are good ones. You should also buy a outlet tester and make sure your outlets are wired properly. Make sure the cable inlet is grounded to the same ground rod as the main power is as it enters the home.

Do not, under any circumstances, follow this advice.

There is a whole section on ground loops in this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=824554