Playstation 3 as a media hub - how good is it? Part III -- DVD/BD related settings and DVD upscaling capability on firmware v1.9x Part 2

 

This entry is a continuation to the PS3 settings post, it focuses on the upscaling feature on the PS3.

Since I'm using  a component cable, the only way I can take the advantage of PS3's upscaling feature is to burn a DVD-R. Frankly, I only have very few DVD-R backups. The DVD-R I will be using here is Blue Gender, the anime series I reviewed not long ago. The original DVDs are D5 around 4G in size, so backups are easy, therefore I made them, but generally speaking I don't make copies...

So here upon inserting the disc, PS3 recognizes as DVD-R, upsacling will be applied.

If you press the green triangle button (options) on SIXAXIS or BT remote, it will show the options, here there are four. You won't get the fourth item "Information" if you are using a copyrighted disc or DVD-ROM.

The infromation is very basic, only shows the number of titles... I wish it shows the size of the disc...

So this is a random disc I pull out, the second disc of the anime series. This is how upscaling looks. I think this is the best picture I took in this batch.

Earlier I mentioned how I check if upscaling is applied, this is the picture, my monitor truly shows 1080i.

Move on to the DVD playing GUI, which is very similar to blu-ray disc. The top shows the title number, audio codec and bitrate, video codec and bitrate; the bottom is the timeline. These icons are also very similar to blu-ray's, it's just blu-ray disc has those red, green, blue, yellow buttons which the DVD doesn't have here. The only picture quality related settings you can access here is the AV settings, it's the second row second icon from the right (the icon right underneath number 8 and 9 and between them with two sliding bars horizontly placed, forgot to take this picture... )

Activating the AV settings, you get frame noise reduction, black noise reduction, and the method of Upscale. The noise reductions are effective at removing the noises, but on my monitor, I saw some annoying horizontal shaking lines during some scenes. Other than that, upscaling is perfect. I think the default value for both reductions are 2, choosing 3 can elaminte that horizontal shaking lines a lit bit.

There are four methods of Upscale: Normal, Double scale, full, off. The default method is Normal, as seen here. It automatically corrects the aspect ratio. Traditional DVD players with upscaling don't provide auto aspect ratio function so every time you want to watch 4:3 footage on a 16:9 screen with non-distorted image, you have to manually correct it. So PS3 is the only machine I've reviewed so far provide this feature except those DVD software  on computers... I think it's a very very good feature, saves the time switching back and forth if you want to watch 16:9 feature movie and 4:3 bonus material.

Double scale is the same as Normal but shrinks the overall picture by about 10%, and it's only working under 1080i/1080P resolution, does NOT work on 720P.

Full is remove that aspect ratio correction feature, which I think is NO good. Here is the team leader battles with an early stage blue which has its core exposed in air, knock off the core, then the blue is dead. Later evolutions on the blues have shields on the core or gets buried within their body, the scientist on the second earth developed a new type of machine called double edger which can effective kill those kinds. The very last blue they battled with does not have a core...

Off is turning off the upscaling feature, which results a softer image and loses the auto aspect ratio correction feature.

Finishing up the intro for the upscaling, here is a Copyrighted disc, Dark Angel Season 2. Non scaling is applied as detected by my monitor, 480p only.

Jessica Alba (Max) gets distorted...

Have to manually forcing 4:3 aspect ratio.

Sum up, the upscaling feature on PS3 is very effective, it provides a much vivid image than original DVD and auto corrects the aspect ratio. Only quirk is that some weird horizontal shaky lines are introduced during some scenes on Blue Gender, I haven't checked out non-anime material yet. DVDs without upsacling are about the same picture quality as my Harman Kardon DVD.

Last, PS3 has no problem displaying my authored "advanced“ subpicture, this DVD took me about 4 weeks to finish, including adding transition menus to the original menus, adding a feature page, making about 1800 subpictures by copying and pasting from the net and timing them according to the songs, competely re-programming the structure and registers in the DVD, a huge huge project I have ever done.

 

Something worth to buy -- APC UPS general review

 

UPS - uninterruptible power supply, not the UPS for delivery... It's a device to pass thru constant power to your device when your external power is functional yet it has an internal battery which is charging 24/7 just in when your external power source is cut off, this internal battery will kick in and provide temporary power until it's drained, just think of an external powered cellphone when charging (not a very good analogy, but can't think of a better one)...

I did this topic in my speech communication class, introduced this essential electronic device to my fellow classmates. When I first submit the topic, the teacher read out to the classmates, everyone was like what the fu*k are you talking about and laughed at the topic. But after I brought the actual product to the class and made the speech in front of everyone (wearing my lucky shirt that day, first speech failed due to over time, second made it within 5 minutes...)The feedback turned out to be good, some guys just started to ask me the price and functionality about it. I actually demoed them by unpluging the power cable from the wall (not good practice, should bring another plug with switch and turn off the switch...), and the desktop computer I hooked up was still running strong, they were impressed.

-So what does this product do?

To provide a short yet enough time to turn off the computer or any other electronics powered by it when you have a power outage or other power problem.

-How much does it cost?

With the lowest entry price $40 on a 350VA, and gets higher and higher on larger model.

-Do I really need it?

I think it's essential, just adds protection to your electronic devices as you would buy life insurance, car insurance etc...

This particular UPS has four outlets, which is way more than enough. Just pay attention don't overload the UPS, the protection circuit will shut itself down if it's overloaded, which means your devices are not protected. The rule of thumb is to connect only one computer to one UPS, and don't connect electric hog device such as mircrowave or laser printer... I got bite once not long ago when my PS3 and computer are on the same cyberpower 485VA UPS, the UPS stops working when my dad turn on an electrical vacuum, I was in the middle of deleting a file on PS3 and encoding a clip on the computer... This particular UPS will give you about 6-10 minutes of protection before it drains its battery, so you should have enough time turning of your computer or any other devices. You can also install the powerchute software and connect the USB cable to the UPS to monitor it. Just in case you are not at home, the powerchute will turn it off for you, but only good on computers, you're out of luck if you connect to other devices and they happen to be running...

Above is a screenshot on the powerchute software, pretty interesting to fiddle around, watching the voltage on your wire.

The lifetime on the UPS depends on the lifetime of the internal battery, according to the manual APC claims their product has a life span of 3 years. So after 3 years you should replace your battery. But I have an APC 725VA running 4 years, and don't have any issue with it and still going strong...

The end, I have purchased 9 UPS after I moved to US and discover the device and what benefits it brings. Of the total 9 UPSes, only one Belkin 650VA has failed within 1 year, the other 8 have served well.

My redemption -- HP dv2000t notebook review

(The pictures above are verve special edition from bestbuy, but except those prints, the design is the same, you get the idea)

So this is the second HP notebook I have ordered just within 3 weeks from last one, the notebooks are for others since I already have enough computers running around in our little apartment (mom always complains why I'm not turning off the desktop...)... The first one is a DV6000t, a 15.4 in one, this one is a DV2000t, 14.1 in. Both of them have almost the same spec: differences are the 14.1 in comes with windows vista home premium and has a webcam, while the 15.4 in is home basic no webcam... Admittedly got good deal on both of them, but the first one seems much better deal, about $100 less, and personally I like big stuff, the second one isn't as great as the first one considering after one and a half week after I placed the order the new dv2500t comes out with a 8400gs graphics card and core 2 duo CPU for a $60 more than what I have here, a much hotter deal IMO. If it's for me, I would definitely call HP to cancel the order and get the dv2500t, but since it's for other people and the person really needs it before school starts which will be in 2 weeks. I gave up fighting this time, just saved myself some time and energy...

This review comes kind of late, if I had time to play with the dv6000t last time, I should've probably written a review on that one.

So It's about the little brother... Here's the spec:

- HP Pavilion dv2000t CTO NB
- FREE Upgrade from Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic to Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)!
- Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2450 (2.0 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
- 14.1" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- FREE Upgrade from 512MB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm) to 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 128MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7200
- HP Imprint Finish + Webcam + Microphone
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
- FREE Upgrade to 160GB 5400RPM from 80GB 5400RPM!!
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

The design is pretty attractive, and looks slim on picture. The real item isn't that slim though (as thick and heavy as my Dell latitude D610, maybe due to some visual perspective on the slanted design), but still awesome looking, especially when it's running tons of lights lit on.

The front:

Features three audio input/output, from left to right are microphone, headphone, second headphone can also be used as digital optical output (mini adapter is required). On the left of the microphone input is the remote control reception window (I think all the DV models come with a remote control which you can put in the card slot, the receptions on the remote on good and the remote is really good not like some junky accesories you'll never use) . On the very left are three indicators for power, battery, hard drive. To the right is a dedicated switch for wireless network.

The left side are S-video, VGA, HP expansion port, ethernet, USB, IEEE 1394, Card slot on top and card reader (SD/MS/MS Pro/MMC/xD) on bottom. So the remote control goes into the card slot, a very good design. Again, I have taken a picture against a US quarter coin, it's not as thin as it looks like...

The right side are DVD burner, two USBs, phone input, and power port.

Flip over the machine, there are four compartments on the machine, one battery, one hard drive, one memory and one mini PCI (PCI-e maybe...). The placement on the hard drive is bad IMHO, it's on the left wrist panel, which heats generate after one hour or two to the point gets too hot to put your wrist on the panel. A better design would be to put the hard drive underneath the keyboard which my Toshiba does; my Dell does put the hard drive at the same spot but the panel doesn't get hot at all.

The screen is a glossy one, which is too reflective IMO. Turning off your notebook, you'll get a fully functional mirror. On top the screen there is a 1.3MP webcam (I sought of take on redemption this time by choosing a webcam although the "Client" doesn't really need it, regret didn't do it on the 15.4in one) and a built-in microphone, the webcam is really good, the image quality is better than my microsoft vx-1000 webcam which costs as much as this one for retail price (of course I got a much cheaper price on the vx-1000). There is a dedicated switch for the mouse pointer, the pointer is OK but hard to move it if your fingertip is sticky, there's too much friction on the touchpad (After getting used to the tracking stick on my Dell, I just cannot go back). The keyboard is good but does feel somewhat different than Dell and Toshiba. On top of the keyboard, there are the power button and cool multimedia quick access buttons all with blue led, very cool when running but could get distracting in dark room for others...  Yet top to the power button and quick access keys, there comes the great Altec Lansing speakers. The sound goes to the screen then bounces back to user's ears. The placement of the speakers is a disaster if you want to close the lid and listening to music, other than that, it's perfect, sound quality is as good as those PC speakers for $20-$40, only wish is that they could've include a subwoofer on the notebook, that would make my day. There's no mechanical lock on the machine, it uses a magnesium locing mechanism which desn'it seem to lock very tight between the lid and the base.

I took about half a day uninstalling the unnecessary programs and made a backup discs, from what I can tell, the speed is good, the programs maybe slow for the first time running, but after second time re-launching it's almost instant to start up. The 7200Go video card should be able to handle most of the popular 2005 era games. I have only tested one 1080P 12Mbps x.264 encoded clip, it plays fine with sync-ed audio. Software side there's a weird problem I haven't figured out, the machine won't go to sleep when close the lid, I have to manually push the power button to let it sleep before close up the lid.

I haven't tested the battery life yet, but should go about two and a half hour and more under normal condition.

Last, a picture with my Dell.

 

Playstation 3 as a media hub - how good is it? Part III -- DVD/BD related settings and DVD upscaling capability on firmware v1.9x Part 1

 

So this is my 3rd post on Playstation 3 as a media hub topic. Since firmware 1.80, SONY adds dvd and PS1, PS2 game upscaling capability. This is a huge update to further extends the capability of PS3. This review will be more focus on explaining the limitation of using component cable output @1080i I had mentioned earlier on that Fifth Elment BD post. There will be two parts in this review, first half of posing images on various settings related to DVD/BD output, video/audio output; second half of posting images on scaling functionality. There will be tons of pictures for illustration, since I believe visual aids are better approach than words.

So the first picture is my user screen, the overlay image is my Samsung monitor showing information about current resolution, this is the most accurate way of determining whether I get upscaling or NOT (upsacling should show 1080i, no upscaling should show 480p, it's that easy). 

This is the initial video settings, here you can setup video output, advanced RGB color space (I suppose it's for HDMI 1.3 deep color space) , super white to archieve whiter than white (WTW) and blacker than black (BTB) (I have very limited understanding of this...)

Going into the Video Output Settings, you'll get the following image showing all outputs PS3 supports. If you set wrong here or your TV/monitor does NOT support that particular setting, you'll only get black screen. To reset, turn off PS3, then push the power button for 5 sec, PS3 will default output to AV MULTI, the lowest setting. I have to choose Component here, since I have no luck with HDMI.

Next screen is resolution, pick the ones your TV/monitor, PS3 will default the resolution to the highest resolution you chose. My monitor only accepts 480p and 1080i, so PS3 defaults the resolution @1080i, when 1080i is NOT avaliable like in some games or copyrighted DVDs, PS3 outputs @480p which is the next lower resolution I have.

Oops, a blurry image using an image stablization enabled camera... This is a summary of the output settings.

This is a warning about the shortcome on component output I have mentioned again and again. So if you're dying for the upscaling function yet only old TV set with component input, you're out of luck to get most of the upscaling part, unless you use DVD-R to backup all your DVD collections either shrink or split in order to fit on D5 capacity...

Two other important settings on HDMI side, but you need a good HDMI 1.3 equipped TV to support this advanced function...

Some people have report losing whiter than white (WTW), blacker than black (BTB) function on certain TV after upgrading to firmware 1.8 or later...

Move on to the Audio Output Settings, it's very similar to Video Output. What a blurry picture...

Good pictures on output jacks for those NOT too tech savvy people. Use HDMI if you have a TV with HDMI inputs, but you'll only get 2 channels and crappy sound from tiny TV speakers; or connects to an HDMI equipped AVR, but the AVR must able to accept HDMI audio streams, if you get an earlier generation with switching only, save your cable and connects to TV directly... HDMI gives you the ultimate bandwidth to handle multi-channel stream decoded by PS3 or those uncompressed LCPM from BDs. Digital Out is used if you have an older AVR, it's good for games and DVD movies, but lack support for uncompressed LPCM, multi-channels lossless stream (Dolby True HD and DTS HD), and SACD due to bandwidth and copyright issue... I am currently using Digital Out since my Harman Kardon AVR is an older one. (just how irony I bought it last year, and thought that opictal/coxial are the ultimate inputs, well this year I'm already behind technology, sigh...) AV MULTI is only good for 2 channels, no comment for it.

After picking the outputs, choose the format, I wish I have an AAC decoder on my AVR, but that will only be on products in Japan or Korea, too bad... I also picked Linear PCM 2 Ch. 88.2 kHz for upsampling on CDs.

Here is another warning is your AVR doesn't support that particular frequency (88.2, 176.4), your speakers will be damaged... My AVR supports 24bit/96 kHz.

After all done, finally comes the summary page.

The following squences of images are for DVD/BD functionality on video and audio playback.

Lots of options for menu, language, subtitle stuff...

Towards the bottom are advanced features.

Cinema conversion is an option for how the PS3 will process the video frame type, whethe process as video or as film. Automatic is default, let the machine to analyze, video is always process as video no matter what, no good for 23.97 film material.

DVD Wide Display, a typical setting also seen on standard definition DVD players. Letterbox is the typical choice for widescreen TVs.

Next comes the exciting feature -- the upscaling settings. You can turn off, Double Scale (does NOT work on 720p output, outputs about 10% smaller than Normal), Normal (this option is default, it provides auto aspect ratio correction! It suprises me since it's the first DVD player I've ever purchased having this function, only the softwares on PC provide this kind of functionality. I do appreciate the convience it brings since I no longer have to see a distorted image for 4:3 material on a 16:9 screen without manually switching 16:9 or 4:3 back and forth.), Full Screen (Disable the auto aspect ratio correction while still supports upsacling, don't know why you want to do this, maybe for proctection on those older plasmas with burn-in problem...)

This 1080p/24Hz is a deal breaker for lots of people on AVSforum, outputs @ the original frame rate can elaminate the motion jutterness during a large scene change. The older generation blu-ray players are NOT capable doing this... Automatic lets the device to choose, Off is of course no 24Hz... On is alway enforcing 24Hz output (this is a new feature since firmware 1.90)

Move on to audios...

If you choose HDMI as audio output earlier, you can choose which decoding method to use here. Bitstream outputs raw audio stream without any processing, currently PS3 is NOT able to output DolbyTrue HD and DTS Master Audio yet. So in order to hear those sound tracks, you have to choose the second option - Linear PCM which lets PS3 decoding internally, then output as LPCM (PS3 CANNOT decode DTS Master Audio yet)...

If you choose Optical Output as audio output earlier, you can choose Bitstream or Linear PCM here. Bitstream gives you multi-channel audio streams such as Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, Linear PCM will only do 2 channel due to limited bandwidth...

Upon choosing Bitstream, PS3 gives yet another warning. What it means is that if your BD offers Dolby True HD or DTS HD/Master audio, you will only get the core lossy information from these lossless formats, still they should be on par with or better than any Dolby or DTS tracks standard def DVD offers. It's a compromised solution if you want to wait for the BD final spec to settle down and bitstream on DTS HD/MA are possbile on output (PS3 or other BD player) and input (AVRs that accepts bitstream)...

This is the end of part 1, which pretty much explains all the settings related to video and aduio outputs/settings. Part 2 will be the hands on on upscaling DVD-Rs vs non upscaling DVD-ROMs...