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Playstation 3 1.80 Firmware Update - DVD Upscaling to 1080p, 1080p/24hz support.... (1 Viewer)

Romier S

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I'm surpised this hasn't been posted. Sony released information on the 1.80 firmware update for the Playstation 3 which adds some rather sought after features. That includes DVD Upscaling via HDMI as well as 1080p/24hz support. On the game front upscaling of PSX/PS2 software has also been added as well as improved streaming support of DNLA devices. Here's the release:


Screenshot of the DVD Upscaling options and more:



The update is up RIGHT NOW! Download it while it's hot.
 

DaViD Boulet

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Just installed the new firmware.

FOLKS: IT'S BETTER THAN WE EXPECTED!

We get:

1. 1080p24 output from BD discs that are mastered 24p.
2. DVD upscaling over HDMI up to 1080p (my oppo still looks better I think)
3. DVD deinterlacing now fixed with proper 3-2 pulldown (confirmed by testers at AVS. Yes, within a few hours of release!)
4. Settings to allow Blacker than Black (confirmed at AVS) and possibly whiter-than-white.

And best of all for me:

5. 720p output from Blu-ray for those with 720P displays.

I can tell you regarding #5, the image looks sharper, clearner and more detailed than ever on my 720P DLP projector. Wow. Going straight 720p versus 1080i if you have a 720p display gets rid of the "bobbing" softening that takes place in your TV/projector (99% of HD displays deinterlace all 1080i by bobbing with no 3-2 pulldown).

The image looks INCREDIBLE.

:D :D :D

All that's left is to enable bitstream from DTS-HD MA over HDMI or get built-in decoding!


p.s. I put a BD disc in and the PS3 went into auto-play without me having to touch the remote. Wow. Nice touch.
 

Romier S

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Not possibly. It's there. There are three new options under "Display"

Cross Color Reduction Filter - On/Off

RGB Full Range (HDMI) - Limited/Full (i.e. Blacker than Black)

Y, Cr, Cb Super White (HDMI) - On/Off (i.e. Whiter than White)
 

Aaron Garman

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Regarding the 720p output: I have a Sony XBR CRT that does a max of 1080i. Would I be better off putting it into 720p as well? I have noticed stations that broadcast in 720p do tend to look better on my display. I'm downloading as I type. Excited!!

AJG
 

Cavan.B

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If your TV is native 1080i, I would leave it at that. Feel free to experiment, but having the TV do conversions is usually something to avoid.
 

Aaron Garman

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Thing is, I'm pretty sure my set shows 720p at 720p. It's not converting as far as I know. That, or it's native is 540p or something weird. Model is the KV34XBR970.

AJG
 

DaViD Boulet

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Aaron,

try it both ways then and see what looks sharper/better.

On my 720p projector, the 720p option is *clearly* the one to use!
 

Paul Arnette

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Wow. I gotta say that I am impressed that Sony put 1080p/24fps on the PS3. I thought that featured had 'up-sell' written all over it. Nice. This update and the Pirates movies are really positioning BD nicely for Q4.
 

Chris S

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I'll have to give the 720p a shot tonight. I've been feeding my Mits HD1000U (720p proj) the 1080p signal and letting it handle the conversion. I was already happy with the image it threw so I'm curious how much better, if at all, a native signal would really look.

And does anyone know exactly what this does?
 

DaViD Boulet

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Chris,

no idea what that cross-color-reduction filter is for. Maybe for NTSC output via S-video?

In any case, if your PJ accepts full 1080p input then it would only be a matter of which device had better down-scaling quality to 720. My PJ doesn't accept 1080p so I had to feed it 1080i (until last night) from Blu-rays which resulted in the projector "bobbing" the signal to 540p and then *upscaling* back to 720.

I noticed that going right in at 720 the image is MUCH sharper/more detailed. I'm stunned, actually.

Your PJ was probalby doing a great job to begin with so I'll be interested to hear what you think of trying out 720p input as well.
 

Edwin-S

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Still looks like no 720p-->1080i/p scaling for PS3 games. Nice to see the other updates; however, all of them are effectively useless to me. No HDMI equipped set, therefore no upconversion of DVD content. I'm sick of shitty restriction on upconversion over component. The cracking of AACS has proven that crooks are going to copy these discs in the digital domain. So why the continued restriction on the analog output? It is pointless.

BTB and WTW support is great, but of course it only applies to the HDMI output. I'll update, but all of this worthless for owners of older sets.
 

Romier S

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As far as the blacker than black option is concerned. Here's a great test to determine which option you should be using:

 

Carlo_M

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Bummer.
Double bummer.

Also, looks like all of the upscaling benefits are via HDMI, leaving those of us with older sets that only have component out to dry. :frowning:
 

DaViD Boulet

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Agreed it's a bummer that the scaleing won't yet work for games.

But can we all stop complaining and acting surprised about the lack of upscaleing over analog?

That's NOT SONY'S DECISION: They are requried by law to not pass upscaled content over analog that's "copy protected" which includes every DVD that has the macrovision flag set to "on"... virtually all your studio-produced DVDs in your collection.

so it never could have been there. And we shouldn't keep acting like it should have or that we're disappointed to discover that it's not. if you want it changed...then petition the STUDIOS because THEY are the force that's put this requirement to the manufacturers.

Note: the PS3 *** WILL *** upscale unproteced DVD software over analog. So the feature is there when it's legal to do it.
 

Brian-W

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Dave, when you going to upgrade to a 1080p projector? Given the prices they're at now, you've got no excuse!
 

MatthewA

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This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I finally got it. I sampled some SD material upconverted on my Samsung DLP. National Lampoon's Vacation looked pretty good (the HDNet Movies broadcast was better), and even an episode of a 1980s videotaped sitcom, The Golden Girls, looked unbelievable considering the source material.
 

Edwin-S

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I'm not surprised, but I am complaining. I'm not singling out SONY and I know it is a law, but IT IS A BAD LAW. And why is that? Because it is not affecting pirates. Right now, there are pirates sitting out there watching upconverted DVDs, because they have copied discs and stripped out the protection. So who does the enforcement of this ridiculous "law" affect? Legitimate owners of purchased content....that's who! Professional pirates, computer literates, and casual pirates can all watch these discs upconverted, but I as a legitimate owner CAN'T! What is wrong with this picture?

AFAIC, Sony, Toshiba, and all other CE manufacturers are as guilty as the studios in perpetuating this farce. They could have stood up to the studios and told them that enforcing this ridiculous upconversion "law" was a waste of time. All of the concerned parties could have finally pulled their collective heads out of their asses and admitted that copy protection is irretrievably broken on DVD.

In other words, stop f$%#ing fooling themselves that non-upconversion of DVD over component is somehow preventing piracy or the watching of upconverted pirated discs. The only thing this shit is doing is preventing legitimate owners, who don't COPY discs, from watching their purchased content in the best resolution possible.

I'm sorry to go off topic like this, but this issue really pisses me off. Right now the PS3 doesn't constantly remind of this issue like my Toshiba does, but I'm sure that the PS3 will just as soon I update my player to this new firmware.
 

Chris S

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Did a little playing around with 720p and 1080i scaling this evening. I used POTC: Dead Mans Chest chapter 3 since it has some nice background scenery as well as some good facial textures for comparison. For my eyes the scaled 720p image from the PS3 is not as good as the scaled image from the 1080i source. The scaler in my Mits HD1000U seems to do a better job at scaling the 1080i source down to 720p than the PS3 does. The PS3's scaling looked soft and lacked some fine detail resolution.

I also downloaded TwonkyVision to try the new streaming features and really liked what I saw. Streaming home movies, mp3s, and pictures was trivial. Very nice feature and one I'm sure I'll use in the future. I haven't tried using Windows Media Player 11 for streaming yet but it's only my to-do list for the long weekend.
 

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