PlayStation 3 to feature Blu-Ray disc - Official!

[j^aws]

PlayStation 3 to feature Blu-Ray disc

Rob Fahey 15:04 04/08/2004

New playback-only Blu-Ray technology to feature in Sony's next console
Sony has revealed that its next-generation games console will use the Blu-Ray disc format, which is an evolution of the current DVD system that is designed to hold five times as much data on a similarly sized disc.
A meeting in Tokyo yesterday saw the creation of a working group to draw up final specifications of a read-only Blu-Ray system, including representatives from many of the world's largest electronics companies such as Sony, Dell and Matsushita (Panasonic).

Until now, Blu-Ray discs, which are similar to standard DVDs but use more accurate blue laser light rather than the normal red laser light to read and write data, have been both readable and writeable.

Sony officials confirmed that the next iteration of the PlayStation home console will be equipped with a Blu-Ray disc drive, allowing it to play back high definition movies (as movies are gradually expected to move from DVD to Blu-Ray in the coming years) as well as providing more space for game developers on the discs.

Single-layer Blu-Ray discs can store up to 27Gb on one layer of data, compared to 4.7Gb on DVDs, although the version of the standard favoured by Sony holds only 23Gb - still around five times larger than existing DVD discs. The Blu-Ray specification also allows for reading existing DVD discs, so the PS3 will almost certainly still be able to handle standard DVD movies and PS2 titles.

Video playback units based on the new read-only standard are expected to appear by the end of the current fiscal year, which runs through to March 2005 - the same timescale in which Sony plans to unveil the PlayStation 3 in public for the first time.

Source

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[cthellis42]

Well we knew it was coming... Now the only question is "what form." If the info on the other thread is correct, they'd likely only stick a 2x drive in...? (Or am I reading this roadmap wrong?) Would that be fast enough to be good for gaming purposes on the PS3?

Also what codecs and other advances will come by then, but I guess some of that may even be upgradable if necessary? Might the PS3 be able to (or forced to) use a PSX-like rollout?

Also, what reply are we going to get from Microsoft now! I certainly thought Sony would take longer to announce this, so that the Xbox2 would be more locked down. But now... We'll probably get next-gen video-playing warring on next-gen consoles before it ever gets to the typical consumer otherwise!

 

[AlNom]

all I need to know is.... will I be able to watch *1080p Terminator 2* through Xenon ?

*wishes I had a 1080p capable tv or projector*



hm... so could we be seeing more use of CG cutscenes instead of using the 3d engine?

Or perhaps use the space to include different resolutions of the CG... like... one for 480p, 480p widescreen, 720p,1080i....(yeah... probably a waste of time for developers....)

high res textures/normalmaps/etc.... 1024x1024 uncompressed ? or would it actually be better to have them compressed and then decompressed for game usage, inwhich case the extra dvd space doesn't matter.....

hm.... then I guess bigger levels, more game content.... long game development...

dvd extras would be nice, like those special features on movie dvds. Making of's or development (pre-production, production, post-production/marketing) videos/art, interviews, bloopers/game bugs that are strange/weird/funny encountered along the way... stuff like that.

 

[Quaz51]

Well we knew it was coming... Now the only question is "what form." If the info on the other thread is correct, they'd likely only stick a 2x drive in...? (Or am I reading this roadmap wrong?) Would that be fast enough to be good for gaming purposes on the PS3?

Also what codecs and other advances will come by then, but I guess some of that may even be upgradable if necessary? Might the PS3 be able to (or forced to) use a PSX-like rollout?

Also, what reply are we going to get from Microsoft now! I certainly thought Sony would take longer to announce this, so that the Xbox2 would be more locked down. But now... We'll probably get next-gen video-playing warring on next-gen consoles before it ever gets to the typical consumer otherwise!

2x it's for BD-R and BD-RE , it's the limite for writing not for simply reading BD-ROM (probably x4 for the PS3 BD-ROM)

 

[Quaz51]

and there is already rewritablex4 prototype, so for simply reading...

 

[Fafalada]

If the info on the other thread is correct, they'd likely only stick a 2x drive in...? (Or am I reading this roadmap wrong?)

You're reading it wrong, the roadmap is for media, not drive speeds.

Would that be fast enough to be good for gaming purposes on the PS3?

13.5MB/sec - not exactly ideal, but it could work. People that like to measure dicks would probably be pissed that Xenon's drive has a bit higher transfers though so...

Also what codecs and other advances will come by then, but I guess some of that may even be upgradable if necessary?

It's a console, most if not all of video playback is software so it's not exactly a big deal to change it if needed.

 

[cthellis42]

If the info on the other thread is correct, they'd likely only stick a 2x drive in...? (Or am I reading this roadmap wrong?)

You're reading it wrong, the roadmap is for media, not drive speeds.

Well I'm not surprised, since I couldn't read it. It was just my first assumption. Any idea on the drive speeds? If they're not too high, I'd still expect Sony to try to keep the PS3 as low as they can--valuing "ability" more than "capability"--so it could still end up 2x pretty easily.

Would that be fast enough to be good for gaming purposes on the PS3?

13.5MB/sec - not exactly ideal, but it could work. People that like to measure dicks would probably be pissed that Xenon's drive has a bit higher transfers though so... [/quote]
Guess it depends on RAM and all the other systematics we don't really know right now anyway.

Also what codecs and other advances will come by then, but I guess some of that may even be upgradable if necessary?

It's a console, most if not all of video playback is software so it's not exactly a big deal to change it if needed.[/quote]
Well one of the reasons I brought it up was that the PSX changed drive speeds through a firmware update--but I guess that was just for recording speed which wouldn't apply in the PS3's case? I'm wondering if--of the things they can change--it would be advantageous or not to do so with the PS3. Getting better over time is good, but not if it would be screwy with the development process... (So of course I'm not really talking about just video codecs here.)

 

[Paul]

I just HAVE TO DO THIS.

I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO

HA!

 

[Fafalada]

Well one of the reasons I brought it up was that the PSX changed drive speeds through a firmware update--but I guess that was just for recording speed which wouldn't apply in the PS3's case?

PSX uses Sony's 4xSpeed DVD-R drive, but for some reason the initial release was botched so it only worked at 1xspeed so they needed a firmware update to fix it.
It's not like firmware updates could just upgrade lowerspec drive

 

[j^aws]

I just HAVE TO DO THIS.

I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO

HA!

Ahem...and my bit...
...and the trojan horse cometh...

 

[wco81]

Well presumably, that means an HDMI or DVI output. So that will work well with games at HDTV resolutions.

Now will the studios be more inclined to sign on to the BR camp as far as releasing content, knowing that a mass-market device will be capable of playing back BR movies?

 

[Brimstone]

So a format war is inevitable now, unless something dramatic happens to get HD-DVD backers to change sides.

 

[-tkf-]

So a format war is inevitable now, unless something dramatic happens to get HD-DVD backers to change sides.

Like a PS3 with bluray?

At least it will make one format alot stronger.

 

[archie4oz]

I see a journalistic hole... While I expect the PS3 to use Blu-Ray, I haven't heard any announcement from Sony today, or even mention of the PS3 in the Blu-Ray meeting...

 

[nondescript]

So a format war is inevitable now, unless something dramatic happens to get HD-DVD backers to change sides.

Actually, I think if the PS3 does have BR, the format war just ended...

I see a journalistic hole... While I expect the PS3 to use Blu-Ray, I haven't heard any announcement from Sony today, or even mention of the PS3 in the Blu-Ray meeting...

Maybe to give themselves wiggle room if BR doesn`t pan out as expected?

 

[PC-Engine]

Actually, I think if the PS3 does have BR, the format war just ended...

You mean like how DVD in PS2 beat VHS?

It'll be funny if BR does get put into PS3 but still be forced to be HD-DVD compatible...even SONY is not that stupid

 

[archie4oz]

It'll be funny if BR does get put into PS3 but still be forced to be HD-DVD compatible...even SONY is not that stupid

How would Sony be "forced?" Do you mean like how Nintendo was forced to include DVD playback on the GCN?

Secondly Blu-Ray could end up *being* HD-DVD just as well...

 

[jvd]

well ms def has the price edge this round

 

[wco81]

well ms def has the price edge this round

You mean a cost advantage?

Or could Sony go above $300 as intro price?

Or could MS go well below $300 for intro price?

 

[PC-Engine]

It'll be funny if BR does get put into PS3 but still be forced to be HD-DVD compatible...even SONY is not that stupid

How would Sony be "forced?" Do you mean like how Nintendo was forced to include DVD playback on the GCN?

Secondly Blu-Ray could end up *being* HD-DVD just as well...

SONY could either have PS3 play BRD only or have it play BRD and HD-DVD. If they choose BRD only then PS3 won't be able to play certain movies from certain studios. Since BRD already has everything it needs to playback HD-DVDs it would be stupid of them to not make it compatible.

Regarding GCN, well it wasn't designed to play anything other than 3" game discs so that's a flawed example. If PS3 used something other than the standard 5.25" discs then you might have a point. It's like not being able to play audio CDs on a DVD player...it's dumb.