Whoa! A PlayStation TV. It’s a $US500 24-inch 3D TV that Sony’s promising delivers “best in class” entertainment for way more people than are able to currently afford 3D. It looks like a giant PSP, sorta.
It’s, well, nice. Set up in the fake, entirely-too-clean dorm room Sony had on hand, the chair practically smashed against the set – which is exactly how I played videogames in my dorm, the screen foggy from my breath – the 24-inch set didn’t seem too small. So it’s perfect for exactly the scenarios Sony’s talking about, not so much a living room deal.
It’s hard to gauge how amazing (or not) the picture really is in this environment, but when you cram a 1080p display into 24 inches, the pixel density definitely works for the screen. The PlayStation display’s signature trick – re-appropriating the inherent powers of 3DTVs to show each player an entirely different 1080p image – works exactly as advertised, as you can see in the video. You switch between first and second player by pressing a button on top of the glasses, and the switch happens instantly. (Unfortunately, this means screen-watching isn’t quite dead, since you can just flip over to your friend’s video feed to see what they’re up to, and quickly switch back.)
It’s a pretty set, but in a very Sony way. Like if I had to guess what a 24-inch PlayStation TV would look like, this is exactly what I’d mock up. Not that it’s a bad thing, it just is what it is. The real question is whether it’s gonna convince people who’d have passed over 3DTVs to take a look at this more affordable, but definitely smaller set for $US500.
It uses the 3D in a pretty interesting way for multiplayer – it kills split-screen play by beaming entirely different images to two sets of glasses, so you and a friend can murder each other with no screen-watching. You both get the full 24-inch picture. Awesome.
The $US500 bundle includes an HDMI cable, a pair of 3D glasses and Resistance 3, which isn’t bad, though Sony’s “affordable” PlayStation 3D glasses are still $US70.
Glenn
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:02 AMWow, that splitscreen functionality sounds awesome in Theory… In theory communism works… in theory.
Simon Reidy
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:16 AMLOL. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard communism used as a metaphor for potential problems of emerging technology :)
It does sound like awesome tech, however I imagine the viewing angles for the multi-picture 3D mode to work, must be very limited. Still that shouldn’t be a problem for gaming. I just wonder if the tech would impact regular 2D picture quality at all.
Glenn
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:55 AMShamelessly stolen from the Simpsons though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MJ81Fzc_KY
Jubbin
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 1:09 PMHe can’t help it.. the SImpsons have done everything
Chris
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:09 AMI’ll admit, that’s not bad at all. Very surprising. But will it support 4 player co-op if it was connected to an Xbox 360?
It doesn’t say if it’s proprietary to Sony’s hardware or not though…
Justin
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 10:24 PMits ps3 only; xbox/microsoft has a contract with LG
Penmonicus
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:25 AMDoes it have a PS3 built-in, or does it use the “PlayStation” brand for some other reason..?
poltak
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 8:15 PMYeah, I assumed that this would be the case, but it doesn’t actually say in the article, and for that price it seems kinda crazy…
But if it’s actually got a PS3 inside, it’s a very cool idea. It would be much more convenient than having a PS3 and a tv/monitor, and who doesn’t like convenience. Although, it would be rather inconvenient if one of the components failed and you had to send it all off to get fixed for a few weeks.
Sicarius123
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 10:33 PMThe feature is only meant to work with PS3.
adrian
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:57 AMThen it gets Hacked, and we can watch you via the built in webcam
WOAHAHAHAHA
i AM guessing, that it wont be 3d spilt screen thou…
Steve
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 1:58 AMThis stopped being a funny a week ago.
Don’t shoe-horn jokes like that about a TV where they obviously don’t work.
Edward
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 12:31 PMI’d get this if I had a Ps3 :)
Chris
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 12:33 PMVery cool indeed! 24″ though?! Hmmm..
Dan
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 3:41 PMOnce I see Aussie pricing I feel I’ll be better of buying a 42″ LCD 3D tv from jb then buying that. I expect it to retail around the $700 mark here.
YY
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 5:51 PMsame thoughts from me… Aussie price gonna mark at least AUD700 for sure…
cheaper if i buy one in US and have it deliver by express. LoL
1.2.3
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 4:34 PMhahah same with you since the Aussie dollar is going so well the express shipping wont both the pricing that much as $500US is more the $500 AU hopefully the Aussie dollar stays this good by the time it comes out
1.2.3
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 4:37 PMbother***
Bryson
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 4:44 PMHey everybody, we’ve seen this before…
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/07/sony-patents-alternative-to-split-screen-multiplayer/
No, both players could not have 3D.
Essentially, if you’re familiar with 3D technology, instead of the glasses alternating between lenses to show the two views necessary for 3D, the glasses on this display will have BOTH lenses on and off at the same time, alternating with the other players glasses.
Steve
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 2:02 AMCut out the game, cable, glasses and price it at $400 USD and maybe I’d bite.
andrew
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 10:39 AMim getting one, and btw about it being more expensive here is unlikely considering Australian dollar is stronger than US so it will be cheaper
David clark
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 2:09 AMDoes anyone know where I can get one of these in Australia. I’ve looked in pretty much all the places you’d expect to find one ie eb games, game, jb hifi.
klanky
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 5:55 PMIt isn’t out yet David, it comes out on the 15th of November I think