PlayTV

PlayTV is an add-on unit for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console that allows the PS3 to act as an HDTV or DTV receiver, as well as a digital video recorder (DVR). It was used for recording television programmes to the hard drive for later viewing. A twin-channel DVB-T turner was released in some territories with active DVB-T broadcasts.

Features

LiveTV

The Live TV feature allows access to free-to-air (unencrypted) channels in the widely available DVB-T network. While using the Live TV option, live programming is cached as it is displayed, so that users can pause, rewind, and fast forward through any recently viewed material, as well as record and turn subtitles and audio descriptions on/off. Screen size can also be changed. PlayTV allows users to watch one programme while recording another. Live TV also has a now and next bar enabling users to scroll through live TV and see what is on other channels and what is coming on next.

Guide (Electronic Programme Guide)

The software features a 7-day Electronic Programme Guide. PlayTV allows users to set recordings and change channels from the Guide; also selectable is a Favourite guide which is a list of a user's favourite programmes. The Guide shows a full description of all programmes. While setting recordings, users can set whether they would like to repeat the recordings daily or weekly for up to 26 times but lacks Series Link.

Library

The PlayTV Library is where all of the recorded content is stored. Content can be viewed in a listview or a thumbnail view. It is also fully sortable by date, channel, and name. Content in the library can also be exported to the PlayStation 3's main menu and stored with the rest of the user's video files. While playing back the recorded content, users can pause, fast forward, rewind, skip to/from, and turn subtitles and audio descriptions on / off. Screen size can also be changed.

Schedule

The schedule feature allows users to edit their future recordings. It is fully searchable.

Find and Record

The find and record feature allows users to search the next 7 days worth of TV programmes by searching with a keyword in the title of the programmes and/or the description of the program. Find and record also lets users set manual recordings using the channel, date, and time that they wish to record.

Mobile TV with PSP

Wi-Fi connectivity with a PlayStation Portable allows for portable viewing of live or recorded television programming. By using the Remote Play feature of the PlayStation 3, owners can use a PlayStation Portable to access their PlayStation 3 console from anywhere in the world via the Internet. The Remote Play feature also has the ability to 'wake up' the PlayStation 3 from standby mode.

The Sony Ericsson Aino mobile phone can link up to a PlayStation 3 and uses Remote Play which allows users to watch PlayTV on their phone.

Manuals

PlayTV can display an on-screen manual. The manual can be used as a quick reference to the various functions of a controller, Blu-ray remote control, and Remote Play using a PlayStation Portable.

Settings and other features

* Turn Subtitles on and off
* Turn Audio Description on and off
* Set whether you would like live TV to always be recorded or only when paused for trick mode.
* Screen Size settings
* Gameplay recordings on and off (See below)
* Parental Lock
* HDD Size: PlayTV can only record to the PlayStation 3's own internal hard drive. Recorded videos can then be transferred to an external storage device in some regions.
* Codecs: PlayTV supports MPEG2 SD. AVC/MPEG4 is now available with the latest PS3 firmware update. (UK manual only states MPEG2 in the supported codecs under technical specs)
* Twin DVB-T tuners (one dedicated to recording, the other to live viewing). Tuners are HDTV capable in areas with HD DVB-T broadcasts.
* PlayTV can be controlled using a PlayStation controller or Blu-ray remote control.
* Antenna input only. No antenna output.

Sony previously stated that PlayTV would be able to record TV while playing PS3 and PS1 games, the code for the function has already been incorporated in the version 2.41 firmware update. To use the product however a 5 GB install is required from the disc provided with the PlayTV device.

Sony has stated that PlayTV is incompatible with the UK Freeview HD, as it uses the DVB-T2 standard.

Release

On 12 September 2008, Sony released an interactive demo of PlayTV on the PlayStation Store in Europe. The device was launched in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France on 19 September 2008 with other regions in Europe following. First week shipments of PlayTV in the UK were reportedly 85,000 units, apparently with "specialist and national press giving thumbs up to the device."

Australia and New Zealand
were originally to receive the PlayTV accessory 2 months after Europe but it was delayed until 26 November 2009 in Australia along with an HD software update. In New Zealand the device was pushed back further to a release date of 25 November 2010.
The update underwent testing in both countries due to the wide availability of HD channels and use of common broadcast codecs (MPEG 2/ MPEG 4).

PlayTV is only capable of tuning DVB-T broadcasts, so is not available in regions which do not use DVB-T. A similar accessory known as Torne was made available in March 2010 in Japan, for use with their ISDB-T broadcast system. There were seemingly never plans to release PlayTV or a similar device for use with North American NTSC/ATSC broadcasts, though the PlayStation Vue OTT streaming service was available through PS3 consoles prior to its shutdown in January 2020, and carried local channels in certain areas.

Software updates

Software updates are available via the About section in Settings using the "Game Update Check" Functionality (when using the original PlayTV software). In recent versions of PlayTV software, a Software Update function is available directly from the main PlayTV menu. A further update was announced on 2 April 2009 that will include new volume and search controls, upscaling of standard definition (SD) content and faster access to TV shows from the XMB menu system.

In February 2009 another update was released, which provided improvements to standard definition upscaling.

On 23 August 2010, details of a new update (version 2.01) were revealed. While part of the update is free, an unlock key must be purchased from the PlayStation Store in order to access some of the features (listed below). The update was released on 17 November 2010.

The following premium services are offered with the 2.01 update:
* Series Link Allows recording of an entire series. (UK Only)
* Chat TV Allows texting with other users while watching.
* Recommendations Allows recommendation of shows to other users via Facebook.
* Community favourites Lets you see what your friends and the PSN Community are watching and enjoying. (Not available in Australia)
* Premium 7-day EPG Electronic Programme Guide. (Standard PlayTV programme guide only in Australia)
* Search by actor, director and genre.

On 6 December 2010, another update, version 2.02, was released. Many users complained that since the update the PlayTV software became unstable, with the most commonly reported symptom being the software hanging on the PlayTV launch screen and not proceeding any further.

On 3 March 2011, bugfix update 2.03 was released.

On 23 May 2013, version 2.04 was released.

Torne

(CECH-ZD1J) is an ISDB-T tuner peripheral for the Japanese market which, like PlayTV, comes with DVR software. It was first announced on 14 January 2010 for release on 18 March of the same year.

Like PlayTV, it is capable of recording and playing back live TV, even while in a game or playing other media (e.g. a DVD or Blu-ray Disc) and can be accessed on PSP via remote play.

Unlike PlayTV, Torne features PS3 trophy support.

In June 2010 Sony released Torne software version 2.00, which enables MPEG-4 AVC compression, allowing recordings to be compressed down to a third of their original size as captured MPEG-2 streams. It will also add the ability to watch, fast-forward and rewind programs while they are still recording and to update the user's PSN status.

Linux and Windows

The device can be used in Linux since 2.6.30. It also can be used in Windows by patching the USB IDs in the driver of a card with the same dibcom hardware (such as the Pinnacle PCTV Dual DVB-T Diversity Stick). It can be used in both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows using this method. There are believed to be two hardware variants of the device, using the ULI chipset.

In Linux or Windows, PlayTV can handle AVC/MPEG4 HD broadcasts which are used in Ireland and continental Europe. The UK has adopted DVB-T2 for terrestrial high-definition TV broadcasts, so the PlayTV will not give PS3 owners access to those TV channels.

An unofficial Windows application (in Spanish language only) allows users to edit the file channel_ps3.bin and customize the order of channels in the PlayTV software (a function not normally available). A PlayStation Jailbreak device is required in order to transfer the file from PS3 to PC.

References

External links

Official PlayTV website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Playtv
Products introduced in 2008
PlayStation 3
Digital video recorders
Digital television
PlayStation 3 accessories
Set-top box