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."

Comments

Hmmm all blank media?

[st0rmcold]

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.

Re:Hmmm all blank media?

[bludstone]

Sony is a very large company. There are constant battles being fought between the different parts of it. You think sony music entertainment enjoys the fact that sony sells pocket mp3 players?

Always conflict within sony.

Re:Hmmm all blank media?

[jm91509]

Just because the machine supports *rw media doesn't mean that you'll be able to play copied games. In the same way as the original ps2 can play cdrw audio cd's but you can't play cdrw'd games without a chip afaik.

If it supported mp3 and dvdrw then happy days. Alas it appears not.

Karma

Re:Hmmm all blank media?

[st0rmcold]

Agreed, but one of the hurdles was that cheap media didn't work and it turned away potential modchipers, same with the xbox (you can replace the crappy drive with a real dvd-rom and play everything tho).

No firewire?

[binaryDigit]

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.

Firewire Port

[bparrish]

Sony's also getting rid of the iLink/FireWire/1394 port, some people used this for linking multiple PS2's for multiplayer.

PS2 has progessive scan now.

[Anonymous Coward]

At least mine does. Had an original one that didn't. Got this one at BestBuy about 4 months ago, and it has progressive scan as an option in the setup. It requires the use of a component cable, such as the monster GameLink(TM) 400.

Upgrade

[rf0]

Will there be an upgrade path for those of us with existing PS2's. Also I hope Sony are going to make this a PS2 - Special Edition, i.e. upgrade the CPU/graphics as well and as such they give it the ability to play new special games that won't work on the original PS2.

Now if they could have a special mode on new games that would take advantage of that cool.

Also the i.Link (firewire port is going). Only time I've seen it used is in a 3 screen display og Gran Turismo 3

Rus

Re:Upgrade

[WD]

Also I hope Sony are going to make this a PS2 - Special Edition, i.e. upgrade the CPU/graphics as well and as such they give it the ability to play new special games that won't work on the original PS2.

Yeah... It's going to be called "PS3"

Still waiting on VCD and other rants

[doublem]

And of course this will be another $300 for those of us who already bought the thing.

If we want the new features that is.

I'm not even THINKING about it until I hear it supports VCDs. I know the quality of a VCD is terrible compared to DVD, but a VCD is comparable to my camcorder and is sometimes the only format in which some Chinese and Japanese material is available.

I was PISSED when I tried to play a VCD of my sister's wedding in my PS2 and it didn't work.

The sickening thing is that the DVD player in the PS2 was based on hardware that CAN play VCDs, they just disabled it.

photos of SCPH 50000 on i4u

[i4u]

Sony SCPH 50000

WTF?

[brandorf]

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.

Re:You Buy A Machine...

[nbvb]

If you bought your wife a PS/2 for Christmas this year, I'd bet you're STILL sleeping on the couch.

Seriously. Even the most
advanced PS/2 Models only had a Pentium-60 chip.

Next time, don't be such a cheapskate. At least get one of those Lintendo systems from Walmart....

~NBVB

Xbox has already done this

[Glyndwr]

The Xbox has already been through a major hardware revision (v1.0 to 1.1) which offered many of the same improvements: it eliminated a 40mm fan from the GPU, which quietened the unit considerably, and replaced the bloody awful Thomson DVD drive with a shiny Samsung that can, for the first time in an Xbox, play CD-Rs (note that some units do still come with the middle-of-the-road Philips drive though). Oh, and it has a 20gig hard disk instead of the 8 in the original Xbox, too.

Funny how Sony made a song and a dance about it and Microsoft didn't, though. Not like MS to miss a marketing trick.

PS2 can support DVD+R/RW now

[thatguywhoiam]

.. if you have the right model.

I bought my PS2 the day they came out, as a dual-use DVD player and console. Worked fine for about a year and then I got bit by the now-infamous Disk Read Error.

After the usual cleanings and whatnot the problem degraded to the point where I just got fed up and bought a brand new PS2. This time, I checked the model numbers very carefully. Here's what I found... there have been at least 7 revs, all with new capabilities. The first number of your serial indicates what you have:

Serial Number on rear of machine begins with:

version 1 = serial number (refer to yellow rectangle in right of image) start with "U1" and has 10 case screws.

version 2 = serial number (refer to yellow rectangle in right of image) start with "U0" and has 10 case screws.

version 3 = serial number (refer to yellow rectangle in right of image) start with "U2" and has 10 case screws.

version 4 = serial number (refer to yellow rectangle in right of image) start with 'U3' 'U4' 'U5' or a 'U6' and has a total of 8 case screws.

version 5 = model number contains the letter 'R' (refer to the red rectangle in right side of image) at the end (example SCPH-30001 R).

version 7 = 3900X is the new PS2 Version 7 (what I have)

Once you have esatblished what version you have, examine the limitations using this chart:

Version 1 - Basic playstation 1&2 Games no dvd-r,dvd-rw compatability, NO DVD+R, NO DVD+RW COMPATABILITY

Version 2 - Basic playstation 1&2 Games dvd-r,dvd-rw compatability, NO DVD+R, NO DVD+RW COMPATABILITY

Version 3 - Basic playstation 1&2 Games dvd-r, compatability, NO DVD+R, NO DVD-RW,NO DVD+RW COMPATABILITY

Version 4 - Basic playstation 1&2 Games dvd-r compatability, NO DVD-RW, NO DVD+R, NO DVD+RW COMPATABILITY

Version 5 - Basic playstation 1&2 Games dvd-r compatability, MILD DVD-RW, MILD DVD+R, MILD DVD+RW COMPATABILITY

SECOND GENERATION PS2 VERSION 7 - (SECOND GENERATION PS2) Basic playstation 1&2 Games DVD+R,DVD+RW,DVD-R,DVD+RW compatability

Also, the latest version (available now) does away with the 2MB code that had to sit on your 8MB card just to use the DVD remote. It also seems a bit faster to load, and the fan noise is quieter.