What's new

Does Playstation 2 have limitations as DVD player? (1 Viewer)

Brent Joye

Agent
Joined
Feb 20, 1999
Messages
34
Please forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I couldn't find any mention of it while searching the archives.

I know this is blasphemy to videophiles, but I can't seem to get the PS2 to show the pan and scan version of DVD's. Now I've only tried with 3 (Rush Hour 2, The Holy Grail special edition, and Crouching Tiger) but usually it won't even let me change the setting from 4:3 letterbox to 16:9 or pan and scan, and when it does, nothing changes when it's played.

I have a friend who says he's never been able to get his PS2 to show the Pan/Scan version with any DVD he's rented and someone told him it was a limitation of the PS2. In the user manual it tells you how to adjust it, but I've tried all that. It says in the troubleshooting section that some TV's fix the format and some DVDs fix the format.

Am I just way out of it and many new DVDs don't even come with a Pan/Scan version anymore? On the Rush Hour 2 disc, it won't let me go to the Widescreen option on the display menu, it just bypasses that choice.

Thanks, Brent
 

Michael St. Clair

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 3, 1999
Messages
6,001
Most newer DVDs do not include a 'Pan and Scan' option, and will look the same no matter how your player is set up (when choosing between the 4:3 and letterboxed options in the player).

Fortunately, Rush Hour 2 does not include a 'Pan and Scan' transfer.
 

Brent Joye

Agent
Joined
Feb 20, 1999
Messages
34
Wow, I'm surprised. I really thought the masses would protest too much to let the studios drop the pan and scan. I guess I've underestimated the progressive nature of the format.
 

Nicholas A. Gallegos

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 19, 2001
Messages
138
Another few limitations with using the PS2 as a DVD player include:

1. No progressive-scan. Interlaced output only.

2. No timer display, due to the very nature of a video game

console.

3. Awkward operation of the player using a game controller; forces a lot of users to buy the optional remote, which requires space on an 8MB memory card if you own one of the older US PS2 revisions.

4. Not compatible with VCDs like standalone DVD players (if this feature really matters to you).
 

Brent Joye

Agent
Joined
Feb 20, 1999
Messages
34
Thanks Nicholas,

I think I had read about most of those limitations, I was just worried about being able to access all the features of the DVD like different versions, etc... We still watch most of our movies on PPV or HBO. We just don't watch them enough to own them and prefer PPV over a trip to Blockbuster.

I consider myself fairly well educated on technology, I guess the average Joe is going to be fairly confused about all the DVD variations.
 

Eric Alderson

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 22, 1999
Messages
249
If you have the newer PS2 (I think its model scph 3000R also known as the "R" version) you don't need to install the DVD drivers that come with the remote. Also the new driver’s ad a timer display.
 

Brent Joye

Agent
Joined
Feb 20, 1999
Messages
34
I do have the new R version, I guess. I just got it last week and it has the scph 3000 R on the serial #. So then the remote won't add a software update? Am I understanding that correctly? I bought the Zenith PS2 DVD remote, but I thought it was awful. I really don't mind using the controller. I mean, you start the movie, and go sit down. I don't usually get too crazy about remotes.

So the main question was that there's nothing different about the PS2 that you can't access all the same versions and features that you can with a stand alone DVD player, right?
 

Eric Alderson

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 22, 1999
Messages
249
Since you have the "R" version, the drivers they give you to load on the memory card when you buy the Sony remote are the same as the drivers on the system you have. Since I don't own the remote for PS2 or the "R" version, I can't tell you if you can use the same functions on the standard controller as on the Sony remote. My guess is you should be able to. This review might be able to shed a little more light on the subject.
Link Removed
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top