PS3 Update Brings DIVX and BD1.1 Support

[MooglePorn]

From http://ps3.qj.net/-UPDATE-Heads-up-P.../49/aid/109879 :

Heads up! Sony UK has announced that the next PlayStation 3 firmware update could be coming in tomorrow, a month after the last version came out. Version 2.10 will have a couple of new features, including the new Voice Changer function and DivX support.

For this new firmware update, you'll need 120 MB of free space on your unit. For now it seems we won't see the system go BD-Live yet, but the system is going up to Blu-Ray Profile v1.1 allowing picture-in-picture interactivity for certain Blu-ray discs.

Also, according to the Blu-ray website, the new Voice Changer function will be able to support in-game chat. Hopefully this indicates progress towards in-game access to the XMB.

Here are the reported updates from the UK PlayStation site:

Voice Changer feature:

* You can change the tone of a voice that is input from an audio device such as a microphone. High and low-pitched tones can each be adjusted to five preset levels. You can vary the tone when using voice / video chat under Friends.

Music

* You can now select [Type 3] as an option under Settings > [Music Settings] > [Bitmapping]. This bitmapping process was developed specifically for the PS3 system to enhance audio playback.

Video

* DivX and VC-1 (WMV) have been added to the types of files that can be played.
* Blu-ray Disc Profile 1.1 is now supported.
* [BD Data Utility] has been added.

Update:

The page that made the firmware update announcement seems to have been been pulled out from the Sony UK website, as well as it's corresponding entry on the Spanish Playstation website, so there is a possibility we won't be able to see the firmware go live tomorrow.

The website said (before it was pulled down), that "an update to the PS3 system software was released on December 18, 2007." The phrasing in the past-tense suggests that there might have been a slip up - as some people now assume, the page probably wasn't meant to go up until the firmware update "was" made available.

We'll have to wait for news from Sony to confirm what happened and what the status is with the firmware. Hopefully, the info stated in the update was accurate and was just posted prematurely. We'll keep you posted on updates as soon as we get them.

Thanks to Mentality and YaMi_SeNsEi for bringing it to our attention!

Considering you can throw any HDD into the PS3 you want, Divx support makes it one fucking amazing media center.

[BoSoxMole]

DivX means nothing to me. I would still have to convert it to DivX to get it to play.

Give me AVI playback and I'll be a happy man.

[videoworx]

Give me AVI playback and I'll be a happy man.

AVI is a wrapper. If the AVI is encoded with Divx or Xvid (highly likely if it's a downloaded TV show/movie), it will play. The PS3 already supports H.264, and with the new update WMV as well. That covers quite a few bases.

MKV support would be nice, and would eliminate any need for a Windows/Mac-based HTPC.

[MooglePorn]

I was about to say, pretty much every AVI I have plays through Divx supported machines/players.

I'm pretty sure the PS3 will now play any AVI you throw at it.

Also: the update is now live.

[Derb]

Should be ready to go.

Isn't T3 the first Pro 1.1 title to be released tomorrow?

Need DTS-HDMA next & this thing will be the best HD playback device period!

[BoSoxMole]

Originally Posted by videoworx

AVI is a wrapper. If the AVI is encoded with Divx or Xvid (highly likely if it's a downloaded TV show/movie), it will play. The PS3 already supports H.264, and with the new update WMV as well. That covers quite a few bases.

MKV support would be nice, and would eliminate any need for a Windows/Mac-based HTPC.

Well, it doesn't let me play any AVIs that I download. I have to convert them to MP4s. No big deal, since it takes about 5 minutes, but still. Even when it's a Xvid file.

EDIT: Yeah, I just tested it and it won't let me play an AVI that is encoded with Xvid.

[brian]

Originally Posted by videoworx

MKV support would be nice, and would eliminate any need for a Windows/Mac-based HTPC.

You could always buy an original Xbox and soft mod it. It makes for a nice media center that plays everything from flac to mkv to xvid to realplayer(if that's what you're into). But it sucks at playing HD encodes.

[videoworx]

Originally Posted by brian

You could always buy an original Xbox and soft mod it. It makes for a nice media center that plays everything from flac to mkv to xvid to realplayer(if that's what you're into). But it sucks at playing HD encodes.

So why would I want an Xbox, if it sucks at playing HD encodes? I already have an HTPC to take care of all that. My point was that if the PS3 could support MKV (without installing Linux), I would have no more use for my HTPC.

[brian]

Originally Posted by videoworx

So why would I want an Xbox, if it sucks at playing HD encodes? I already have an HTPC to take care of all that. My point was that if the PS3 could support MKV (without installing Linux), I would have no more use for my HTPC.

I don't know about you, but I don't use HD encodes all that often. So I guess you wouldn't want it, but I think it's kind of ... swell.

[ganthc]

Well, I will have to download the new firmware when I get home. This is exciting, and shows that the ps3 is still the best blu-ray player out there.

[dugpa]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Well, I will have to download the new firmware when I get home. This is exciting, and shows that the ps3 is still the best blu-ray player out there.

Of course it's not a real blu-ray player. Don't believe me, even Disney thinks so. Notice their discs now have a label on them that says "plays on all blu-ray players and the playstation 3." See, even they think they're not the same thing.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Well, I will have to download the new firmware when I get home. This is exciting, and shows that the ps3 is still the best blu-ray player out there.

It is missing some key features though if you want to consider it "the best." Does not have bitstream output of nextgen codecs nor does it Reon for DVD upscaling. Of course, neither of these things are deal breakers (hell, bitstream audio isnt even useful in its current state IMO), but when you say "the best" I think it would need to have these things.

[Derb]

Yeah uh, T3 isn't a true PIP if I recall right. Warner decided to do 2 separate encodes ala The Descent.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by dugpa

Of course it's not a real blu-ray player. Don't believe me, even Disney thinks so. Notice their discs now have a label on them that says "plays on all blu-ray players and the playstation 3." See, even they think they're not the same thing.

Originally Posted by Ruined

It is missing some key features though if you want to consider it "the best." Does not have bitstream output of nextgen codecs nor does it Reon for DVD upscaling. Of course, neither of these things are deal breakers (hell, bitstream audio isnt even useful in its current state IMO), but when you say "the best" I think it would need to have these things.

True. But of blu-ray players currently out, it is the best. I guess you could go up to the Samsung 5000, but that doesn't have wireless and is double the price. But the Samsung player may soon be the flagship player outside the ps3.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

True. But of blu-ray players currently out, it is the best. I guess you could go up to the Samsung 5000, but that doesn't have wireless and is double the price. But the Samsung player may soon be the flagship player outside the ps3.

It can get upgraded to wifi for $50-$70 with a Wireless Ethernet Bridge, though.