Sony powerless to fix PSP screen problem
Lines and lines and lines
Sony has admitted that it’s powerless to fix display problems on the PlayStation Portable 3000, which gamers have complained displays strange lines on its screen.
Scan lines appear on the PSP 3000's screen (left) but not on the PSP 2000's screen
Images courtesy of Gaming Bits
“On some occasions, scan lines may appear on scenes where brightness changes drastically, due to the hardware features of the new LCD device on PSP-3000,” Sony told PSP FanBoy.
One gamer posted a message on the PlayStation message board that his PSP-3000 “now has what look like scan lines that were not visible on PSPs before”. He went on to describe how “there are very visible interlacing issues” and stated that he’s not very happy with his new machine.
Another gamer said: “Now all the older PSP games will look like crap” on the PSP-3000. “The new screen looks terrible compared with the 2000,” he added.
Sony's said it can't fix the problem
When Sony launched the PSP 3000 back in August, the firm stated that the 4.3in, 480 x 272, 16:9 ratio LCD screen would allow gamers to see brighter colours and a better-defined on-screen image in natural light.
However, Sony's since added that “scan lines have come out to be more visible as a result of improving response time to alleviate the after images on PSP-3000”. The bad news for gamers, according to the firm, is that because this problem is due to the console's “hardware specification”, Sony has no plans for a system software update to fix it.
Just last month, Sony admitted that the PSP-3000’s brighter and richer display resulted in a shorter battery life for the console.
COMMENTS
Scan lines
No such thing with LCDs. It's a fixed pixel based display with pixel based refresh, not a CRT with electron beam scan lines that draws the display a line at a time!
More than that, LCDs are by their very nature progressive displays. Interlacing that may exist in the game's display would be de-interlaced. Though I can't believe they'd be using interlacing on games intended for a small LCD display.
However, the artefacts shown in those screenshots are more akin to what some observe on projectors, i.e. "chickenwire" effect. Usually a physical limitation.
Sounds more like they've just opted for a cheaper/poor quality LCD display.
As for Sony quality. Used to be a Sony fan, but since around 2000 their quality has dropped sharply in my opinion based on the failures I've had in Sony kit and from what I've read.
Sony don't seem to test things these days!
I own Sony Vegas Pro 8.1 and the thing hangs when I import about 40 MP4 clips (about 1GB in total) from my HD camcorder in one go. Sony's advice - import in batches of 10 (which doesn't really solve the problem anyway) or convert all the clips to DV first! I can't believe no one at Sony thought to test this scenario. My PC's a new Intel Core2 Quad 2.83 and 4 GB RAM before anyone says get a faster machine. It is Vista crippled but that's only because I needed Vista for Vegas 64-bit!
I just bought a PSP-3000
And I'm perfectly happy with the screen so far. It's not a hideous artifacted mess, nor is it a massive improvement over the launch models. It *is* perfectly serviceable and displays the games nicely, including a variety of 2D and 3D titles.
But by all means let's carry on judging it from screen shots. That's a fine tradition in the world of gaming, after all.
PSP-3000
I would love to buy a PSP, but since Sony seems intent on destroying good ideas, good intentions, and their company image with bad designs, I think I will avoid the PSP.
I regret selling my Atari Lynx all those years ago. That device kicked ass!
sad day, really
Sony used to have decent electronics, but seem to have lost their way the last 10-15 years and no idea what to do about it. Everything they turn out now is shite in one way or another (can you say bleuray?).
