Monday, May 16, 2005
Sony Jumps E3 Launch with PS3 Spec Announcements
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 08:49 PM
"Sony today pulled the curtain up at the Electronic Entertainment Expo to reveal their development plans and launch schedule for their latest video game console, the Playstation 3. Sony stated in a press release that the backwards compatible Playstation 3 will combine cutting edge technologies including Cell, a 3.2 GHz IBM-Sony-Toshiba jointly developed processor, RSX, a 550MHz graphics processor co-developed by NVIDIA and SCEI and 256MB of XDR memory developed by Rambus. It will also use Sony’s Blu-ray Disc ROM (BD-ROM), which has maximum storage capacity of 54GB (dual layer), to deliver entertainment content in full HD quality. The PS3 will support resolution of 1080p as standard."
This is going to be a slugfest - the PS3 is no slouch in the hardware department, and in some ways outdoes the Xbox 360. Specifically the inclusion of Blu-Ray and 1080p resolution support. For some people, this will make it their preferred device. For me, neither of those specs matter one bit, so it will come down to other factors. Why?
First, there's no real Blu-Ray content out now, and I don't expect to see it widely available until 2007 (if ever). Secondly, my brand new TV supports 720p and 1080i - but not 1080p. 1080p is obviously superior, but TVs supporting that awesome spec have only come on the market in the past couple of months. So the reality is that the vast majority of HDTVs on the market today won't be able to take advantage of what the PS3 has to offer. Some people will buy the PS3 as it's the more "future-proof" device, but since I don't personally plan on getting a new TV for at least five years, it matters not. If you're looking for a new TV in the next year however, the combination of a 1080p and a PS3 would be awesome. I wonder how much of a difference there is visually between 720p and 1080p though?
This is going to be a slugfest - the PS3 is no slouch in the hardware department, and in some ways outdoes the Xbox 360. Specifically the inclusion of Blu-Ray and 1080p resolution support. For some people, this will make it their preferred device. For me, neither of those specs matter one bit, so it will come down to other factors. Why?
First, there's no real Blu-Ray content out now, and I don't expect to see it widely available until 2007 (if ever). Secondly, my brand new TV supports 720p and 1080i - but not 1080p. 1080p is obviously superior, but TVs supporting that awesome spec have only come on the market in the past couple of months. So the reality is that the vast majority of HDTVs on the market today won't be able to take advantage of what the PS3 has to offer. Some people will buy the PS3 as it's the more "future-proof" device, but since I don't personally plan on getting a new TV for at least five years, it matters not. If you're looking for a new TV in the next year however, the combination of a 1080p and a PS3 would be awesome. I wonder how much of a difference there is visually between 720p and 1080p though?
