PSP Specs

[Dark Lord Neo]

http://pocket.ign.com/articles/430/43093...?fromint=1

PSP Specs Revealed
Processing speed, polygon rate and lots more.

July 29, 2003 - At a press briefing held in Japan today, Sony Computer Entertainment at last revealed detailed specs for its PSP (PlayStation Portable) portable system. Although first unveiled at E3, Sony left showgoers in the dark about what form the system would actually take. Today's announcement covers most bases, from planned CPU speed and memory space all the way to networking ability.
As its CPU, PSP will make use of twin MIPS R4000 32 bit processors running at max 333 Megahertz. One of these units is referred to as the Media Engine, and is to be used for sound, movies and I/O management. In addition, the system will include a so-called VFPU floating point vector unit with calculation capability of up to 2.6 Gigaflops. This latter unit is meant for assisting the CPU in 3D calculations.

Memory for the system is divided into two areas. In all, the system is expected to feature 8 Megabytes main memory with bandwidth of 2.6 Gigabytes per second along with two megabytes of sub-memory, also at 2.6 Gigabytes per second, which will be used by the Media Engine.

Outside of the CPU and main memory, the system will of course include a graphics processing unit (GPU). The GPU is made up of a Rendering Engine and a Surface Engine and has access to 2 Megabytes of VRAM with a bandwidth of 5.3 Gigabytes per second. The hardware will include support for traditional polygons as well as curved surface primitives along with such things as clipping, morphing and more, freeing up software from having to deal with these. Sony claims a theoretical polygon performance of 33 million polygons per second.

The system's UMD (Universal Media Disc) optical disk format has also been clarified a bit. A UMD is a 60 millimeter dual layered disk that can store up to 1.8 Gigabytes of data. Transfer rate for the reader unit is 11 Megabits per second, which is twice the transfer rate of a standard DVD system. Sony is also promising the highest level of copy protection for these discs using DiscID and AES encoding technology.

Multimedia support is big for the system. Sony announced MPEG4 support at E3, and now they've gotten a bit clearer, revealing that the PSP will use the AVC decoder, which has a high encoding rate. This will allow the UMD to store up to two hours of DVD quality video. Sound is also taking a high place on the system's feature list. The PSP will feature reconfigurable DSPs which can be rewritten allowing for support for the latest sound technology. Sony announced today compatibility with the ATRAC3 plus format along with AAC and mp3. In addition, the system will support playback of 3D and 7.1 channel sound.

On top of all this is Wireless Lan. The system will include as standard IEEE802.11 wireless LAN. Sony had originally intended to make this an option, but game creators were pretty adamant about its inclusion. Sony revealed no further details about the system's networking features, unfortunately.

The PSP will, of course, play games as well. Sony will be tapping into its PlayStation heritage and including the familiar triangle, circle, X, square, start, select, L1 and R1 buttons on the system. These will be digital. In addition, the system will include a single analogue thumb pad.

For a list of specs on the system, see just below this article.

If you find yourself salivating at these specs, you're not alone. Unfortunately, Sony shared nothing but words today. A prototype of the PSP will debut at E3 of next year (May of 2004) with 2004's Tokyo Game Show (September of that year) expected to bring with it the unveiling of the system's game lineup.

A worldwide simultaneous launch for the unit is expected for the fourth quarter of 2004.


[PSP SPECS]

UMD(Universal Media Disc)
60mm
Laser Diode:660nm
Dual Layer :1.8GB
Transfer Rate:11Mbps
Shock Proof
Secure ROM by AES
Unique Disc ID

PSP CPU CORE
MIPS R4000 32bit Core
128bit Bus
1 - 333MHz @ 1.2V
Main Memory :8MB(eDRAM)
Bus Bandwidth :2.6GB/sec
I-Cache, D-Cache
FPU, VFPU (Vector Unit) @ 2.6GFlops
3D-CG Extended Instructions

PSP Media Engine
MIPS R4000 32bit Core
128bit Bus
1 - 333MHz @ 1.2V
Sub Memory:2MB(eDRAM) @ 2.6GB/sec
I-Cache, D-Cache
90nm CMOS

PSP Graphics Core 1
3D Curved Surface + 3D Polygon
Compressed Texture
Hardware Clipping, Morphing, Bone(8)
Hardware Tessellator
Bezier, B-Spline(NURBS)
ex 4x4, 16x16, 64x64 sub-division

PSP Graphics Core 2
'Rendering Engine' + 'Surface Engine'
256bit Bus, 1-166 MHz @ 1.2V
VRAM :2MB(eDRAM)
Bus Bandwidth :5.3GB/sec
Pixel Fill Rate :664 M pixels/sec
max 33 M polygon /sec(T&L)
24bit Full Color:RGBA

PSP Sound Core: VME
Reconfigurable DSPs
128bit Bus
166MHz @1.2V
5 Giga Operations /sec
CODEC
3D Sound, Multi-Channel
Synthesizer, Effecter, etc

AVC Decoder
AVC(H.264) Decoder
Main Profile
Baseline Profile
@Level1,Level2,Level3
2Hours(High Quality) - DVD movie
4Hours(Standard Quality) - CS Digital

I/O
USB 2.0
Memory Stick
Extension Port(reserved)
Stereo Head phone Out

Communication
Wireless LAN (i802.11)
IrDA
USB 2.0

I don't know what most of that means, but It sounds cool, though specs are usually just theoretical and may not reveal the true performance of the system
I want one of theses in 2004 when they come out(hopefully). I hope they don't cost too much though

[Great Rumbler]

Sony claims a theoretical polygon performance of 33 million polygons per second.

Isn't that what they said the PS2 was theoretically capable of?

I hope they don't cost too much though.

I doubt it'll be less than 200 dollars, which means I probably won't be getting it.

[geoboy]

From these specs, it almost sounds to me like Sony is competing against the PDA market (you know, those Palm Pilot hand held devices) rather than the Gameboy. Also judgin by these specs, I estimate a product like this would cost $300-500 USD today, and more like $200-300 USD when it is released.

the system is expected to feature 8 Megabytes main memory

That's not much memory for a PDA, but that will cut if for strictly portable gaming, MP3s and video. I wonder if some people will mistake the PSP for a PDA? It has a lot of the same features a PDA would.

The PSP is obviously built for gaming. But it's also built for portable multimedia, which is a direction I feel Nintendo will have to take if they want to survive in the portable market. But then again, anything other than gaming is not really what Nintendo is good at.

Meh. Whatever point I'm trying to get across, it isn't working. :bang:

[OB1]

I don't care about Sony's specs since they're always off. I want to see how much it'll cost, and a few games would be nice!

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by Great Rumbler
Isn't that what they said the PS2 was theoretically capable of?

No. The PS2's theorhetical limit was 66mpps.

I doubt it'll be less than 200 dollars, which means I probably won't be getting it.

If Sony are actually serious about competing with the GBA then I seriously doubt you'll see it at a price too expensive for consumers. Though, if you have a look at their presentation slides:


.. they're obviously looking at this as more than just a games system ("21st century walkman"). So they'll price it at whatever they can market it at.

I don't care about Sony's specs since they're always off.

How are they always off? As far as I can see, they've always been accurate .

Personally, I can't wait for them to show this thing off. It sounds absolutely incredible. In many regards, it seems like quite a bit above the DC (and even PS2?)

But, as with all things, if there are no decent games for it, whats the point? Luckily though, developers have expressed huge interest in this thing, so we may actually see a competitor to the GBA. :) Especially given the "familiar" developement style". My biggest gripe would actually be the polygon processing power. Handhelds were the last great front for 2D gaming. Now even that may be taken by the dark side. :(

[OB1]

How are they off? Gee I dunno, maybe because almost all of what Sony said about the PS2 when the specs were announced ended up being completely false? Hmm? Do you have a bit of a foggy memory there, buddy? Remember their ridiculous claims about polygon pushing power and texturing capablitites?

[Private Hudson]

Sony gave you nothing but the truth. If you thought the PS2 was going to push 66mpps, despite the fact that Sony released much more relistic specs alongside the 66mpps figure, then you are an idiot.

Had they just said "The PS2 will push 66mpps in-game", then you'd be correct. But they didn't say that. It was only EVER a theorhetical limit.

[OB1]

Oh please, Sony gave those theoritical specs to magazines, gaming sites, and gaming retailers to show people what the system is capable of, and they never admitted that they were just "theoritical". They also lied about the PS2's texture capabilities.

[Private Hudson]

Why must you reply just as I'm leaving for work??

Wrong. They told you EXACTLY how many polygons the PS2 could push doing certain effects. 66mpps was unlit, with one light source (I believe, from memory).

Then they released the polygons that could be pushed with transparencies, particles, etc. etc.

IIRC, the lowest figure I saw them quoted as saying was 16mpps with Bezeir Curved Surfacing enabled.

If you're telling me the figures they released were incorrect, you're wrong. How can you say they lied, or misled with their figures when they gave you the exact details for certain effects?

Texture capabilities (I'll reply tommorrow morning probably, gotta run)?

[OB1]

You sure have a foggy memory. Here's an example of the kind of crap Sony released to the public when the PS2 came out, and they also used these theoritical numbers when comparing them to the Gamecube's realistic numbers:

Graphics
Graphics Synthesizer

Clock Frequency
147.456MHz

Embedded DRAM
4MB

DRAM Bus bandwidth
48GB per Second

DRAM Bus width
2560 Bits

Pixel Configuration
RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32)

Polygon Drawing Rate
75 Million Polygons per Second

Screen Resolution
Variable from 256 x 224 to 1280 x 1024

You and I know that those are theoretical specs, but Joe Public did not (since Sony conveniantly forgot to mention that little fact) and believed those high numbers to be real. That was Sony's way of misleading the general public, which is precisely why I don't care about their PSP specs. I'll reserve judgement until they release real screenshots from PSP games.

[Private Hudson]

But you just called all their specs "fake", despite the fact that they gave you completely accurate numbers.

So why would you doubt these numbers?

Although, just so you know, this would be a better example of the specs that Sony released when they announced the PS2:

Geometry:

66 million polygons per second (peak)
38 million polygons per second (lighting)
36 million polygons per second (fog)
16 million polygons per second (curved surface generation)
Image Processing Unit (IPU): MPEG2 Compressed Image Decoder
150 million pixels per second
DMA: 10 channels

Graphics Synthesizer (GS)

150 MHz (147.456 MHz)
16 pixel pipelines
2.4 gigapixels per second (no texture)
1.2 gigatexels per second
Point, Bilinear, Trilinear, Anisotropic Mip-Map Filtering
Perspective-Correct Texture Mapping
Bump Mapping
Environment Mapping
32-bit Color (RGBA)
32-bit Z Buffer
4MB Multiported Embedded DRAM
38.4 gigabytes per second eDRAM bandwidth (19.2 GB/s in each direction)
9.6 gigabytes per second eDRAM texture bandwidth
150 million particles per second
Polygon Drawing Rate:
75 million polygons per second (small polygon)
50 million polygons per second (48-pixel quad with Z and Alpha)
30 million polygons per second (50-pixel triangle with Z and Alpha)
25 million polygons per second (48-pixel quad with Z, Alpha, and Texture)
18.75 million sprites per second (8 x 8 pixel sprites)

[OB1]

Yeah guess what? They didn't tell the general public that those were theoretical numbers, even when they compared them to the Gamecube's conservative and realistic specs. And they most certainly did not hand out that first list to game retailers to show off to customers.

[A Black Falcon]

Its called manipulating the facts, and companies do it all the time...

[OB1]

Which is a bad thing, and the point of this discussion. I said that I don't trust Sony's PSP specs because they've lied about specs in the past, that's it.

[A Black Falcon]

Oh, I agree, no one should trust Sony's specs...

[Private Hudson]

They never lied.

When did Sony compare the GCN specs to the PS2 specs?

[OB1]

EVERYWHERE! You'd see Sony's comparison specs in gaming magazines, regular magazines (like TIME), online gaming sites, electronics stores, video game retailers, etc.

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, I saw a lot of place that had something like this:

GC - 12 million PPS
PS2 - 66 million PPS
Xbox - 100 million PPS

[Private Hudson]

And it's Sony's fault that whomever wrote the article chose to use 66mpps instead of the more realistic figures that Sony released?

[OB1]

YES, because they gave out those specs to people without telling them that they were just theoritical numbers. MS was just as bad as Sony.

[Great Rumbler]

Nintendo only released a realistic number, unlike Sony and MS.

[Private Hudson]

They told people EXACTLY what the specs were!

They didn't just say "The PS2 can push 66mpps". They told you exactly how it would get 66mpps. And then they also gave out more conservative figures (which I showed earlier).

It is NOT Sony's fault that a jounalist saw the 66mpps figure, and IGNORED all the other figures and how the PS2 would go about achieving said figures.

[Great Rumbler]

But why would Sony release a number that would obviously never be achieved in any realistic scenario? So that people who didn't know better would think the PS2 was more poweful than it really was.

It is NOT Sony's fault that a jounalist saw the 66mpps figure, and IGNORED all the other figures and how the PS2 would go about achieving said figures.

If they had released realistic figures to start with that wouldn't have happened.

[Private Hudson]

If they had released realistic figures to start with that wouldn't have happened.

What the fuck??

Have you even been paying attention to the thread?? Sony released MUCH more conservative figures than 66mpps. And people IGNORED it, then afterwards, called Sony a liar.

[OB1]

They did not release those realistic figures to most publications and stores!! The specs they gave to most people were the theoretical ones! At least here in the U.S., they did. I don't know about that crazy Oz place.

[A Black Falcon]

Sony pushed those high numbers, just like Microsoft and their absurd 100 million number. You want to make it sound like the mags just 'happened' to use those numbers and ignore other ones... but it just isn't like that. When they push numbers like they did I am hardly surprised that people believed them...

[Private Hudson]

Okay...

So you're saying Sony released all those figures to the public, but only allowed magazines/stores to advertise the 66mpps figure?

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
Sony pushed those high numbers, just like Microsoft and their absurd 100 million number. You want to make it sound like the mags just 'happened' to use those numbers and ignore other ones... but it just isn't like that. When they push numbers like they did I am hardly surprised that people believed them...

How did Sony push those numbers?? It was always the journalists doing as to what they include in the articles.

How many press releases or advertisements did you see Sony release touting only the 66mpps figure?? I know I didn't see any. It was ALWAYS a journalists article that was doing the pushing, not Sony.

ffs..

Microsoft on the other hand DID lie, and are still doing it. "3 times the graphical power of any other console".. yah, I'm sure

[OB1]

75 mpps, actually. When Sony sent out specs to everyone they didn't give out those realistic numbers, except for a few cases.

[Private Hudson]

Proof?

Because people ignore lower figures (they are trying to SELL the product afterall..) you can't just say that Sony didn't allow them to use the lower figures.

Particularly because it would be rather redundant of them to do so, given that all the figures were already available to the public..

[OB1]

It would be stupid for retailers do do that because that would be downplaying the Gamecube. And what proof do you want? This was a big topic back during the GC/X-Box launch. A lot of us got really annoying by it.