PS3 vs. High End Video Processors: Impresses In Video Processing Face Off

Video processing has come a long way since FiringSquad first began to cover multimedia technology. The fact that we're even comparing a PlayStation 3 against NVIDIA and AMD flagship products tells you just how accessible high-performance video is.

FiringSquad included the Sony PlayStation 3. Although the Xbox 360 offers a wider selection of games than the PS3, Sony's console is in a completely different class when it comes to home theatre and hi-fi performance.

When it comes to DVD upsampling, it's hard not to be impressed by the PlayStation 3. FiringSquad thinks that it provides a superior output to NVIDIA and AMD's technology and it even holds its own against the flagship HQV technology from Silicon Optix and Teranex.

FiringSquad still believes that the PlayStation 3 represents an excellent stand-alone Blu-ray player given that the majority of content that most people watch comes from 1080p24 Hollywood films – things that the PlayStation 3 does well with. With PS3 in the $500 price range, about the same price as an a high-end HD DVD player, the console suddenly looks like a great bargain for anyone who can take advantage of upsampled DVD, Blu-ray playback, and an entire gaming console with exclusives like Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII, and Metal Gear Solid 4. It's funny how history repeats itself -- the reason to buy PlayStation 2 was Gran Turismo 3, Final Fantasy X, and Metal Gear Solid 2…

[Daz]

This is interesting artical :/ I dont really care just send me gt5 and i be happy.

[secret]

In the end, xbots will have spent the most money this generation because of their xbox360.

1) Hundreds on dollars on internet fees ($400 or more eventually)
2) Hundreds or thousands on dollars on games and accessories
3) Hundreds or thousands of dollars searching for a standalone bluray player and/or HD-DVD player or add-on plus movies for each format if they have both. (And after deep research, they find that the best valued standalone bluray player (home theater console) is the PS3 afterall if they're a gamer too.
4) Looking for the Wii for motion sensing experience

In the end, xbots will have spent the most money. Can anyone say Consumer??

Turkeys to be slaughtered by wolves for dinner??

Hello?

PS3 (ports and mulitplats and remakes ) + PC (Halo, Bioshock, Gears, and so on) = xbox360 at 1/4 the cost of the actual xbox360 without the junk games from the million of games that I won't ever buy - ever??

Why would I want an xbox360 if I don't like Gears, Bioschock, or Halo? Why? What else does it do besides play games? Is it a home-theater machine? Is it built to last? Is it quiet? Is it inexpensive?

READ THIS XBOTS:
Kids play games only. Adults and/or straight A students want to do more with their time and money.

[nasim]

no one wants defective low powered console with cartoon games like HALO3 and Mass effect.

The BOTS are clearly abnormal

x360 has no games --their only games GEARS and BIOSHOCK are on PC (better version)

HS and WOWHAWK are just better than any x360 game out there....HS makes all x360 games look like wii games

[ud]

ps3 for president!

[bluebrad1974]

They actually think what this article is saying is actually a good thing in regrds to gaming.

They are revealing the Cell's primary function, a video image decoder. This is why it's in the ps3, to play HD blu-ray movies. Unfortunately, this is also why the Cell is garbage for gaming applications. Ever wonder why devs hate the Cell? Ever wonder why it will take 5-6 years for the Cell to reach it's potential? It's because sony more or less handed devs a VCR and told them to make games for it.

[d3l33t]

cell is garbage? What are you an idiot? The cell can software render most images without the help of a GFX processor, thats power jackass. You must know nothing about technology, so please keep your comments to yourself next time.
AMD and Intel are BOTH fighting to get into the 'cell' technology because it's more efficient both speed, power, and heat.

[m9105826]

As someone who has done programming with the Cell in my classes, let me tell you that it is a beast of monstrous proportions. It can do things no other commercial processor could dream about. The only devs that whine about using the Cell are lazy ones. It IS a completely different architecture than most of them are likely used to, most game programmers have little to no experience programming for a parallel processor. Threading is different, memory allocation is different, and branching algorithms have to be tweaked, but it's really the same as a high-performance car engine. It takes more work, but you can get things out of it you could never do with anything similar. The Cell can crunch through numbers, especially floating-point operations (i.e. vertex and geometry co-ordinates) faster than anything out there. It can render entire scenes on it's own, and still have power left over. I've not used it in conjunction with RSX, but even if RSX were 2 gens old, it really only needs to handle texture filling and some video buffers, especially with new deferred pixel shader algorithms for the Cell that move most pixel shaders to the SPUs. No, the Cell is NOT a processor meant to run an OS like Windows, or to run 100 word-processing documents at once, but when it comes to graphical and physics performance, it can't be touched by any other CPU.

[bluebrad1974]

@2.2-2.3

John Carmack doesn't see things your way.

[m9105826]

lol, Carmack said the same thing about multi-core processors in general. He hates new tech. Not to say he isn't a god in the gaming world, but he doesn't seem to like to "get with the times" as far as technology goes. Imagine how much further he could push his stuff if he would just embrace new technology when they come out, instead of 4 or 5 years later? And as great as he is, there are better developers than John Carmack. [/blasphemy]

[JIN KAZAMA]

is a flagship of consoles. The 360 is just a cheap rip off thats acting like it can hang with the PS3. In due time, the PS3 will take over in EVERY aspect of gaming. It already has pretty much caught up to XBL, and once HOME hits, its over for XBL. XBL is archaic once HOME hits. Great time to be a PS3 owner.

PLAY B3YOND

[Feihc Retsam]

You just make other PS3 fans look bad.
You obviously don't own an Xbox360, so your opinion is based on second hand information.
If you did BY CHANCE happen to own an Xbox360, you are really missing out.
The Xbox360 has some great games, and many of the multi-platform titles look and play better on the Xbox360 than the PS3.
ANd just because you don't have to spend $500 to get an Xbox360 does't mean it's a "cheap rip off".
IN fact, many feel that the PS3 is OVER PRICED. Combine that with it's general lack of compelling games, and that explains the unimpressive sales numbers.

Warhawk and heavenly sword have finally started to make me feel a bit better about my PS3 purchase, but the XBox360 still gets the majority of my time, and I expect taht trend to continue until later in 2008.

[JIN KAZAMA]

your PSN ID?

[bluebrad1974]

The ps3 is a HD movie player masquerading as a game console. It's apparent that anyone who buys a ps3 isn't thinking about gaming. But that's OK, Sony wasn't thinking about gaming either when they built the ps3.

[mustash2003]

please, disapper back to your sheltered life. Everbody knows that the cell processor is a beast. Anybody who buys the ps3 is thinking of gaming as number 1. I think its very obvious that sony thought of gaming when designing the console. Just take a look outside of overheated jet engine (360) and you will find mind bombing games both out and around the corner. If you know anything about games, i wont need to list them.

[HarryEtTubMan]

Everyone take BlueBrad's bubbles..he's and idiot! Dude stop acting like u know what ur talking about...u haven't a clue.

[Feihc Retsam]

Yes, the PS3 is an exceptional value if you are seeking a Blu Ray player / Game console... But many videophyles aren't going to go with a game console that has a mediocre remote to stack in their multimedia cabinet...

I am absolutely thrilled with the quality of the console and the crisp visuals I get from upscaled DVDs and Blu Ray movies.

@theAceh below-
Most hardcore home entertainment entheusiasts will probably opt for a good universal remote from Harmony or the like.

I just meant that in general, the PS3 is still not held in as high regards as some of the dedicated movie players out there, and I've even heard some valid complaints about the surved enclosure of the PS3 being inconvenient because it does not allow for component stacking, requiring you to leave the PS3 on top.... Not a big deal, but it's been brought up.

I really hope that Blu Ray can soon establish itself as the universal hi def video format so we can move forward and really wait for all great movie content to roll into our living rooms on Blu Ray discs.

[theaceh]

You have the option of purchasing a sexy Blu-ray remote that's in the 20-30 dollar price range.

Agreed on the moving on part. This format war is just holding consumers back.

[Thursday]

I consider myself something of av videophile, and from that aspect, I would never ever consider the remote to be an issue when choosing equipment. Many remotes suck, but a videophile really only cares about picture quality etc. And in that area, the PS3 delivers. And then some.

[TheMART]

That's all the PS3 is really good for. Video processing/streaming. BluRay...

Not optimal for games though. And that's reality!

[emaddox84]

Tell that to the Killzone 2 devs.

[power091999]

"That's all the PS3 is really good for. Video processing/streaming. BluRay...

Not optimal for games though. And that's reality!"

So let me get this straight. It's good for VIDEO processing, but that does not translate to VIDEO gaming in any way shape or form. OK.

Perfectly logical.

[gerrard]

you people make me laugh, if the PS3 was intended to be a bluray player, then games like warhawk, Heavenly sword, Uncharted drakes fortune, VF5, GT5, Pro evo 2008, LBP, KZ2, Grand theft auto V, Haze, MGS 4, Getaway e.t.c would have never existed. So stop chatting Bull S**t just because your 360 doesn't make a great DVD or HD DVD player.

[Relientk77]

the PS3 is the shiznit

[SuperSaiyan4]

The PS3 is infact completely useless as a games console, well I have one and it gets a nice clean to stay shiny and I hate blu-ray so...

[cloud360]

Supersayain4 you dont have a PS3...Your a 360 fan remember, you always take the mick out of the PS3 for fun calling it crap so why would you have won...

Or is it the old i have a PS3 but i traded for a 360 trick...

[DJ]

developers having more freedom? o_0

[TruthBTold]

Man,so your saying you spent 600 or 500 dolars for something you never use...wow...makes you wonder who the real fool is...people who purchased a PS3 because they enjoy it and buy games for it, or people who invest in something and just leave it there and later talk trash about it, aren't you making your self look dumb when you do that? My guess...and this is just a guess... you never really bought a PS3 did you?

[arcadegoal]

All this is good but i just want to play games not watch blue ray besides the movies for blueray are 30 uk pounds way to much money for 1 movie.i just wouldnt pay that amount.4 me its 4 dvds for 20 quids.

[theaceh]

In less than a year from launch x360 gets PWND. x360 is still a good console though, great games library.

It's just good to be a gamer these days.

[bluebrad1974]

until UT3 is on the market for both consoles. You delusional sony freaks are in for a rude awakening.

[damnwrx]

I utilize both game & BD that's what I paid for.........To ENTERTAIN my other needs........

[razer]

Nice work at taking Mark Reins comments completely out of context.

He said that at this point in the UT3 developement they are already ahead of Gears of War in terms of graphics at this same point in time. This has nothing to do with the stupid PS3 vs. 360 arguement. This title is also coming to the 360 and if we want to quote Epic here the lead developer says the 360 is the benchmark for graphics when it comes to this game(from OXM). As with any development, they are always going to do better the more time they spend working on it. So there is no PWND here nerd! If anything you owned yourself..

On Topic: This hardly qualifies as being in the 360 section of this site, but I see the contributer and I fully understand. The PS3 has an excellent Blu-ray player if you're into that stuff. I don't own a single Blu-ray disc apart from Tallidega Nights because it was free. I spend my time using the Media Extender of the 360 and I access all my movies, music, pictures, etc from my network and it works perfect for me. So another futile attempt at trying to once again bash the 360 and pump up the PS3. Fine, it's an excellent movie player, not so much as a game machine.

[aiphanes]

It is so ugly compared to the awesome PS3 interface...

In only 10 months sony has done so much....just think when the $399 PS3 comes out...people are going to be fighting once again to get a PS3 this christmas.

And next year we have Final Fantasy 13, MGS4, GTA4, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet...the list goes on and on....

[bluebrad1974]

The Cell primary function is that of a video image decoder. This is why sony put it in the ps3, to support blu-ray. At the same time, this is why it's garbage for gaming applications. Sony more or less handed devs a VCR, and said "make this play videogames"

[demolitionX]

that's because u don't have a brain!!! VCR??? what should i say, typical 360 ignorance...

[b777conehead]

to bluebrad1974
you need to read up on technology.the cell is for the games blueray docent need the cells.sony dose know hardware.most devs need to learn the new technology also

[demolitionX]

u 360 fans are pathetic!!! PS3 vs 360 is like benz vs kia, both cars can travel from point A to B, but kia will never be a benz..OK retards
i don't want to waste my time with u morans. thanks Sony for giving us that BEAST for such a cheap price.

[dantesparda]

That was funny, Edonus, but i gotta ask, who's "headquarters"? MS? LOL! aah all you fanboys are just entertaining

[DJ]

At first I wasn’t sure what the big deal was until I turned the options off…and then my DVDs looked compressed and pixilated (which they are; HDTVs just bring out those flaws while SDTVs hide them). Won’t be ditching my DVD collection anytime soon thanks to these features (though there’s a few titles I’d like to replace with the Blu-ray version).

[Funky Town_TX]

If the PS3 was so amazing they would not be dropping the price and making a new sku every 4 months. Sony is still working on teh business model for the PS3. $400, $500, $600 what do we charge? The fact that stand alone Blu-ray players are $500 does not make me want a PS3.

[SpenserTracy]

Who cares. This is about the PS3, not the 360. For me the 360 is old news.

[b777conehead]

the ps3 is amazing there dropping prices because of competition 360 Wii
thats why competition is so good.to drop prices etc etc the ps3 no matter what you xbots who don't have a ps3 dose way more then play blu rays. it dose so much more plays games entertainment audio video all in one box with out rrod

[pacman615]

MS CONSOLES = 4 SKUS core, premium, elite and soon to be halo edition :) all just to rip people off and think they are getting true hd next gen systems, but really is nice space heater instead :)~ , ps3 is about to dominate for the 3rd straight console war , get ready to "fall out" and " play beyond" 3rd graders .. (points fingers at xbots)

[SpenserTracy]

Its a proven fact that the PS3 blows away just about everything. IT IS PROVEN. EISA awards, better games, the best in HD and more.
And if you think of it its a bargain.
Thats if you want all of this. If you dont you can spend your money on a Wii.

[WafflesID]

blah. All the fanboy crap just ruined what was otherwise a VERY informative news post.

Congrats to you fanboys on both sides. You suck.

[d3l33t]

people are dumb. They comment on processors and speeds and cells and RSX chips and all else but know nothing about rendering or programming physics. Please dont make fools of yourself any more by simply opening your mouth.

[SabreMan]

Bubbles to WafflesID and d3l33t

couldn't agree more with both of you, it amazes me how many self proclaimed experts we have posting on this forum. However i am more amazed at the blinkered,misinformed,uneducat ed comments made by people who think the opinion they have is fact when in reality they simply have no clue.

Fanboys as they have been labeled are kidding only themselves, it's time to get back to the real world people and get your nappies changed

gamers which we all are have never had it better than now, three stunning consoles with superb games out for each system.

Just enjoy them, but please don't state specs as if you know what they mean or opinions as facts, i am sure some know but the majority don't
that my fellow forum members/gamers is "fact"

[FirstknighT]

The ps3 uses software to upscale standard dvds. It does not, I repeat....IT DOES NOT equal or even get close to HQV processing. I currently own a 360 and a Samsung 1200 w/ HQV. I have the BEST of both worlds.

[SabreMan]

I am not disagreeing with you but if you don't have a ps3 to do a comparison against your Samsung 1200 w/ HQV how do you know how they fare when compared.
I am sure the Samsung Blu Ray player offers a stunning image but so does the ps3, seriously without comparing with your own eyes you cannot make such a claim.

It's all in the eye of the beholder

[FirstknighT]

I actually did. My cousin has a ps3. We swapped consoles for a few weeks. He wanted to play Gears and I wanted to play Resistance. But I was able to compare how standard dvds look like and it really wasn't close. I own a huge library of standard dvds so I wanted to make sure that I got the best upconverting possible. HQV IS A BEAST for standard dvds. The ps3 makes standard look a lil bit soft which tends to happend with most upconverting.

[demolitionX]

i doesn't matter software or hardware (u can implement any algorithm in software), the only difference is latency so if the cell can process each frame fast enough before next one it would be fine. PS3 advantage is upgradable. u might be right , but not in the future HQV will stay HQV, but PS3 can apply any upscaling algorithm that may kick HQV @ss. PS3 beyond!!!!!!!!!!!

[subcell]

The PS3 does beat HQV in upscaling...the thing is that it will only upscale DVDs that are free of the CSS protection...it won't upscale protected DVDs...

Pure Sony!

[Tsukasah]

bluebrad1974, you, sir are indeed an idiot. You know nothing of programming, you know nothing of developing so shut the hell up already. Your posts are reptitive and idiotic. If the PS3 is like a VCR then I guess it will win the console war. VCR won agianst BetaMax remember? Apparently, you're saying the PS3 will win in some sense if its a VCR. If you said it was a BetaMax then that would be a different story.

You need to get your facts straight rather than relying on typical xbot fansites. Compare the Cell to the 360's processor; The IBM designed tripple-core Xenon processor. It only handles basic processing ad calculating. The graphics are handled soley by the ATI Xenos. The Xenon has about 2 terraflops of processing power.

The Cell is able to handle graphics and video processing on its own. The Cell has 8 cores and has around 4 terraflops of processing power, probably more. The RSX is mainly just used as backup for future games that will use the whole power of the PS3.

The PS3 is nowhere near a piece of crap, and it most definitally does not suck. It has a smaller game selection than the 360, yes, but think about it. Remember when the 360 had a game drought? You had Oblivion, which was also on PC and now on PS3. It took the 360 around a year to get a decent game, and that game was Gears of War. The PS3 had nearly the same. Resistance, IMHO, was probably the best FPS I've ever played apart from GoldenEye 64. Resistance also got great ratings, and a 5/5 from XPlay, which is saying alot as they often underrate alot of games, and it was reviewed by Morgan(if I remember correctly.)

The PS3 now has Warhawk, and Heavenly Sword. I know Lair was a flop, but alot of people liked it, it just got alot of bad reviews. I, personally, haven't played Lair yet; and dont plan to. I never was into dragon games. By Christmas, the PS3 game drought will be out. By spring 2008, the PS3 will have a great game selection. KillZone 2, GT5, FFXIII(possibly), MGS4, and a large handful of other games.

Saying the PS3 sucks is like saying Micheal Jordan sucked at basketball. None of the consoles "suck" this generation. I would say the 360 "sucks" because of its RROD problems, but its processor is still decent. The Wii sucks in terms of hardware, but its a huge innovation for interactive technology. The full-motion sensor is definitally a great step towards that. The PS3's problem is that it has a lack of AAA games, and that it has a high price.

bluebrad1974, shut up. I honestly would have some respect for the 360, and its fanbase, but people like you give them a bad name. The stupid 360 fanbots who always have the same reasons for the PS3 to "suck" and can eventually be proven wrong in atleast 2008.

Everyone, take away bluebrad1974's bubbles, he's an ignorant fool. I might just track you so i can laugh at your ignorant remarks, and reply back to them with true facts.

Before anybody calls me a fanboy, I buy a console for hardware. I bought the first X-Box, and I got a PS2 for christmas. I only played SOCOM, and Killzone on PS2. On X-Box 1 I played about every game except for Halo 2, Halo 2 was the same as Halo 1, and I was bored of the franchise.

I got a GameCube later on when it was 100 bucks with the Zelda Bonus Disc, and I found out that my Sonic Adventure titles on the DreamCast were on it, same with PSO. X-Box 1 was probably the best console of that generation, I liked it most.

This generation I bought a PS3, and got a Wii for christmas. I have the PS3 for my old PS2 games, its advanced hardware, the games I mentioned earlier. I have a Wii for the VC, all the games I grew up with are on there. I'm staying away from the 360 because of the disrespectful people on XBL. I have zero respect for the 360 fanbase anymore, all I hear from any 360 fan is, "z0MG! PS3 SUCKZ!" and then they continue on and on about stupid false information.

Anyways, bluebrad1974, shut up.

[marc 1975]

is it a bird ..noooo is it a plane no..... its superman
is it a video player yes is it a games machine um dunno but it can do linex.. wtf is it shaped like a geaorge forman to get cooks on the band wagon... forced blu ray etc.. as dr dre said they forgot about dre
sony said we forgot about games

[marc 1975]

yay

[paracardium]

Don't worry xbots the time is near.

[mirroredderorrim]

awh, damn. lol?

[PimpHandHappy]

when it bends space and time

I will be on warhawk

[jazzmanb]

bioshock is the only true next gen game on the market..dont hate on a brilliant game because hack and slash heavenly sword is the ps3s best game..motorstorm is fun,but the textures look like drver for the ps1..seriously bioshock is a work of art that every gamer NEEDS to play..halo 3,orange box,mass effect,cod4 all coming withim the next three months...man im lucky i bought a 360 and didnt buy imto the somy hype...p.s gears of war looks FAR better than any ps3 game,and umreal well look and play better om the 360...

[SabreMan]

nothing about Bioshock defines it as "next gen" compared to other games on all three systems, it's a stunning game granted that i am enjoying playing on and off on my pc (remember the pc)
it's one of the best fps games to be released in the last year or so with superb graphics,story etc but to say it's the only true next gen game on the market isn't quite the way it is, it's a fps with very high production values that does everything it attempts very well but offers nothing new to the gamer. It's certainly not the GoldenEye of this generation

I certainly do not regard Heavenly Sword as the best game on the ps3, remember it's all subjective opinion it is a stunning title in every way but i can't play it for more than about half an hour.
Nothing to do with the game itself just me as a gamer gets quickly bored of this type of game. To me at least i would say Warhawk has the edge over anything online atm, that includes anything on the 360 besides the Cod4 beta.
However GRAW2 has me gripped atm online as it's stunning so thats another contender for me, it's all subjective opinion to the individual, i like playing online against human opponents so thats how i define best games on a system, others are different.

Regarding your Gears of War comment, i can't respond to that purely by the fact that your blinkers are or seem to be hindering your vision.
You are also clearly in posesion of a crystal ball saying UT3 will look and play better on the 360, a very bold and shortsighted comment but would any of us expect anything less.

It's not life or death, we are gamers that enjoy our hobby/passtime but thats all it is, take a long hard look at yourself and if all that matters to you is X looking better than Y on console X compared to Y then you lead a very lonely, shallow life with very little to look forward to besides the next games release.

seriously people like you are sad, pathetic individuals
we are all gamers so enjoy your games on whichever system you own, but don't slag another console off just because you own a different one
it's not the "enemy" it's just a piece of hardware

[immortal_cries]

"You are also clearly in posesion of a crystal ball saying UT3 will look and play better on the 360, a very bold and shortsighted comment but would any of us expect anything less."

I dunno if it was your intent but I see what you did there. Very nice. Bubbles for that and for a good post. Also its funny because we are completely opposite in gaming preference... HS blew me away while Warhawk isnt for me. But you were clear about the fact that others may love what you dont. Heres to wishing more people can be like that.

[PimpHandHappy]

years you wont be able to play blueray movies on your 360 and you know the list of games the PS3 will have by then will be pretty pretty good

[BlazinEurasian]

Upscaled DVDs on the PS3 is sweet, upscaled PS, PS2 games on the PS3 is sweet. Bluray, Linux, bluetooth, music + visualizer, HS and Warhawk... Thats worth 500 dollars easy, 650 with the games. Still worth it.

[Prismo_Fillusion]

although usually I have a strong hatred for fans of any single system, the PS3 peoples have made pretty solid comments in this topic. I really think that, although it's going to take a couple years, once developers find ways to make PS3 games for less money with better graphics than the 360, the hardcore gaming market will start to sway from MS to Sony.

[Bolts]

I bought my PS3 to get into hidef movies first and to play games second, that was four months ago and even now it's still an excellent value. The PS3 can upconvert like a mofo too and it is without a doubt the FASTEST HD player on the market. By the time my Toshiba HDDVD player wake up I'm already looking at the tittle screen with my PS3.