Finally maybe some good news.. seems like Sony announced divx support today!
The question is whether this also means xvid support.. I have feeling only videos encoded with official encoder will work, which is of not much use since no one does divx these days.

I really hope my feeling is wrong.

Source: http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/8573.html

Last edited by Tomas on 13-Nov-2007 at 02:09 PM.

@BrianK

You guys seem to have all the info about sales and such..

I read on a swedish forum that PS3 sold 36000 units on one day in Japan recently.
Is that true? I think 11/11-07 was the date mentioned. Also something about 40GB
version with the new "Dual Shock 3" joypad, 31000 white and 5000 black.

It was translated from a german site (quote and link below) so the info can have been
translated wrong.

Gamefront.de 12/11

"Japan: Verhaltene Nachfrage nach 40GB-PS3 und Dual Shock 3

12.11.07 - Die PS3 mit 40GB Festplatte und das Dual Shock 3-Joypad sind seit dem 11.11.07 in Japan erhältlich. Nach ersten Berichten der Nihon Keizai Shimbun ist die Nachfrage bei beiden Artikeln bislang recht zurückhaltend.

So bildeten sich keine Warteschlangen vor den Geschäften, während sowohl PS3 als auch Dual Shock 3 überall in ausreichender Menge zu haben sind. Gerade das Dual Shock 3-Pad ist problemlos zu bekommen und kann von Kunden auch in größeren Mengen gekauft werden.

Unbestätigten Angaben des Großhandels zufolge konnten 36.000 PS3 am ersten Tag verkauft werden; 31.000 weiße und 5.000 schwarze. Vom Dual Shock 3 sollen ca. 70.000 bis 100.000 Einheiten abgesetzt worden sein. Offizielle Zahlen werden gegen Ende der Woche erwartet."

Last edited by Samwel on 13-Nov-2007 at 11:04 AM.

_________________
/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

@Lou

Quote:

It's sole PPE core is not up to snuff for general computing of today and while the SPE's have been more versatile than I first imagined, programming for them takes too much effort as most general computing doesn't benefit from parrallelism. Things of a science nature do benefit, but that doesn't really translate into gaming as simply as one expects.

I agree. I've been having a related email exchange on that last point with another here at AW who just doesn't seem to get it.

As for utilizing the PPC line. Personally that's not a big deal. It is still PPC in it's foundation even if it extends the concepts in a different way then the original intent. As for other PPCs gaining SPE elements, I'm not so sure they would. There's the Cell which can be used for scientific computations. But many other PPC lines are used in embedded applications. I'd think a 2nd PPE core would be more valuable then a couple SPEs. That being said I thought they had showed a mini-Cell. If so we'll see what sort of inception it can garner.

@BrianK

I think if the Cell had a dual PPE core and only 4 SPE's that it would have been a more worthwhile cpu. Probably would have cost less as well.

It's sole PPE core is not up to snuff for general computing of today and while the SPE's have been more versatile than I first imagined, programming for them takes too much effort as most general computing doesn't benefit from parrallelism. Things of a science nature do benefit, but that doesn't really translate into gaming as simply as one expects.

The other thing I don't like about Cell is that it ####izes the PPC line. It creates an unnecessary branch because of the SPE's... It seems to me that Cell is a cpu line and PPC's are another. In a way, that's what Motorola did with the G4 and Altivec. Ofcourse, IBM has introduced it's own SIMD instructions into the G3 and G5 line.

But there should be one common standard for things like SIMD and such improvements.

Once the rest of the PPC family gets SPE's to play with, then the Cell will not be considered the #### step-child in my eyes...

@jtsiren

Interesting article. $1.7B research for the Cell. It must be the chip alone I wonder how much more was poured into the PS3 as a whole. Currently about $290 out of the PS3 goes to chip development. OUCH! Of course that drops in half once they double their sales, which they'll do. But, no wonder they pulled out of future cell development. They've got to focus on businesses which make them a profit. The PS3/Cell may as it evolves.

Now Sony has said a 10 year life cycle for the PS3. Assuming they cross over generations again that's another 4-5 years they could go without focusing on the next CPU. Which if the Cell has advanced during that time to their liking they may well step back in.

This new paradigm based 'on-board, on-chip, or on-network chips will be infinitly connected' - Kutagari dream is looking dim. AMD and Intel have both talked about cell-like elements in future computing, perhaps Cell was the beta.

Since this has become a PS3 thread, I'll contribute:

Sony exits future Cell development
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6182641.html?tag=latestnews;title;1

It doesn't quite seem the Cell card played out as Sony hoped it would. Not that this means end for Cell, I'm sure it will continue to evolve and be used - but it is interesting to see if these events have any impact (or are an indication of change) regarding Sony's dreams of using Cell pretty much everywhere.

As for that dust issue, no wonder a machine with that much fan power takes in dust. I've never heard of warranty being denied because of it. I'm sure Sony will fix this incident soon, they don't need the negative PR right behind the 40GB failure rumors.

Last edited by jtsiren on 11-Nov-2007 at 03:21 AM.

@BrianK

Quote:

BrianK wrote: People complained of Microsoft issues when fixing the 360. Seems like Sony has some similar issues. PS3 Dust voids warranty

Wow! And how are we supposed to take care of the dust, considering that you also void warranty by opening it..

People complained of Microsoft issues when fixing the 360. Seems like Sony has some similar issues.

PS3 Dust voids warranty

@MikeB

Quote:

MikeB wrote: @Tomas For your other struggles have a look here: http://www.ps3hax.net

What can i find there? i found nothing related to media issues there..

Last edited by Zardoz on 11-Nov-2007 at 12:32 AM.
Last edited by Tomas on 11-Nov-2007 at 12:27 AM.

@MikeB
I dont run Mac OS.. I run linux "ubuntu 7.10" and have been trying to encode videos with both ffmpeg and mencoder and have so far not had much luck.. The closest i got was with this: mencoder input.mpg -ovc x264 -oac faac -x264encopts subq=6:pass=1$sBitrate:bframes=3:partitions=p8x8,b8x8,i4x4:weight_b:threads=auto:nopsnr:nossim:frameref=3:mixed_refs:bime:brdo:level_idc=41:direct_pred=auto:trellis=1 -o filename
This is the only way i got a x264/h264 playing in the ps3 using dlna server. It plays, but the audio is pretty much replaced with LOUD white noise and you can barely hear the regular audio underneath. Also it plays unsynced from the little i can hear of it.

I have also tried a gui called avidemux, which produces h264 compatible files which plays on any pc mediaplayer supporting that format.. but of course the ps3 refuses to play it, even though it SHOULD in theory. I did however test ps3 video 9 conveter on my laptop, and that did work somewhat.. but it lacks any kind of customization settings and i dont want to be stuck using winblows just to encode a damn video. did not look like you could even customize things like resolution or bitrate! It had 4 settings low quality, medium quality, high quality and very high quality.. all of these were locked to a specific bitrate. I want to be able to set the bitrate manually.

I am nearly thinking of trying to demand money back for this console, considering that sony advertised it as having non restricted media abilities, whcih is like lying in the face of their customers. Being able to play h264 with just one specific setting, is not something i would call non restricted.

And also the fact that people say xvids show up as playing thumbnails, is another punch in the face. Because this all shows that the ps3 is perfectly capable of running xvid and dixv as it is now, but they are just refusing to let you play it.

The xbox 360 plays just as many formats....

@Tomas

For your other struggles have a look here:
http://www.ps3hax.net

@Tomas

I checked the tons of videos I have on my PS3, mostly MP4s.

To convert videos to MP4 check here:
http://www.moviecodec.com/mp4converter.html

@MikeB
The only formats i get to work are mpeg1, mpeg2 and a handful of h264 clips. Most h264/x264 clips does not work at all and i have yet to find out how to encode a ps3 compatible version myself using avidemux.. Always get the very nice "unsupported data" and it is ####ing me off alot. Even my standalone dvd or my dads lcd handles more formats than this piece of #### they dare call a media box. What is the point in a media centre device that does not support ANY popular formats?
All because of their damn fear of piracy.. I had at least hope you could use it under linux, but no such luck there either.. again because of the fear of people using it for emulation or video playback of pirated movies.

The ps3 is no more a pc than the xbox 360 and is just as pointless using for video playback other than dvd or blueray.
And i think hell will freeze over before either microsoft or sony adds full xvid/divx support. If divx is ever supported, then it will only be with default settings using by the official divx encoder, which means xvid will still be unplayable.

So please tell me what exact formats you have success with and what kind of encoder settings i should be using with a encoder like ffmpeg.

Edit: Oh an i read now that the youtube video showing ps3 playing HD content under yellowdog is now said to be most likely fake..
Even my old k6-2 450mhz is more capable as a media centre box..

Last edited by Tomas on 10-Nov-2007 at 05:36 PM.
Last edited by Tomas on 10-Nov-2007 at 05:35 PM.
Last edited by Tomas on 10-Nov-2007 at 05:23 PM.

@Lou
re: Japan 360 sales PS3 sales, certainly short lived. In related news MikeB's heart skipped a few beats.

@Samwel
Looks like you got DLNA working.

@Tomas

Everything except DivX and Xvid, but maybe that's going to change with rumoured future support for these codecs on the PS3 (possibly XBox 360 is going to support DivX as well according to the following article):

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Xvid-and-DivX-on-PS3-360-89291?nocomment=1

WRT the Japanese sales figures, I know MikeB will appreciate this fun-filled image manipulation animation:

http://ps3.justgotowned.com/

Right? :)

@Samwel
Non supported formats like xvid, mkv and such. Which is sadly the main format tv series are released in.

But it seems like there will be a fix/workaround released by tversity guys over weekend.

@Tomas

Thanks for the TVeristy link. It works nicely.

_________________
/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

@Tomas

Quote:

What formats do you play and how?

I guess he means Blu-Ray, DVD and other HQ sources.

I must say most things I have tried works just fine.
I have streamed now for a couple of hours, music, photos and video. No freezes yet.

What is it that doesn't work for you?

_________________
/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

@Lou
Not surprising that ps3 sales have gone down even further, considering that alot of people are probably on the fence waiting for the cheaper model.