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PlayTV - Where is it?

Published By: Aaron Scott On: 26/06/2009 15:30

In what seems an age ago SCENZ released information about the release of PlayTV. PlayTV gives Sony PS3 owners the ability for the PS3 to act as a freeview decoder and record HD television direct to the PS3.

We got a response direct from David Hine, SCENZ Director, Sales and Marketing about the delay to release of PlayTV in NZ.

His response -

"It's fair to say that there is a lot of anticipation for PlayTV since it was 'announced' nearly two years ago. As I'm sure you appreciate, PlayTV isn't like a normal game where we can pick up the English version from SCEE and run with it. The developers must deal with every free-to-air content supplier in each country, sort out the differing epg formats and local specs etc and make sure they work with Play TV. This is very complicated and time consuming.

Furthermore, the version of PlayTV launched in Europe records and plays back in standard definition (SD). With Freeview in New Zealand broadcasting One, TV2, and TV3 in HD, we believed it was critical to PlayTV that it is able to record and playback in HD so that consumers can enjoy the same experience whether they are watching television it live or through PlayTV. This requirement has also added to the development time, but we think the outcome will be worth it.

At this stage we do not have a definitive launch date at this time, but I can assure you PlayStation NZ are pushing it very hard. Personally, I can’t wait to use the remote Play function and watch NZ TV whilst I’m travelling overseas on my PSP!

So there we have it, and whilst it doesn't put a firm date on release, it highlights the reason for the delay being the ability to record in HD.

What are your thoughts? Is the delay a good or bad thing?

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NZGamer.com - PlayTV - Where is it?

COMMENTS (16)

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On 26 June 2009, 04:07PM Posted by Ninja-15

I'm not worried... Most new TV's now come with inbuilt FreeView decoders anyway... And most ppl probably will have a HDD DVD Recorder now anyway... And alot of ppl have a HTPC setup... Only good thing is the remote Play... Not that I would personally use it anyway... meh...

On 26 June 2009, 04:13PM Posted by Xenojay

Well..it's good that they're ensuring we can record in HD...but I hope that is the reason, not some other excuse.
Look forward to it...when it drops!

On 26 June 2009, 04:17PM Posted by MatEPoon

The delay really sucks.
I was hanging out for this but have eventually caved and bought a Freeview HD decoder the other day.
:o(
When this is released here I'll probably sell it and go to playtv.

I think it's taking so long to release here as the changes David Hine mentioned are probably bottom of Sony's priority list. What with NZ's small population and install base.

On 26 June 2009, 04:58PM Posted by Oliver

This seems cool but I'd have to question how much I;d use it. I honestly have hardly used my TV's built in freeview HD.

On 26 June 2009, 05:41PM Posted by rebolta

Yes that sounds great. So you can record shows and watch them portably. Yes I like the sound of that.

On 26 June 2009, 07:25PM Posted by simcharles

I don't have a PS3 so ehh

On 26 June 2009, 08:55PM Posted by kiwi161

Good to hear that they are trying to bring a solid HD service, I just hope that it comes out later this year.
Also I will need to upgrade my hard-drive when this comes out!

On 26 June 2009, 09:23PM Posted by The Host of Chaos

Would be nice to have but I don't really care either way.

On 27 June 2009, 01:13AM Posted by Oliver

I reckon I'd buy it if it came out, in spite of my previous comment. Man I waste my money.

On 27 June 2009, 12:56PM Posted by iTry

Would it have same channels as Freeview?

On 27 June 2009, 02:15PM Posted by Barnicals

Sounds like a great idea, but I don't really like TV. My girlfreind would LOVE it though.

On 27 June 2009, 02:18PM Posted by guid0

I've been hounding support@playstation.co.nz repeatedly for a release date ever since I bought my PS3 earlier this year. One of the key considerations when buying a PS3 was that it was effectively going to replace/combine a PS2, VCR, DVD/blu-ray player, media/music streamer, PC running Linux and HDTV tuner/recorder all in one. Add to this the ability to easily upgrade the hard drive to the 250GB or more required for recording a decent amount of HD television and it was looking pretty sweet. Sony support told me early this year that "we do expect this peripheral to be released in the first half of 2009" so it looked like a good time to buy. However so far, so bad :-( although it is encouraging that they are at least still insisting that it's coming out and there's still 2 or three days of the "first half of 2009" left so I should lose ALL hope?! ;-) So thanks for the update, I am now a little less fearful of it becoming "vaporware"!?

On 27 June 2009, 02:24PM Posted by guid0

Reply to iTry27 June 2009, 12:56PM
Would it have same channels as Freeview?

Yeap

On 27 June 2009, 02:28PM Posted by arnies

It sounds good. I thought some of the delays was Sky being bullish agian

On 2 July 2009, 12:27AM Posted by ieex219

Reply to arnies27 June 2009, 02:28PM
It sounds good. I thought some of the delays was Sky being bullish agian

Yeah me too (thought some delays were Sky related?) I heard that Sky were very protective of their channels? ... I guess it's understandable. Whilst they don't appear to be in an all out battle with Free View, I'm certain that another "decoder" on the block would really get them up and thinking ... especially if it does so much more than just allow you to watch HD TV? Looking forward to it. Not too fussed how soon or late it come out!

On 3 August 2009, 10:48AM Posted by wilt64

Reply to ieex219 2 July 2009, 12:27AM
Yeah me too (thought some delays were Sky related?) I heard that Sky were very protective of their channels? ... I guess it's understandable. Whilst they don't appear to be in an all out battle with Free View, I'm certain that another "decoder" on the block would really get them up and thinking ... especially if it does so much more than just allow you to watch HD TV? Looking forward to it. Not too fussed how soon or late it come out!

Many of you may already be aware PlayTV in New Zealand already works (not fully) since the last firmware update 1.10.
PlayTV will now view MPEG-4 and does support dolby digital 2.0 so at the moment PlayTV works fine on TV3 but not in full DD5.1. All the other channels have picture but no audio due to PlayTV not supporting AAC/AAC+
Mark Bunting Producer of PlayTV has indicated the next firmware update will resolve most issues for New Zealand and Australia.

What PlayTV can do with software 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 to ten events ahead only)
HD and SD on all Freeview HD channels but only TV3 has sound
What PlayTV cannot do until a further software 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
MPEG-4 Issues: June 18 2009 French TNT TV have upgraded the DVB-T MPEG-4 AVCHD transmissions to include AAC and AAC+ audio, this has caused PlayTV not to have sound due to not supporting AAC stream. New Zealand also suffers from the same thing hence TV3 being the only channel with sound. The PlayTV developers are working on this issue. We should expect another software update soon according to David Hine marketing manager SCEE New Zealand.
Next software update id hoped to include:

AAC/AAC+ support
AC3 (at the moment PlayTV only supports Dolby Digital 2.0)
MPEG-4 recording
MPEG-2 HD record improvement (Australia)
7 and 8mhz scan (Australia)
For more information on PlayTV New Zealand visit the Freeview Shop forums click here http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/forum/index.php/board,1.0.html

or the New Zealand and Australia Playstation forums http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board?board.id=bANZ_PS3_general

PlayTV Australia and New Zealand technical information click here http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=ps3_playtv or

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1232015

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