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Sony to give PlayStation3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray support in September

By | July 9, 2010, 7:31pm PDT

Summary: Hardcore gamers already know that Sony provided a firmware upgrade to the PlayStation3 in order to make the console support 3D games. Now the company is gearing up to take the next steps into turning the PS3 into an all-purpose 3D entertainment system. According to an interview with a senior director with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, [...]

Hardcore gamers already know that Sony provided a firmware upgrade to the PlayStation3 in order to make the console support 3D games. Now the company is gearing up to take the next steps into turning the PS3 into an all-purpose 3D entertainment system.

According to an interview with a senior director with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sony will deliver a new firmware upgrade in September to let the PS3 play 3D Blu-ray discs. (Of course there aren’t many more 3D movies on Blu-ray as there are 3D games.) But why stop there? The Sony exec also promised another upgrade to support 3D photos, which of course Sony digital cameras like the forthcoming Cyber-shot DSC-TX9 will take, though there was no time frame given for that update. And the PS3 will also handle 3D content that will start showing up on YouTube over the next year and on Sony’s PlayTV service.

Having been behind the curve on so many recent tech trends, Sony has managed to be out in front with a 3D living room ecosystem (if you can afford it), hoping that its massive investment in the PS3 as more than just a gaming console will be able to fend off any encroachment from Google TV and a perhaps reinvigorated AppleTV. Will all of the PlayStation 3’s 3D features give it the edge?

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Topics

3D, Sony PlayStation 3, Firmware, Firmware Upgrade, Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.

Disclosure

Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist; currently, all work that Sean does is on a contractural basis. Sean has also written corporate communications documents for CA.

Sean does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy started his tech writing career at ZDNet nearly a decade ago. He then spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. He received a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. from the University of Southern California.

Talkback Most Recent of 17 Talkback(s)

  • Anyone else...
    Anyone else find this worth more than a yawn? Seriously, I don't know anyone that likes wearing those glasses so until they have a solution sans glasses then this will be a niche market at best.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Peter Perry
    9th Jul 2010
  • Soooooo.....
    To me, more than just saying the PS3 will support 3D, this article should say .... stupid people paid a premium for the same hardware.

    If a PS3 can be update to support BD-3D, then all Blu-Ray players can be updated to support BD-3D. That means that the premium price paid for BD-3D ready players was a scam.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    9th Jul 2010
  • RE: Sony to give PlayStation3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray support in September
    @wackoae

    It was a scam if you assume that software can be developed for free.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    mKind
    10th Jul 2010
  • Ever visited sourceforge.net ??
    You will find THOUSANDS of software products developed FOR FREE. So yes. Software can be developed for free.

    The part that you are forgeting, is that Sony is giving the upgrade FOR FREE ..... and probably recouping the cost with the games.

    Given that you don't have to upgrade the PS3 hardware, that means that any Blu-Ray player in the market can be updated to BD-3D with a simple firmware update. So yes .... the $300+ premium was a scam.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    10th Jul 2010
  • That does not follow
    @wackoae While it *may* be true that some Blu-ray players could be upgraded to 3D like the PS3, your statement is a logical fallacy. Just because one device can be upgraded it does not follow that others can as well. The PS3 has the VERY powerful Cell processor, as well as a fairly powerful GPU and a good amount of RAM. It handles BD decoding in software.

    Most Blu-ray players use specialized silicon. Decoding is done in hardware and the capabilities are fixed in the physical design of the chip, and cannot be upgraded. There is some ability to add features, but only within the capabilities of the chip. If the hardware can't do 3D decoding then no amount of software will fix that, the general purpose CPU cores such chips have for basic tasks are not at all powerful enough to do decoding in software.

    Such dedicated hardware is much less expensive, and it makes the product less expensive to product overall because it also makes for a simpler design, less RAM is required, etc. So you have a cheaper, simpler design with more limitations on upgrades. Conversely a design like the PS3 is fairly expensive to produce - comparatively very expensive - but it has a lot of flexibility due to the raw horsepower.

    The fact is most Blu-ray players could NOT be upgraded to 3D, they don't have the hardware to handle it - not in hardware decoding nor the power to due it in software.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    megazone
    12th Jul 2010
  • thoughts
    "Of course there aren?t many more 3D movies on Blu-ray as there are 3D games."

    Thing is - nearly every game that uses 3D internally (which is most games on a system like the PS3) can be easily converted to work with a 3D monitor, hardware permitting.

    Games are already sending 3D to the video card, because it's used in the rendering process. It's just that it's converted to 2D in a rasterization step before it hits the display.

    In most cases, the game devs themselves don't have to do anything special. The drivers can take care of it.

    . . . at least that's the way it works on PCs. nVidia's drivers doesn't need explicit permission from the games in order to render them in 3D. Videos cards and their drivers are already working with information in 3D, so it's not a big step to use that information and apply it to a 3D monitor.

    Movies, on the other hand, are a different matter. Unlike video games, there is generally no 3D information available when the movie gets to the drivers and video card. Thus, they need to add it.

    "Will all of the PlayStation 3?s 3D features give it the edge?"

    Against the 360 - there's a chance. Against the Wii - not a chance.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    10th Jul 2010
  • The new Wii will include glass-less 3D that works on a regular HDTV
    That is what will give the Wii a huge advantage over the PS3 w/ 3D.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    10th Jul 2010
  • And what is this magic system?
    @wackoae Please, enlighten us, how will that work? All known glasses-less 3D systems use special displays (lenticular, etc), while all known 3D systems that use standard displays require glasses (anaglyph is the most common).
    ZDNet Gravatar
    megazone
    12th Jul 2010
  • 3D Wii
    @wackoae

    Where did you hear about 3D Wii without glasses? It is not the source that dictates the glasses, it is the display.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    G8rsFan
    12th Jul 2010
  • Don't ask me how it works
    Ask the Nitendo guys that did the demo during the E3 Expo
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    12th Jul 2010
  • RE: Sony to give PlayStation3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray support in September
    My son and I went to a Sony store a couple of weekends ago and they had a 3D setup playing a demo. My son spotted it first and put on the glasses and after about 10 seconds he said "That's it? I can't tell the difference with glasses or without." I put the glasses on next and he was right. I think 3D is the next waste of money in Home Theater. I personally won't spend extra money on 3D anything.

    Bert
    ZDNet Gravatar
    riverab@...
    12th Jul 2010
  • It is highly content dependent
    @riverab@... 3D is very highly dependent on the content and the depth of field - and display size to a lesser degree. The larger the display the more apparent the depth of field is, since it is all relative/proportional. And good 3D is supposed to be fairly subtle - enhancing the experience, not distracting from it. Cartoony, exaggerated 3D is highly noticeable, but rapidly becomes tiresome.

    I bought my 61" DLP in 2006, a little to early to get one upgradeable to 3D. It looks like I may be moving in the next year or so, so I'll probably hold off and buy a 3D set once I know what my new space will be like. And the longer you can wait the better the price/size ratio.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    megazone
    12th Jul 2010
  • RE: Sony to give PlayStation3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray support in Se
    I love how everyone gives their 2 cents. I also love how some make statements when they clearly know only a fraction of the subject at hand. Megazone you clearly know a lot, and applause you for educating posters. To those that ?have no intention of going 3D, leave it at that. No point in talking someone out of it, let them experience it for themselves.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DarkStar81
    12th Jul 2010
  • RE: Sony to give PlayStation3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray support in Se
    @ Bert, Sony Style stores aren't that impressive. I concur with Megazone on the fact that there are variables that come into how impressive a 3D experience should be. Best Buy is really one of the only retailers right now that can give a quality demo of 3D content. Whether that's gaming, movies, or live broadcast. I got to see the World Cup Finals on Samsungs C9000 series ($7k set) in a Best Buy store, they had it playing thru DirecTV. After the game, they switched to another 3D channel with nature content, it was impressive. So the experience will be dictated by the set, the glasses, the content & the user.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DarkStar81
    12th Jul 2010
  • RE: Sony to give PlayStation3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray support in Se
    By far, the Sony glasses are the best out there. I've tried the Samsungs, Panasonics & Sonys. They feel better on your head, there's less crosstalk, and they feel more expensive. In fact, the Sony TV set really impressed me as well among others, the Panasonic takes the crown as far PQ in 3D. @ Megazone, the only thing I have heard about Nintendo's 3D is on their new handheld DS system using 2 screens to give 3D, not their Wii system.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DarkStar81
    12th Jul 2010
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