Here's your proof: PSP-3000 interlacing scanline features are really hardware-based

Posted Oct 30, 2008 at 2:15PM by QJ Staff Listed in: News, PSP Slim & Lite Tags: PSP-3000, SCEJ, Sony
Ó


PSP-2000 vs PSP-3000 - Image 1


[Cue plumber's voice] "See naow, thuurs yer prawblem!"

The guys at French site Logic-Sunrise wanted to investigate the PSP-3000's "scanline feature" and, quite literally, put it under a microscope. As seen in the pics above (they're 40x magnified under the microscope), the LCD pixels on the PSP's screen, prove two things:
  1. the PSP-3000's blue pixels are darker than the Slim's; since they're darker, the dark scanlines are more prominent
  2. the PSP-3000's pixels are arranged horizontally (hence the horizontal scanlines) as opposed to the Slim's pixels, which are arranged vertically
And what's their conclusion after this finding? Quite simply, that the "feature" is 100% hardware-based (because that's how the LCD screen was really built), just like the SCEJ rep previously said.

Hmm, if Sony's decided to cease PSP Slim production, they might be in for rough times.



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Comments [refresh]

by Demonsweat - 2008-10-30 10:25
» Oh boy...

Whatever happened to quality assurance testing?



Just curious, if they had arranged the pixels vertically, like the Slim's, would the scanlines still be there?

by mike_jmg - 2008-10-30 10:39
» just one thing

Sony is stupid and most likely, will always be

by DarkXCloud - 2008-10-30 10:57
» ...

I see scan lines on phat and slims. Some ghosting effects show scan lines but never noticeable

by KyyubiDX - 2008-10-30 11:12
» This is lame...

The so-called scanline "post-nuclear" crisis is starting to irritate me... I got an EUR PSP-3000 and the s.c.a.n.l.i.n.e.s don't bother as much as internet sites claim it is... When I first read this articles I though it really was bad... but c'mon... I played Crisis Core, FFT: WotL, Lumines, Valkyrie Profile, and Ape Quest and the scanlines are BARELY noticeable IF AT ALL... Even FIFA 09, which is a fast paced game doesn't have big problems with that (but sometimes they appear though rarely)... Watching Anime is awesome with no problems and the only place i DO see them is the XMB... So stop with that crucification of Sony... Don't like it, don't buy it... Buy stop sensacionallist ic journalism, will ya?



BTW: http://exophase.com/psp/psp-3000-review-8540.htm here's for a true review of the psp-3000

by prime - 2008-10-30 11:52
» meh

Give me a hackable PSP-3000 and I could care less about scanlines.



FWIW, the GBA SP suffered hugely from the same issue, but no one complained back then.

by RJ - 2008-10-30 12:25
» -

Wrong. The GBA SP (I just tested mine now, black European SP) has a low refresh rate, which was only noticeable if you subject it to vibration. The GBA had it too but there was a small screw hidden just under the sticker on the back that altered the flicker.

After viewing a PSP-3000 it's a very noticeable problem that occurs under any situation.



Btw, you meant "couldn't care less". By saying you could care less means you actually do care about the issue at hand. And that was todays English lesson.

by spiderfan00 - 2008-10-30 12:36
» w00t

yay grammar attacks, they irritate me almost as much as an unhackable psp-3000

by DarkXCloud - 2008-10-30 13:21
» ....

trust me... go on a game that has about 50 save slots. Scroll down really fast and look up close. you'll see small scan lines along with the ghost effect. I'm not sure if these are scan lines but... whatever.



btw.... any idea why some games have tons of dots on them like small pixels with a diamond cut around them? It seems to show up on certain colors.

by ilovepsp - 2008-10-30 13:38
» psp3000 is a mistake!

KyyubiDX_Your missing the point , How come a massive company like Sony miss a stupid error like that and then say it's a hardware feature, I played my friends psp3000 and yes it is very noticeable. And btw people like me who loves arcade games and old console games will never buy psp3000 because it can't be hacked yet, End of debate.

by WilLoW :--) - 2008-10-30 13:41
» KyyubiDX

scanlines are an artifact of the past, when television screens weren't fast enough.

They shouldn't appear on new hardware, especially at that price, and when it's the 3rd revision of a product. If it doesn't bother you, good for you. There are people who cannot watch a movie on that screen without puking.

I agree it is not a big deal for games because you focus more on the action than on the graphics themselves, but when watching non-interactive sequences or movies, it is disgusting.

by prime - 2008-10-30 14:10
» thanks

for pointing out the bad grammar on my part, shame on me.



With regards to the GBA SP, it didn't so much have the scanline effect as it did a "screen door" effect. Perhaps the GBA was always like that and the SP merely made it more perceptible. I never owned a GBA, I just tested the SP in the store and was turned off by the "screen door" effect. Could just have been low pixel depth as well.

by ineedfiles - 2008-10-30 14:36
» sony sucks

like i always say: sony can kiss my @$$.

they are always trying to get over on the consumer.

lol, Japan will NEVER forgive the U.S. for dropping the bomb on them.

that's why they sell us all this garbage: to make sure sure our kids MINDS are gone.

by c74gta4smash - 2008-10-30 14:57
» Couple of xbots

Funny, when I want quality, I'll buy from SONY. When I want sh|t, I'll go to Panisonic, COBY, and of course, Microsoft.



You guys are so quick to jump on SONY over one small thing yet, you guys would never own up to the sh|t quality other companies serve 24/7. Where'd you buy your CD players from? Headphones? HD set? STFU

by holden77 - 2008-10-30 16:18
» raggedjimmi

The OED recognizes “could care less” as an American colloquialism.



Paul Brians, English professor at Washington State University says "the problem is that as [a new idiom] evolves, you get caught as a user between people who are going with the new pattern and those who know the old pattern and are comfortable with it."



The matter is complicated by both the intention of the speaker and the inference of the listener. For all you know the speaker could be speaking literally rather than idiomatically, being a grammar bug is a rude and pointless thing to be, sooner or later you will fall on your own sword (after all I’m guessing you meant to say "today's English lesson" not "todays") , or start preaching with total conviction on a matter that is in fact still up for debate among genuine academics.



Nobody said English is finished and complete, like anything organic it is still in a process of evolution, so there’s no point being a snob about it. I’m British so I think “couldn’t care less” sounds better and “could care less” sounds weird, but that’s my opinion, not a fact and therefore not worth bothering people with.



I'm sure ilovepsp meant to say "you're missing the point" and not "your", so why pick on one persons mistake and not another’s?









um... psp 3000 blah!

by masta.g.86 - 2008-10-30 18:24
» Uh...

...yeah.



If the pixels were arranged vertically it would be no different than an SDTV. Horizontal panning would make the interlacing more noticeable. In the PSP-3000's case, vertical panning will make it more noticeable.

by PT-X - 2008-10-30 19:47
» Arghh

Shut the F up all complaining geez get alive....

Can u build a freaking PSP or PS3 hah...no...shut up then geez...

by Izuna - 2008-10-30 20:03
» 100%

I am a 100% sure that if either mike_jmg or ineedfiles said, 'But the PS3 RULEZZZZ!!!!!1!" they would have gotten 5 stars and not stereotyped...

by Izuna - 2008-10-30 20:11
» Scanlines...

When TVs needed to be bigger in size, and the cost of the cathode ray tubes were too expensive for the average consumer and raised in demand -- bare with me -- they made TVs only draw half the pixels, this is called interlacing... what the Wii and everything before it has.



Interlacing made is so that every other horizontal line on the CRT TVs wereblack lines... SCANLINES...



The problem with the PSP shouldn't be called scanlines because that implies that the PSP doesn't draw what you can't see- and that is doubtful since that would save a lot of power and also, LCDs can not have real scanlines.



Please, would people call it something else.

by sergeidragunov - 2008-10-30 22:08
» features? ha!

these scanlines are features? so you are saying that RROD on the 360 is a feature?!



more like a defect to me.



Thank you Sony but I'll stick with my classic PSP.

by ilovepsp - 2008-10-31 01:29
» LOL

@raggedjimmi- REEEEEEAAAAALLY YYHEHEHE Correct that comment *****! Why dont you go and suck a horse or something.

by ilovepsp - 2008-10-31 01:40
» Holy *****!

@holden77-YOUR oh no sorry you need to get a fuc king life!

by fearlubu - 2008-10-31 04:55
» hey ineedfiles

wassup ass waffle

by RJ - 2008-10-31 06:01
» -

"I'm sure ilovepsp meant to say "you're missing the point" and not "your", so why pick on one persons mistake and not another%u2019s?"



Because the correction wasn't the bulk or point of the message, it was a correction. And it's hardly a dialect colloquialism since it breaks logic. By definition of what the alteration means shows that you do have care. It's completely broke and don't try to make the American population look dumb by saying it's a widely regarded colloquialism - it's simply broke logic spurred on by a lack of education and lazy folk.

by RJ - 2008-10-31 06:04
» -

No worries :)



Plus that's regarded as a trapezium effect. It happens whenever there's a gap between the screen and a frontlight. My modded GBA with a frontlight does the same thing, just that it's less obvious with the SP (yea the GBA effect was that bad) because the gap is smaller.

Everything is fixed with backlight.

Everything is better fixed with LED screens.



Shame on everyone for not making handheld consoles with LED screens.

by RJ - 2008-10-31 06:18
» -

I'll stick with my 2000 until the 3000 problems are ironed out. After seeing a 3000 screen in real life... *droooool* but still wouldn't get one yet.

by Miclowgunman - 2008-10-31 06:39
» lol @ raggedjimmi

If this was ment as a joke, it was pretty funny. And if anyone wants to start making fun of the english language, think hard about everything you say. Most of what we say only makes sense because we have been saying it for years. Tell someone just learning english to go drove down the parkway and then park in the drive way. Then tell them to get you a pair of socks and a pair of sissors and see how many sissors they bring you...english is great!

by Dawnfall - 2008-10-31 08:02
» something else?

"Please, would people call it something else."

Does "feature" sound okay? That's what Sony calls it

by tobyo1 - 2008-10-31 09:22
» @raggedjimmi

You missed out the apostorphy in "today's"

by Achooist - 2008-10-31 13:47
» You best be trolling

Apostrophe



If you're going to correct somebody else's mistakes; learn to spell your own right first.



facepalm

by tobyo1 - 2008-10-31 21:35
» @Achooist

lol I was only a joke anyway, I guess Google's spell checker let me down again :(

by DSpider - 2008-11-02 10:37
» »

@DarkXCloud those dots are there because some developers used 16 bit textures to make those games, and not 24 bit. This also happens in PC games when you switch from 32 bit textures to 16 bit ones. Less colored texture means less CPU/GPU power. It's not that bad actually. You just need to keep the PSP at a fair distance. Like reading a book... Keep (at least) a 40 cm distance when playing or you're eyes will start to bleed. :)

by DSpider - 2008-11-02 10:52
» »

I can ! From an old iPod (2nd gen), a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle, a fake moustache and a flock of hair from Angelina Jolie`s armpit.



PS: I`ll take the flock of hair for my own personal usage thank you very much. And no, I`m not sharing it.

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