Sony confirms no HDMI upgrade for base PS3
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted May 18th 2006 2:00AM
posted May 18th 2006 2:00AM
We were afraid that this might be the case, but that doesn't mean we aren't disappointed for all those bargain hunters out there. The PS3 like the Xbox 360 comes in multiple favors, but unlike the Xbox 360, the cheaper PS3 has no chance to equal it's bigger brother with upgrades. Although you can upgrade almost everything, the one thing that can't be upgraded is the HDMI port. Which of course leaves owners in the cold should the big bad studios ever decide to exercise their right to enable ICT. Of course this isn't a problem now, but we are all afraid it may be the case eventually. Now the question still remains, will the Xbox 360 ever get a HDMI port?via [Engadget]
When I left the Sony press conference, I was joking with some of my tech editors that people would be calling places like Best Buy asking "Hey, you got any core PS3s left?"
The whole HDMI fiasco has changed all that. Amazing how Sony went from Dual 1080p to only one version of the console supports it and as of right now, no real-time playable games (just the tech demo Gran Turismo HD and a non-playable demo).
Yikes.
No one will be 'left in the cold' if ICT is 'turned on'. Anyone who wants to use the PS3 as a movie player will/should buy the $600 PS3.
Anyone who can't wait until more $600 PS3s are in stock (you know who you are) know what they're getting into. There's always Ebay & plenty of people who buy games systems to play, dare I say, games.......
I think they are gonna keep changing their minds about what the ps3 is actually going to be until the day it comes out.
kinda like the controller, the pricing, all that jazz. everyone keep being vocal about it! sony is bleeding money out of its ass and it sure as hell doesn't want to screw this up.
Are there any TVs that accept a 1080p signal through component? I don't know of any.
The problem I see Sony having is that they are getting too close to the price of a normal computer... Getting a video card that gets you HDMI out will be easy and you would have the choice of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray plus the capability of burning those discs if you buy a drive for your PC down the road. I think they have spent way to much time focusing on movies and not enough time on games.
One may wonder why they didn't build a standard connection that could be supplemented with a cable like the 360 did...
I think they NEED to offer a lower priced model and the only thing they can "afford" to drop out of the console is the HDMI... if they drop the Blu-Ray drive the machine wont even work with the games since the games will be produced on blu-ray. But it does gives users enough reason to buy the higher end model and feel better about the higher price.
Also... the 20/60 GB hard drive is stupid... if you are going to put a bigger hard drive in the highend console it HAS to be much large than the smaller one... You need to get that up to 100GB+... you can 250GB in a Tivo box...
Jason said:
"Also... the 20/60 GB hard drive is stupid... if you are going to put a bigger hard drive in the highend console it HAS to be much large than the smaller one... You need to get that up to 100GB+... you can 250GB in a Tivo box..."
Yeah but the hard drives they are using are the 2.5" notebook drives. 100+GB hard drives in that size are few and expensive.
I welcome any device using a new disc standard without HDMI. The more of them out there, the better the chances that the Image Contrant Token will never be turned on.
Depending on the set, component WILL take up to 1080p. Side-by-side component v. DVI/HDMI, the difference to me is not worth the HDCP/DRM/ICT that is tacked on. The audio on the HDMI is nice though (one cable for everything) and the control signal that only Panasonic I think is using right now for some real communication between AV devices.
All that said however, when a $150 (or less) upconverting DVD player has an HDMI, anything above that price I believe should have one regardless.
I agree with NNTPgrip's first comment. Maybe if HDMI is not popular, it will force them not to use the ITC.
One can hope. Poor me with my old-school rear-projection HDTV.
"I welcome any device using a new disc standard without HDMI. The more of them out there, the better the chances that the Image Contrant Token will never be turned on."
"I agree with NNTPgrip's first comment. Maybe if HDMI is not popular, it will force them not to use the ITC."
That is completely backwords logic. If HDMI doesn't catch on, the studios WILL use ICT. Component video is easier to export, and subsequently pirate. The whole point of HDMI was to improve copy protection while providing a digital signal.
On a random note, why does Blogsmith sometimes eat replies? I don't get an email for some posts. Why can't they switch to some kind of user id-based system so comments are posted immediately and not verified (and sometimes lost)?
The studios will not go so anti-consumer that they shut out a good many by turning on ICT if HDMI is not widely adopted is the point. At least that is what you would hope.
It has come to the point now that the companies doleing this crap out are so evil, you hope that things come out that don't fully implement a standard, etc. etc. to prevent new rules.
For example, I like the fact that some manufacturers are stopping the inclusion of a cablecard slot. Might just prevent people who have just basic cable from having to rent ANY equipment when the transition to all-digital is made because the pressure is there to keep the basic channels QAM "in the clear".
blah blah blah, and so forth...
and by transition, I mean the cable companies who are dropping analog to goo all digital and save bandwidth, not the OTA transition.
Of course ICT will be turned on, its the whole point of next generation High Def DVD's.
Remember the PS2 and the green screen Macrovision stuff, why on Earth in this day and age would the Film companies be relaxing their Rights Management.
HDMI is here to stay, it IS the HD standard and will continue to be at least for the next 5+ years or so.
The crippled $495 version won't even be able to watch blu-ray movies except at standard DVD resolution which begs teh question why bother with a blu-ray drive for games - I can't see developers lining up to use the extra space.
I was looking forward to the PS3 but they've ballsed it up, I cant see what it offers me except a cheap (and probably nasty) blu-ray drive, If its going to be as good as a standalone player then why are the standalone players 10 times the size, without a video games machine, hard drive etc... crammed inside.
I've seen a lot of 1080p over component bits here. AACS (used in both HD DVD and Blu-ray) does not allow 1080p out of component. A max of 1080i can be done through component. This isn't dependant on ICT on or off. On of off, that max you can output through component is 1080i. Want 1080p? You must be using a digital connection (HDMI)
Chris