Darern Waters from the BBC news technology blog got some hands-on time with PlayTV and also got to film it in action (perhaps for the first time). Soon we won’t have to sit up for half the night to get our Family Guy fix.
Edit: Some of you have been asking about whether or not the PS3 will boot up if you set it to record. We asked the chaps at Sony and the answer is yes! If you set something to record and turn off your PS3 it will turn on to record the programme and then switch itself off afterwards.
Edit2: Yes it does support subtitles. As long as the programme has them, PlayTV will support it and record it. Sony come through again.
I want one now!
Any news on price for the box yet?
Comment by Tom — Feb 14, 2008 @ 11:44 am
As soon as this was announced i canceled Sky, and from the looks of this i wont be disappointed with the service PlayTV will offer.
The interface looks very easy to use and the usual slick Sony look, i think this is going to be a great addition to the PS3’s ability’s and one that will no doubt win over many potential buyers.
Good work Sony
Comment by Nathaniel — Feb 14, 2008 @ 11:48 am
you dont want all the extra channels then?
It is important to remember that this service offers nothing that a tv tuner for your PC would. It only uses Freeview channels.
Comment by Accordion — Feb 14, 2008 @ 11:54 am
sorry:
I meant:
@2
It is important to remember that this service offers the same functionality that a PC tv tuner would. If you only want freeview channels it seems a good choice though.
Comment by Accordion — Feb 14, 2008 @ 11:57 am
Looks awesome, if it can upscale the TV broadcast to HD, then i will immediatly buy a PS3.
Does anyone know if it can do this?
Comment by Atreyu — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:00 pm
I want this asap! Hopefully we will find out a little bit more about pricing and the release date at the GDC.
Comment by Ajay — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
Shiny shiny! When When?
Comment by Jeebers — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
TV on PSP is definitely the most useful feature
i can’t wait 
Comment by sam_w — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:05 pm
I’m no expert but I would guess the chances of upscaling normal tv to hd are slim…
Comment by cenTripEtAL — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
[...] Der innoffizielle PlayStation Blog ThreeSpeech.com zeigt ein recht ausführliches Video über Play TV. Mit Play TV wird es möglich sein, digitales TV Programm über die PS3 zu empfangen und dieses anschließend auf die Festplatte zu speichern. Somit wird die PS3 zum Festplattenrekorder, doch wie das ganze funktionieren soll, war bisher unklar. Darern Waters vom BBC News Technology Blog erklärt genau wie das ganze vor sich gehen wird. Im Mittelpunkt der Präsentation steht eine kleine schwarze Box welche an einen der USB Ports der Konsole angeschlossen wird. Die Hardware selbst ist unspektakulär, viel interessanter ist die Software in ihr den es ist beachtlich was Play TV alles drauf hat. [...]
Pingback by Play TV das neue PS3 Killerfeature? | eLhabib - Life & Videogames — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
@9 : I don’t see what they could not upscale? It has to go through the video card before it gets output to the TV, so theoretically it could be upscaled. Now whether it would look good at all, is another matter.
Comment by Savage — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
I can found info on the web saying that this will upscale SD broadcasts to HD when played back on your PS3:
http://stuff.tv/News/BIG-IN-2008-Sony-Play-TV/
However I can’t find an official Sony source confirming this.
Personally, I would buy this just to watch upscaled TV, the PVR functionality would be a bonus.
Comment by Tenchkov — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
Even if it can upscale 480 -> 1080 will be terrible
Comment by John — Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
it can record hd tv, when there will be freeview hd channels i dont know.
Comment by shandogg — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Well… if it can do DVD to 1080p why shouldnt it do at least 480 -> 720?
Comment by Frippe — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
@13, erm in the uk we have 525 visible lines not 480. And 480 -> 1080 is exactly what happens when you upscale a DVD, and the PS3 does a pretty good job of that.
Comment by uber1337 — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
UK PAL TV is 525 so its 525>1080. I watched upscaled Freeview SD TV all the time and the quality is pretty damn good.
Comment by D675 — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
How exactly does this connect up? If I wanted to watch normal freeview (without the PS3) does this mean I have to disconnect the TV aerial lead from the playTV box then put it back in my TV/video, or have to watch freeview thru the PS3 all the time??
Sounds like a hassle if this is the case.
Comment by dose — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:16 pm
For all of you across the pond in Europe that are always complaining about the US getting things long before you do, I just want to point out three things that I am dying to get my hands on which you already have or will have access to long before me.
PlayTV, Sing Star and Go!Explore
You lucky *@#§♂&@!.
Comment by Gokker — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
Very nice. Horrible load times, though.
Comment by Zta — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
@18 it probably will mean that but you could split the aerial or run another aerial down into the room jsut for the play tv
Comment by James Hawkins — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
@18 - go to Maplins and buy an ariel splitter for a quid!
Comment by mobiletone — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
will it ever be possible to use it with virgin or sky channels? freeview is quite limited
Comment by Boris — Feb 14, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
Its a shame that the tv signals in my area are so damn poor.
I might have got it if it wasn’t the case.
Comment by yxxxx — Feb 14, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
Yeah I just hope they get their act together and fix DVBC compatible box (with card reader) and everyone will get just a little bit happier.
Comment by FluBBa — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:07 pm
I was wondering if you could tell me does it support Subtitles or has an subtitles option on PlayTV? Am a Deaf adult. I could not find any information on this option. I am looking forward purchasing it on day one if it does have the option.
Comment by Deaf_Raiders — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:15 pm
I criticised this when I first heard about this but now iv seen this video I am definatly gonna buy as loong as it aint more than £50
Comment by BENNE77 — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:20 pm
I am really looking forward to this, but disappointed that:
1* Interface is not integrated into the XMB. And extra PlayTV icon and options would have been nice, rather than having to go into a separate area.
2* Use of the USB port… so I’m going to have wires coming out of the front of the PS3 then? That’s not ideal.
Comment by Tony — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
It still only supports RF though, which is next to useless if you want to use it as a PVR from other sources i.e. Sky/Virgin.
Comment by Bill — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
what’s that, a TNT receiver for PS3?
will it work on japan imported ps3 from the old good mainland europe?
Comment by Me (call me You) — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
to bad it doesnt work when you are playing a game!!!!
Comment by carl — Feb 14, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
[...] HD DVD Crook, So Smart, So … - 91 views Play TV In Action Feb14 1 views, 14 February 2008, Dean @ 4:00 pm Darern Waters from the BBC news technology blogto get our Family Guy fix. Edit: Some of you have been asking about whether […] Source: Play TV In Action - at Threespeech (No Ratings Yet) Loading … RSS feed for comments on this post.TrackBack URL Write a comment [...]
Pingback by Play TV In Action | GameBlews PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, PSP, DS News — Feb 14, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Anyone know if the EPG is downloaded over the air like a freeview box or over the internet like media center (which is much better).
I agree with Tony about USB though. I really wich Sony had put a few on the back of the console too.
Comment by TheShirts — Feb 14, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
Definitely want one, although I have to agree that it’s a shame that it has to plug into one of the front mounted usb ports
Also load times need some work
Comment by Sean — Feb 14, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
Defintiley want it, but jus read this:
At the moment you can’t record TV in the background while playing a game on the PS3 but I’m told the software developers are working hard to add the feature. If it isn’t available at launch, the feature could be added later as a software update.
Not a huge problem, but hopefully they will be able to add the feature.
Comment by Ajay — Feb 14, 2008 @ 5:03 pm
Definitely***
Comment by Ajay — Feb 14, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
@28 good point about having the wires coming out the front that wont look to great.
Comment by BENNE77 — Feb 14, 2008 @ 5:22 pm
It will have to upscale SD content to your maximum supported resolution. Games and applications can’t start flicking between resolutions after they’ve started up.
@18
If you read the linked BBC article, it says there’s a aerial pass-through port so there’s USB, aerial in, aerial out.
Lovely UI and quick EPG.
Comment by Shin-Ra — Feb 14, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Great News!!!
Comment by Deaf_Raiders — Feb 14, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
WAAAAAAAAAANT.
when? :D!
Comment by Youlikeyams — Feb 14, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
So is it MPEG2 and MPEG4 comptible?
Kinda useless here in DK if it can’t handle MPEG4…
Comment by Hyldig — Feb 14, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
This is interesting timing… I just sent something in to Threespeech a few days ago to ask if they could find out answers to some of my PlayTV questions!
My questions are largely unanswered by this. They were:
Recording whilst doing other things on PS3 - from watching Bluray, playing games, through to listening to music, viewing photos, etc. Possible? This is perhaps the most important question! NOT YET BASED ON THIS, BUT MAYBE SOON.
Transferring to PSP - how will that work, what options might be available to customise what might be transcoded to PSP (memory sticks aren’t that big, after all)? SO WE KNOW ABOUT REMOTE PLAY, WHAT ABOUT TRANSCODING/TRANSFERRING?
PlayTV, other video media stored on PS3, DLC (via Home) - what level of integration will there be between these different types of media? Will it be possible to access PlayTV vids through XMB and/or Home? Will it be possible to view all vids on the PS3 HDD (including Home related or DLC movies) via the PlayTV interface? NOT ANSWERED IN THIS BBC PIECE.
EPG - this data is included in the DVB standard as I understand it but isn’t always very detailed or reliable (this is my experience of the UK, I’m sure this varies from country to country). Some providers (e.g. BT Vision) download better quality EPG data over broadband (but it isn’t cached on the HDD). Which option is PlayTV using? Is it cached on the HDD for when DVB signal is poor or when someones internet is down? NOT CLEAR FROM THIS….
Series record - will this work only for shows selected from the EPG? Or will it allow keyword series recording (e.g. record every programme on a certain channel, or on every channel, which has “cycling” in the title or description)? This is a key function which is sometimes poorly implemented in HDD PVRs (except tivo, BT Vision and Sky+). NOT CLEAR FROM THIS….
Recording settings - UK channels are quite unreliable when it comes to start and finish times (sometimes two or three minutes out). To overcome this, I would want to set defaults so that anything I set to record (including series) starts 1 min before and stops 5 mins after the advertised times. Is this possible? What other settings might be available along these lines? NOT ANSWERED IN THIS….
These are just a few. Release date and price information would, of course, be nice to know as well!!!
Comment by pukka_p — Feb 14, 2008 @ 8:22 pm
Damm I dunno, its cool you can access it from ur psp. But sony sold the ps3 as trueHD 1080p & their TV’s (of which I have a 46″ bravia). Then they bring this SD box. Looks like i’m gonna upgrade to SkyHD.
Comment by crazyeighty8 — Feb 14, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
if you are making any more edits, here are a few more qs:
can you play games while recording off the play tv?
is this still gonna be out by the end of Q2?
were play.com premature to put a price up of £99.99?
Comment by Lean_go — Feb 15, 2008 @ 12:05 am
will it record/save to an external USB drive as an option?
Comment by redlander — Feb 15, 2008 @ 12:06 am
Tony - where did you expect the PlayTV unit to plug in to? =) I agree though, having USBs on the fron in this case is not good
Comment by Obli — Feb 15, 2008 @ 1:21 am
Does it allow you to record while playing games?
Comment by Mr Pickle — Feb 15, 2008 @ 2:41 am
#41 Doh! It supports HD (2×1080p tuners)
#45 Not yet, but they’re working hard
Yees it supports subtitles, very important in Scandinavia.
Comment by Mr. Denmark — Feb 15, 2008 @ 6:21 am
Two questions:
1. Is the EPG sourced from Freeview’s over the air guide data or over PlayStation Network?
2. Does the PlayTV software support Multimedia Home Platform for interactive TV applications?
Comment by Nom — Feb 15, 2008 @ 8:22 am
I am not sure I understand why people would get excited about this. Although Sky+ has its flaws, it is a very good piece of kit. Questions I have not seen answered or asked relate to, Can you watch Sky programs on it and can watch 1 channel whilst recording another? As much as I love my PS3, I don’t see myself getting rid of my Sky+ box.
Comment by porter78 — Feb 15, 2008 @ 8:30 am
A bit slow to load for my likeing when you first turn it on. If its £20 i will get it but any more they can f off. I personaly think it should be no more than £10, because the PS3 should all ready be able to do all the stuff, it just needs the box so you can connect your TV line to it.
Comment by sarge mat — Feb 15, 2008 @ 11:50 am
I will purchase this unit, but I have to say that since the purchase of my PS3 I find myself watching less and less TV.
For example I have one of those Thompson TUTV boxes (it records content overnight to the HDD) and I hadn’t realised the thing had crashed and stopped recording over a month ago! (mental note: Cancel the £10 monthly subscription)
Part of the reason for not watching much telly is games, but also how poor SD telly looks on my HDTV. So if this does upscale I’ll be happier.
Hmm, so Sat-Nav for my PSP, PVR for my PS3, GT5, MGS, LBP(?), Home(?) It’s going to be a good year for Sony.
Comment by Demibeard — Feb 15, 2008 @ 11:51 am
So where do I plug in my AV amplifier? TV or PS3?
Comment by Murlphalus — Feb 15, 2008 @ 11:52 am
No mention of Freeview Playback functionality, which would answer most of #42’s questions.. getting that logo would mean that they had proper (tivo-like) series linking, accurate recording, conflict resolution, split record, etc. - You can get a £50 80GB PVR from Tescos that has all that, and you’re paying for the hard drives etc. in that price..
Not sure what a good price. Most here seem to be saying £50 tops.. I reckon that’s excessive unless it has all of the above. £30 maybe?
Hopefully the leaked £100 price from earlier was someone’s idea of a joke.
Comment by Tony — Feb 15, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
Can’t wait for this…:)
Comment by Sean Collins — Feb 15, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
if you can only save to the internal drvie thats a bit crap.
Comment by redlander — Feb 15, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
This blog has raised more questions than it has answered and I suspect this trend will continue until the unit comes out with an extortionate UK price and is nothing more than an OEM of Slingbox.
I really see NOTHING new here. It receives Freeview channels, something I can buy for £25 and interconnect between a television and video/HDD recorder and off we go.
The PSP feature is vaguely interesting but come on, really. I mean, who’s really THAT desperate to know what happened in EastEnders or see The Eagle Has Landed again on the Beeb?!
PSP requires a wireless connection and where in England is that offered for FREE?! Are you going to watch it at work? Might as well use your PC to do that. Where else can you get free wireless connection, unless someone’s silly enough not to enable it on their home router, but that’s illegal and you’re not going to hang around outside just to get a signal…
As for the PS3 configuration, well, recording television takes up a great deal of HDD space - so where on earth will the 40GB model owners going to put it, when some developers already want to dump their whole games onto your HDD?!
Also, with the gimped 40GB having less USB ports and they’re not at the back (thanks Sony), would you really want that spaghetti junction cluttering the front of your tv stand, with all those wires hanging out?!
Move on. I see nothing of interest here…
Comment by Zed Zee — Feb 15, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
They still need to sort out remote play before they add new features - never been able to start my ps3 over an internet connection, but i have over LAN.
Comment by Deano — Feb 15, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
#57
Yeah I know it’s nothing special really, but it would be one less box under the TV. I have BT Vision, which is pretty good but far from perfect.
Most cheap PVRs have awful user interfaces. BT Vision is OK UI-wise, but it is really slow and clunky. Sky+ and Tivo (also a little slow) lead the way, but those require subscriptions.
I would also be interested to know whether this thing uses the Cell processor to allow some good near-lossless compression and a fast transcode to PSP option (as opposed to watching via Remote Play).
So in summary I think the attraction of this, if it delivers, is:
- Less boxes under the TV
- No subscription (and less than say £50?? initial outlay)
- Really good polished UI
- Effective series linking
- And maybe a few more minor things (like PSP).
If it’s got those I’ll be getting it for sure…
Comment by pukka_p — Feb 16, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
Seems OK, but is redundant if you have Sky+, also most HDTV’s come standard with Freeview these days anyway.
You guys do realise this WILL be £100+. The stand alone Sony Freeview reciever was £120 on release.
Comment by Divine — Feb 17, 2008 @ 1:58 am
@ pukka_p (58):
I think with other machines, you get what you pay for. If you want a good, vibrant and intelligent UI, then I guess you will need to pay for it and go for a Pioneer or LG PVR device.
However, the point I was trying to make is that Sony has a REALY opportunity here to offer something a little different, because, they ALREADY have the brain in place for this; that being the CELL in the PS3.
So, the features you mention are merely software upgrades (I hope) that will come with future releases of the PS3 firmware; I hope the code is NOT in the PlayTV unit itself. This makes much more sense to me and certainly opens the door for sony to offer all kinds of things that not even THEY can realise right now.
If it’s simply an expensive Freeview box or an OEMed Slingbox that connects into the PS3…come on, really. Who the devil cares?!
Comment by Zed Zee — Feb 17, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
@ Divine - I don’t think it will be that much to be honest. Will try and find out for you.
Comment by Three Speech — Feb 18, 2008 @ 10:46 am
if £100 price is said to be true, you should wait, let the technolgy come to market & read between the lines.
As mentioned above who whould in there right mind pay such a silly price for ‘old technolgy’ may be people who are iggnorant and have money to line the pockets of such projects. I bet u the same chips are used in the cheap tuners ! The ’sony’ tuner will not live up to expectations. We use they make. We use we complain , they fix with firmware updates.
Comment by realist — Feb 19, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
If priced sensibly, like the cost of a PC adaptor, maybe £40 tops, it’d be an excellent system. However the rumoured £100 price tag makes the price redundant, as 80GB PVRs can be got for that which don’t tie up your PS3 for doing TV stuff.
The price will make or break this. I’m apprehensive that Sony will fumble.
Comment by Shifty Geezer — Feb 19, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Where is the price rumoured at £100??
Comment by Three Speech — Feb 19, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
Play.com had it listed for £99, though have removed the preorder option. http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/01/13/playtv-dvr-gets-priced-dated/
This is the only listed price and Play aren’t reliable, so I count it as rumour, but if that’s the only figure people are associating with PlayTV, Sony ought to be saying something to the contrary.
As it is, I’ve just ordered a £10 USB tuner for the PC instead… Someone needs to write a Linux driver!
Comment by Shifty Geezer — Feb 20, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
Can Someone Please Answer Me This Question,
Will Sky (Satalite TV) Be An Option, Or Is It Only Built For Freeview?
Comment by IWantIt — Mar 16, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
IWantIt-i’m fairly sure it is just freeview channels! a one off payment like a normal freeview box
now could someone answer my question: does anyone know how much memory, say an hour long program would take up on the ps3’s harddrive? i’ve been wanting to know for ages now… any ideas?
i want to know if i will need a bigger harddrive than my 60gb i have now…
thaks so much
Comment by Matty121 — Mar 29, 2008 @ 3:04 pm
FYI:
Article posted on 17 July 2008 at EuroGamer…
[ http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=191896 ]
—
PlayTV dated, will record TV while gaming
News by Tom Bramwell
SCEE president David Reeves has told Eurogamer that PlayTV will launch roll out in Europe “from September to December” starting with a UK date of 10th September.
Reeves also confirmed that the device - a digital video recorder add-on for PS3 - will allow users to record TV at the same time as playing games.
“Yep, it’s going to be 10th September that PlayTV comes out,” he told us in an interview set to be published whenever my fingers start working again.
Asked if Sony had overcome technical hurdles and definitely planned to let you record TV at the same time as playing games, he said: “We do, yep.”
“It was very difficult for some of the tech guys but we had to include it in the firmware upgrade, 2.41, but it’s done now,” he said, so in theory if your PS3 is up to date you’re all set for the 10th September launch.
Reeves announced at PlayStation Day in May that PlayTV would cost EUR 99 when it launched in September, but was unable to nail down a date.
He also had some good news for gamers elsewhere in the PAL markets. “We’ve got Australia and New Zealand also lined up for it in January or February, because on their digital terrestrial they haven’t actually set the standards yet.
—
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Jul 18, 2008 @ 8:26 am
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