Sony PS3 PlayTV updated Mpeg4 Support

fat-tony · 04-11-2010 02:07PM

EdRey wrote: »

yes, irish DTT broadcasts in mpeg4

From the CNET link above: "An hour of HD material will take up 10 gigs of space".

To echo watty's comment on space usage, here are some actual examples from my recordings:
The RTE HD sampler videos which are 20 mins long approximately, take just about 1.1GB each - so about 3.5GB for an hour. I have a couple of recordings of Jules Holland's music shows on BBC HD with AC3 audio and they are almost 5GB (recorded about a year ago) for an hour. Newer recordings from BBC HD are smaller as they have reduced the bit rate. The Elton John concert recorded last Saturday is 4.2GB, but it lasts one hour and 20 minutes.

SD stuff is about 1 - 1.5GB per hour typically

watty · 04-11-2010 02:35PM

I don't have a PS3 and PlayTV. But I know the sums

EdRey · 04-11-2010 02:55PM

lgs 4 wrote: »

[ it should have been preformance] how is the over all preformance on play tv

turn on the auld spell checker there horshe

Performance appears to be good. I haven't played any games while recording, but I did watch a blu-ray while recording top gear + blades of glory on Monday evening. Saw absolutely no delays on the blu-ray, and the recorded programs were fine too.

lgs 4 · 04-11-2010 06:13PM

EdRey wrote: »

turn on the auld spell checker there horshe

Performance appears to be good. I haven't played any games while recording, but I did watch a blu-ray while recording top gear + blades of glory on Monday evening. Saw absolutely no delays on the blu-ray, and the recorded programs were fine too.

thanks for the reply i was half sleep this morning, how do you find the tv guide and series link and whats the rte hd picture like ,thinking about getting one

EdRey · 05-11-2010 02:06PM

lgs 4 wrote: »

how do you find the tv guide and series link

TV Guide is fine, very readable, functional. Series Link, not supported, but you can tell it to record such-and-such a program at a certain time every day or week.

lgs 4 wrote: »

and whats the rte hd picture like ,thinking about getting one

it is currently a test transmission, punters in Salthill, traffic in dublin city and the like, but I think it looks very good.

lgs 4 · 05-11-2010 05:39PM

EdRey wrote: »

TV Guide is fine, very readable, functional. Series Link, not supported, but you can tell it to record such-and-such a program at a certain time every day or week.

it is currently a test transmission, punters in Salthill, traffic in dublin city and the like, but I think it looks very good.

thats good, thanks for the reply, bit of shopping on amazon so

JDxtra · 05-11-2010 06:16PM

I wonder if the Play TV update due before Christmas will also mean the introduction of new hardware for it. Anybody know?

The PS3 slim only has 2x USB slots at the front, so running a USB cable (normally to the rear of the PS3) to accommodate the Play TV looks a bit untidy. A neater solution would be nice, but probably not possible.

Kashkai · 05-11-2010 06:33PM

I have a 60GB PS3 with a 2 year old Samsung LCD (MPEG2) tv connected up to a UHF aerial. Can I pick up the dtt signals using this combo or do I need something different i.e. a new tv or another stb?

Apologies for being a luddite in advance.

JDxtra · 05-11-2010 06:54PM

If you are in a good signal area it should work. No need for anything else (apart from the Play TV).

culabula · 17-11-2010 05:39PM

Update for PlayTV is now out. Part 1 is free, the debatable "updates" are chargeable. However, could not find the update in the UK store, yet it's readily displayed in the Playstation plus section in the Irish store, a country where apparently Series Link, one of the new paid-for features, does not work!!

Anyway, now that I have downloaded and installed both parts successfully, I am unable to get any of the new features to actually function.

mjsmyth · 18-11-2010 12:50AM

Thanks, I just updated to it myself. I'll hold off on part 2 for a while. I can't really see a need for the extras, well apart from series link, if and when it works in Ireland.

Pangea · 18-11-2010 01:58AM

I updated part 1 myself.
I hope this update will fix some of the problems many of us are having with irish digital and play tv. e.g. Recordings shifting and plenty of error reports.
P.S
I just bought a new tv and I think the channels through play tv look much better than my tvs decoder. I think its probably because the ps3 upscales the irish channels to high definition. Makes me wonder why dont all tvs upscale normal channels to better quality.

dmm1000 · 18-11-2010 02:31PM

Hi Folks

If there is a hardware update to Play TV soon to be released what extra functionality will it give ? - because it sounds like you are all able to view everything from the Irish DTT Trial including HD with the current well established Play TV hardware ? - will an upgraded Play TV hardware give any benefit ?

- cant comment myself as I am not recieving Irish DTT at the minute

watty · 18-11-2010 02:40PM

Maybe a new Stick for UK, DVB-T2 needed there for HD.

watty · 18-11-2010 02:41PM

Pangea wrote: »

I just bought a new tv and I think the channels through play tv look much better than my tvs decoder. I think its probably because the ps3 upscales the irish channels to high definition. Makes me wonder why dont all tvs upscale normal channels to better quality.

If it's a real HD TV, then it does upscale SD to HD. Maybe it has a poor upscale and de-interlacing chip?

Pappy o' daniel · 18-11-2010 03:50PM

Im thinking of buying a PlayTv, just to confirm it definitly will decode the saorview signal straight out of the box?

And does it tax the PS3, when your playing games it heats up fairly quick.

mjsmyth · 18-11-2010 04:53PM

Hi Pappy,

Straight out of the box it will not receive Irish DTT. When you install it and the software, you need to do a software upgrade.

The software that comes in the box only allows for mpeg2 channels, the update allows for mpeg 4.

I haven't noticed it taxing the PS3 at all, it works well, has a relatively nice interface. If you can buy one cheaply enough, and you already have a PS3, it makes for a nice PVR.

tlaavtech · 18-11-2010 05:06PM

Pangea wrote: »

I just bought a new tv and I think the channels through play tv look much better than my tvs decoder. I think its probably because the ps3 upscales the irish channels to high definition. Makes me wonder why dont all tvs upscale normal channels to better quality.

The graphics/video engine on the PS3 is a beauty. It's ability to upscale is superb. The telly has to upscale the picture to fill the screen, but the PS3 does a much nicer job. I do all my recording on a PC. It has a modern graphics card, but it's video playback is still pants

. Where possible I stream everything to the PS3 to watch it back on a projector.

HD channels play back particularly badly on the PC - On fast pans, the screen breaks up into what looks like two or three panels, each a frame behind the one above it.

[Of course BBCHD updated their encoder in September and now anything recorded since then dis not recongnised on the PS3 :mad:]

Pappy o' daniel · 18-11-2010 05:09PM

mjsmyth wrote: »

Hi Pappy,

Straight out of the box it will not receive Irish DTT. When you install it and the software, you need to do a software upgrade.

The software that comes in the box only allows for mpeg2 channels, the update allows for mpeg 4.

I haven't noticed it taxing the PS3 at all, it works well, has a relatively nice interface. If you can buy one cheaply enough, and you already have a PS3, it makes for a nice PVR.

I dont have a BB connection so does that mean I can't upgrade the software?

Is the upgrade specific to PlayTV, the last game I installed updated the PS3 version number.

tlaavtech · 18-11-2010 05:13PM

Pappy o' daniel wrote: »

I dont have a BB connection so does that mean I can't upgrade the software?

Is the upgrade specific to PlayTV, the last game I installed updated the PS3 version number.

AFAIK, you can download the update to a USB stick and upgrade from that. The PlayTV upgrade is not included in the system software update.

EDIT: Just tried to find the download and couldn't. Will keep trying.

Pappy o' daniel · 18-11-2010 05:31PM

tlaavtech wrote: »

AFAIK, you can download the update to a USB stick and upgrade from that. The PlayTV upgrade is not included in the system software update.

EDIT: Just tried to find the download and couldn't. Will keep trying.

This is what happens when you live in a country with the worst broadband coverage in Europe.

Pangea · 18-11-2010 06:45PM

watty wrote: »

If it's a real HD TV, then it does upscale SD to HD. Maybe it has a poor upscale and de-interlacing chip?

Yes its full hd, I dont know anything about chips Im afraid but to be honest the Irish digital channels looked incredible on my 20" CRT tv, but on the Sony 40ex401 I find the quality actually pretty poor, I dont know is it because the image is spread out to a 40 inch and looks more blotchy and not as sharp or clear.
On my parents 32"EX403 the picture is a bit better but isnt perfect, its a bit blotchy too. By the way this is the first time I have watched anything but a CRT so maybe I am just not used to this new technology but LCD on SD channels isnt amazing as I thought it would be.
Perhaps I need to calibrate the tv sets ,maybe that would make the picture better?

mjsmyth · 18-11-2010 07:55PM

The PlayTV update is seperate to the PS3 Update. As far as I know, the PlayTV update cannot be downloaded and installed from USB.

tlaavtech · 18-11-2010 08:33PM

mjsmyth wrote: »

The PlayTV update is seperate to the PS3 Update. As far as I know, the PlayTV update cannot be downloaded and installed from USB.

I certainly failed to find it this afternoon despite my thoughts earlier

watty · 19-11-2010 01:48AM

Pangea wrote: »

On my parents 32"EX403 the picture is a bit better but isnt perfect, its a bit blotchy too. By the way this is the first time I have watched anything but a CRT so maybe I am just not used to this new technology but LCD on SD channels isnt amazing as I thought it would be.
Perhaps I need to calibrate the tv sets ,maybe that would make the picture better?

Most LCDs are poorer than CRT, and have less than even back-lighting. Some are comparable.

You won't find a CRT with HDMI though.

Pat Gleeson · 19-11-2010 02:48PM

watty wrote: »

You won't find a CRT with HDMI though.

Not anymore, that's true. The last I saw was in 2006 - the Samsung Slimfit CRT's. Absolutely fabulous HD pictures via HDMI, but reliability was dreadful and there were problems with overscan too, I believe.

http://www.flat-screen-tv-guide.com/samsung-slimfit-crt-tv.html

Eire Go Brach · 22-11-2010 08:07PM

Just got this. Cost Me €41 on Amazon. Have to say. I am very impressed. Borrowed what I thought was just a very basic and crappy rabbits ears aerial from work. It work perfectly. Receptions is great. Im in Clondalkin. Dublin.

woidoi · 24-11-2010 02:32PM

Picked up one myself from Play using the BT1 1AA trick. Install is simple, upgrade no problem, though the wireless connection on the PS3 is never quick for me.
You can change the settings so that you don't have to go through the main PLAYTV menu which speeds things up a bit though load time is a pain. The interface is very good and very clear though my wife is questioning using a games controller!
Have to say that the quality of picture is superb, on RTE2 especially. RTE1 and TG4 are very good, even TV3 is not bad though a little blurrier in comparison. Vincent Browne never looked so pained!
The HD looks great though it's a pity there is so much camera shake! Good test for image fragmentation though. Speaking of which, was watching the footie last night, old story with Arsenal.... it was great to be able to watch it in widescreen, but during slow mo's and replays the pictures became very jumpy. A Portugese TV problem? Am Irish DTT problem or a PS3 problem. Anyone else notice this on other delivery systems?

Will have to watch Rangers V Man U tonight to see if it's similar.

dmm1000 · 24-11-2010 08:56PM

In regard to updating the PlayTV software if you have an internet connection and while PlayTV is running you should see an option in the PlayTV menu something like this .....

mjsmyth · 24-11-2010 10:56PM

When using the original PlayTV software, Software Updates are available via the About section in Settings using the "Game Update Check" Functionality.

Sony PS3 PlayTV updated Mpeg4 Support

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