Sony Unveils Plans to Extend PlayStation Family of Products with PSP

LADYDRAGON.COM

 

Friday May 23, 2003

 

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT READIES FOR MARKET EXPANSION WITH CREATION OF A NEW HANDHELD ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM

Sony Unveils Plans to Extend PlayStation Family of Products with PSP

LOS ANGELES, May 13, 2003 - Enhancing its strong platform strategies, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today plans to expand its in-home entertainment to outside the home with a new, all-in-one portable entertainment platform, “PSP™”

The introduction of “PSP” highlights the company’s long-awaited foray into the portable entertainment market. With unmatched advantages of the Sony Group, such as global brand awareness, superior technologies in the most advanced semiconductor processes, “PSP” further broadens entertainment experiences into the portable arena.

The foundation of this new platform is Universal Media Disc (UMD), which comprises of a 60mm optical disc (1.8 GB) in a cartridge, developed by the Sony Group, utilizing its latest disc technologies. Compared to the out-dated mask ROM cartridge, optical disc has huge advantages such as shorter turn around time for manufacturing, larger data capacity and lower media costs. The latest copy-protection technology will be applied to offer content developers and publishers a safe and copy-protected environment.

“PSP” will be equipped with a wide screen 480 x 272 pixel (16 by 9) TFT LCD monitor with a backlight, and powered by super chipsets utilizing the latest 90 nm semiconductor technology. For graphics, 3D rendering will be enhanced by the employment of curved surfaces (NURBS) along with conventional polygons. Video quality will also be enhanced with MPEG4, which delivers quality equivalent to DVD video at a low data rate.

“PSP” will have an USB 2.0 port for further expandability and connectivity to other devices, such as “PSP,” PlayStation 2 and many other systems, along with a Memory StickTM slot for network applications and data transportability in a wireless environment.

SCEI will offer PC-based development tools starting from fall 2003 for the preparation of a new range of computer entertainment content. A new license scheme for “PSP” software development will be announced in summer 2003. Pursuing the founding principles of the PlayStation business, Sony Computer Entertainment will expand its efforts to support content developers to create new forms of computer entertainment.

Together with its business partners, SCEI aims to aggressively promote this new platform to further broaden the arena of entertainment.

“Just as PlayStation and PlayStation 2 revolutionized in-home computer entertainment, we aim to become a new driving force in the portable entertainment platform arena,” said Ken Kutaragi, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “The world of PlayStation encompasses hundreds of millions of users worldwide, most of whom view computer entertainment as part of their everyday lives. We look forward to extending the experience through a portable entertainment platform, and are excited about the possibilities and impact ‘PSP’ will have on the market. Along with game applications, ‘PSP’ will have a huge potential for delivering other forms of entertainment as well as live entertainment through the network, anywhere, anytime. This is the ‘Walkman’ of the 21st century.”

“PSP” Specifications

Display:        Wide screen (16:9) TFT LCD with backlight (480 x 272 dots)

Disc medium:    “UMD” 60mm optical secured ROM disc with cartridge (1.8GB)

Video CODEC:    MPEG4

Graphics:       3D Polygon/NURBS

Sound:  PCM (built-in stereo speakers, stereo headphone output)

I/O:    USB 2.0, Memory StickTM slot

Battery:        Rechargeable (lithium-ion)     

CPU

MIPS R4000 32-bit core
128-bit bus
1-333MHz (1.2V)
8MB eDRAM main memory
2.6Gbps bus bandwidth
FPU, VFPU (2.6 billion flops)
3D graphics extended instructions

Graphics Core

1-166MHz (1.2V)
256-bit bus
2MB eDRAM (VRAM)
5.3Gbps bus bandwidth
664 million pixels per second pizel fill rate
3D curved surface and 3D polygon engine
Support for compressed textures, hardware clipping, morphing, bone, tessellation, bezier, b-spline (NURBS)
Maximum of 33 million polygons per second
24-bit full color (RGBA)

Sound Core

VME (Virtual Mobile Engine)
Reconfigurable DSP
166MHz (1.2 V)
128-bit bus
5 giga operations per second
CODEC capabilities
3D sound, 7.1 channels
Synthesizer, effecter, and other abilities
ATRAC3 plus, AAC, MP3 for audio

Media Engine

MIPS R4000 32-bit core
128-bit bus
1-333MHz (1.2V)
2MB eDRAM submemory
90nm CMOS

Media

UMD (Universal Media Disc)
60mm-diameter disc
660nm laser diode
1.8GB capacity (dual-layered disc)
11Mbps transfer rate
AES crypto system
Unique disc ID
Shock proof
Regional code system
Parental lock system
Repeat ordering system

More Specifications

16:9-format widescreen TFT LCD (480x272 pixels, 24-bit full color)
MPEG4 AVC decoder
Wireless LAN (802.11)
IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
USB 2.0
Memory Stick
AV in/out
Stereo headphone out
Lithium ion battery
Expansion port

Sony PSP Disc

Click here the View E3 pictures

 

 

Back

 

Tous droits réservés - All rights reserved.
Copyright ©1998 - 2003 - LadyDragon.com
dragon@ladydragon.com