PLAYSTATION 2

The Test … Quite Simply !

The PlayStation 2 constitutes, in appearance terms, a definitely atypical result… the "thing" doesn’t look at all like anything we’ve been dished up in the field of consumer electronics. Pure design marvel?… or an ungraceful cross-breeding between an electric convector and a miniature representation of the Empire State Building?... Opinions are quite frankly split, but in the end it all comes down to personal taste.

Anyway, our subject today is not that of making a dissertation on the design of the PSX 2: the idea is to attempt to make a synthesis of different opinions which is as objective as possible. Here again, they are split – between the technical pretensions of the latest baby from Sony, on which everything and the contrary has already been said. A concentration of multi-functional technology or simple console attempting clumsily to pass itself off as a DVD Player? That’s the question...


Video Test

The test begins with the connection of the Dream Machine to a 50 hertz machine in the form of a television, accepting, in Scart input, Video RVB, S-Video or Composite standards (configuration of the link being realised with the composite chord delivered with the machine for the circumstances).

One hooked-up, the joypad plugged-in (if you don’t have an infrared remote control, you’ll have to use the good old game control unit which can be somewhat off-putting), we discover with surprise, while navigating through the configuration menus that the PSX 2 is also able to be linked to a TV in YUV, RGB, S-Video or composite. What a pleasure! It’s true, we have an RGB chord (originally utilised for a Playstation), and it’s thus with great haste that we unplug the original cable delivered with the machine and hook up the PSX 2 in RGB.

With the console turned back on, we configure the video output menu to the standard desired and insert the latest DTS Demo Disc... The sound of whirring as the disc starts spinning happily in its new temporary home and suddenly… we have image!… Green! Intrigued, we put another DVD into the machine, and obtain the same result...

We thus insert the demo disc delivered with the console and, by miracle, the image is perfect: no more bright green faces, but perfect colours! Yep, you’ve guessed it! The PSX 2 is only RGB compatible with games … not with DVD’s. Funny… machines sold nowadays for 230 Euros (1,490 French francs) can do this without any problems… Ho hum… we’ll just have to test the beast uniquely in composite (what a pain…).

A little reminder for users: according to its designers, the PSX 2 should be comparable to the best players on the market . We thus decided to compare its performance with that of a Sony DVP-S7700 - also hooked up via composite for the occasion (can you imagine?).

"Hantise", on the DTS Demo DVD constitutes the "test" title for the occasion: in the chase scenes through the halls of an immense chateau, we examine the image produced by the PSX 2 which, unanimously appears to us to be cold and highly lacking in detail , a video noise also coming along to disturb the image a little (the latter characterised in the form of a persistent flickering).

In comparison, the DVP-S7700 behaves in a totally different manner: the image is as fluid as one could imagine – even in composite (!) and the colours here are warm and glowing, with an excellent sharpness of image… a pleasure for the beholder!

With a view to confirming this rather disappointing first impression, we chose Hotel California by the Eagles: a little piece of anthology considered by most Home Cinema pros as the best demo title. The result is identical: the quality of video signal processing by the PSX 2 is by far inferior to the performance levels announced by the manufacturer, its video decompression base corresponding more to a bottom-line DVD player that one might scrounge from a discount shop.

One should however put this performance level in its rightful place… performance that’s quite common, especially in composite. It would have been useful for the Sony engineers to propose an RGB connection on their machines. The comforting element here is the YUV which is compatible with DVD and games (we hope to be able to test this section soon).

Moreover, as we had announced in our report on the drive of the DVD player (see our article of 25th October 2000), we confirm that this is built into the hardware - contrary to the Japanese model in which it’s on a memory card -, which means that future updates for the European version of the PSX 2 will be much more limited.


Audio Test

After this serious damper on the real video performance of the PSX 2, and in order to reassure you somewhat, you should nevertheless know that the audio test is by far more conclusive than the video test.

As for the video section, the DTS Demo DVD served as a test support. Same motive, same punishment… or should we say, same chapter, same scene: "Hantise" and the crazed race through the corridors… Linked by fibre optics to an audio/video amplifier of the latest generation, the console gives results that are almost incredible, as much on the quality side as for the dynamics: the depiction is in fact ultra detailed, even perhaps too much so for some tastes, being due in part to a processing level and audio output much that are more important than those proposed on living-room DVD players.

One must of course confirm that all audio formats proposed on the PSX 2 are respected, from Dolby ProLogic right up to DTS, passing by Dolby Digital.

To spice things up a little, we inserted the DVD Demo of THX Surround EX, which integrates the new THX Surround EX trailers. While not having the Lucas seal of approval, the PSX 2 processes all sounds coming from DVD’s excellently, to the point that, face to face with the DVP-S7700, it stands its ground without any problems, positioning itself, in audio terms, well above the sound performances of lower or even mid-range players. It should be underlined that the types of outputs, as we mentioned above, here have been boosted by the engineers, the latter having apparently chosen to let the listener wallow in a sea of sound.

In terms of hard and fast audio playing on two channels, the PSX 2 seems to us to be a little too aggressive, due to the surplus of energy transferred. It is in fact on a track that we listened to in stereo - Unplugged by Baby Face) that this was the most noticeable: the guitar notes played by Eric Clapton are highly detailed… perhaps too much… which takes away from the warmth of the timbres during the sound reproduction – at low or high volume.

In order to round the test off, we wanted to try out a track calibrated at 96 kHz for the quantifying of the 24 bits. Unfortunately, playing of these formats is refused, with converters here uniquely proposing to process audio streams in 44.1 or 48 kHz... still not too bad at all!


Conclusion

We believe that the PSX 2 is a far way off the video performance levels of mid to top of the range DVD players on the market at the moment. We are on the other hand quite reassured by audio performance levels, which appear to be quite honourable, given the price at which the console is sold.

One should nevertheless also recognise that this hybrid platform will permit neophytes to make a first step into the world of home entertainment and to thus discover the pleasures of audio/video reproduction. On the other hand, for aficionados, the unit will no doubt simply be the means to add new "fun" functions to their installation. When it comes down to it, it’s true that at 460 Euros (2990 francs), the Playstation 2 appears at the moment to be the best means of benefiting, for a "reasonable" price, of a "multi-functional" multi-media support.


PS: We have (naturally) also tested the game section, and its incredible performance levels. Enough for quite a few chills up the spine, especially if the console is linked up to a complete audio/video system!