PS3 Bundled With Composite

HDMI port, Blu-Ray drive, Cell processor -- the PS3 will ship with everything needed for high definition playback. Everything except for high definition cables, that is.

The latest issue of Famitsu contains a first report on the cables that will be included with the Japanese version of the PS3. Purchasers of either the 60 Gig or 20 Gig models will get a power cord, USB cable, ethernet cable and standard composite AV cable.

That's right! No component, HDMI or D cables are included in the box! While Sony hasn't announced the wiring that will be bundled with the US version of the system, in Japan at least, those who want high definition cables will have to make a separate purchase.

[Sphinx]

Wow... just wow... they push HD so hard, but then don't include what you need to see HD! Well, mark up the price of the PS3 by another $99.
Then again, maybe its not that bad... I mean, Sony is all about giving the consumer choices :)

[calderra]

Like whether or not to get BluRay? Heh.

[power of Green]

This can't be true although it might add an extra $20-$40 bucks but come on, people are already going to spend $900 bucks to get set up with some trimm-ins, what's an extra $20 or $40 bucks.

[WhoDey99]

Not sure why everyone is acting like this is a huge deal that was so unexpected. Sure, i wish better cables were included as much as the next guy but i didn't expect it. When is the last time someone bought a dvd player and the cables were included, or when you actually bought your hdtv was hdmi included. yeah the sales guy might have thrown it in but the tv manufacture didn't supply them.

Even with a 600 price tag sony is still losing money on the system. did you really expect them just to throw in these cables just to be nice.

[calderra]

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!

[Donkey Slayer]

They should included a hybrid composite/component cable just like the $399 360.

I've got component PS2 cable already and it looks like the same AV port on the PS3 but still, lame.

[uxo22]

This is garbage, how the hell can you ship a system with a blu-ray drive, boast HD, and the system not come standard with at least component cables. I guess, it's like the old saying goes why marry a girl that's happily willing to put out at no cost. (Why buy the cow if the milk is free.) If the US market is willing to keep kissing sony's A$$ no matter what, maybe they should keep giving us the big boner!
So what's the next surprise, the actual online service is free but only for quick matches, if you want to play someone specific, you have to buy the premium service.
Oh well, I got one on pre-order yesterday, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that I should just sticking with my 360 only, and save a thousand bucks this holiday season.
I know it's only going to be 40 bucks or so, but these little addons are starting to add up.

[power of Green]

If the PS3 is anything like the PS2 you will be buying Add-ons anyways, down the road that is. I can't believe how many do-dads are out for the PS2.

[crazyman]

Like the RvB reference, its a nice touch

[power of Green]

$600/console. $45/tax. $60/10% warrenty. $130/two launch tittles. $55/extra controller. Like $20 to $40 dollars is going to make a difference. This doesn't make any sence.

[uxo22]

20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120. etc. Is it beginning to make any "Sense" now. (or as you put it "sence") I don't want to mis-represent what you are saying but from what I understand, for you once you spend a bunch of money on something you can justify being nickeled and dimed til eternity simply because you've been getting nickled and dimed from the beginning? Right?

[Chewy 101]

...Sony confuses me. I could care less about having an HDMI cable or not, but not even component? What's next?

[Arkham]

Having to buy your own games? 2nd controller? Camera, headset? You're right, they're jerks. How dare they.

[Cyclonus]

I could see not packing in HDMI, but Component wouldn't cost one cent more than Composite; instead of a Red-Yellow-White cable, you make it a Red-Green-Blue cable and voila...well, you'd still need the Digital Audio Out, but just make it a dongle like the 360 HD Adapter...

Stupid Sony.

[Arkham]

No surprise here. Accessories are a way of life. Stop your griping. Why bundle something that only a percentage of people are going to use? At least with composite you can get something on the screen, leaving you the option to buy VGA/HDMI/Component if you want it. I thought all you 360 guys thought it was better to have the option, not something "forced" on you? Egads.

[Cyclonus]

Considering how goddamn much Sony has hyped the "4D, Blu-ray, Beyond Hi-Definition, Next-Gen Start When We Say So" mantra, ad nauseum, HDMI or Component should be STANDARD on this P.O.S.

[blackmagic]

Component is the cheapest, most common cable type that will carry the native 720p or 1080p resolution output from the ps3 for both gaming and movies and it is the most common connection type found on HD televisions and surround receivers.

You see 'arkham', there is a big difference between choice and requirement especially for a company that is bringing a console to market late and $200 more than it has to be simply because of it's high definition movie capabilities. Bundling cables that can carry a hd signal is a requirement for this console.

I need component cables as a minimum to display the native output of the ps3. You see, there's a big difference between 'I want an hdmi cable to maximize the picture quality of my ps3' and 'I need, at minimum, a component cable to display the standard 720p or 1080p output of my ps3'.

That is the difference between requirement and optional.

I can't believe you are baiting the 360 guys like this especially when the little ol' non-trueHD 360 came bundled with component cables AND composite cables. A year ago. For significantly less money.

[Arkham]

Oh, 'blackmagic'.... You just want everything handed to you, don't you? An extra cable isn't worth crying over. With all that's included in the high-price, I could care less about something I don't need. My present component cable will do just fine. The multi-av port is the same as the PS2, or did you not read that in the original article? Quote: "On the plus side, the PS3's AV Multi Out interface accepts the same cables that you used with your PS2, so if you already have S-Video, D or Component cables, you should be able to reuse them."

[blackmagic]

'arkham', you are so misled. It's not whether I can afford the $15-$20 they will be charging the consumer that bothers me.

It's the principle of the whole thing. Let me see if I can paint the picture for you.

Sony has been preaching 'high definition' as the holy grail of gaming and the utopia of home entertainment for the last two years. The be all and end all of audio visual nirvana and how they are the only company that can give trueHD to us. In fact, this promised land of sensory bliss will not and can not start until the ps3 arrives. The sensual ecstasy will actually be so great that you will declare that $600 is too cheap.

In fact, this eden of video gaming erotica and orgasmic paradise of cinematic shangri-la will be available to you right after you drive back to the store to buy the $14.99 cable.

"Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom." - Anatole France

[WhoDey99]

i agree that cables are a accessory and i didn't expect the highest quality cables to be included. just as if you buy a dvd player, an hdtv, you have to buy the cables seperate. hdmi is the only cable that will do 1080p. component cables are needed for 1080i.

[blackmagic]

And just like hdmi you have to search to find the sets that support full 1080p input. I know that samsung has supported 1080p component and hdmi input since last spring and there was a flurry of 1080 product announcements at CEDIA this year also. There is an awful lot of misinformation and misunderstanding out there concerning HD signals. I'll try and address it here.

You have to understand all the different variations of HD. First there is standard industry framerates. 24/48, 25, 29.97/30, 50, 60 and 72 frames per second. Let's start with legacy rates, 24/48, 29.97/30 and 25.

Okay, early cinema found that at 24 frames per second (fps) the human eye could no longer notice individual frames when watching film and to this day all film is shot at 24fps. Later, research showed that if you took each frame and flashed a light through it twice (psuedo 48fps), it tricked the eye further into 'seeing' a smoother motion on screen and that is how modern film is displayed in the theatre today.

Next broadcast standards 25fps and 30fps were established based on power distribution in Europe (50hz) and North America (60hz). When colour was introduced however, they found that there was interference between the sound and picture signal so they reduced the picture to 29.97fps to solve this which is the north american modern sdtv standard.

The 50fps and 60fps hdtv standard were simply extensions of the european and north american broadcast standards. Due to the digital nature of hdtv, the frequency tie between power frequency and fps is broken and the vast majority of european hdtv's display at 60fps natively and all sources are converted to this framerate.

72fps is a very new hd extension of cinema and information on it is very sparse but as I understand it it supports both 60fps and 72fps natively. Film is of course shot at 24fps and to convert this to display at 60fps requires most frames flashed twice and some frames flashed three times. This causes the apearance of image stutter but the ability to flash all 24 frames three times eliminates this and should also fool the mind into an even smoother motion appearance. To my knowledge there are no displays on the market that support this yet but it will be an uber-feature and clear bragging right for the audio/video enthusiasts out there.

Now the next major point is the difference between interlaced and progressive display. a 1080 signal has 1,080 lines. When transmitted progressively, all 1,080 lines are transmitted in one frame and then displayed. When transmitted interlaced, the odd lines are transmitted in one frame then the even lines are transmited in the next frame. The odd and even lines are then recombined and displayed. So a 1920x1080 progressive signal at 60 frames per second would be 1080p60. It should also be noted that 1080p30 and 1080i60 will yield identical pictures on a native 1080p60 display. You could go frame by frame and check each individual pixel in each frame and they will all be identical. However, 1080p60 cannot be matched by a 1080i60 transmission. Especially with modern deinterlacers, it would be very difficult to distinguish the two when watching normally but the 1080p60 signal is the superior format of the two.

This is a very important point since all film at 1080p24 and all games at 1080p30 will displayed exactly the same, completely indistiguishable and regardless of whether it is transmitted as a progressive signal or an interlaced signal.

Now a couple of things I would like to point out to gamers about this emphasis on 1080p in general. I would rather have a game at 720 with higher poly models, AA, better lighting/special effects and refined ai vs. a 1080 game. If you think a game like motorstorm is impressive, imagine what it could have been if didn't have to run at 1080. Just take a moment and think about it. Less than a percent of a percent of gamers presently have sets that support 1080p60 signal input. What are we trading as gamers for to satisfy this utter minority?

[Arkham]

I can just reuse the component cable I have for my PS2. Nothing wrong with that!

[Cyclonus]

The end of the cable that plugs into the PS3 will be proprietary; it's not compatible with PS2.

[Arkham]

Read the article. The cables are compatible.

[power of Green]

You are a different breed of Sony fan. Still the HD model of the 360 came with what it needed to be an HD console.

[Chewy 101]

Then why include the blue ray drive? Not everyone is buying the DVDs htey already have on BR, ot what about the wireless controller, not everyone wants that...
You know what, why not sell the motherboard and you can add whatever you think its important.
Next gen is about HD dude, and if the machine cant output HD out of the box, YOU ARE GETTING RIPPED OFF!
I guess you like getting hit in the nuts, or you are rich.

[PS360WII]

I can see both sides. One if you have a hd tv and a ps2 you most likely already have component cables, but if you have a hd tv but don't have a ps2 and are buying a ps3 then I guess I'd be upset.
If your a xbox360 owner who has a hd tv but aren't thinking of getting a ps3 but just want to talk trash about the ps3 then I guess you can do that.
Now lets see I'm a hd owner I have a ps2 (among plenty others) yet oddly enough no component for it :( It's kind of a shot at the buyers but not really seeing that if you want the ps3 and have a hd tv your already thinking about a hdmi cord for it. Which that's what I'm thinking about so they don't even need to have any cords for me cuz I'm going to be using a hdmi cord for me ps3.