PS3 PlayTV Video Demo

Sony has talked up the multimedia capabilities of the PlayStation 3 since before it was launched - but it is only now that those promises are being met.

[BlackCountryBob]

I am delighted to have finally seen what looks to be the final GUI in action, looks ace, I want it now.

[newneto]

So do I

[sonarus]

i wonder how much it will cost in the U.S. Also can you record your programs to an external hard drive i currently have a 160GB hard drive with like 60GB left:( need to get rid of some demos lol. Also can you connect it to view hi def programming assuming you have paid for hi def tv. It looks pretty cool and i wont hesitate to buy it once it comes out

[THC CELL]

Great
lol i can go back to amsterdam and watch english tv
i wonder it the psp slim with the av out will make it HD if i plug into my plazma ?

[mighty_douche]

Nice thought, but the AV out (or component) only runs at SD resulotions not HD, but i have tried the component out on my LCD and id say the quality is easily that of a standard DVD so its perfectly watchable.

I actually tried putting some HD content on the SD card to try out if it did indeed output at HD but alas it doesnt.

[anh_duong]

if you go to amsterdam the last thing you would want to do is watch tv.

anyone know whether you can record tv and play games at the same time.

[ravinash]

Oh, I don't know...find a nice coffee shop with wifi....no problem. ;-)

[Frances-the-Mute]

this looks cool, hope is easy to set up, cuz im kinda illiterate when it comes to add-ons

:)

[Jdoki]

If you can manage to plug your PS3 in to a wall socket, and pick up a controller I suspect you'll be able to deal with this add-on! :)

Depending on price this could be really big for Sony.

My PS3 is connected to a TV along with a cheapo Freeview box. If I could get rid of that AND gain PVR functions through PlayTV for a decent price I'll be really happy.

Throw in on-demand downloadable TV shows and Movies through PSN and the PS3 really looks to have most things covered.

[nn]

looks good
can I watch one channel on PS3 and another on PSP? or PIP on PS3?

[bourner]

yer i wonder if it has pip that would be good . i dont think you can record one thing and watch another

[Jdoki]

The article states that it's a dual tuner device. Which means you will be able to record one channel while watching another (and potentially record the channel you are watching and one other).

The dual tuner also opens up the potential for PiP although there's been no mention of it, but could be patched in later I suppose.

They also mention they are looking to patch in (maybe) recording a channel in the background while playing a game. I'm not so sure about this, as it would have to require some resources be allocated to the PlayTV service, and that could impact game performance... But I'm no software engineer!

[Rama26285]

You can record one programme while watching another since it has two turners built into it. I presume you can also record two things at the same time. The same as Sky+ I believe!

EDIT: Jdoki - You beat me to it lol

[Rama26285]

Has anyone ever found out whether you can record a programme while playing a game at the same time? That would be a huge plus to me and I'm sure many others.

Anyone know?

[Jdoki]

See my post above... The PlayTV devs are looking at the possibility of patching in this feature. But it won't be in for launch.

[paul_war]

"At the moment you can't record TV in the background while playing a game on the PS3 but I'm told the software developers are working hard to add the feature. If it isn't available at launch, the feature could be added later as a software update."

[Vitalogy]

It's all pretty cool but, most important thing wasn't revealled yet: The costs!!!!

[mighty_douche]

£99.99 here in the UK.

[Jdoki]

Is that confirmed Mighty?

99.99 is a little higher than I'd want to pay. Dual Tuner freeview boxes can be found for less than that.

[mighty_douche]

yep, confirmed, im not sure where i read it but i defo did.

Also your right, cheaper dual tuners can be found, but this has dual HD tuners which i believe is a first.

[Rama26285]

I'm pretty sure the 99.99 is the RRP, which means I'm remaining hopefuly places will sell it for less like they do everything else. I'd think it'd look much more appealing around the £79.99 or £69.99 mark.

[iMad]

My life is so complicated so i watch TV only 2 hours a week.
Even if i was TV fanatic i don't what should hold me to watch TV directly instead of watching it via PS3? I can't imagine. So this add-on will die and will not became a main stream solution for watching TV.

[Jdoki]

What you have here is an 'all-in-one' solution.

I have a TV with a Freeview box and PS3 plugged, adding this solution gets rid of the freeview. No biggie really, but for some poeple reducing extra hardware is a nice thing - it's one less remote and elctrical device. PlayTV also adds features I don't have with my current solution.

I only watch 2-3 hours of TV a week, but it's annoying when I miss that one programme I really wanted to watch... Now, not only will I be able to record that, but also watch it on either PS3 or PSP.

PlayTV may not go mainstream, but for those that want it, it looks like a fantastic device.

[Baba1906]

interesting

[Salvadore]

Are all the channels boardcasted in HD or SD?

[mighty_douche]

Currently it will be the same as standard feeview so just SD untill early 2009 when freeview starts supporting HD. So just like the rest of Sonys offerings, this is basically future proof.

[MaximusPrime]

thanks for the video! i was waiting for a demonstration.

This is the one i wanted. i really wanted to record programmes.
Using PS3 HDD is a great idea.

Thanks goodness that you can upgrade your PS3 HDD for a larger memory.

[Mikelarry]

think this will take off in the uk first reason being the only hd channel we have is bbc hd (free to view) and secondly most of the hd tv out there now have in built digital tuner. my point being why would i want to buy another accessory to watch freeview when my tv already gets freeview. its just my point of view im not hating

[Jdoki]

Absolutely see your point... I really don't think it'll set the UK alight with sales of PS3's and PlayTV boxes, but for those who do want it, it's an awesome solution...

Although HDTV's often come with freeview it's the dual freeview tuners and PVR functions PlayTV adds to the PS3 that make it compelling.

Getting a decent PVR for £99.99 (or less) is impossible right now. Plus I'd rather go with a trusted brand like Sony than some cheapo generic PVR.

[Pricey]

do many people have hard disks in there TV to record their Freeview?

[Mikelarry]

yeah i do see your points. well lets w8 and see how this plays out. i do hope when hdtv broadcast take off finaly in the uk this playtv will support it. hey does anyone know if you can get bbc hd with this?

[Rama26285]

It's not possible to get BBC HD over freeview or anything similar at the moment. The only way to get it is through Sky HD at present and if I'm not mistake Channel 4 have a HD channel also which should be free like BBC.

I believe there are plans to make these HD channels available over the air, but I doubt that will be any time soon and if we're lucky 2009/2010. But what sets this apart from already current freeview receivers is the HD turners which means that if/when HD channels start going over the air, this will already be able to receive them. Future proof.

[Matsuiichi]

I definitely think we need this in the US and Canada. It would be amazing, and yet another reason to pick up a PlayStation 3 over here. Why use anything else but your PlayStation for HD gaming, HD Television (if it can, that's the only thing I'm unsure about), as well as being an overall media hub?

And if all it takes is this peripheral to watch HD Television without a monthly fee, then you wouldn't believe how popular that would be...at least in theory.

[moveteam]

Looks wonderful, really! But do it support subtitles?

[Jdoki]

I would imagine so. I've never seen a freeview box which didn't allow subtitles to be turned on. Even the cheap ones.

I know subtitles are important to many people, a relative of mine is hard of hearing so they are vital. Also, it's good to see that finally pretty much all big budget video games are adding subtitle options.

[moveteam]

It's important in Scandinavia, because we don't use voiceover, just the original language.

[Bathyj]

Unreal.

Does anyone know is this for free to air TV only or can I watch and record my cable TV as well?

[Pricey]

This I what they should be aiming for if they want it to take off. Although it could prove very difficult, a comparison would be the folding home project, this is only used when the cells have free runtime. The difference I think is that you cant wait for this runtime to free up.

[ScottEFresh]

Apparently I need to buy this and a PSP...that's just amazing! Anyone know when this will be available in North America?

[riksweeney]

Looks OK. I think anyone interested in this would need to swap out their current HD though and install a *much* bigger one. I can't find anything in the article about the following though:

Series Link
Recording Types (Monday - Friday, Every Tuesday etc.)
Favourite Channel list so I can limit the number of channels in the list

Sounds good so far, but until they fix the inability to record while playing a game it's a bit of a no go for me.

[rulkezx]

It wont support over the air freeview in the UK, playtv ships with standard dvb-t tuners the same tuners as every other digital PVR out there at the moment.

They only claim that it will support OTA HD because some european countries already have over the air HD using the DVB standard, the UK wont, its looking like DVB-T2 or an new standard using proprietary codecs.

These are not things that can be added later with a simple FW update

[whoelse]

Excellent!

Only small annoying thing appears to be the slowing load up but apart from that.. amazing!