Posted by GMAN on 04/14/06 14:30

In article <MPG.1ea8d5a597afabd398a46c@news.nabs.net>, Jeff Rife <wevsr@nabs.net> wrote:
>Doug Jacobs (djacobs@shell.rawbw.com) wrote in alt.tv.tech.hdtv:
>> > What will make the PS3 a "good" movie player are the things that make a
>> > good DVD player (in no particular order):
>> > - remote control (including battery life, layout, etc.)
>>
>> Judging from the PS2, Xbox and 360, I'm pretty sure a remote will be
>> available as a separate accessory. Bet on it being included in many store
>> bundles.
>
>Without it being included in every box, the PS3 automatically becomes
>a pretty crappy movie player. Seriously, a $500 device damn well better
>have a $10 remote included.
>
>> > - variety and utility of hardware audio/video outputs (i.e., what plugs
>> > it has)
>> > - variety and utility of software audio/video outputs (i.e., what formats
>> > it can output)
>>
>> The PS3 will definitely support analog video (composite, s-video,
>> component) just like the PS2, as well as HDMI, which I believe will be
>> required for movie playback of Blu-Ray DVDs at full resolution. (this is
>> still sort of fuzzy.) I'm guessing the PS3 will have the same audio options
>> the PS2 has - stereo RCA cables, or optical audio. Probably no digital coax.
>
>This isn't nearly enough. To make it a good player, it needs to have
>7-channel analog outputs, because the audio formats won't likely be
>able to be decoded externally by anything at the time it is released.
>
>Also, the "software" part is the different output modes it will allow...
>it should have at a bare minimum choice of 1920x1080 @ 60p, 60i;
>1280x720 @ 60p; 720x480 @ 60p, 60i; and it would be nice if it had
>some of the "computer" resolutions (1366x768, 1280x768, etc.). Also,
>how many stretch and zoom modes will it have?
>


That is the job of the HDTV display, not the player.


>> > - output quality
>> > - config menu quality and ease of use
>> > - speed of load/eject/seek
>> > - software playback features (FF, REW modes, etc.)
>>
>> Why does speed of loading/ejecting the disc matter so much?
>
>Because some of the first DVD players took nearly 30 seconds to
>recognize the disc and start displaying actual video from the menu.
>With more storage on the disc for Blu-Ray, the seek times might be *very*
>high, and result in a similar thing. With current DVD players getting
>to the first output in 5 seconds or so, it would be a bad initial
>experience for a user to wait very long.
>
>Basically, taking 20 seconds to load up a game is OK...it's not OK for
>video, but will Sony see it that way?
>

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