PS3 Update 1.8 Is Here, Upconversion included!

[TheMoose]

Well on a lot of Home Theatre sites the biggest gripe about the PS3 has been the lack of upconverting DVD's, well they can quit whining now!!

More importantly it wil also upconvert PS1 & PS2 games also!
That's good for me because GT4 has always looked bad on my HDTV thru the PS3.
I know there is only so much upconverting can do but I hope it cleans up GT4.

Here are some links,
http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2007/5/23-52

http://www.scee.presscentre.com/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=4372&NewsAreaID=2

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/05/23/firmware-1-80-to-include-1080p-upscaling-for-games-and-movies/

There are other updates in this firmware release, among them is the PS3 will start down the road to being a media center, able to stream audio & video from a computer.


The update is avalible for downloading right now.

 

[DaveS1138]

Just finished updating and the DVD upconverting works very nicely Star Wars episode III looks every bit as good as my Samsung upconverting DVD player (so one less thing to take up space in my home theater stack )

Put in GT4 but the picture is now compressed into the middle of the screen (as though it is outputting it for a 16:9 TV but only using the 4:3 in the middle of that area.....(if that discription makes any sense what so ever)

 

[DaveS1138]

OK answered my own question. Under GAME SETTINGS there is now an option for PS/PS2 Upscaler. The default was 'normal' I needed to change it to 'full screen' Just FYI incase anybody else has the same problem.

Yes TheMoose GT4 always looked pretty bad on the PS3. I think it does look a little better now

 

[TheMoose]

What did you set PS/PS2 smoothing to?

 

[Solid Lifters]

Put in GT4 but the picture is now compressed into the middle of the screen (as though it is outputting it for a 16:9 TV but only using the 4:3 in the middle of that area.....(if that discription makes any sense what so ever)

That's the way it should be. Use your TV set's "Zoom" function to properly fit the image to your screen.

 

[V1P3R]

I don't know if this has a "placebo" effect on me but I could've sworn my Viper looks better in GT3 using everything on with a component cable.

 

[Solid Fro]

The maximum video output for the PS2 is 640x448, that's why you have black bars on the side of the display. The "wide screen" option in games stretches that image to 16:9. I think God of War II looks better at 4:3. I also tried Shadow of Colossus and Ace Combat Zero and they looked better even in 16:9, but I would still use 4:3 instead.

I also tried United 93 on DVD with upscaling. It looked very good, extremly sharp, clear, and deep blacks. Kicking terrorist ass never looked so good.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I just tried some PS2 titles. Some that were bad, and some down right horrible before. MUCH BETTER!

Try MGS3. World of difference, boy. I can actually play the game and see what's going on. The video output indeed was 1080p, checking the source with my 1080p LCD. Amazing difference, there.

Other games also had a noticible difference, like God Of War. But, using the 480p output still made the game look a lot better.

I tried 'Smoothing' off and on, and I prefer it off. The pic is more fuzzy, but no jaggies are present (since it's already a bit fuzzy and 'soft' looking). With smoothing off, it was sharper, but you notice the jaggies a lot more. Your choice.

 

[DaveS1138]

What did you set PS/PS2 smoothing to?

Tried it both on and off. I think it looks better off but not a big difference. For some reason with it on my picture looked a little dark. But that could be because I was doing it at 1am and I really needed the sleep by then

 

[DaveS1138]

That's the way it should be. Use your TV set's "Zoom" function to properly fit the image to your screen.

Cheers Solid Lifters. But my TV is a 4:3 not a 16:9 so it doesn't have a zoom function. I appologies my description of what was happening was very confussing. Setting the PS/PS2 upscaling to Full screen puts the picture into the correct widescreen format for the 1080i output.

I think my intitial reaction to the upconverted DVD picture was a little too subdued. Watched a couple more standard DVD's now and the PS3 is blowing away my stand alone Samsung upconverting DVD player. The PS3 is doing a really stunning job with this 👍

 

[LaBounti]

I noticed in GT4 with fullscreen/smoothing that it looks better when not using 480p mode. 1080i mode looks the same. Smoothing gets rid of jaggies to a nice degree.

I don't think Blu ray movies display in full 720p yet, But I think for some reason now its upscaled 480p>720p, retarded. The "PS" button menu is no longer 480p. 1080i looks better than whatever its.

 

[DuckRacer]

I noticed in GT4 with fullscreen/smoothing that it looks better when not using 480p mode. 1080i mode looks the same. Smoothing gets rid of jaggies to a nice degree.

I don't think Blu ray movies display in full 720p yet, But I think for some reason now its upscaled 480p>720p, retarded. The "PS" button menu is no longer 480p. 1080i looks better than whatever its.

720p BDs didn't look upscaled at all to me.

 

[Touring Mars]

I really like the look of this "Search For Media Servers" business 👍 I just got home and have installed v1.8... (and typing on my USB keyboard instead of using the SIXAXIS!! Thanks to mollychasecats for the rechargable batteries and recharger ) O! the Playstation 3 - the toy that just keeps giving

 

[Solid Fro]

I think setting the Scaler to "normal" with smoothing on is the best way to go. It allows your TV to remain in 16:9 and displays the PS2 game in 4:3. Also, don't go into the game's settings and change any viewing options (widescreen, 16:9, progressive scan, etc.), it will override the PS3 scaler.

 

[Small_Fryz]

It just gets better and better.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Great timing! Finally have some free time to use the PS3 for something other than F@H and there's a system update! 👍

BTW: I like the new purple "plasma" backlight for 1.8 over 1.7's green "plasma" backlight. I guess for every system update, Sony changes the color... interesting.

I'm not sure why it took so long for Sony to resolve these scaling software issues... although I suspect it may have been put off till now in order to give some added value to the far more expensive standalone Blu-ray players.

And of course for those with displays that have superior scalers to the PS3 (of which there are not many), there is no need to have the PS3 do any of the scaling no matter what the source.

The big improvement though is that the PS3 finally can output Blu-ray in native 720p. This is a much needed feature for those with 720p displays that do not properly deinterlace 1080i signals... of which there are many that do not! 👎

So if you have a 720p TV, even though it accepts 1080i, you'll get the best results now by setting the Video Output Settings to 720p. 👍

I'm glad Sony also added the scaling settings to the Onscreen Control Panel so you can make changes quickly and on the fly.

For those unfamiliar with the OCP:

During playback (paused or not) of a DVD or BD, press the Triangle button to access the Onscreen Control Panel.

To get to the scaling adjustments, highlight the Image Quality Adjustment icon just below the 8 & 9, and press the X button.

You'll get the following options:

• Frame Noise Reduction
  • Off (default)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  
  
• Block Noise Reduction
  • Off (default)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  
  
• Upscale (NEW)
  • Off
  • Double Scale
  • Normal (default)
  • Full Screen
  
  
• Super-White (NEW)
  • Off (default)
  • On

This should be covered in the PS3 Online Manual, but strangely, they have not updated it for 1.8 yet.

Anyway, here is what they do:

• Frame Noise Reduction:
  Reduces fine noise sometimes found on inferior video sources, but it can also add additional artifacts, so I mostly recommend leaving it off unless watching very poor quality video.
  
  
• Block Noise Reduction:
  Reduces mosaic-like block noise also found on many inferior video sources, but like FNR, it can add artificial artifacts, and thus I recommend also leaving it off most of the time.
  
  
• Upscale
  • Off: Self explanatory.
    
    
  • Double Scale:
    Doubles the native resolution of the source material. It is debatable on the need for this option. Traditionally, the best scaling results are when the scaling is done by a factor of 2, but the PS3's video processor is extremely good, and does a remarkable job scaling, even when having to resort to complex algorithms. BTW: Because doubling the resolution of 720p exceeds 1080p, there would be no reason at all to use it with anything over 480p... and really it offers no tangible benefits no matter what resolution it is doubling.
    
    
  • Normal:
    Scales images to the highest resolution selected in the PS3 Video Output Settings - this is why it is recommended that you set the PS3's Video Output Settings to the native resolution of the display.
    
    
  • Full Screen:
    Stretches images to always fill the screen. NOT RECOMMENDED! This distorts the image. If you have to, use the Zoom function on your TV if you feel obligated to use the entire screen area, like to avoid burn-in on a CRT or Plasma... but keep in mind you are going to chop off part of the image.
  
  
• Super-White:
  Increases the white level above the normal representation of white. Only HDMI is capable of taking advantage of this feature. Personally, I leave it off as I already have my displays accurately calibrated, but it may be a beneficial enhancement for displays or images that could benefit from enhancing the white level.

In addition I see they added Game Settings to the Settings menu bar.

I have not played around with them but these are the options:

• PS/PS2 Upscaler
  • Off
  • Normal (default)
  • Full Screen
  
  
• PS/PS2 Smoothing
  • Off (default)
  • On

And in the Display Settings menu they added:

• RGB Full Range (HDMI)
  • Limited
  • Full
• Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr Super-White (HDMI)
  • Off
  • On

I've been barely home these last few weeks, and have little free time to check out GTP, so I'm looking forward to catching up with the latest topics as well as putting my PS3 to good use... not that F@H is bad use.

 

[DuckRacer]

BTW: I like the new purple "plasma" backlight for 1.8 over 1.7's green "plasma" backlight. I guess for every system update, Sony changes the color... interesting.

If you're talking abou what I think you're talking about, that changes on a month-to-month basis. If you manually change the month, you'll see a different color background.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

If you're talking abou what I think you're talking about, that changes on a month-to-month basis. If you manually change the month, you'll see a different color background.

I didn't realize that.... a sad reminder of how long its been since I've used the PS3 other than F@H.... so it's been purple all month, and I only have one week left to enjoy it?

You'd think they would allow you to pick what color you want instead of having to always change the date... for those that might want a particular color.

Or is this Ken's idea of giving the PS3 a menstrual cycle...

 

[V1P3R]

O! the Playstation 3 - the toy that just keeps giving

It really is... unlike the 360.

 

[Omnis]

Or is this Ken's idea of giving the PS3 a menstrual cycle...

No, because the pink and purple flow would turn into a red waterfall.

 

[G.T]

I've noticed a slight problem with the RGB Full-range. If you watch a BD Movie, then come out back onto the XMB, the option has been turned back onto "Limited", even though the option is clearly still on "Full". You have to re-select it again for it to work. Same thing happens when you boot up the console and sign in.

The Full Range makes a huge difference though. 👍

An odd problem happened with my Pro Duo memory stick too last night. I slotted it in, and it wouldn't let me browse any of the folders on it. I put it back into my PSP, and deleted some videos, and slotted it back into the PS3 again. It was still saying 90mbs was free, when I just made 467mbs. I unslotted it again and it still said the memory stick was inserted! The only way to get rid of this was to turn off the console completely, and then it worked fine...

Also, annoyingly (or coincidently?), my network issues started the exact same time the 1.8 Firmware update was made...


I don't mean to sound so morbid, but these are the first issues I've really had with the PS3.

 

[Omnis]

I've noticed a slight problem with the RGB Full-range. If you watch a BD Movie, then come out back onto the XMB, the option has been turned back onto "Limited", even though the option is clearly still on "Full". You have to re-select it again for it to work. Same thing happens when you boot up the console and sign in.

The Full Range makes a huge difference though. 👍

An odd problem happened with my Pro Duo memory stick too last night. I slotted it in, and it wouldn't let me browse any of the folders on it. I put it back into my PSP, and deleted some videos, and slotted it back into the PS3 again. It was still saying 90mbs was free, when I just made 467mbs. I unslotted it again and it still said the memory stick was inserted! The only way to get rid of this was to turn off the console completely, and then it worked fine...

Also, annoyingly (or coincidently?), my network issues started the exact same time the 1.8 Firmware update was made...


I don't mean to sound so morbid, but these are the first issues I've really had with the PS3.

Does RBG Full look better than Y cb/pb cr/pr?

 

[G.T]

Does RBG Full look better than Y cb/pb cr/pr?

Much better. I don't notice any difference at all when the Y cb/pb cr/pr Super White is enabled. Although, I'm not sure if my display is compatible with it.

 

[land sea air]

As soon as I turned the option on I noticed a difference even on the menus, Oblivions looks much more vibrant now once you re-tweak the settings on your TV, at first it was way too dark but after messing around a little it looks better than it did before, however I have yet to try a blu-ray with the new setting.

 

[Sprite]

Well weve all been using 1.8 for a few days, and Im very pleased about the 1080p upscaling and the new wide RGB. But one thing ive not used yet is the media sever thing, I want to stream from my mac to the ps3 but I dont know how. any ideas?

Much apreciated for any help.

 

[Vonie]

Here's a list of programs that work for all platforms.

 

[m7ammed]

I've turned on Media Sharing on windows Media player on my laptop and now I can use Media sharing

 

[Robin]

Does anyone know if there is a way to do something similar with iTunes or your iPod? Like stream music, or even play it from you iPod?

 

[LaBounti]

Anyone else notice that web browsing is some 4-8 times faster than when the system first came out. Pages load as fast as my pc now. before there was an annoying wait to do anything, not its practically instant. Even sites i use load as fast as my pc before it was a pain to use. and pressing the back button has sped up as well.

I really like the progression Sony has achieved with firmware updates. Now they need to update the flash engine so we can enjoy some games.

edited.

 

[DuckRacer]

Does anyone know if there is a way to do something similar with iTunes or your iPod? Like stream music, or even play it from you iPod?

Well, you can connect your iPod to the PS3, and you can copy your music from it to your system, but its file structure isn't recognized.

Anyone else notice that web browsing is some 4-8 times faster than when the system first came out. Pages load as fast as my pc now. before there was an annoying wait to do anything, not its practically instant. Even adult web cams sites i use load as fast as my pc before it was a pain to use. and pressing the back button has sped up as well.

I really like the progression Sony has achieved with firmware updates. Now they need to update the flash engine so we can enjoy some games.

1. The web browser is still slow and crap.

2. TMI about the adult webcams part.