Firmware 2.30 expands PS3 Blu-ray feature set, introduces new storefront
Wednesday 16th April 2008, 12:13:00 AM, written by Carl Bender
Firmware 2.30 has been released for the PS3, bringing with it heavily anticipated support for DTS-HD MA audio decoding in Blu-ray films. Long viewed by A/V enthusiasts as the most conspicuous absence in the PlayStation's media capabilities, DTS-HD MA is a lossless audio codec compressed through a variable bit-rate scheme for significant savings to both bandwidth and disc space when compared to the original linear PCM. As several popular Fox and New Line films have made use of this codec in order to present their audio tracks, PS3 support for the format has been sought by audiophilic owners of the console since roughly the launch of the system. Similarly to how Dolby TrueHD is handled by the PS3, DTS-HD MA is now de-compressed internally via Cell and output as LPCM through the HDMI connection.
More important for the majority of users than the above, has been the complete redesign of the PlayStation storefront. The PS Store has undergone a dramatic shift from being browser-based (and slow) to running natively on the hardware; an active Internet connection is still required to browse, with content/images loaded dynamically on the fly into a logical hierarchical layout. Button mapping has been re-envisioned as well to center around the 'X' and 'circle' keys, with previous browser-based mappings put out to pasture. The store experience has become more pleasant as a result, and should serve both Sony and the consumer well as more and more content is placed online for download.
These improvement themselves come on top of the already significant gains delivered in March 24th's firmware 2.20, which saw PS3 obtain BD profile 2.0 status. Other 2.20 improvements were the reduction in processor load (and thus fan speed) during DVD upconversion, 'mosquito noise' filtering for optical content, increased support for DivX/WMV files played from either the hard drive or over the network, and optimized browser performance.
Future updates to the console may include managed and/or portable copy for Blu-ray content, and 1080i de-interlacing capabilities. In-game XMB access and the introduction of the Home virtual network remain high on the wishlists of many owners as well.
More important for the majority of users than the above, has been the complete redesign of the PlayStation storefront. The PS Store has undergone a dramatic shift from being browser-based (and slow) to running natively on the hardware; an active Internet connection is still required to browse, with content/images loaded dynamically on the fly into a logical hierarchical layout. Button mapping has been re-envisioned as well to center around the 'X' and 'circle' keys, with previous browser-based mappings put out to pasture. The store experience has become more pleasant as a result, and should serve both Sony and the consumer well as more and more content is placed online for download.
These improvement themselves come on top of the already significant gains delivered in March 24th's firmware 2.20, which saw PS3 obtain BD profile 2.0 status. Other 2.20 improvements were the reduction in processor load (and thus fan speed) during DVD upconversion, 'mosquito noise' filtering for optical content, increased support for DivX/WMV files played from either the hard drive or over the network, and optimized browser performance.
Future updates to the console may include managed and/or portable copy for Blu-ray content, and 1080i de-interlacing capabilities. In-game XMB access and the introduction of the Home virtual network remain high on the wishlists of many owners as well.
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