PlayTV info

[Shifty Geezer]

Don't jump the gun - it's got a downgrade :

Sony has told Eurogamer that PlayTV will not allow saved video files be transferred to PSP, PC, or memory sticks. Instead, the PS3 telly-recorder will only be able to stream live or recorded content to your PSP using remote play functionality.
...
We were also told that PlayTV will not record HD signals at launch, and that Sony is working on making this feature possible in the future.

 

[Nesh]

Bummer. The PSP demonstration they did with PlayTV last year looked awesome. I want to be able to download the videos on it too. I think they are doing it for piracy reasons

At least they are going to allow HD recording in the future

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Well they better! They're including dual HD tuners which accounts for some of the cost. Anyone buying PlayTV without working HD recording is spending money on faith. As for why they're not supporting it, can it be an HDD bandwidth issue? Recording a low bitrate SD stream isn't as taxing on the HDD as an HD stream, and perhaps that'd impact games too much? I can't see what other possible reason they'd have, outside of problematic content licensing issues.

 

[patsu]

Hm... if they pull back so late, the functionality is probably working. I thought the HD broadcast specs in Europe was finalized, is there any last minute changes ? The other reason could be HD recording didn't run well for at least one title in the final tests.

The video copy feature was also working, so it's probably a business or legal decision to curb it.

PlayTV sales will suffer somewhat. No wonder they dropped the price.

 

[habbe]

Just for reference you can get an usb dvb-t tuner for 30 dollars.

And i belive there is an possibility to record one channels as you view another channel with one tuner if the channels are in the same muxed stream.

But there will hopefully be 2 tuners in PlayTV.

 

[patsu]

I think it's been confirmed that there are 2 tuners in PlayTV. They can't pull one out at the last minute. They can't do that to us... er... you.

 

[habbe]

Well thats great, I wonder if it will support smartcards and "CAMs" as this is the usual way to subscribe to the dvb-c or dvb-t here in Sweden.

 

[Arwin]

Eurogamer review:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=227321 8/10

 

[patsu]

Thanks for posting. The best part:

The big question, though, is how games perform with recording going on in the background - particularly after the setup procedure advises, "This may affect gameplay or the quality of recordings that take place. Recording is not possible during PlayStation 2 format discs." Eek!

However, our immensely scientific testing procedure couldn't fault it. We played Ridge Racer 7 while PlayTV recorded Deal or No Deal and didn't notice any difference. We played Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and made sure we were doing that graphically gruelling bit with the submarine in the jungle just as Man City started to embarrass themselves against some unpronounceable Danes: not the slightest shudder as the recording started.

The worst:

That said, we suspect most of the team's time, at least for the moment, will be taken up by trying to get rid of the software crashes we experienced.

While it should be noted that our PlayTV review copy comes with the standard disclaimer that it "may not be representative of the final build", it's clearly finished in most areas (right down to the inclusion of promotional sample videos and compatibility with retail PS3s - rare among unfinished PS3 review builds), and it did crash half a dozen times, usually while trying to watch a channel with poor signal strength. Worst of all, it's a hard lock that necessitates a reboot, busting any ongoing recordings until the power's back on.

EDIT:

There were other minor issues, too, but these are mostly incidental, and potentially patchable if anyone moans enough. Probably the most irritating is the absence of information on what PlayTV's doing when you're not in the PlayTV software itself. Exit to the XMB, go into a game or load a Blu-ray and you'll be notified in the top-right when recordings begin or end, but there's no XMB-level access to schedules.

Extending XMB to handle multitasking is a very nice touch. But Sony hasn't fared so well extending XMB to handle multiple information sources. The Information Board was a disaester (IMHO). Adding other side services like Google Search is a clutter. With new products like PlayTV, Home, Life with Playstation, VidZone coming. they should give XMB another round of polish. Otherwise, they will appear as a litany of loose items.

I'd like to see some tight/seamless integration between the new services and XMB. e.g.,

* "Active" wallpaper for displaying real-time info in the background

* "Dashboard layer(s)" for peeking into and controlling active background processes (We have a playback panel for background music in XMB, we should also have a PlayTV panel when it's running in the background).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That 'worst' is a total deal-breaker. They can't release it with those sorts of crashes. In fact, with any sorts of crashes to the recording. That's actually another issue against the PS3 as a DVR. Some games crash it (I've had Civ Rev and Warhawk freeze requiring a power-off), and that'd interrupt recording. If the system were rock-steady, or at least invulnerable to system lockups and you could also return to the XMB and close a game, than I'd trust it. As it stands, a standalone still seems the better choice IMO.

 

[patsu]

Yeah, if I were Sony, I will get back to the reviewers and prove to them that the issues were fixed.

 

[Gradthrawn]

Yeah, if I were Sony, I will get back to the reviewers and prove to them that the issues were fixed.

Shifty's point would still stand, it can hard lock due to some games. Detrimental for a primary DVR.

However, I would defenitly pick 1 up as a secondary. Mainly to make my recordings portable. If it happens not to record, no big deal, my primary DVR will have likely picked it up. Of course, they would have to support transfers to the PSP at minimum, and I don't mean Remote Play.

 

[patsu]

Ouch, didn't read his post carefully enough. It's the old memory protection issue on PC OS. Yes, an unstable game would foil the entire setup. It's been rare for me so far. The one or two bad firmware upgrades created more problems for me than freezing games.

 

[pcchen]

That 'worst' is a total deal-breaker. They can't release it with those sorts of crashes. In fact, with any sorts of crashes to the recording. That's actually another issue against the PS3 as a DVR. Some games crash it (I've had Civ Rev and Warhawk freeze requiring a power-off), and that'd interrupt recording. If the system were rock-steady, or at least invulnerable to system lockups and you could also return to the XMB and close a game, than I'd trust it. As it stands, a standalone still seems the better choice IMO.

One possible solution to this problem would be through virtualization. For example, if games and DVR applications run on two different virtual machines, a game will crash only its virtual machine, and shouldn't have affect the DVR application.

 

[patsu]

They all have close-to-the-metal access to RSX and Cell.

As long as PlayTV runs on its own SPU and the memory is mapped and protected by the Hypervisor, they should be pretty separate right now.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Thing is perhaps the TV recording would still work with the game frozen, but you wouldn't know, and you wouldn't be able to restart the machine to start playing again without interrupting the recording. So you'd be faced with the choice of losing a bit of recording or leaving the PS3 running just in case. Actually a few minutes, if that, lost due to interruption woiuldn't really ruin your day unless it's the bit with the detective explaining who dunnit, but still, compared with a standalone, PlayTV has too many little niggles against it yet without the pricepoint to make enduring those niggles worthwhile. I will be very interested to see how well it does or doesn't sell.

 

[Gradthrawn]

...but still, compared with a standalone, PlayTV has too many little niggles against it yet without the pricepoint to make enduring those niggles worthwhile. I will be very interested to see how well it does or doesn't sell.

I wouldn't call the average PS3 owner price sensitive, exactly. I don't see how the they could be (on average), given the competition. I would venture to say they're far more feature sensitive. I'd wager the lack of transfer options and HD support (out of the box) would be bigger barriers than the price. Perhaps I'm just speaking for myself.

Regardless, the sales will be interesting.

 

[patsu]

Thing is perhaps the TV recording would still work with the game frozen, but you wouldn't know, and you wouldn't be able to restart the machine to start playing again without interrupting the recording. So you'd be faced with the choice of losing a bit of recording or leaving the PS3 running just in case. Actually a few minutes, if that, lost due to interruption woiuldn't really ruin your day unless it's the bit with the detective explaining who dunnit, but still, compared with a standalone, PlayTV has too many little niggles against it yet without the pricepoint to make enduring those niggles worthwhile. I will be very interested to see how well it does or doesn't sell.

If that's the case, PS3 will need a "3-finger-salute" task manager to reset the gaming environment.

I think PlayTV is a great start. If I were in Europe, I will probably get one. The issue you highlighted is a valid point, but the "task manager" fix applies to the OS design and implementation, not PlayTV.

The best they can do now is to fix the crashes in PlayTV itself. What's more sad is the content restriction. I hope they change their stance in the near future.

 

[Gradthrawn]

All is well again with copying content? Who knows...

Any recorded footage is slapped in a Library menu, automatically tagged with the programme name and description. Hit X on it and PlayTV runs the recording. Again, nice and simple.

Or, brilliantly, you can export videos to your PS3's XMB menu as MPEG-4 video (despite rumours suggesting the feature had been removed). From there you can use it like a normal file - watch it on your PS3, put it on PC, transfer it to your PSP... whatever you like.

They need to address this issue, however:

So, all round, all good. But there are a couple of problems. The main issue is that PlayTV won't turn on your PS3 to record a programme. So if you set your PS3 to record something your console will have to be on at that time. Not too convenient.

...and this:

The other problem is a more techy. Advanced recording systems like Sky+ can be set to record every episode of a particular series regardless of what time episodes are aired. Using whatever industry-standard trickery involved, it knows when the programme is on and starts recording. PlayTV can't do that.

Not to mention Shifty's concern about the general stability of the system.

But if content is DRM free, I'd be willing to overlook those issues. Especially if they address having to leave the PS3 on.

 

[patsu]

So, all round, all good. But there are a couple of problems. The main issue is that PlayTV won't turn on your PS3 to record a programme. So if you set your PS3 to record something your console will have to be on at that time. Not too convenient.

So the PS3 won't wake up from standby when it's time to start a recording ? It has to be "active" ? (like staying in XMB, or running an application ?)