Dodgy PS3 display selection?

[Shifty Geezer]

So, friend's new PS3 was taken round other friend's house and connected via HDMI to his 1080p Sammy. All lovely-jubbly. Then PS3 owning friend takes console home and it's stuck in HDMI mode and won't display, so he needs to reset his PS3. Is it really that stupid that it can't adjust to the attached cable? Do you have to remember to manually change the setting from HDMI to other output before you move to a different display? Moving consoles around different people's houses is a common activity for us, and having to manage the displays this way would be a pig.

 

[fallguy]

Are PC's "eally that stupid that" too? Because its the same thing with PC's, if the res/hz is set to something that a monitor that was just hooked up cant do. I dont see what the big deal is. :shrug:

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Are PC's "eally that stupid that" too? Because its the same thing with PC's, if the res/hz is set to something that a monitor that was just hooked up cant do. I dont see what the big deal is. :shrug:

Well, all other consoles out there will automatically adjust to the new cable.

The X360 also has a HDTV\SDTV switch on the actual cable.

To me, it would be a huge deal to have to go back in order to have the console display something.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Are PC's "eally that stupid that" too? Because its the same thing with PC's, if the res/hz is set to something that a monitor that was just hooked up cant do. I dont see what the big deal is. :shrug:

But you don't often lump PCs around to someone else's house and connect to other people's monitors, whereas consoles have had that function for as long as they've been around. More than that, consoles are moved to different rooms in the same house. If someone's watching TV downstairs and you want to watch a BluRay movie, take your PS3 upstairs, plug it in using the component cable to your 720p TV and...hey presto! No image because it's set for use only on the downstairs 1080p TV! And as Ostepop says, the other consoles don't have the same issue but use smart cable-select. If PS3 is intended to sit in one person's house in the same room connected up to the same TV and never move from that spot, as is typical of most PCs (incidentally what happens if you connect a media PC via HDMI/DVI and then to a different display via VGA?), then fine. But consoles get more varied use than that.

 

[ninzel]

Isn't it just a matter of holding down the on/off button to reset?

 

[Neb]

Are PC's "eally that stupid that" too? Because its the same thing with PC's, if the res/hz is set to something that a monitor that was just hooked up cant do. I dont see what the big deal is. :shrug:

A PC will detect the monitor/TV res/Hz automatically without problems except if you have forced a fixed Hz value for your monitor (RefreshForce for example). Of course with LCD's monitors there is no need to use a program to fix Hz (only for WinXP + CRT but few do it). :smile:

 

[_phil_]

Isn't it just a matter of holding down the on/off button to reset?

Yes ,but you have to be able to read....

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Isn't it just a matter of holding down the on/off button to reset?

The 'fix' does seem that straight forward which the first soundbite I received about the problem didn't inform, but it's still ironic that out of all the console companies, the one with the greatest CE and display heritage is the one with the worst display support, lacking a full scaling solution, originally not supporting 1080i displays properly in games, and not supporting cable select on display modes. Why choose to require the user to press a button to reset the display when you can't see it, instead of automatically supporting different output modes for different cables?

 

[Kryton]

The scaling issue I agree with. However, for a problem that, for most people, is either a scan of the manual or a call to technical support, I don't see any urgent need to issue a fix. The problem doesn't render the unit unusable with your set, so I don't think you'll see a firmware update to fix it (most likely, all that is required).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I agree its not a killer, but it's a silly problem that one wonders how it got past the design team. A requirement to refer to the manual just to get an image on the screen is a bit overkill. You'd have thought someone moderately competent at matching the right shaped connector to the right socket in the devices to be connected ought to be able to get an image on the screen (as with pretty much every CE device out there) by attaching the wires. Then again, that's not the way things work any more, as evidenced by people connecting HDMI devices up only to have issues that need firmware updates and the like. Ease and simplicity of end-user experience seem to be ever dropping on the design teams' priority lists...

 

[Crazyace]

On first plugin you are going to get a picture no matter what - and at that time you are allowed to configure the display for HDMI - but there's no real easy way for the PS3 to know whether you've switched TVs, or just if you've turned the machine on with the TV turned off for some reason
( Xbox360 isn't completely immune either - I get completely corrupted screens when it tries to update Xbox 1 games for some reason... )

 

[ninzel]

I agree with Shifty,MS has handled some of these CE issues much better,even if they are small issues.

 

[patsu]

So, friend's new PS3 was taken round other friend's house and connected via HDMI to his 1080p Sammy. All lovely-jubbly. Then PS3 owning friend takes console home and it's stuck in HDMI mode and won't display, so he needs to reset his PS3. Is it really that stupid that it can't adjust to the attached cable? Do you have to remember to manually change the setting from HDMI to other output before you move to a different display? Moving consoles around different people's houses is a common activity for us, and having to manage the displays this way would be a pig.

I can't remember what the exact behavior was anymore. When I moved my PS3 from HDMI-DVI (at my place) to a friend's (component) earlier this year. I remember the PS3 reseting its output settings automatically. However if it is plugged in to a HDMI, it will prompt the user whether to switch to HDMI.

I think the way they code it now is such that once you have a HDMI, it assumes you don't ever want to fall back to others. So yes, moving the console to different houses (with and without HDMI) would be a chore. Depending on what you want to do, there is also a bunch of settings (e.g., RGB Full/Limited, Forced 24p, ...) that you may want to check before watching the movie/playing the game at a new place. These optional settings may require user intervention since the equipments may not send the right info, if at all.

The best way is to allow the users to create profiles. Even auto detect is not foolproof, but it's a start for unknown basic settings.

 

[holsty101]

Seems like a lot of whining over a non-issue to me.

 

[patsu]

Well... everyone loves convenience, so it's fair to complain. But I don't think auto-detect will solve the general issues since the CE market is pretty flakey/varied in terms of equipment profiling and support. Manual/semi-automated profile settings would be great.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Seems like a lot of whining over a non-issue to me.

You mean a little whining over a small issue.

 

[fallguy]

A PC will detect the monitor/TV res/Hz automatically without problems except if you have forced a fixed Hz value for your monitor (RefreshForce for example). Of course with LCD's monitors there is no need to use a program to fix Hz (only for WinXP + CRT but few do it). :smile:

Negative. If you set the res/hz to a setting that another monitor wont support, while on a monitor that will do it (1600x1200/120 or something) it simply wont show anything. Of course this doesnt happen to every setup out there, but it does, and can happen. There is no way to fix it, unless you hook up a monitor to the PC that can do the selected setting.

Seems like a lot of whining over a non-issue to me.

This is my thinking, but I dont carry around my console. I carry around my PC more, which is next to never. I wouldnt unhook my PS3, to take it to another TV to watch a movie. Id wait, or kick whoever is on that TV off.

 

[-tkf-]

So, friend's new PS3 was taken round other friend's house and connected via HDMI to his 1080p Sammy. All lovely-jubbly. Then PS3 owning friend takes console home and it's stuck in HDMI mode and won't display, so he needs to reset his PS3. Is it really that stupid that it can't adjust to the attached cable? Do you have to remember to manually change the setting from HDMI to other output before you move to a different display? Moving consoles around different people's houses is a common activity for us, and having to manage the displays this way would be a pig.

Press and hold the on/off button.

It may have something to do with how you can mix sounds and videos on the different ports. For example sound over hdmi and video over the multi av port.

 

[Daozang]

Negative. If you set the res/hz to a setting that another monitor wont support, while on a monitor that will do it (1600x1200/120 or something) it simply wont show anything. Of course this doesnt happen to every setup out there, but it does, and can happen. There is no way to fix it, unless you hook up a monitor to the PC that can do the selected setting.

Not even in safe mode?!!!:smile:

I remember a friend from work had this problem with his PS3 when he bought it... Confused him a lot!
He thought it broke when he moved it from one tv to the other...

 

[Mythos]

Seems like a lot of whining over a non-issue to me.

I agree..if you go through the settings in the PS3 menu selection to set the unit up and then transfered it over to some else tv without hdmi then u....look at the cable in hand it looks different then what u got to change the settings....!!!