We Want PlayTV – Freeview For Your PS3

1080i, not p. I reckon it will be at least 10 years before we get 1080p, and even then I wouldn’t hold my breath. As DVD was better than TV in the past. The same law has to remain for the future, or no one would buy movies, so blu-ray will always remain higher quality than hdtv. But 1080i still looks kick ass on a native 1080p projector. And Dolby 5.1 is great too.
But blu-ray has loseless audio and a higher bandwidth overall.

Hi David, of course – my mistake. It is 1080i but as you mentioned almost every piece of HD kit these days can upscale signals to 1080p and still look great, at least compared to normal TV.

Recently, I heard that PlayTV has been delayed indefinitely in New Zealand for a rather alarming reason. FreeView had to agree with the content owners to not allow PVR systems to be used in conjunction with the Freeview HD network. Therefore they will not “certify” any PVR equipment for their DVB-T transmissions.

It also means that their set-top boxes are locked down. You can not get a HD transmission from the Component connection and the HDMI connection is protected with HDCP and will not allow a HDTV signal via the HDMI connection unless the conditions are satisfied (no PVR systems in between).

Note that this is what I’ve come across from friends “in the know”. I don’t have the system but all the same, it’s still worrying!

Why would you block the recording of free to air HDTV? how backward thinking are we, it doesn’t make any sense to restrict this aspect of consumer need. What purpose would that serve? No HDTV PVRs means a big reason to wait until that is sorted, a bit like the wait for HD-dvd and Blu ray sorted itself out!

So what’s the difference between playtv and something like eyetv for the mac? http://www.macguide.co.nz/articles/review-elgato-eyetv-hybrid

A few things – Freeview will not certify an eyeTV either AFAIK. eyeTV does not have NZ specific features (i.e. program guide) and FreeView uses a very specific video and audio encoding for their DVB-T transmissions which not a lot of set-tops or tuners support out of the box.

Also, I don’t believe Sony will release without being given a blessing from Freeview. And it seems Freeview don’t want to bless anybody elses PVR.

Gavin, I agree, but I believe these were terms forced on Freeview by the content producers. Freeview PVR’s will be locked down and I believe it will be impossible to remove, and therefore share, content. I’m looking around for some concrete sources so I can write another post on this because it seems like a pretty popular topic

Given PlayTV won’t record HD day one it’s a waste of time…once it will record HD it could get Freeview certified as it will incorporate DRM to only allow remote play to a PSP (and nothing else)…I’m sure this would satisfy the DRM requirements of Freeview…

To get certified it needs to support H.264/AVC 4.0 Profile (already does), HE-AAC and AC3 audio (AC3 won’t be a problem) and MHEG-5 for the EPG. Given the UK uses MHEG-5 I wouldn’t be surprised if it will support it…one thing I’m not sure of is whether or not the nice PlayTV EPG interface will be able to get EPG data – I’m fairly certain MHEG-5 controls the look and feel of the EPG so it is consistent regardless of STB (could be wrong)

I have Sony Playstation New Zealand 01/09/09 and there no dates set for the launch of the PlayTV in New Zealand. They were expecting the release in the last quater of 2008 but it is more likely to happen early 2009.

In the latest Wares New Zealand magazine (August) there is a very interesting article on page 68 with an interview with Dave Hine (sales and marketing manager Sony NZ)
It looks like PlayTV WILL record in HD in New Zealand (was announced in Europe that PlayTV will only record in SD) and quote from Dave Hine:

“PlayTV is just about to be launced in Europe. We are working hard to bring it to New Zealand before Christmas. We are working with the team at Freeview so people can enjoy the HD broadcast. PlayTV enables people can watch, play, and record free to air television whether standard or HD”

To me this is good news for more information and see the full article go to
http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board/message?board.id=bANZ_PS3_general&thread.id=85&view=by_date_ascending&page=2

Mike

Just to comment on this.

I bought a PlayTV box over from the UK. As I expected the interface is extremely good. And the decmonstartion videos included look amazing as everything is upscaled to 1080p.

The box finds all the Freeview channels and the EPG works

Unfortunately, when actually watching TV, you get a blank screen with “Unsupported Content” shown in the channel information & program description popup.

During setup the system asks for you region, (UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, or ‘Other’). I’ve tried a few difference regions, as I gather France has the same codec as NZ?

So, I keep checking for an online update now and again to see if PlayTV will release some functionality in a new version (currently 1.00).

PVRs that do what Mysky does have been around for 5+ years in the UK, so what is the deal here?

The European PlayTV is MPEG-2 only including France, once PlayTV is released in New Zealand it will support MPEG-4 and AAC/AC3 audio
so this will only be a software issue. I would be suprised if the MPEG-4 software will be in an update, I think you will find once it is released in New Zealand PlayTV will be sold with a Blu-ray disc (same as the European model) but will have the MPEG-4 software for our region. For more information go to these Forums:
http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/forum/index.php/board,1.0.html
http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board?board.id=bANZ_PS3_general

Thanks Mike.

I can’t wait for this to come out, damnit. Anybody want to buy an HTPC?

Yeh, can not wait eather, a very nice product, the EPG, graphics and ease of use leaves all other PVR’s for dead!!
Hey if you already have a PS3 log onto the European Playstation Store and download the demo PlayTV pakage, real cool, the EPG etc is stunning!!!
Once PlayTV comes out I will be selling my Zinwell box on Trademe the EPG and ease of use is crap.

So what does this mean for the other Freeview PVRs that already exist?

same, cant wait
any word on the release date?
by the way, how do you log in to europeanps store? i have ps3 but havnet seen any option as to which psn you want to log in to

You have to make a new PSN account and use an address somewhere in Europe. Can’t remember if this address has to be real or not. I get this confused with fake iTunes accounts lol.

just a quick note; EB games & gamesman stores are now taking preorders for it

their price seems very steep though, which probably means they dont have a confirmed price from sony yet

Just a couple of updates regarding release date for New Zealand visit

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/forum/index.php/board,1.0.html

or

http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board?board.id=bANZ_PS3_general

This post is probably dead, but anyhow…

The UK unit I brought back from the UK is now more useful thanks to the 2.10 software update.

TV3 works very well – with pause/review buffering functionality.

The TVNZ channels have great video but no sound – no sound for radio channels either. Unfortunately the the scheduled recording function doesn’t work (“unsupported format”) – odd given that it can buffer as above!

I believe that globally the software will be identical (not region specific as Mike suggested). When you do the setup, you choose the location – currently, UK, France, Spain etc, and “other”. This setting is independant of the language setting….

So, it almost works.

PlayTV Review for MPEG-4 New Zealand only

PlayTV is a twin-channel DVB-T tuner peripheral with digital video recorder (DVR) software which allows users to watch and record television programs to the hard drive of a PlayStation 3 console for later viewing. Sony announced the device on 22 August 2007 by Warrick light of Sony New Zealand. The device was launched in the UK on the 19 September 2008 but MPEG-2 only. Since then there has been 3 firmware updates, the latest released on the 07/04/2009 supporting MPEG-4 AVC broadcasts.

PlayTV in New Zealand
The release of PlayTV in New Zealand has had numerous delays with still no sign of when it is going to be released. Since the firmware 1.10 update PlayTV now does work in New Zealand but not fully,

What PlayTV can not do unit a further firmware update:

- AAC HEV2 support (the Playstation it’s self supports it but not PlayTV)
- AC3 5.1 (PlayTV only supports Dolby Digital 2.0 at the moment, the PS3 does support DD5.1)
- MHEG5 Freeview New Zealand EPG support.
- MPEG-4 recording from PlayTV
- Master volume control via BD remote
- Single button jump to PlayTV from XMB

What PlayTV can do with firmware 1.10:

- Both SD and HD MPEG-4 broadcasts
- Live pause including fast forward rewind on HD and SD
- Remote play to a PSP
- Full HD and sound on TV3 ( Dolby Digital 2.0 only)
- EIT EPG (five events ahead only)
- HD and SD on all Freeview HD channels but only TV3 has sound

My first impressions with PlayTV after installing the software and firmware update was a WOW factor, the interface and ease of use is fantastic to say the least. After having a wee play around thought I would do some comparisons between PlayTV and a Zinwell set top box.
We tested both at HDMI into a Panasonic PT-AX200 projector onto a 100” screen

Picture quality
PlayTV is crisper and cleaner on both SD and HD where in comparison the Zinwell looked softer I was quiet impressed in how good the picture quality looked on PlayTV

Interface
This is where PlayTV is out on its own, the whole interface, graphics and EPG would be the best I have seen on any set top box/PVR, it is easy to use, smooth and has a very quick response time quiet frankly leaves the Zinwell for dead. The PS3 has other nifty features like you can escape out of PlayTV back to the PS3 XMB bar send messages and do heaps of other tasks but PlayTV is still running so you do not miss the TV program you are watching. Also when a message arrives it comes up on the corner of the screen the same way when you are playing a game.

Remote play
This is probably not for everyone personally I think this is a fantastic feature and works extremely well. Remote play is running PlayTV from your PS3 to a PSP ether by Bluetooth, wireless router or via the internet, the picture quality on the PSP is very impressive with full stereo sound and is in 16.9 widescreen.

Conclusion
I can see this device being a huge seller once it is released in New Zealand with all the software making it fully compatible to Freeview HD. Even with the limitations it has now is a breeze to use. In my opion Sony New Zealand need to start talking harder with both Freeview and the PlayTV developers and make some sort of time line for release date otherwise they risk missing the boat in market share with the arrival of TiVo later this year. With the latest firmware update this has given us a glimmer of hope that things are not that far away.

Other PlayTV interest links:

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/forum/…board,1.0.html

http://community.eu.playstation.com/…NZ_PS3_general

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum….cfm?t=1159251

Mike

Fantastic comment, Mike! Thanks so much!

I’m really looking forward to this, now. With the announcement of TiVo and hopefully PlayTV incoming sooner rather than later, the scene in NZ will hopefully start to pick up.

This will hopefully also put Sky on notice that they have to up their game as well should they want to compete. Sky + Freeview in HD on PlayTV would be a (wet) pipe dream for me but I doubt it will ever happen

I too agreed that PlayTV would be an amazing easy to use device and I myself considered buying a PS3 just for Freeview HD with PlayTV add-on… As the dates have come and gone on numerous occasions and there is still no set date for release I have abandoned this idea. I have downloaded the free RC release of Windows 7 and I have built a computer with dual-Freeview HD tuners and dual-Freeview Satellite tuners and it works like magic. I have also bought 3 xbox 360s for the other rooms of the house and can be recording up to 4 shows at once and am able to use a full working guide (from satellite signal) and can watch recordings from any room. It also allows the radio, live tv, recordings, music, pictures and all my other little movie clips to be viewed anywhere. This by far is a much better option for me and my family as the recordings arent trapped to one device (or a PSP) and numerous shows can be recorded at once and from different tv formats. Although i found Windows Vista a struggle, Windows 7 is the ultimate media program and with xbox 360′s connected it is an incredible experience and is so easy to use.

my two cents:

I’ve recently moved from London to Auckland.
I shipped my UK sony bravia, ps3 and playTV with me.

The bravia does not pick up ANY tv channels (analogue or digital). Much to my disgust. But it does make me happy i didn’t spring for the 52″ bravia i was looking at bringing back.

However, the UK PS3 and playTV DO work – kind of.
Using the latest PS3 system and playTV software (as of 2 June 2009 anyway) i can receive all 8 freeview channels including HD broadcasting. As well as EPG information, but this seems to only ‘see’ one day into the future. Not all week ahead like back in London.

But the only channel with sound is TV3. Ironically the new TV3+1 channel does not have sound?! Someone needs to explain that one to me.

I can pause, rewind and record TV3 no problem.
CSI Miami HD looks unbelievable! (records HD too)

Fingers crossed more updates are on the way – otherwise my TV just became a relatively expensive video screen….

Thanks Stompy, your UK Sony Bravia will NOT work in New Zealand as our analog PAL system is different to yours, also our DVB-T system is the new MPEG-4 AVCHD format UK uses the older MPEG-2 SD system.
Yes since the latest firmware 1.10 PlayTV now supports MPEG-4 and AC3 (Dolby digital) but not AAC and AAC+ audio at the moment, TV3 is in AC3 and all the other channels are AAC and AAC+ audio hence no sound. Future firmware updates will sort that one out.
Live pause should also be working 100% but you surprise me saying you can record?? At the moment PlayTV does not support MPEG-4 recording it will come up with an error if you try to record.
The FreeviewHD EPG here in New Zealand uses its own custom MHEG5 system which playTV does not support until we get a firmware update to support it. The EPG PlayTV is dispalying is the EIT EPG which is used for “now and next” on all set top boxes and PVR units due to one of the Zinwell PVR’s the EIT EPG normally shows 5-10 events ahead so this is normal.
If you want more info on PlayTV in New Zealand go to the Freeview Shop forums http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/forum/index.php/board,1.0.html or for the Australia and New Zealand go to http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1159251 or http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board?board.id=bANZ_PS3_general

Cheers

Mike

Some major developments Mark Bunting Producer of PayTV has started a blog with questions and answers, all VERY exiting news for New Zealand all the AAC/AAC+ audio and MPEG-4 recording are being addressed and will be in the next firmware update. Once this happens PlayTV will be fully up and running here!! The only thing is the MHEG5 EPG that may be further down the track??
Once all is working it would be well worth while importing!!

Sorry forgot to give the link
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2009/06/19/playtv-update/comment-page-3/#comments

Just another update… following a software update that was made available over the weekend, the UK unit that I bought to NZ is now working perfectly.

The unit decodes and upscales all freeview channels, including the 5.1 audio of TV3.

Live TV buffering (PVR) functionality is all working perfectly. If you schedule a recording, the PS3 will wake up, display a message that it is recording and will automatically switch off when finished.

The only gripe is that the programme guide is only populated for the next few hours, though placeholders for program information are shown for the next couple of days.

You can’t schedule two channels to record at the same time in the future (but you can view one while another is recording).

Interestingly, the initial setup menu has an option for Australia now (it didn’t used to) – which includes options for each territory.

Anyway, its working! If they start selling these in NZ, Sony will sell these by the bucketload.

I upgraded my PS3 to 320GB, so should have enough storage for the next while!

Play TV avaiable now for preorder from $193.99 from Fishpond. Also advertises that the EPG works. Doesn’t sound right to me but you never know.