New PS3 firmware to add Blu-ray Profile 2.0 support

Sony has announced that an upcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update will enhance the system's Blu-ray playback capabilities. Tucked into firmware update 2.20 will be support for Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, otherwise labeled as BD-Live. The feature enables certain Blu-ray movies to connect to the internet and enable download additional interactive content -- movie DLC, if you will. Sony notes that the update will make the PlayStation 3 the first BD-Live Blu-ray player on the market. Oh, sorry, the PLAYSTATION 3.

Other enhancements included in firmware 2.20:

Music and photo playlists can be exported from the PS3 to the PSP.
DivX and WMV files larger than 2GB can be played.
DVDs and Blu-rays will resume playback from the moment you last stopped them.
The PSP can be used as a remote control to play music on the PS3.
The web browser will feature faster page loading times and the ability to save linked files and stream linked videos.
"Mosquito Noise Reduction" will be added to the AV control panel for Blu-rays and DVDs.

The update will make its way onto the PlayStation Network "in the next few days."

Reader Comments (79)

I might be replacing one of my 360s with a PS3 soon, will this new firmware allow me to stream Hi-Def WMV files as well as standard WMV files?

The PS3 already allows you to stream avi and other movie formats already. Hell that one of the things I currently doing with my PS3. Once they get the browser up to speed , then i will be spending more time in front of my 56" HD DLP TV. So gaming, media streaming and browsing... the PS3 is the complete media hub.

"DVDs and Blu-rays will resume playback from the moment you last stopped them."

If this remembers where you were after you turn the system off, I will be very happy. This is #1 on my PS3 wishlist.

"Resume Play - begin playing a DVD or BD disc from the point where you previously stopped it, even if you eject the disc and insert a different movie or game."

Would assume so :)

Hey, remember when HD-DVD had this feature a year ago? Nice that Sony is finally catching up with the format they they buried.

Totally. :)

My dirt cheap HD-DVD player has a finished spec, but the only way to have a fully-capable Blu Ray player is to get a PS3. There is no stand-alone "finished" Blu Ray player yet. It's kind of sad, actually.

I like how Profile 2.0 includes the ability to resume play - pretty much a standard feature in DVD players (even those $15 Wal*Mart specials).

So what happens to people who own BR players that don't update firmware now? Another generation of early-adopters left in the dust?

*sigh*

You can't upgrade a spec 1.0 or 1.2 BR player to 2.0. The 2.0 spec players need 1GB of memory, i believe, and a stand-alone version will not be available until this fall.

Um I think resume play was just a feature that just PS3 lacked. Nothing to do with profile 2.0.

Yeah, early adopters always run that risk. Still though, they should be able to actually play the movies... you know, that true point of the dics. All they will be missing out on is lametastic online features. I have an HD DVD player and so far I haven't seen the online features be used for anything worth bothering with. You can do stuff like vote in polls or watch trailers for other movies.

Of course, if you have a player then you can do true PiP. But yet again, I'm not many people give a shit whether or not they can see the director of the film talking in the corner of the screen while watching a movie.

As Neptune pointed out "resume play" is not part of profile 2.0. It is a completely separate feature that is being added to the firmware. CE manufacturers can implement or not implement it whenever they want.

Once again Marty is showcasing his ignorance.

My PS3 already resumes play. If I stop the movie (quit out) back to the XMB, play a downlaoded game or some music then activate the movie again it starts from exactly where I left it.

Do they mean now that if you turn the power off to your PS3 it will still resume? Cause I don't know many stand alone players that do that.

@Shag

The quote from the press release is: "“Resume play” will enable PS3 to start playing a BD and DVD video at the point it was stopped, even if the disc had been removed"

No mention is made about it being able to do this after a power off but if it's saving info for multiple discs then I would think it's a possibility.

OMG Blu-gay is so dumb, HD DVD had this on day 1 peoples!!!

/sarcasm

I don't see how you are being sarcastic.

...HD DVD did have this on day 1.

Thats probs why it failed :S

wow - I'm sorry... don't know how the triple post happened there...

"DVDs and Blu-rays will resume playback from the moment you last stopped them."

About time. Christ.

Might have something to do with network latency and dropped packets. you running wireless? How close is your PS3 to your wireless router?

The PSP integration is interesting, but this should have been around awhile ago ¬_¬

great features... that hd dvd and xbox live had for 2+ years.....

if the PS3 weren't bluetooth, iono how many times I woulda dumped out of F@H!

the most overdue firmware update, imho, would be to allow for simultaneous analog + digital audio out. I HATE having to quit a game or movie, switch sound settings from digital (my audio system) to analog (my tv speakers), then restart, just to avoid pissing my neighbors off at night.

Wow, it's finally starting to catch up to HD DVD technology. I've been enjoying this kind of stuff for over 1 year now. Now the Blu-gay losers can enjoy it too, albiet LATE. That is, if you have an ethernet jack in the back of your Blu-ray player, which not all models came with, unlike HD DVD.

break the 2GB limit is sweet. now I have a reason to change a larger harddisk

The stream of Sony goodness is made of win.

They really need to put these updates on some kind of schedule....I'd say make them quarterly.

I'm getting sick of that "AN UPDATE PATCH IS NEEDED" message every friggin' week....

Wasn't the movie DLC why HDVD was created because BR was having a hard time standardizing it?

Previous 50 Comments

New PS3 firmware to add Blu-ray Profile 2.0 support

Reader Comments (79)

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 9:37AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 10:45AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 9:54AM creid8 said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 10:13AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 10:49AM falcomadol said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 10:57AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:07AM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:15AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:17AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:20AM Vidikron said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:28AM cc123 said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:37AM Shagittarius said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 11:44AM cc123 said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 12:26PM 343 Guilty Fart said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 12:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 12:36PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 1:25PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 2:06PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 2:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 12:45PM Tez said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 1:16PM Crono141 said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 1:26PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 5:13PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 6:00PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 5:55PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 20th 2008 9:16PM drun said

Posted: Mar 21st 2008 1:51AM ThornedVenom said

Posted: Mar 21st 2008 4:52PM GoonieGooGoo said

Posted: Apr 12th 2008 4:16PM hvnlysoldr said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW