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PS2 Getting DVD Upgrade & Progressive Video?
blues5150 writes "ZDNET is reporting that Sony is going to be upgrading the PlayStation 2. According to the article "The new design will support most recordable DVD media, including DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. The new PS2 will also support "progressive scan", a playback method used by some TV sets for clearer images, and it will come with a built-in infrared receiver for using a remote control to control DVD playback." The bad part of all of this is that they don't have dates for availability in North America or Europe."
This is a weird step, all of the protection schemes sony has been putting on the PS2, and now they are taking steps to allow dvd-r/dvd-rw to be completly supported, maybe they think backing up is fair use? Isen't sony part of the RIAA? I am a bit confused.
Posting useless rant since 2003.
Hmmm, is the removal of the firewire port a sign that Sony is moving away from making PS2 a digital hub type appliance. Perhaps they are focusing on PS3 instead in this regard. It's interesting that they never really did anything in this regard. Even having simple dv editing (once you add a hd) would have been possible and one could have imagined that you could have done some cool effects.
Why age they getting rid of the Firewire Port? I actually have games that us it! I never understood the logic of putting expansion bays on products, then, because of "lack of support" remove it later, after I have something that uses it, forcing an interesting situation. Probbably I won't be able to use the Linux kit with the new model either. I'm willing to bet that the US release ditches the HD slot as well, as it seems that there is little chance of it being used outside of the linux kit.
Bork Bork Bork!!
I'm really suprised that burned DVD's will be supported. It looks like the reasoning is for DVD movie playback, but to me it looks like its inviting movie/game piracy. There must be more to it then just playing any burned DVD, but whatever protection is used is just asking to be hacked. I really don't see where Sony is going with this one.
take off every sig for great justice
I, for one, this this is a bunch of BS. Sony should just focus on the PS3 and make that a better system.
This is not an upgrade. I would need to buy a new PS2 in order to take advantage of these features. I want to leave my next console purchase off for a few years, so that means I am not buying one.
At the same time, I really a better DVD player on my PS2. The one in there now is real high-maintenance, needing to be cleaned before and in the middle of movies.
Bah.
Are you sure your PS2 ins't broken? My (version 3) PS2 has a fan so quiet I have to put my ear right next to it to hear it running. The DVD drive's seeks are way louder than the fan for instance.
I read the internet for the articles.
Sony sold a huge number of PS2s in Japan for the launch, but didn't see the launch game sales to match the console sales. DVD movie sales in Japan, however, skyrocketed at the launch of the PS2.
The PS2 was never used as much for DVD playback in North America. Neither was the Xbox. The DVD video quality in both consoles isn't as good as stand alone players; and the Xbox requires a $30 remote just to open up DVD playback. DVD playback is a nice little feature to have, but it certainly isn't necessary. I want my game consoles to play games; I have a DVD player to watch movies on.
That's strange - I wonder why they would want to support more formats that are currently be used for piracy, especially when most DVD-R's work fine. What they should really focus on is the quality of the lasers they use in their drives. They are already on the 7th or 8th revision of the PS2 board, and they STILL haven't gotten a decent laser that doesn't crap out after a few months of heavy use. When I bought Xenosaga (their first dual-layered DVD game), I had to swap my PS2 with a friend's whose was only a month old. It would skip on my PS2 and two others I tried the game on. I even returned it for another disc with the same results. Get your laser to work with existing media properly before opening the door to even more piracy!
Not rude at all.
I am actually planning to get a region free player a friend of mine recommends. The running joke is that "It plays pancakes." Darn thing even plays mpeg videos that have been burned to CD. (Only way to see some of the now banned Disney WWII propaganda films. Find "Educated for Death" to see some disturbing old material)
I'm just annoyed that someone buying it in a few months will have better video quality, a remote that can power the damn thing down and a few other features I would have liked in my PS2.
And giving the remote its own IR port is a BIG thing.
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
Ummm, my PS2, bog standard European release, now two years old, is capable of progressive scan. The hardware always has been. With my Linux kit I can drive a standard sync on green monitor at up to 1280x1024 resolution. However, the DVD playing part of the PS2 is in hardware (early Japanese ones were software and were very poor quality by all accounts) and they may have modified this so it can do progressive output. I do use my PS2 to play DVDs in our spare room on the little 28" widescreen set it is attached to (Pioneer LD/DVD combo on the 100" front projector in the main room) and it is OK. I put it in a glass fronted hifi box to cut back the noise and that works well, vented at the rear so it doesn't overheat.
The remote eject button plus the built in IR sensor are both welcome tweaks but I don't see any reason to replace my current PS2. On the other hand, I was thinking about getting another one for the main room, and the progressive scan output would work well with my projector......
Take it to pieces :o)
h acker.net/
Seriously, there's a way of telling from the serial numbers but I don't know it offhand. I've only ever ripped them to bits.
Some links for you:
http://www.xbox-scene.com/
http://www.xbox
Aha, here's what you're after:
http://www.xbox-scene.com/versions.php
You win again, gravity!
For reference, I believe The Getaway, SOCOM: US Navy Seals, and Guitly Gear X2 are examples of games that do prog scan output. And only in 480p.
My guess is, since the hardware support is already built in, this is a dvd driver update and might become available to all of those who had already bought our PS2s. Of course, I could be wrong completely...
Will there be any way to upgrade exististing PS2s when the new drive comes out, or will the purchase of a new unit be necessary?
"Do I dare disturb the universe?"
I have read up on this and I stand corrected -- I saw a 20,000,000 number on the top of a machine I had in pieces a week ago and must have misread it. I realise the extra space would be wasted but I just figured that MS had bought larger drives because no-one makes 8gig ones anymore, making it cheaper to waste 60% of the disk than to hold a production line open just for the Xbox.
The disk I was looking at had instruction on the sticker on the top of it that walked you through running fdisk and putting it into a Windows PC, amusingly.
The 10Gb disk that came out of my own (v1.0) Xbox is marked up with "Quality Control: Failed" stickers. Hopefully, there were bad sectors in the tail 2Gb of the disk, although you have to wonder...
You win again, gravity!
They removed the parallel expansion port due to fact that you could buy a certain Gameshark type cartridge and run CD-Rs on it. You coould also buy one that wouuld play VCD,MP-3,MAME, and gameboy game on it. Very expandable The older Playstations are still hard to find for that very reason.
Science is the Real TRUTH!