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Portable AV: PSP plays video from Memory Stick
Posted on Dec 03, 2004 - 10:57 PM by zmcnulty
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Topic: Sony
Category: Portable AV
Technorati: Linking Blogs

Less than 10 days before its release, Sony Computer Entertainment has updated the PSP product information page, confirming that it will indeed playback video files stored on Memory Sticks.

What sort of video files, you ask? The same ones produced by Sony digital cameras -- MP4. There will of course be conversion software available on release day. More details inside.

Sony Computer Entertainment Corporation (SCEJ) has updated the product information page for the "Playstation Portable (PSP-1000)" portable game unit to be released on the 12th. Inside, they have made details evident such as specific information about the video and audio formats the PSP is capable of playing, as well information regarding how to create supported files.

Sony had previously announced that the PSP would support the playback of MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video from "UMD" media, and would release video titles. However, they did not make clear any specific details about playback of video files from Memory Stick Duo.

Made clear during the page update was that the PSP will be capable of playing videos in the MP4-standard "Memory Stick Video Format" which have been created using the "Image Converter 2" video conversion software to be released by Sony Marketing. Image Converter 2 is also bundled as "Image Converter 2 for CLIE MP4" with the Clie "VZ90" released in September.

Video files are recorded on a Memory Stick Duo, and can be played on the PSP. A preview version of the software is planned for release on Decmber 13th, the day after the PSP's reelease. Also, movies that have been recorded with digital cameras capable of recording MPEG-4 video, as well as videos recorded with the Cybershot "DSC-M1" can be played on the PSP.

Audio files remain the same as was announced in the previous report; in addition to ATRAC3plus/ATRAC3 and PCM, it will support the MP3 format. Supported bitrates for ATRAC3 are 66, 105, and 132kbps, while the ATRAC3plus supported bitrates are 48, 64, and 256kbps.

Furthermore, although the PSP can playback data obtained by music distribution services or those purchased with dedicated devices, playback of these files requires that they are recorded onto a Memory Stick Duo that supports MagicGate (MG). However, MP3 files can also be played from Memory Stick Duos that do not support MagicGate.

Still image support will be in the form of the JPEG format (DCF 2.0 / Exif 2.21). Further information regarding the details of video, audio, and still image playback is planned for explanation of a dedicated page, but the page reads "Planned for early December."

Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20041203/scei.htm

Product Information:
http://www.scei.co.jp/products/psp.html

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Comments (must be registered to post)
zmcnulty 03.12.04, 23:08	The first thing Scott complained about was a lack of DivX/XviD support. While I agree that standard DivX/XviD support would be a good addition, there's a couple reasons one may think otherwise: -Typical DivX and XviD files have a resolution far higher than that of the PSP; any overscan would simply be a waste of space. In other words, although you may not be able to fit an hour-long 720 x 480 XviD file on a 256MB Memory Stick, you may be able to fit an hour-long 480 x 272 MP4 file on a 256MB Memory Stick. Reconversion would allow you to "take advantage" of the lower resolution of the PSP's screen to fit more video on a single Memory Stick. -The PS2 supports DivX and XviD with ps2reality's mediaplayer software. Likewise, GameShark has released the GameShark Media Player. Given the PSP's architecture is similar to that of the PS2 (or so I hear), it should be relatively simple to implement DivX and XviD support using some method such as loading the Memory Stick Duo with the proper software when loading it with a video file. Remember, the PSP supports the USB Mass Storage class, and Sony has said they plan on creating user-downloadable game demos for the Memory Stick Duo -- this means you can load software from the same slot.
zmcnulty 03.12.04, 23:09	Of course, one thing I didn't take into my account in my above post is the time factor. Seriously, who the hell wants to sit around and re-encode a damn movie for an hour just so they can watch it on their PSP?
MCCoy 04.12.04, 04:19	Me! Because you don't have to take care of the computer while it's re-encoding. You can do other things, and it's not that much time if you have a decent computer. And for a long bus or train trip, it is great, specially if you're out of games. I actually watch complete DivX movies out of my 128mb MS-DUO card in my P900, and it's nice. So with PSP's bigger screen, I think it would be much nicer :).
niral89 04.12.04, 09:16	the PSP: theres been speculation abuot the region coding and that if u get a JAP console then US games wont work, is this true?
Anonymous 04.12.04, 13:58	No from what I remember, games wont be, but movies will.
zmcnulty 04.12.04, 14:57	McCoy - I agree with you, I was just trying to give both sides of the argument :) niral89 - Like anon above me said, games will not have region encoding, but movies will. Meaning, if you were to import a Japanese PSP, American/other games would still work on it. Welcome to the site, btw.
Anonymous 05.12.04, 11:05	to niral89: no,man , there is no region limitation on game play. you can just grab one game in Japan and put it in your PSP for game fun...
Anonymous 08.12.04, 02:19	I thought the japanese psp was region free for both movies and games.
ravisher 11.03.05, 16:18	Im currently in japan, heading back to the states tuesday, I bought a Psp over here, I will experience first hand if it can handle us games/movies, ill be sure to post a reply when i get home on tuesday :) "Its sat here in japan."