Sony Brings Blu-ray Movies to the PSP Handheld
Now that Sony has the HD-DVD format on the run, they’re looking to seal the deal with a clever little cross-promotional gimmick that will further attempt to sell the general public on Blu-ray. You may remember back when Sony’s PSP handheld game console first launched, they began releasing movies in a new proprietary UMD format. While people liked the idea of watching movies on the PSP’s 480×272 screen, they didn’t want to have to buy movies all over again in a format that they couldn’t also watch on their TVs at home. Ripping DVDs to a PSP-compatible format also proved to be inconvenient, leading many people to abandon the PSP’s movie-watching capabilities altogether.
At CES 2008, Sony have just announced that they will begin adding a bonus feature to many upcoming Blu-ray movies: a digital copy that can be transferred to the PSP handheld. It’s quick and easy, and while it sounds like the process will require a PS3, there will be no expiration date on the digital file, and it should technically be compatible with iPods and other portable media players. In theory, this seems like a pretty smart move by Sony to prop up the format using their existing PS3 and PSP install base. The question I have is, what’s the point of buying a high-definition copy of a movie if you’re just going to downgrade it to a crappy low resolution version anyway? David Lynch would not approve.
Comments (4)
“what’s the point of buying a high-definition copy of a movie if you’re just going to downgrade it to a crappy low resolution version anyway”
It’s really your only option until the PSP has a blue ray player built into it.
Posted by Paul on January 8th, 2008I like the final David Lynch bit.
I like this idea. I got me a fancy video ipod a few months back and I’ve found that watching some movies (particularly shorts) seems to work great. I’ve tried a full movie and it was OK but then, it wasn’t exactly a cinematic film.
Basically, this wouldn’t make or break the format war for me though it sounds more and more like I’ll be looking to invest in a Blu-ray player.
Posted by Marina on January 8th, 2008Well I guess what I’m saying is they could have bundled the digital version in with regular DVD releases as well (I think a few movies actually did this), but this is obviously a ploy to push Blu-ray specifically.
Even if the PSP did have a Blu-ray player built into it, it would be a pretty big waste to shrink it down to a the PSP’s screen size (which is admittedly much nicer than an iPod).
Posted by Sean on January 8th, 2008Yeah, definitely a gimmick to push Blu-Ray and to phase out UMDs.
I doubt their would ever be a need for blu-ray technology in portable players, too expensive & most just use .MP4 or similar encoded files for smaller resolutions, hardly high-def. Besides the memory sticks in psps only hold up to around 8gb at the mo. I think the file will be about the size of an average .divx movie file and it should be included with DVDs too, wonder if only Sony movies will bother pushing this idea or whether it will be a standard feature with all future Blu-Ray releases, doubt it.
I don’t mind watching short clips or an occasional TV episode on my PSP but for movies its pretty tough to watch for long.
Posted by Nemesis on January 8th, 2008Leave a Reply