Sony: No Fix For PSP-3000 Scan Lines

[DoctorFinger]

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/newsimages/psp3000scanlines.jpg
Image courtesy of PSP Fanboy

Some gamers who have purchased the new PSP-3000 hardware are reporting a troubling issue with the new, brighter screen. Namely: visible scan lines on some games. Sony acknowledged the problem, and many gamers were hopeful that the situation could be resolved with a firmware upgrade. Now, according to Sony, that's not going to happen.
On some occasions, scan lines may appear on scenes where brightness changes drastically, due to the hardware features of the new LCD device on PSP-3000. Installed with this new LCD device, PSP-3000 offers more natural and vibrant colors on its screen, but the scan lines have come out to be more visible as a result of improving response time to alleviate the afterimages on PSP-3000. Since this is due to hardware specification, there are no plans for a system software update concerning this issue.Not exactly a deal breaker, but an issue like this is definitely going to give some gamers pause when considering that PSP-3000 on the shelf.

Source - PSPFanboy (http://www.pspfanboy.com/2008/10/21/psp-3000-scanlines-a-hardware-feature-no-fix-planned/2#comments).

[Deadend]

This reminds me of the old sticky square button.

[Young Al Capone]

This is what Disgaea and other games actually look like? That is horrible, I would definitely be pissed if I had one.

[Xerxes]

Way to go Sony. :)

[Gorvi]

This is what Disgaea and other games actually look like? That is horrible, I would definitely be pissed if I had one.
I haven't seen it myself, but keep in mind that's blown up at least 10 times it's normal size there. That would still be annoying, though.

[Xerxes]

I haven't seen it myself, but keep in mind that's blown up at least 10 times it's normal size there. That would still be annoying, though.

Have you popped Disgaea in yet?

[Schnoogs]

Glad I didn't buy this one

[Gorvi]

Have you popped Disgaea in yet?
I still have my original PSP, the upgrades in the 2000 and 3000 don't seem like enough for me to blow another $150 to replace a perfectly working system.

[Goronmon]

I haven't seen it myself, but keep in mind that's blown up at least 10 times it's normal size there. That would still be annoying, though.Yeah, I wonder how noticeable this is when the system is held at a more reasonable distance.

[Young Al Capone]

Seems like that would be pretty damn niticible even from normal distance. I would like to see what normal arms length would produce though.

[Food Nipple]

I haven't seen it myself, but keep in mind that's blown up at least 10 times it's normal size there. That would still be annoying, though.

Yeah, in fairness any PSP screen is going to look like crap when zoomed in that far. The guy who took the photo also included a comparison shot from his PSP 2000.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n305/foodnipple/disgaea42kyo6.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n305/foodnipple/disgaea3ux1.jpg

I've heard that it's not noticeable in 3D games, it's much more apparent on 2D sprites and very noticeable when watching movies.

[Commissar Rob]

Meh, I'm perfectly happy with my old model. Sony seems to have slipped into a habit of making their "upgrades" less appealing though...

[Fubl]

checking my system right now using disgaea. Its not noticeable at least to me....

[Gorvi]

I'd be interested to see some full screen shots of both just to see what the difference is and how noticable it is.

[DeathtollWRX]

Hmm, I don't have a PSP, I mean I had one years ago but wife lost it. Not sure if I want the PSP-3000 or the PSP-2000 ..Scan lines like that would irk the hell out of me no matter how vibrant the colors are.

[Adam Blue]

Well...I was going to buy this new model and sell my old one. But I would still like to try it out.

[Johan]

The "old blurry" is much better than the "new liney" in my opinion. Perhaps the new hardware solves the problem of hacking/piracy by encouraging people not to buy games? :D

[violent]

I'll take a picture of Disgaea running on a 2000 system. If anyone can do the same with a 3000, that'd be swell.

EDIT: Camera's out of juice. The game certainly does not look bad on a 2000.

[Purple Santa]

Guess i'll be crossing this off my xmas list...

[LongStepMantis]

While that sucks hard, don't most handhelds look like ass if you get that close?

I'm not dismissing the problem, just saying.

[Xerxes]

The "old blurry" is much better than the "new liney" in my opinion. Perhaps the new hardware solves the problem of hacking/piracy by encouraging people not to buy games? :D

Blurry == poor man's anti-aliasing.

[rein]

Blurry == poor man's anti-aliasing.

I have natural anti-aliasing. Genetics saw fit for me to have anti-aliasing on at all times.

[Young Al Capone]

Blurry == poor man's anti-aliasing.

No doubt, just look at Dead Space in standard definition. It losses a bunch of detail, but almost looks real.

[kropotkin]

It's a shame as the brighter colours do make the difference when playing on the PSP 3000. What's really odd about the machine is that most shop assistants do not know anything about the new machine. I asked several when it was coming out as a kind of test and one even thought I was talking about the new DS. *sigh*

[Tayaya]

I bought a PSP-3000 last Tuesday and I can say that I have not seen anything like this at all. I do have 1 dead pixel (that seems to have died this morning, because it wasn't there when I looked for dead pixels all last week), but I've not seen anything like this.

I don't have disgaea, but I have plenty of other sprite-based games on my PSP, and you can bet your ass I'll be taking pics when I get home.

I will admit that SOME scan lines are visible when there is very rapid horizontal movement. If you scroll the XMB left and right all the way, holding down the d-pad, you can notice something like this, but in actual gaming the only time I've seen it is during one match in Street Fighter Zero 3... and this is while watching specifically for it.

People on the Interwebs like to make huge issues out of minor problems.

I am quite happy with my upgrade to the 3000, and I think the screen is a LOT better than it used to be. My best example is Einhander. I couldn't play it at all on the old screen - too much ghosting and blur would cause me to hit projectiles that I didn't see at all sometimes. On the new one, I made it about halfway through the game on one life, which is pretty damn good.

[EternalGamer]

Yeah, in fairness any PSP screen is going to look like crap when zoomed in that far. The guy who took the photo also included a comparison shot from his PSP 2000.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n305/foodnipple/disgaea42kyo6.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n305/foodnipple/disgaea3ux1.jpg

I've heard that it's not noticeable in 3D games, it's much more apparent on 2D sprites and very noticeable when watching movies.

What the hell? If that is the only difference than the picture in the thread title is hugely misleading. BOTH of them look terrible when blown up. I'm not even sure which one really looks worst. But without a comparison shot, it makes the PSP 3000 look much worse than it apparently is.

The OP seems way too sensationalistic and trying to make a big deal out of something that apparently isn't that significant.

[BabyJesus]

It looks bad when taken in a snapshot, but not nearly as bad when in motion. It still pretty noticeable though, haven't seen it in person so I can't judge 100%, plus I just picked up a blue PSP a few weeks ago to replace one that I fried in a "firmware incident".

Does the NEW PSP work with all of the PSP-Slim cases, covers, etc? Or is it yet another formfactor?

[Tayaya]

My own pics of the new LCD. (http://flickr.com/photos/24026960@N04/sets/72157608275086536/)

If you look in the street fighter zero 3 character select screen, you can see the interlacing in the text at the top and the bottom of the screen.

A very huge example of the interlacing can be seen in the movie clips from DJ Max Portable (the shots of the guy on the bike and the blond girl). In the one with the blond girl especially. In that shot a bunch of people cross the frame in the foreground, and the move pretty fast. I watched the clip myself on the PSP after taking these and you can't see this interlacing very easy as it happens so fast. The in the shot with the guy on the bike those lights in the background are moving really quickly from left to right.

I did take crops of a couple of the screens and put those up on Flickr too. In the wipeout one especially you can see that any handheld does indeed look like ass when viewed all blown up like!

So yes, there's an interlacing problem. If you take pics of the PSP screen with a device that can capture imagery faster than your eyes and brain can process it, the screen looks like shit.

[Tayaya]

It looks bad when taken in a snapshot, but not nearly as bad when in motion. It still pretty noticeable though, haven't seen it in person so I can't judge 100%, plus I just picked up a blue PSP a few weeks ago to replace one that I fried in a "firmware incident".

Does the NEW PSP work with all of the PSP-Slim cases, covers, etc? Or is it yet another formfactor?

It's a slightly different shape. It tapers more at the ends so skins and the like may not fit it very well. Carrying cases shouldn't pose any problems though.

[pomeroy]

While I had seen no reason to upgrade before, this definitely isn't a good thing for that new PSP.

[Xerxes]

My own pics of the new LCD. (http://flickr.com/photos/24026960@N04/sets/72157608275086536/)

If you look in the street fighter zero 3 character select screen, you can see the interlacing in the text at the top and the bottom of the screen.

A very huge example of the interlacing can be seen in the movie clips from DJ Max Portable (the shots of the guy on the bike and the blond girl). In the one with the blond girl especially. In that shot a bunch of people cross the frame in the foreground, and the move prety fast. I watched the clip myself on the PSP after taking these and you can't see this interlacing very easy as it happens so fast. The in the shot with the guy on the bike those lights in the background are moving really quickly from left to right.

I did take crops of a couple of the screens and put those up on Flickr too. In the wipeout one especially you can see that any handheld does indeed look like ass when viewed all blown up like!

So yes, there's an interlacing problem. If you take pics of the PSP screen with a deice that can capture imagery faster than your eyes and brain can process it, the screen looks like shit.

Well that sucks. Reminds me of those Marvel animated movies.