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- In the mid-nineties,

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it might’ve seemed unlikely that a newcomer to

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the video game hardware business could

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achieve so much success that it would vastly

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overshadow all competitors in sales,

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in all regions worldwide,

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becoming, at the time,

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the best-selling console ever.

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As the major players began to prepare

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for a new console generation,

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expectations were especially high for

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Sony’s vision of gaming in a new century.

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^ The PlayStation 2 went on to sell

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^ even more than its predecessor,

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^ which means there are a lot of PS2 systems,

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a lot of PS2 games,

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and a lot of PS2 fans.

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But TV technology is very different from

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what it was at the height of the PS2’s popularity,

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and nowadays people are often disappointed

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by their favorite games looking a lot worse

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than they remember.

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^ So, how to get a better experience with your PlayStation 2?

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Welcome to RGB 210.

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(Theme Music)

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- Sony released the PlayStation 2

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in Japan in March of 2000,

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and in other regions later that year.

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^ In addition to its games,

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^ the PS2’s popularity was bolstered

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^ by its support of DVD movies,

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hitting at just the right time to push

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the format into mass popularity.

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The console’s DVD drive also meant that

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games could contain more high-quality sound,

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full motion video,

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and other bits of game data than

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any other console that had come before,

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although some games were still printed on CDs,

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usually identified by their unique blue bottoms.

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Consoles from earlier generations

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^ generally display games in 240p,

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^ a low resolution progressive mode.

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^ It works very well to create a stable image

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^ and fast gameplay,

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but it’s not really how standard definition

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CRTs were designed to be used.

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Standard video content operates by

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^ sending an interlaced signal to the screen.

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^ Two fields of video alternate rapidly to create

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^ the illusion of a more defined image while using

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^ less image transmission bandwidth.

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In NTSC regions like North America and Japan,

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the standard was to display 480 interlaced

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lines at 60 fields per second, 480i.

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In PAL regions, 576i.

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During the previous generation,

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Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64,

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many developers dabbled with 480i,

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often using it for title screens,

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menus, or occasionally,

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in-game graphics…

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but 240p was still by far the most common resolution.

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Ironically, it wouldn’t be until the Dreamcast,

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PS2, Xbox, and GameCube,

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the final generation to be primarily standard def,

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that CRT televisions would be utilized

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to their fullest extent,

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and 480i would become the dominant standard.

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The vast majority of PS2 titles output

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exclusively in interlaced form.

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We’ll primarily refer to it as 480i since we’re

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showing NTSC region consoles and games.

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^ If at all possible,

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^ be sure to watch this episode in 60 frames per second,

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^ because the correct look of 480i

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^ cannot be shown without it.

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There are a small handful of 240p titles,

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ICO is possibly the most famous,

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but there are several others,

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such as the Mega Man X Collection,

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certain NIS titles,

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and more.

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And if you have the right cables for it,

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^ a number of PS2 games are designed to support 480p,

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^ and a very select few even have an option

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^ for outputting an HD resolution of 1080i,

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although typically upscaled from a lower base resolution.

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Generally speaking,

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the PS2 is considered to be more powerful

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than the Dreamcast,

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but less powerful than the GameCube

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and Xbox.

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The PS2 was often said to be difficult to develop for,

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but its overwhelming popularity means that

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developers got really familiar with the system.

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Understanding what makes the PS2 hardware

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special should give us a greater appreciation

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for how its games look,

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and to help with that,

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we’ve brought in our good friend

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John Linneman from Digital Foundry.

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- It might seem surprising but the PlayStation 2 is fast.

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Very fast.

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The Emotion Engine,

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which pairs a MIPS III core with two flexible

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vector units and a floating-point unit,

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can perform geometry transformations

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at a remarkable speed for its day.

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^ With its fast on-chip eDRAM,

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^ the PS2 is also a bandwidth monster.

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When utilizing the graphics synthesizer,

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the system's GPU,

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reading and writing to memory is basically free.

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With so much available bandwidth,

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developers could perform multiple passes

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to achieve the final output at a relatively high

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speed while enabling techniques that are not

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directly supported in hardware.

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Case in point,

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the hardware doesn't support operations

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such as multi-texturing,

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a feature designed to save on bandwidth,

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but as bandwidth isn't a real limitation

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on the PlayStation 2,

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it's easy to perform the necessary

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passes entirely in software.

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^ The extra bandwidth also makes it

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^ possible to utilize full-screen effects,

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^ such as heat haze or motion blur,

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^ and complex particles without

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^ a significant performance penalty.

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Taken together,

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the fast geometry setup and copious amount

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of bandwidth enabled the PS2 to greatly

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outperform Sega's Dreamcast at the time,

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^ while still hanging with more

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^ modern consoles like Gamecube and the Xbox.

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^ What makes the PS2 so interesting

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is how its design allowed skilled developers

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to produce unexpected results.

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Throughout its life,

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developers managed to implement features

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such as software based texture compression,

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simulated HDR rendering,

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advanced cinematic effects,

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pseudo per-pixel motion blur and more.

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Even games which shipped near its launch

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date already delivered fresh new real-time

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techniques such as depth of field,

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motion blur and advanced bloom lighting.

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The PS2 didn't hold your hand in development,

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but its steep learning curve allowed skilled

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programmers to produce truly astounding results.

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Which, of course,

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brings us to its issues.

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On the developer side,

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PlayStation 2 required a lot of careful design

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work with minimal support for built-in tools.

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You’d have to worry more about memory and

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resources than on other systems of this era.

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Based on speaking with developers,

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it was a piece of cake to work with the Xbox,

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which managed a lot of your memory for you,

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but PlayStation 2 could only excel in the

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hands of the most dedicated programmers.

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On the consumer side,

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one of the earliest misconceptions centers on

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^ the jaggies or aliasing visible during gameplay.

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^ Many attributed this to the lack of anti-aliasing,

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^ but this isn't entirely true

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as genuine anti-aliasing is

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almost non-existent on Dreamcast,

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Xbox, and GameCube.

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Part of this issue stems from

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the earliest development kits,

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which were limited to a low resolution 240

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line front buffer forcing developers to rely

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^ on field rendering.

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^ By alternating between odd and even scanlines,

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^ the resulting image would appear higher

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^ resolution but the lower resolution per frame

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^ and lack of flicker filtering often resulted

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in more pronounced aliasing, hence the problem.

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The benefit of this can be found

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^ in that the average frame-rate

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^ of PlayStation 2 software is higher.

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^ A remarkably high percentage of the

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^ PlayStation 2's library operates at

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^ 60 frames per second, or 60 fields per second.

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^ In the early days,

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^ the limitations on available display modes

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^ essentially meant that developers were forced

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^ to target 60 frames per second,

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^ not doing so would result

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^ in a massive performance penalty.

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^ Even as the software evolved and higher

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^ resolutions were opened up to developers,

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field rendering remained popular due

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to its speed and memory savings.

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You could even supersample from

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higher resolutions to produce very clean visuals

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in this mode,

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as we saw with Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance.

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The hardware of PlayStation 2 is

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a broad topic and one that could fill entire books,

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but the main takeaway here is that it is a fast,

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flexible system that demanded a lot from programmers,

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but rewarded them in kind.

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- Well, I think I get the gist of it,

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and in a sense,

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the PS2 was also designed to embrace

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CRT technology more fully than its competitors.

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Sega pushed VGA output as

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an alternative to 480i for the Dreamcast,

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while you might expect to find 480p support

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much more commonly

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in GameCube and Xbox games…

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but none of these features were supported

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by the vast majority of household TVs.

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While other companies may have wished

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they could’ve just skipped over 480i,

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Sony took the challenge head-on.

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Now before we talk about video cables,

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backwards compatibility,

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HD ports, and all that fun stuff,

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we’ve gotta sit down and have a talk about 480i.

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^ There’s no getting outta this because

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^ if you can’t come to terms with 480i,

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^ then it doesn’t matter what kinda cables you’re using,

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^ you simply aren’t gonna be happy playing

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^ PS2 games on real PS2 hardware.

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Let’s start with the sort of screen that the

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PS2 was designed to be played on,

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a good old consumer CRT.

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Interlacing of course creates a bit

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of a flicker effect as the fields alternate.

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It’s not particularly noticeable in large areas

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of similar color or over smooth textures,

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but it can cause issues against certain

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geometry edges or finer details.

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This might seem a bit annoying if you’re

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not used to CRTs,

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but give it a chance and in time you’ll

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probably stop thinking about it.

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And y’know,

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if you haven’t seen a PS2 running on a CRT lately,

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you might be surprised,

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PS2 games tend to have an

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ultra crisp and clean appearance on a CRT.

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Like, wow…

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did it always look this good?

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^ Another class of CRT are professional video monitors,

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^ such as Sony’s PVM and BVM line.

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^ These screens are usually of noticeably

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^ higher quality than consumer CRTs,

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^ but they do require more effort to track down.

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^ The Sony 20L5 is one of our favorites,

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^ due to being able to display 480p,

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^ 720p, and 1080i.

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However, when running in 480i,

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we noticed that the 20L5 has

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blank gaps between field pairs,

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perhaps due to its HD capabilities.

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It still looks great overall of course,

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^ but a much more basic sort of PVM,

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^ such as the 20L2MD,

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^ actually displays 480i a little more truly to the intent,

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^ with no noticeable gaps between fields.

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^ This is my preferred sort of CRT for most PS2 games.

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00:10:35,811 --> 00:10:38,120
^ Another benefit of playing on a CRT,

272
00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:39,500
^ even a high-end one,

273
00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:41,171
^ is that video compression artifacts

274
00:10:41,171 --> 00:10:43,385
^ are masked extremely well,

275
00:10:43,385 --> 00:10:46,540
^ so FMVs look just as clean as you remember.

276
00:10:46,540 --> 00:10:50,220
^ In fact, a digital TV can reveal a trick many games use,

277
00:10:50,220 --> 00:10:53,301
^ cutscenes that I once thought were in-engine,

278
00:10:53,301 --> 00:10:55,011
^ turned out to be pre rendered...

279
00:10:55,011 --> 00:10:57,290
^ and not so nicely at that.

280
00:10:57,290 --> 00:11:00,392
Earlier John also addressed the misconception

281
00:11:00,392 --> 00:11:02,109
that the PS2’s contemporaries

282
00:11:02,109 --> 00:11:05,552
^ can do anti-aliasing while PS2 cannot.

283
00:11:05,562 --> 00:11:07,997
^ In reality, what the Dreamcast, Xbox,

284
00:11:07,997 --> 00:11:09,838
^ and GameCube do is force

285
00:11:09,838 --> 00:11:13,638
^ a sort of softening filter to combat interlaced flicker.

286
00:11:13,671 --> 00:11:14,608
^ At the time,

287
00:11:14,608 --> 00:11:16,700
^ this was generally considered a good thing,

288
00:11:16,700 --> 00:11:18,006
^ but in retrospect,

289
00:11:18,006 --> 00:11:19,426
^ what do you think?

290
00:11:19,426 --> 00:11:23,045
^ These images are all shot off a PVM-20L2.

291
00:11:23,045 --> 00:11:25,396
^ Does the de-flicker filter accomplish much

292
00:11:25,396 --> 00:11:27,158
^ of anything productive on the

293
00:11:27,158 --> 00:11:28,806
^ Xbox or GameCube?

294
00:11:28,806 --> 00:11:31,108
^ Are the PS2’s less filtered textures

295
00:11:31,108 --> 00:11:33,295
^ for better or worse?

296
00:11:33,295 --> 00:11:34,945
^ That’s for you to decide,

297
00:11:34,945 --> 00:11:37,968
^ but personally I feel that revisiting the PS2

298
00:11:37,968 --> 00:11:40,749
on CRTs has helped me appreciate

299
00:11:40,749 --> 00:11:42,785

the look Sony went for.

300
00:11:42,785 --> 00:11:45,756

Some PS2 games do have some form

301
00:11:45,756 --> 00:11:47,199

of flicker filter,

302
00:11:47,199 --> 00:11:49,129
^ but it’s not particularly common.

303
00:11:49,129 --> 00:11:51,940
^ Final Fantasy XII offers it as an option.

304
00:11:51,940 --> 00:11:55,341

Modern displays are progressive by nature,

305
00:11:55,341 --> 00:11:57,909

so if they were to show raw interlaced content,

306
00:11:57,909 --> 00:11:59,797

it would look like this…

307
00:11:59,797 --> 00:12:03,027
^ the serrated edges are called combing artifacts.

308
00:12:03,027 --> 00:12:04,147
^ Thankfully,

309
00:12:04,147 --> 00:12:07,437
^ you’re not likely to see anything like this in reality.

310
00:12:07,437 --> 00:12:09,666
When you plug your PS2 or any

311
00:12:09,666 --> 00:12:12,364

other 480i source into your modern TV,

312
00:12:12,392 --> 00:12:15,814
^ the TV performs a “deinterlacing” process,

313
00:12:15,814 --> 00:12:18,023
^ essentially combining the information from

314
00:12:18,023 --> 00:12:22,014
^ alternating fields to fake a progressive image.

315
00:12:22,014 --> 00:12:25,613
^ How well each TV deinterlaces certainly varies,

316
00:12:25,613 --> 00:12:28,223
^ but it’s often difficult to see the difference

317
00:12:28,223 --> 00:12:32,375
^ between 480i and 480p on modern TVs.

318
00:12:32,375 --> 00:12:34,734

The downside is that most deinterlacing

319
00:12:34,734 --> 00:12:38,364

processes contribute to lag to some degree,

320
00:12:38,364 --> 00:12:40,974

but it may be acceptable depending on how

321
00:12:40,974 --> 00:12:42,834

sensitive you are to lag.

322
00:12:42,834 --> 00:12:46,533

Consumer-grade HD CRTs also typically deinterlace,

323
00:12:46,533 --> 00:12:51,157

since most of them aren’t actually pure analog TVs.

324
00:12:51,157 --> 00:12:53,752

Certain external scalers might do a better job of

325
00:12:53,752 --> 00:12:56,092

deinterlacing than your TV does,

326
00:12:56,121 --> 00:12:57,514

not to mention allowing

327
00:12:57,514 --> 00:12:59,851

for higher quality connections.

328
00:12:59,851 --> 00:13:02,963
With games running at 30 frames per second content,

329
00:13:02,963 --> 00:13:04,794

a good deinterlacing process should

330
00:13:04,794 --> 00:13:06,693

give pretty solid results.

331
00:13:06,693 --> 00:13:08,755
You'll probably find that deinterlacing for

332
00:13:08,776 --> 00:13:10,465
60 frames per second games

333
00:13:10,465 --> 00:13:12,275
looks fine for most of the time,

334
00:13:12,275 --> 00:13:14,736
but there can be more errors.

335
00:13:14,736 --> 00:13:16,603
^ One method that can avoid this

336
00:13:16,611 --> 00:13:18,339
^ is called “bob” deinterlacing,

337
00:13:18,339 --> 00:13:20,558
^ which is a form of line doubling.

338
00:13:20,558 --> 00:13:22,558
^ This is theoretically lag-free

339
00:13:22,558 --> 00:13:24,268
^ and sort of simulates the look

340
00:13:24,268 --> 00:13:26,785
^ of interlaced content on a CRT.

341
00:13:26,785 --> 00:13:28,150
^ It’s a little weird,

342
00:13:28,150 --> 00:13:30,579
^ but not bad if you can get used to it.

343
00:13:30,579 --> 00:13:32,488
^ Bob deinterlacing is used by the

344
00:13:32,488 --> 00:13:34,158
^ Open Source Scan Converter.

345
00:13:34,167 --> 00:13:35,517
^ We’ll talk more in-depth about

346
00:13:35,517 --> 00:13:37,177
^ how the PS2 behaves with certain

347
00:13:37,177 --> 00:13:39,566
^ video processors later in the video.

348
00:13:39,566 --> 00:13:41,178

But let’s face it,

349
00:13:41,178 --> 00:13:43,818

480i is really low res compared

350
00:13:43,818 --> 00:13:46,277

to what people are used to nowadays.

351
00:13:46,277 --> 00:13:49,576

There are tons of HD ports of PS2 titles,

352
00:13:49,576 --> 00:13:51,676

and of course there’s emulation too,

353
00:13:51,676 --> 00:13:55,026

but if you want to play a game on real PS2 hardware,

354
00:13:55,026 --> 00:13:56,788

the first step is accepting

355
00:13:56,788 --> 00:13:58,347

what you’ve got to work with…

356
00:13:58,347 --> 00:13:59,725

and in most cases,

357
00:13:59,725 --> 00:14:01,683

that’s 480i.

358
00:14:01,683 --> 00:14:05,593

The PS2 was made for a world filled with CRTs,

359
00:14:05,593 --> 00:14:07,426

and in that context,

360
00:14:07,426 --> 00:14:09,986

it can look absolutely amazing.

361
00:14:09,986 --> 00:14:12,198

If you’re playing on an HDTV

362
00:14:12,198 --> 00:14:14,427

or even a 4K TV… well,

363
00:14:14,427 --> 00:14:16,126

of course it’s lower resolution

364
00:14:16,126 --> 00:14:18,859

than what you’d normally see on those displays,

365
00:14:18,859 --> 00:14:22,743
and no deinterlacing or upscaling method

366
00:14:22,743 --> 00:14:25,098
is going to quite make it look HD.

367
00:14:25,772 --> 00:14:27,520

Personally, I don’t think PS2

368
00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:29,290

looks that bad when upscaled…

369
00:14:29,290 --> 00:14:31,739

you just have to have realistic expectations,

370
00:14:31,739 --> 00:14:32,942

and of course

371
00:14:32,942 --> 00:14:34,633

(no matter what you’re hooking it up to),

372
00:14:34,633 --> 00:14:37,230

good quality connections.

373
00:14:40,670 --> 00:14:42,788
- The PlayStation composite cable is likely

374
00:14:42,799 --> 00:14:43,966

the most common

375
00:14:43,966 --> 00:14:45,980

console-specific video cable in the world,

376
00:14:45,980 --> 00:14:47,589

having shipped with the PlayStation,

377
00:14:47,589 --> 00:14:49,498

PlayStation 2, and…

378
00:14:49,498 --> 00:14:51,991

for some reason... even the PS3.

379
00:14:51,991 --> 00:14:53,590

All video information is pumped

380
00:14:53,590 --> 00:14:55,097

through the yellow connector.

381
00:14:55,097 --> 00:14:56,737
^ Commonly available and easy to use,

382
00:14:56,737 --> 00:14:58,979
^ composite video represents the lowest form

383
00:14:58,979 --> 00:15:01,635
^ of video that the PS2 natively supports.

384
00:15:01,638 --> 00:15:03,570
^ Most new TVs purchased during the

385
00:15:03,570 --> 00:15:06,400
^ PlayStation 2 era probably had an S-video input.

386
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,807
^ S-video is a huge leap over composite

387
00:15:08,807 --> 00:15:10,384
^ because it separates the video signal

388
00:15:10,384 --> 00:15:11,979
^ into two lines within the cable,

389
00:15:11,979 --> 00:15:13,270

the brightness information,

390
00:15:13,270 --> 00:15:15,359
also called luma, or Y…

391
00:15:15,359 --> 00:15:16,490
and the color information,

392
00:15:16,490 --> 00:15:18,795

also called chroma or C.

393
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:19,991
^ Remember this,

394
00:15:19,991 --> 00:15:21,900
^ because luma also plays a major role in the

395
00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:24,099
^ PS2’s more advanced forms of video output.

396
00:15:24,099 --> 00:15:26,170

Official S-video cables are a safe bet

397
00:15:26,170 --> 00:15:28,131

if you can find them for a decent price.

398
00:15:28,131 --> 00:15:29,941

It’s typical for third-party cables to

399
00:15:29,941 --> 00:15:31,880

pair up S-video with with composite video,

400
00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:33,543
^ which is a risky scenario unless

401
00:15:33,543 --> 00:15:34,726
^ they’re pretty well made,

402
00:15:34,726 --> 00:15:36,790
^ like this Rocketfish cable seems to be.

403
00:15:36,819 --> 00:15:38,979

A super cheap set of cables by Tomee

404
00:15:38,979 --> 00:15:41,021

that we bought on Amazon actually performs

405
00:15:41,021 --> 00:15:43,719

not too bad considering the very thin wiring.

406
00:15:43,719 --> 00:15:45,678
^ But be aware that cheap cables like these

407
00:15:45,678 --> 00:15:47,870
^ often have some degree of audio buzz,

408
00:15:47,870 --> 00:15:50,558
^ which can be avoided by using the optical audio output,

409
00:15:50,558 --> 00:15:52,234

but please note that a handful of games

410
00:15:52,234 --> 00:15:54,056

do not output audio this way.

411
00:15:54,056 --> 00:15:56,545

A couple of no-name brand S-video cables,

412
00:15:56,545 --> 00:15:58,641

including a multi-console set,

413
00:15:58,673 --> 00:16:00,942

show why a composite video line is trouble:

414
00:16:00,942 --> 00:16:03,961
^ you might see it bleed visibly into the S-video line.

415
00:16:03,961 --> 00:16:05,835
^ It’s possible that the chroma part of the

416
00:16:05,835 --> 00:16:08,194
^ S-video signal can cause these problems too.

417
00:16:08,194 --> 00:16:10,121

But as long as you get a good set of cables,

418
00:16:10,121 --> 00:16:12,802

S-video is a great option for PS2 games,

419
00:16:12,806 --> 00:16:14,624
^ especially if you’re playing on a CRT

420
00:16:14,624 --> 00:16:16,333
^ with S-video inputs.

421
00:16:21,531 --> 00:16:23,606

If you want things to look just a bit crisper,

422
00:16:23,606 --> 00:16:26,679

plus have the option for resolutions higher than 480i,

423
00:16:26,679 --> 00:16:29,469

then you need to look into component or RGB.

424
00:16:29,469 --> 00:16:32,403
^ And this is where things get a lot more complicated.

425
00:16:32,403 --> 00:16:33,931
^ Let’s start with component,

426
00:16:33,949 --> 00:16:36,099

that’s the one with 3 RCA video connectors

427
00:16:36,099 --> 00:16:37,520

and 2 audio connectors.

428
00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,532

These cables break the video signal

429
00:16:39,532 --> 00:16:40,894

into three separate components,

430
00:16:40,894 --> 00:16:42,839
^ called YPbPr.

431
00:16:42,839 --> 00:16:44,749
^ Again, Y here stands for luma,

432
00:16:44,749 --> 00:16:46,320
^ while Pb represents the difference

433
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,808
^ between blue and luma,

434
00:16:47,808 --> 00:16:50,196
^ and Pr is the difference between red and luma,

435
00:16:50,196 --> 00:16:51,890
^ leaving the green picture information

436
00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:53,849
^ to be inferred by what’s left over.

437
00:16:53,849 --> 00:16:55,663
^ That means that the green connector, Y,

438
00:16:55,663 --> 00:16:57,694
^ doesn’t directly have anything to do with green.

439
00:16:57,694 --> 00:17:00,069
^ In fact, it’s the exact same luma signal

440
00:17:00,069 --> 00:17:01,849
^ that travels down an S-video cable,

441
00:17:01,849 --> 00:17:04,259
^ which also means that it carries the sync pulses.

442
00:17:04,259 --> 00:17:06,020
^ You can test this out for yourself,

443
00:17:06,020 --> 00:17:07,717
^ because you won’t get a coherent picture

444
00:17:07,717 --> 00:17:09,447
^ at all without the green plug.

445
00:17:09,447 --> 00:17:11,267
^ In addition to looking a bit cleaner,

446
00:17:11,267 --> 00:17:12,750
^ the greater bandwidth of

447
00:17:12,750 --> 00:17:14,348
^ component video makes it possible

448
00:17:14,348 --> 00:17:17,068
^ to run higher resolutions such as 480p.

449
00:17:17,068 --> 00:17:18,049

While some games,

450
00:17:18,049 --> 00:17:19,098

such as God of War,

451
00:17:19,098 --> 00:17:20,170

Shadow of the Colossus,

452
00:17:20,170 --> 00:17:21,601

and Gran Turismo 4,

453
00:17:21,601 --> 00:17:23,223

helpfully put resolution options

454
00:17:23,223 --> 00:17:24,499

in their configuration menus,

455
00:17:24,499 --> 00:17:26,339

others don’t make it as obvious that a

456
00:17:26,339 --> 00:17:27,978

progressive mode is supported at all,

457
00:17:27,978 --> 00:17:29,627

sometimes requiring something weird

458
00:17:29,627 --> 00:17:31,265

like holding X and Triangle

459
00:17:31,265 --> 00:17:32,798

while the game is booting up.

460
00:17:32,816 --> 00:17:33,856

For more information,

461
00:17:33,856 --> 00:17:34,985

check out Wikipedia’s

462
00:17:34,985 --> 00:17:36,155

“List of PlayStation 2 Games

463
00:17:36,155 --> 00:17:37,834

with Alternate Display Modes,”

464
00:17:37,834 --> 00:17:40,084

but it might not be 100% reliable.

465
00:17:40,084 --> 00:17:41,656

Note that in some games,

466
00:17:41,656 --> 00:17:44,414

480p may run at a lower color depth,

467
00:17:44,414 --> 00:17:47,396
^ bringing along with it visual artifacts like dithering,

468
00:17:47,396 --> 00:17:49,303
^ making it debatable whether 480i

469
00:17:49,303 --> 00:17:51,733
^ may actually be the superior choice.

470
00:17:51,764 --> 00:17:53,409

God of War and Radiata Stories

471
00:17:53,409 --> 00:17:55,090

both look clean in 480p,

472
00:17:55,090 --> 00:17:55,972

while others,

473
00:17:55,972 --> 00:17:57,131

such as Suikoden IV,

474
00:17:57,131 --> 00:17:58,921

just have a dithered look regardless of whether

475
00:17:58,921 --> 00:18:01,061

you’re in progressive or interlaced mode.

476
00:18:01,061 --> 00:18:04,258
^ Even Gran Turismo 4’s 1080i mode is impacted.

477
00:18:04,258 --> 00:18:05,589

But on the flipside,

478
00:18:05,589 --> 00:18:07,239

the 1080i mode exclusive to the

479
00:18:07,239 --> 00:18:09,890

Japanese version of Valkyrie Profile Silmeria

480
00:18:09,890 --> 00:18:11,792

doesn’t look dithered at all.

481
00:18:12,757 --> 00:18:14,608

As far as which component cables to choose,

482
00:18:14,608 --> 00:18:16,997

well, there are a ton of options.

483
00:18:16,997 --> 00:18:19,674

Stay away from inexpensive generic brands,

484
00:18:19,674 --> 00:18:21,098

such as what you might find on Amazon

485
00:18:21,098 --> 00:18:23,078

or eBay for under 10 bucks.

486
00:18:23,078 --> 00:18:25,408
^ Our tests show these to have a less vibrant picture,

487
00:18:25,408 --> 00:18:28,710
^ along with extra visual noise and even audio buzz.

488
00:18:28,710 --> 00:18:29,827

And it’s no wonder,

489
00:18:29,827 --> 00:18:31,961

the wires inside these cables are pathetic.

490
00:18:32,762 --> 00:18:34,334
^ Even deceptively thick-looking cables

491
00:18:34,334 --> 00:18:36,631
^ like Monoprice’s multi-console component cable

492
00:18:36,631 --> 00:18:39,951
^ may reveal pitifully thin wires once you cut inside.

493
00:18:39,953 --> 00:18:41,260
^ What a waste, right?

494
00:18:41,989 --> 00:18:43,602
^ The internal shielding on official Sony

495
00:18:43,602 --> 00:18:45,498
^ component cables is at least adequate,

496
00:18:45,498 --> 00:18:47,879
^ with completely acceptable results.

497
00:18:47,879 --> 00:18:49,922
^ Sony themselves released several revisions

498
00:18:49,922 --> 00:18:51,639
^ of their component cables over the course

499
00:18:51,639 --> 00:18:53,929
^ of the PS2 and PS3 generations,

500
00:18:53,929 --> 00:18:57,158
^ all of which work just fine with any PS2 system.

501
00:18:57,158 --> 00:18:59,166
^ You can identify most official component

502
00:18:59,166 --> 00:19:01,618
^ cables by the Sony branding on the connector.

503
00:19:01,618 --> 00:19:02,982

Monster Cables,

504
00:19:02,982 --> 00:19:04,735

infamous for their high prices,

505
00:19:04,735 --> 00:19:06,378

are nonetheless at least reliably

506
00:19:06,378 --> 00:19:08,148

well-shielded and high quality,

507
00:19:08,148 --> 00:19:09,957

making them a popular choice.

508
00:19:09,957 --> 00:19:12,182

Again, numerous revisions marketed as

509
00:19:12,182 --> 00:19:14,661

PS2 or PS3 cables were developed.

510
00:19:14,661 --> 00:19:16,909

One thing to keep in mind is that the RCA

511
00:19:16,909 --> 00:19:19,154
^ connectors on some can have a “death grip”

512
00:19:19,154 --> 00:19:21,290
^ that feels like it might ruin your device by pulling

513
00:19:21,290 --> 00:19:23,004
^ the outside of the connector off.

514
00:19:23,034 --> 00:19:24,793
^ Cables with a death grip have decimated

515
00:19:24,793 --> 00:19:26,333
^ this component switch I have.

516
00:19:26,333 --> 00:19:27,473
In our tests,

517
00:19:27,473 --> 00:19:29,483

this particular blue cable has the issue,

518
00:19:29,483 --> 00:19:32,392

while this black PS3-era cable feels great.

519
00:19:32,392 --> 00:19:34,505

A component cable by Psyclone provides

520
00:19:34,505 --> 00:19:36,634
^ similar results to the Monster Cables,

521
00:19:36,634 --> 00:19:38,744
^ but also has the death grip issue.

522
00:19:38,744 --> 00:19:40,230
^ You just never know what you’re gonna get,

523
00:19:40,230 --> 00:19:41,880
^ but knowing about this issue can

524
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,962
^ prepare you for potential complications.

525
00:19:43,962 --> 00:19:46,857

Thankfully, Monster and official Sony

526
00:19:46,862 --> 00:19:49,125

component cables are not nearly as expensive

527
00:19:49,125 --> 00:19:51,375

or hard to find as GameCube component cables

528
00:19:51,375 --> 00:19:53,459

or the better Xbox component cables,

529
00:19:53,459 --> 00:19:55,234

but you might want to shop around before

530
00:19:55,234 --> 00:19:57,296
you commit to a higher-priced items.

531
00:19:57,296 --> 00:19:58,509
^ HD Retrovision,

532
00:19:58,509 --> 00:20:00,196
^ known for having made cables that convert

533
00:20:00,196 --> 00:20:02,054
^ Super Nintendo and Genesis RGB

534
00:20:02,054 --> 00:20:03,613
^ to component video,

535
00:20:03,613 --> 00:20:05,640
^ also have a few solutions in the works for PS2.

536
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:07,408
^ This is a prototype for a simple

537
00:20:07,408 --> 00:20:10,074
^ PS2 component cable that contains no circuitry,

538
00:20:10,074 --> 00:20:12,983
^ but simply offers a new high quality option

539
00:20:12,983 --> 00:20:14,814
^ if you don’t already have one.

540
00:20:14,814 --> 00:20:16,704
^ We also have a prototype for an adapter that

541
00:20:16,704 --> 00:20:19,524
^ converts the HD Retrovision Genesis cables for

542
00:20:19,524 --> 00:20:21,643
^ use with a PS1 or PS2,

543
00:20:21,643 --> 00:20:23,404
^ which seems to work quite nicely.

544
00:20:24,483 --> 00:20:25,713

One thing that we need to address

545
00:20:25,713 --> 00:20:27,145

regarding component cables

546
00:20:27,145 --> 00:20:28,882

is PS1 backwards compatibility.

547
00:20:28,882 --> 00:20:30,176

As you probably know,

548
00:20:30,176 --> 00:20:32,485

all PS2 systems are backwards compatible

549
00:20:32,485 --> 00:20:34,394

with discs from the original PlayStation,

550
00:20:34,394 --> 00:20:36,814

and the results are generally very accurate.

551
00:20:36,814 --> 00:20:38,741
^ There’s a widespread rumor out there that

552
00:20:38,741 --> 00:20:40,973
^ PS1 games will not play on a PS2

553
00:20:40,973 --> 00:20:42,372
^ over component cables,

554
00:20:42,372 --> 00:20:44,399
^ but this is simply not true.

555
00:20:44,403 --> 00:20:46,404

The problem that people sometimes run into

556
00:20:46,404 --> 00:20:48,722

is that many digital TVs will not accept

557
00:20:48,722 --> 00:20:50,783

a 240p signal over component,

558
00:20:50,783 --> 00:20:51,791

and of course,

559
00:20:51,791 --> 00:20:54,384

most PS1 games do run in 240p.

560
00:20:54,384 --> 00:20:56,784

But if you can connect to a compatible TV,

561
00:20:56,784 --> 00:20:58,754
^ component on PS2 is a great way

562
00:20:58,754 --> 00:21:00,749
^ to enjoy most PS1 games.

563
00:21:06,329 --> 00:21:08,064

So what about RGB?

564
00:21:08,622 --> 00:21:10,002

Is it better than component?

565
00:21:10,002 --> 00:21:12,101

Well, I think the first consideration should be

566
00:21:12,101 --> 00:21:13,935

which is simpler to use in your setup.

567
00:21:13,935 --> 00:21:15,619

There are some hoops to jump through when

568
00:21:15,619 --> 00:21:17,248

it comes to RGB on the PS2,

569
00:21:17,248 --> 00:21:19,333

and it may or may not be worth it to you.

570
00:21:19,333 --> 00:21:22,104

RGB of course is red, green,

571
00:21:22,104 --> 00:21:23,735

and blue being sent through their

572
00:21:23,735 --> 00:21:25,235

own lines inside a cable,

573
00:21:25,235 --> 00:21:27,118

usually with a sync signal on a different line.

574
00:21:27,118 --> 00:21:29,017

The typical cable for RGB on most

575
00:21:29,017 --> 00:21:31,690
^ retro consoles uses a SCART connector,

576
00:21:31,690 --> 00:21:33,832
^ this is a European wiring standard,

577
00:21:33,832 --> 00:21:36,481
^ but is compatible with any PS2 console.

578
00:21:36,481 --> 00:21:38,819

The less common Japanese equivalent,

579
00:21:38,819 --> 00:21:41,440

called JP-21, is also an option,

580
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,962

but be sure the devices or converters

581
00:21:43,962 --> 00:21:45,999

that you plug your cables into are designed

582
00:21:45,999 --> 00:21:48,221

for SCART or JP-21.

583
00:21:48,221 --> 00:21:49,784

Don’t mix and match because

584
00:21:49,784 --> 00:21:51,735

the standards are not cross-compatible.

585
00:21:52,487 --> 00:21:53,936

It’s also important to know that SCART

586
00:21:53,936 --> 00:21:55,661
^ is not inherently RGB,

587
00:21:55,661 --> 00:21:57,149
^ it was designed to be a simple

588
00:21:57,149 --> 00:21:59,137
^ all-purpose analog A/V connector,

589
00:21:59,137 --> 00:22:00,908
^ and some SCART cables may in fact

590
00:22:00,908 --> 00:22:02,674
^ only be composite quality.

591
00:22:02,698 --> 00:22:04,379

Something to keep in mind is that technically

592
00:22:04,379 --> 00:22:07,628

PS1 and PS2 RGB cables are not intended

593
00:22:07,628 --> 00:22:09,581

to be designed exactly the same way.

594
00:22:09,581 --> 00:22:13,008

The PS1’s AV output capacitors are NOT for RGB,

595
00:22:13,008 --> 00:22:14,638
^ requiring the cable to have at least

596
00:22:14,638 --> 00:22:16,727
^ 220 microfarad capacitors

597
00:22:16,727 --> 00:22:18,728
^ to properly drive each video line.

598
00:22:18,728 --> 00:22:20,213

The PS2 on the other hand,

599
00:22:20,213 --> 00:22:21,980
has sufficient capacitors for RGB

600
00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:23,570
directly on the motherboard,

601
00:22:23,570 --> 00:22:25,063

meaning that equivalent capacitors

602
00:22:25,063 --> 00:22:26,762

in the cable will actually diminish

603
00:22:26,762 --> 00:22:28,299

the performance of the signal.

604
00:22:28,299 --> 00:22:30,180
^ Ideal PS2 RGB cables should

605
00:22:30,196 --> 00:22:31,678
^ either have no capacitors,

606
00:22:31,678 --> 00:22:34,601
^ or significantly larger capacitors to balance it out,

607
00:22:34,601 --> 00:22:36,428
^ more on that in a moment.

608
00:22:36,428 --> 00:22:38,212
^ Let’s take a look at this

609
00:22:38,212 --> 00:22:40,700
^ generic inexpensive SCART cable from Hong Kong.

610
00:22:40,700 --> 00:22:42,569
^ There are quite a few problems here…

611
00:22:42,569 --> 00:22:45,042
^ first, it has 220 microfarad capacitors,

612
00:22:45,042 --> 00:22:47,301
^ making it less suitable for PS2.

613
00:22:47,301 --> 00:22:49,244

The wiring is very thin,

614
00:22:49,244 --> 00:22:51,375

which in particular causes audio buzzing.

615
00:22:51,375 --> 00:22:52,861

In addition, this cable carries a

616
00:22:52,861 --> 00:22:55,082

composite video signal alongside RGB,

617
00:22:55,082 --> 00:22:57,803
^ the reason being to provide a source for video sync.

618
00:22:57,803 --> 00:23:00,246
^ As we saw with the S-video combo cables,

619
00:23:00,246 --> 00:23:01,962
^ non-shielded composite tends

620
00:23:01,962 --> 00:23:03,295
^ to bleed into other wires,

621
00:23:03,295 --> 00:23:05,040
^ wreaking havoc not only on audio,

622
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:06,762
^ but picture quality too.

623
00:23:06,762 --> 00:23:09,194

This is why it’s important to remember that Y,

624
00:23:09,194 --> 00:23:10,350

the luma line,

625
00:23:10,350 --> 00:23:12,146

also includes a sync signal.

626
00:23:12,146 --> 00:23:14,097

While not exactly the standard method,

627
00:23:14,097 --> 00:23:16,313

there’s no reason that an RGB cable can’t

628
00:23:16,313 --> 00:23:19,731

be designed to pull sync from luma on a PS1 or PS2.

629
00:23:19,731 --> 00:23:21,947
^ This method is called sync-on-luma.

630
00:23:21,947 --> 00:23:23,565
^ Unlike composite video,

631
00:23:23,565 --> 00:23:26,082
^ luma doesn’t contain any encoded color information,

632
00:23:26,082 --> 00:23:27,557
^ which is the primary source

633
00:23:27,557 --> 00:23:29,063
^ of noise artifacts when running

634
00:23:29,063 --> 00:23:31,732
^ composite video alongside RGB video lines.

635
00:23:31,732 --> 00:23:34,081
^ Hence, it is much easier to use sync-on-luma

636
00:23:34,081 --> 00:23:35,534
^ to achieve clean results,

637
00:23:35,534 --> 00:23:37,072

and is absolutely the cable that you

638
00:23:37,072 --> 00:23:38,820

should buy in most cases.

639
00:23:38,820 --> 00:23:40,633

No PlayStation series console

640
00:23:40,633 --> 00:23:43,464
^ has a dedicated sync signal, called CSYNC,

641
00:23:43,464 --> 00:23:46,366
^ but sync stripping circuits installed inside certain

642
00:23:46,366 --> 00:23:49,382
^ cables can generate a CSYNC signal from luma

643
00:23:49,382 --> 00:23:51,494
^ if sync-on-luma happens to be incompatible

644
00:23:51,494 --> 00:23:52,982
^ with your equipment.

645
00:23:52,982 --> 00:23:54,615
^ We tested out PS2 cables from two

646
00:23:54,615 --> 00:23:56,113

manufacturers who specialize

647
00:23:56,113 --> 00:23:58,130

in SCART cables for retro gaming.

648
00:23:58,130 --> 00:23:59,817
^ The Florida-based eBay seller

649
00:23:59,817 --> 00:24:01,864
^ retro_console_accessories

650
00:24:01,864 --> 00:24:04,051
^ is now focusing on a new website,

651
00:24:04,051 --> 00:24:06,066
^ Retro-Access.com.

652
00:24:06,066 --> 00:24:08,582
^ Here you can buy their newest PlayStation cables,

653
00:24:08,582 --> 00:24:10,782
^ which have been considerably upgraded recently.

654
00:24:10,782 --> 00:24:12,751
^ PlayStation cables from Retro Access

655
00:24:12,751 --> 00:24:15,876
^ previously all had 220 microfarad capacitors,

656
00:24:15,876 --> 00:24:17,642
^ which is on-spec for PS1,

657
00:24:17,642 --> 00:24:19,289
^ and passable for PS2,

658
00:24:19,289 --> 00:24:20,831
^ but not quite ideal.

659
00:24:20,831 --> 00:24:22,599
^ The newest cables are now equipped with

660
00:24:22,599 --> 00:24:25,701
^ 1000 microfarad capacitors to split the difference,

661
00:24:25,701 --> 00:24:28,014
^ resulting in a universal cable that is suitable

662
00:24:28,014 --> 00:24:30,290
^ for both PS1 and PS2.

663
00:24:30,290 --> 00:24:32,779
^ All cables sold are wired for sync-on-luma,

664
00:24:32,779 --> 00:24:35,503
^ or CSYNC by way of a sync stripping circuit.

665
00:24:35,503 --> 00:24:37,689
^ A more robust coaxial cabling upgrade

666
00:24:37,689 --> 00:24:39,390
^ is available if you have a need for it,

667
00:24:39,390 --> 00:24:41,082
^ such as if you’re worried about noise

668
00:24:41,082 --> 00:24:42,851
^ when passing through a switch box,

669
00:24:42,851 --> 00:24:44,951
^ but in our experience it may not be critical

670
00:24:44,951 --> 00:24:46,673
^ for PlayStation consoles.

671
00:24:46,682 --> 00:24:48,873
^ The UK-based Retro Gaming Cables

672
00:24:48,873 --> 00:24:50,487
^ has similar offerings.

673
00:24:50,487 --> 00:24:53,924
^ However, they specifically sell cables as PS1 or PS2,

674
00:24:53,932 --> 00:24:55,251
^ so be sure you’re buying

675
00:24:55,251 --> 00:24:56,620
^ the right one for your console.

676
00:24:56,620 --> 00:24:59,732
^ The PS1 cables have 220 microfarad capacitors,

677
00:24:59,732 --> 00:25:02,240
^ while the PS2 cables have no capacitors.

678
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:04,412

The specific cable we’re looking at here

679
00:25:04,412 --> 00:25:06,370

is the CSYNC cable for PS2

680
00:25:06,370 --> 00:25:07,993

with the sync-stripping circuit.

681
00:25:07,993 --> 00:25:09,463
^ There is no particular advantage

682
00:25:09,463 --> 00:25:11,537
^ to using CSYNC instead of sync-on-luma,

683
00:25:11,537 --> 00:25:12,898
^ so choose it only if your

684
00:25:12,898 --> 00:25:14,949
^ equipment specifically requires CSYNC.

685
00:25:14,949 --> 00:25:15,851
^ If needed,

686
00:25:15,851 --> 00:25:17,430
^ Retro Gaming Cables also offers

687
00:25:17,430 --> 00:25:20,083
^ a cabling upgrade called Packapunch,

688
00:25:20,083 --> 00:25:22,534
^ but we haven’t had a chance to test it for ourselves.

689
00:25:22,534 --> 00:25:23,672

As a bonus,

690
00:25:23,672 --> 00:25:25,653

if you’re a fan of Guncon games like we are,

691
00:25:25,653 --> 00:25:27,983

then both sellers offer their own versions

692
00:25:27,983 --> 00:25:30,721

of light gun compatible RGB cables.

693
00:25:30,721 --> 00:25:31,951

It’s a common misconception

694
00:25:31,951 --> 00:25:33,682

that Guncon games must be played with

695
00:25:33,682 --> 00:25:35,464

composite video due to its required

696
00:25:35,464 --> 00:25:37,703

video passthrough connection,

697
00:25:37,703 --> 00:25:40,219

but really all it’s looking for is a sync signal.

698
00:25:40,219 --> 00:25:42,032

Note that Retro Gaming Cables’ version,

699
00:25:42,032 --> 00:25:44,056

which has the sync jack moulded into the connector,

700
00:25:44,056 --> 00:25:45,804

will require an RCA extension

701
00:25:45,804 --> 00:25:47,183

or the passthrough adapter that

702
00:25:47,183 --> 00:25:48,704

might’ve come with your Guncon 2,

703
00:25:48,704 --> 00:25:50,619

while the pigtail on the Retro-Access

704
00:25:50,619 --> 00:25:52,613

version can reach around the front.

705
00:25:52,613 --> 00:25:53,982

With any of these cables,

706
00:25:53,982 --> 00:25:55,469

you can play Time Crisis in high quality,

707
00:25:55,469 --> 00:25:56,470

and lemme tell ya,

708
00:25:56,470 --> 00:25:57,960

it’s a beautiful thing.

709
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,101

In addition,

710
00:25:59,101 --> 00:26:00,591
^ if you have the passthrough adapter

711
00:26:00,591 --> 00:26:02,001
^ and want to use component cables,

712
00:26:02,001 --> 00:26:03,818
^ all you have to do is connect the Guncon

713
00:26:03,818 --> 00:26:06,068
^ to the green cable and you’re good to go!

714
00:26:06,068 --> 00:26:07,665
Just remember that these traditional

715
00:26:07,665 --> 00:26:11,121

light guns only work on CRT televisions.

716
00:26:11,121 --> 00:26:13,140

The PlayStation 2 requires that you

717
00:26:13,140 --> 00:26:16,603

manually select YPbPr or RGB.

718
00:26:16,603 --> 00:26:18,341

In the System Configuration,

719
00:26:18,348 --> 00:26:20,260

go down to “Component Video Out”

720
00:26:20,260 --> 00:26:21,814

and choose the correct option.

721
00:26:21,814 --> 00:26:23,433

The wrong choice will either screw

722
00:26:23,433 --> 00:26:24,500

up the colors,

723
00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:26,180

or you might not see anything at all.

724
00:26:26,180 --> 00:26:27,361

If you’ve got a blank screen

725
00:26:27,361 --> 00:26:29,311

and need to navigate the menu to fix this,

726
00:26:29,311 --> 00:26:31,553

reset the console with no disc inside,

727
00:26:31,553 --> 00:26:33,798

wait several seconds for it to fully boot up,

728
00:26:33,798 --> 00:26:35,281
^ then hit down,

729
00:26:35,281 --> 00:26:37,089
^ X… wait two seconds…

730
00:26:37,089 --> 00:26:40,811
^ down-down-down-X-right-X.

731
00:26:40,811 --> 00:26:43,553
^ Which finally leads us to the big question,

732
00:26:43,553 --> 00:26:44,997
^ which is better?

733
00:26:44,997 --> 00:26:47,331
^ Component or RGB?

734
00:26:47,331 --> 00:26:48,889
^ There’s a widespread belief

735
00:26:48,889 --> 00:26:50,797
^ that the PS2’s component video output

736
00:26:50,797 --> 00:26:52,410
^ is of somewhat poor quality,

737
00:26:52,410 --> 00:26:54,590
^ but our tests seem to suggest that as long

738
00:26:54,590 --> 00:26:56,697
^ as the quality of the actual cables are high,

739
00:26:56,697 --> 00:26:58,629
^ any meaningful difference between

740
00:26:58,629 --> 00:27:00,531
^ the two is pretty hard to see,

741
00:27:00,531 --> 00:27:03,232
^ even across multiple console variants.

742
00:27:03,232 --> 00:27:05,517
^ Again, the more important consideration

743
00:27:05,517 --> 00:27:08,015
^ is which is more convenient for you.

744
00:27:09,825 --> 00:27:11,304

When it comes to ease of use,

745
00:27:11,309 --> 00:27:14,069

480p might be the dealbreaker for some people.

746
00:27:14,069 --> 00:27:15,559

Despite what you might think,

747
00:27:15,559 --> 00:27:19,074

480p is totally possible with RGB over SCART,

748
00:27:19,074 --> 00:27:22,037

but the PS2 uses a bit of an obscure method for it.

749
00:27:22,037 --> 00:27:25,293

If higher resolutions are activated while in RGB mode,

750
00:27:25,293 --> 00:27:27,820

the PS2 turns off the usual composite

751
00:27:27,820 --> 00:27:30,070

and luma sync pulses and instead

752
00:27:30,070 --> 00:27:32,351

sends sync only down the green line.

753
00:27:32,351 --> 00:27:34,392
^ This is called sync-on-green,

754
00:27:34,392 --> 00:27:36,750
^ and to be honest it’s a bit of a pain.

755
00:27:36,750 --> 00:27:38,873

If you’re lucky enough to own a high-end

756
00:27:38,873 --> 00:27:41,356

professional monitor that supports 480p,

757
00:27:41,356 --> 00:27:43,453
^ like the Sony PVM-20L5,

758
00:27:43,453 --> 00:27:45,821
^ then you can use sync-on-green over RGB,

759
00:27:45,821 --> 00:27:47,560
^ but you’ll have to manually switch from

760
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,305
^ “external” sync to “internal” sync…

761
00:27:49,305 --> 00:27:50,542
^ and back again when you’re

762
00:27:50,542 --> 00:27:52,280
^ done with your 480p game.

763
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:53,623
^ The Open Source Scan Converter,

764
00:27:53,623 --> 00:27:55,005
^ which is increasingly becoming

765
00:27:55,005 --> 00:27:57,354
^ our preferred upscaling solution if used

766
00:27:57,354 --> 00:27:59,770
^ with a compatible HDTV or 4K TV,

767
00:27:59,770 --> 00:28:01,618
^ also supports sync-on-green.

768
00:28:01,618 --> 00:28:03,120

When switching to 480p mode,

769
00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,609

you’ll have to toggle the input from RGBS

770
00:28:05,609 --> 00:28:07,142

to RGsB.

771
00:28:07,142 --> 00:28:09,910

Unfortunately, the XRGB-mini Framemeister,

772
00:28:09,910 --> 00:28:11,209

which is by far one of the

773
00:28:11,209 --> 00:28:13,040

most popular upscaling solutions,

774
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,021

does not support sync-on-green.

775
00:28:15,021 --> 00:28:16,836
^ You can use external boxes like

776
00:28:16,836 --> 00:28:19,409
^ an Extron Rxi to convert sync-on-green

777
00:28:19,409 --> 00:28:21,405
^ to a format the Framemeister can accept,

778
00:28:21,405 --> 00:28:24,130

Another hassle with sync-on-green is for those

779
00:28:24,130 --> 00:28:25,983

who use automatic SCART switchers.

780
00:28:25,983 --> 00:28:27,809

Typically these rely on detecting

781
00:28:27,809 --> 00:28:29,956

a sync signal for auto-switching,

782
00:28:29,956 --> 00:28:31,873

but since sync isn’t in the usual spot,

783
00:28:31,873 --> 00:28:33,546

they’ll switch away from the PS2

784
00:28:33,546 --> 00:28:35,454

as soon as 480p is activated.

785
00:28:35,454 --> 00:28:37,056

In the case of the GSCART,

786
00:28:37,056 --> 00:28:38,681
^ you can get around this by

787
00:28:38,681 --> 00:28:40,205
^ plugging the PS2 into port 8,

788
00:28:40,205 --> 00:28:42,759
^ which is the default if no other input is detected.

789
00:28:42,759 --> 00:28:44,012
^ Unfortunately,

790
00:28:44,012 --> 00:28:45,490
^ this method does not work

791
00:28:45,490 --> 00:28:47,179
^ with the newer GSCART Lite,

792
00:28:47,179 --> 00:28:48,455
^ and currently no workaround

793
00:28:48,455 --> 00:28:49,907
^ has been developed.

794
00:28:49,907 --> 00:28:51,508

Don’t be confused and think that

795
00:28:51,508 --> 00:28:53,007

a CSYNC SCART cable will solve

796
00:28:53,007 --> 00:28:54,329

sync-on-green problems…

797
00:28:54,329 --> 00:28:56,674

all that does is turn sync-on-luma into CSYNC.

798
00:28:56,674 --> 00:28:59,990
^ Sony did make an official Linux kit for PS2

799
00:28:59,990 --> 00:29:01,608
^ that included a VGA cable,

800
00:29:01,608 --> 00:29:02,860
^ which, again,

801
00:29:02,860 --> 00:29:04,481
^ is hamstrung by sync-on-green.

802
00:29:04,481 --> 00:29:06,225
^ Even if sync-on-green happens to be

803
00:29:06,225 --> 00:29:08,210
^ compatible with your favorite computer monitor,

804
00:29:08,210 --> 00:29:10,978
^ you’ll never even be able to see 480i content

805
00:29:10,978 --> 00:29:12,380
^ with this sort of setup.

806
00:29:12,380 --> 00:29:14,276
^ A recent development that shows some

807
00:29:14,276 --> 00:29:16,128
^ promise are internal PS2 mods

808
00:29:16,128 --> 00:29:19,143
^ being worked on by citrus3000psi,

809
00:29:19,143 --> 00:29:21,635
^ which may provide a simple and inexpensive

810
00:29:21,635 --> 00:29:24,012
^ way to use CSYNC instead of sync-on-green.

811
00:29:24,012 --> 00:29:25,299
^ We have not yet had a chance

812
00:29:25,299 --> 00:29:26,799
^ to see the results for ourselves,

813
00:29:26,799 --> 00:29:28,649
^ but if RGB, 480p,

814
00:29:28,649 --> 00:29:30,466
^ and convenience are all important to you,

815
00:29:30,466 --> 00:29:32,759
^ then keep an eye on this project.

816
00:29:32,759 --> 00:29:34,839
^ 480p and other resolutions can be forced

817
00:29:34,839 --> 00:29:36,570
^ through certain homebrew methods.

818
00:29:36,570 --> 00:29:37,739
^ Years ago,

819
00:29:37,739 --> 00:29:41,306
^ an unlicensed disc called HDTV Xploder was available,

820
00:29:41,306 --> 00:29:42,585
^ though apparently it was

821
00:29:42,594 --> 00:29:44,158
not considered to work very well.

822
00:29:44,158 --> 00:29:45,830

Today, the simplest way to tinker

823
00:29:45,830 --> 00:29:47,938

with resolutions is with a multi-utility

824
00:29:47,938 --> 00:29:49,247

called Free McBoot.

825
00:29:49,247 --> 00:29:50,917

You can buy memory cards on eBay

826
00:29:50,917 --> 00:29:52,569

with Free McBoot pre-installed,

827
00:29:52,569 --> 00:29:55,082

which includes an application called GSM.

828
00:29:55,082 --> 00:29:56,383

Simply press square,

829
00:29:56,383 --> 00:29:57,284

select,

830
00:29:57,284 --> 00:29:59,697

then start to force the system into 480p.

831
00:29:59,697 --> 00:30:02,067

Know that this works only in certain games,

832
00:30:02,921 --> 00:30:05,327

Some games look great in forced 480p…

833
00:30:05,327 --> 00:30:08,308

while many others have inconsistent aspect ratios.

834
00:30:08,308 --> 00:30:10,357
^ So while it’s a neat tool for certain games,

835
00:30:10,357 --> 00:30:12,710
^ it’s sadly not something you can always rely on.

836
00:30:12,710 --> 00:30:15,507

You can also force the system into HD resolutions,

837
00:30:15,507 --> 00:30:18,359

but since it doesn’t change the internal render resolution,

838
00:30:18,359 --> 00:30:19,798

there’s really no reason to.

839
00:30:19,798 --> 00:30:22,256
^ So you can see why we say that to enjoy PS2,

840
00:30:22,256 --> 00:30:26,037
^ you kind of need to accept 480i as a fact of life.

841
00:30:26,037 --> 00:30:28,618
^ Select games have excellent native 480p modes,

842
00:30:28,618 --> 00:30:31,149
^ and those are great to enjoy when you can,

843
00:30:31,149 --> 00:30:32,266

but by and large,

844
00:30:32,266 --> 00:30:35,473
count on playing the vast majority of games in 480i.

845
00:30:35,476 --> 00:30:38,324
^ Component and RGB both provide pretty great results,

846
00:30:38,324 --> 00:30:39,875
^ and we don’t think you should worry

847
00:30:39,875 --> 00:30:41,105
^ too much about whether

848
00:30:41,105 --> 00:30:42,564
^ one might be better than the other,

849
00:30:42,564 --> 00:30:44,434

as long as you buy good quality cables.

850
00:30:52,004 --> 00:30:53,992
- We get a lot of questions about the

851
00:30:53,992 --> 00:30:56,072

“PS2 to HDMI” adapters that you

852
00:30:56,072 --> 00:30:58,193

can find all over Amazon.

853
00:30:58,204 --> 00:30:59,844

They’re sold for really cheap by

854
00:30:59,844 --> 00:31:01,711

a number of no-name brands.

855
00:31:01,711 --> 00:31:02,763

Of course,

856
00:31:02,763 --> 00:31:05,701

the PS2 does not provide a raw digital signal,

857
00:31:05,701 --> 00:31:07,676
so these are simply

858
00:31:07,676 --> 00:31:09,549
analog to digital converters.

859
00:31:09,549 --> 00:31:11,482
^ They do not upscale and simply pass

860
00:31:11,482 --> 00:31:16,319
^ digital 240p, 480i, or 480p to your TV.

861
00:31:16,329 --> 00:31:19,341

The guys over at HD Retrovision spent some

862
00:31:19,341 --> 00:31:21,697

time investigating these boxes and have

863
00:31:21,697 --> 00:31:24,637
^ concluded that there are primarily two types…

864
00:31:24,637 --> 00:31:26,578
^ and we don’t know of a good way to tell

865
00:31:26,578 --> 00:31:28,678
^ which one you’re gonna get.

866
00:31:28,678 --> 00:31:31,207
^ Let’s call the first one “Type A.”

867
00:31:31,207 --> 00:31:34,436
^ Type A does not support 240p,

868
00:31:34,436 --> 00:31:37,576
^ so don’t count on playing PS1 games.

869
00:31:37,576 --> 00:31:39,978
^ But the real dealbreaker is that these

870
00:31:39,978 --> 00:31:41,938
^ are even noisier than

871
00:31:41,938 --> 00:31:44,668
^ the cheapest generic component cables!

872
00:31:44,668 --> 00:31:47,697
^ Black levels are also crushed considerably,

873
00:31:47,697 --> 00:31:51,264
^ resulting in lost visibility in horror games.

874
00:31:51,264 --> 00:31:54,324
^ Then there’s what we’ll call “Type B”,

875
00:31:54,334 --> 00:31:56,674
^ these do support 240p,

876
00:31:56,674 --> 00:31:59,413
^ so PS1 games are good to go,

877
00:31:59,413 --> 00:32:03,575
^ if your TV supports 240p over HDMI.

878
00:32:03,604 --> 00:32:06,245
^ it is considerably brighter and video noise

879
00:32:06,245 --> 00:32:08,665
^ is significantly less noticeable

880
00:32:08,665 --> 00:32:10,457
^ compared to Type A.

881
00:32:10,457 --> 00:32:12,957
^ So for a moment it seems like Type B

882
00:32:12,957 --> 00:32:15,037

may not be an awful solution,

883
00:32:15,037 --> 00:32:17,450

but black levels are a bit gray,

884
00:32:17,450 --> 00:32:21,236
^ poor sampling causes more severe stair-step issues,

885
00:32:21,236 --> 00:32:24,130
^ and the audio is a bit overdriven.

886
00:32:24,161 --> 00:32:27,520
So these PS2 to HDMI adapters are primarily

887
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,292

for those who have no component inputs.

888
00:32:30,292 --> 00:32:34,305

Even still, we recommend considering other solutions.

889
00:32:38,491 --> 00:32:40,610

Let’s take a moment to talk about

890
00:32:40,610 --> 00:32:41,948

how some of the more popular

891
00:32:41,948 --> 00:32:45,209

video processors handle PS2 games.

892
00:32:45,209 --> 00:32:47,758
The XRGB Mini Framemeister can accept

893
00:32:47,758 --> 00:32:51,463
RGB and component with the proper adapters.

894
00:32:51,470 --> 00:32:54,239

While the Framemeister overall looks pretty clean,

895
00:32:54,239 --> 00:32:58,200

it inherently generates a bit of noise for any input,

896
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,830

which you might notice in certain scenes,

897
00:33:00,830 --> 00:33:04,239

especially in large areas of the same color.

898
00:33:04,239 --> 00:33:05,197

However,

899
00:33:05,197 --> 00:33:08,500

the Framemeister is very good at deinterlacing.

900
00:33:08,500 --> 00:33:10,562
^ Make sure to choose “Natural”

901
00:33:10,562 --> 00:33:13,315
^ as the Image Mode for interlaced content.

902
00:33:14,075 --> 00:33:15,354
^ For progressive sources,

903
00:33:15,354 --> 00:33:17,585
^ like 240p or 480p,

904
00:33:17,585 --> 00:33:19,704
^ set the Image Mode for “Picture.”

905
00:33:19,704 --> 00:33:22,791

240p is of course the Framemeister’s specialty,

906
00:33:22,791 --> 00:33:26,435

but 480p is not considered one of its strong suits.

907
00:33:26,463 --> 00:33:30,085
^ Most HDTVs will upscale a 480p source

908
00:33:30,085 --> 00:33:32,607
^ just as well or better.

909
00:33:32,609 --> 00:33:34,890

If you’re interested in perfect

910
00:33:34,890 --> 00:33:37,384

integer scaling and ease of use,

911
00:33:37,413 --> 00:33:38,725

we recommend downloading

912
00:33:38,725 --> 00:33:41,874

Framemeister profiles from FirebrandX,

913
00:33:41,874 --> 00:33:43,276

the Pixel Purist.

914
00:33:43,294 --> 00:33:45,590

These include 480i, 480p,

915
00:33:45,590 --> 00:33:47,687

and backwards compatibility profiles,

916
00:33:47,687 --> 00:33:50,427

useable with either RGB or component.

917
00:33:50,427 --> 00:33:52,266

Because these profiles double the size

918
00:33:52,266 --> 00:33:54,945

of 480i within a 1080p frame,

919
00:33:54,945 --> 00:33:57,178

note that the there will be some black space

920
00:33:57,178 --> 00:33:59,396

above and below the game window.

921
00:33:59,396 --> 00:34:01,518

The most recent versions of the profiles

922
00:34:01,518 --> 00:34:03,946

have been painstakingly balanced for color,

923
00:34:03,946 --> 00:34:05,962
and both darker and brighter

924
00:34:05,992 --> 00:34:08,781
PS2 games look just great.

925
00:34:08,781 --> 00:34:10,233
^ You also have a choice of using

926
00:34:10,233 --> 00:34:12,332
^ sharp or blurred profiles.

927
00:34:12,332 --> 00:34:14,560
^ I keep wavering back and forth on which

928
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,777
^ I prefer for PS2 games.

929
00:34:16,777 --> 00:34:18,232

With blurred settings,

930
00:34:18,232 --> 00:34:21,732

certain text and 2D art can look very nice,

931
00:34:21,732 --> 00:34:23,411

almost HD.

932
00:34:23,411 --> 00:34:25,503

But other artifacts can crop up,

933
00:34:25,503 --> 00:34:29,389
and 3D geometry edges still look pretty low res.

934
00:34:29,398 --> 00:34:31,001
^ John Linneman recommended also

935
00:34:31,001 --> 00:34:33,132
^ recommended to us a middle-ground scaler

936
00:34:33,132 --> 00:34:35,597
^ setting that we’ve really taken a liking to.

937
00:34:35,597 --> 00:34:38,133
^ A variety of Framemeister scaling styles

938
00:34:38,133 --> 00:34:39,801
^ have been used throughout the episode.

939
00:34:39,801 --> 00:34:40,970
^ Which do you prefer?

940
00:34:41,950 --> 00:34:43,356
It’s not quite the same as the crisp

941
00:34:43,356 --> 00:34:45,298

yet smooth CRT look,

942
00:34:45,298 --> 00:34:47,599

but overall the Framemeister mostly

943
00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:50,100

gives you the tools to make PS2 games

944
00:34:50,100 --> 00:34:53,550

look reasonably good on a modern display,

945
00:34:53,550 --> 00:34:56,078
^ with a relatively small lag penalty,

946
00:34:56,078 --> 00:34:58,875
^ plus whatever delay your TV might add,

947
00:34:58,875 --> 00:35:02,599
^ tolerable to me, but your mileage may vary.

948
00:35:05,222 --> 00:35:06,919

The most exciting alternative

949
00:35:06,919 --> 00:35:08,210

to the Framemeister is the

950
00:35:08,210 --> 00:35:11,070
^ Open Source Scan Converter, or OSSC,

951
00:35:11,070 --> 00:35:12,790
^ developed by Finnish engineer

952
00:35:12,790 --> 00:35:15,478
^ Markus Hiienkari and sold at the

953
00:35:15,478 --> 00:35:17,730
^ UK-based Video Game Perfection.

954
00:35:17,730 --> 00:35:19,357
^ As of the time of this episode,

955
00:35:19,357 --> 00:35:21,950
^ it is up to hardware revision 1.6,

956
00:35:21,950 --> 00:35:24,778
^ which now includes a regular HDMI port

957
00:35:24,778 --> 00:35:27,790
^ with embedded digital audio output and the

958
00:35:27,790 --> 00:35:30,310
^ option to input component audio via

959
00:35:30,310 --> 00:35:32,649
^ the 3.5 millimeter jack.

960
00:35:32,649 --> 00:35:36,649

The OSSC is a line multiplier rather than a scaler,

961
00:35:36,649 --> 00:35:38,502

resulting in no lag aside

962
00:35:38,502 --> 00:35:40,809

from your display’s inherent lag,

963
00:35:40,809 --> 00:35:42,441

and spitting out the exact same

964
00:35:42,441 --> 00:35:45,080

refresh rate that it takes in.

965
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:46,920
^ The downside is that certain systems

966
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,510
^ and certain modes might not work

967
00:35:49,510 --> 00:35:51,280
^ on certain displays,

968
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,599
^ hopefully you won’t run into issues

969
00:35:53,599 --> 00:35:55,018
^ with the PS2,

970
00:35:55,018 --> 00:35:57,630
^ since its output is fairly on-spec compared

971
00:35:57,630 --> 00:36:00,430
^ to systems with widespread compatibility issues,

972
00:36:00,430 --> 00:36:02,178
^ like the Super Nintendo.

973
00:36:02,178 --> 00:36:05,120

480i options on the OSSC have been

974
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:07,359

expanded with firmware updates,

975
00:36:07,359 --> 00:36:09,638
^ two interlaced output modes are offered,

976
00:36:09,638 --> 00:36:11,643
^ passthrough and 3X,

977
00:36:11,643 --> 00:36:14,498
^ and two progressive deinterlaced output modes,

978
00:36:14,498 --> 00:36:16,819
^ 2X and 4X.

979
00:36:16,819 --> 00:36:19,099
^ The 2X and 4X modes employ a

980
00:36:19,099 --> 00:36:21,588
^ method called “bob” deinterlacing.

981
00:36:21,588 --> 00:36:23,020
^ In this implementation,

982
00:36:23,020 --> 00:36:26,221
^ it line doubles or quadruples each field,

983
00:36:26,221 --> 00:36:28,719
which, if you were to look at it frame by frame,

984
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:30,920
^ gives it a pixelated look.

985
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:32,289
^ In motion though,

986
00:36:32,289 --> 00:36:35,761
^ it kind of looks like interlaced flicker on a CRT.

987
00:36:35,761 --> 00:36:38,778
^ At times the bob technique is very effective,

988
00:36:38,778 --> 00:36:41,999
^ while at others it may be a bit distracting.

989
00:36:41,999 --> 00:36:43,311

However,

990
00:36:43,311 --> 00:36:45,143

if you prefer the look of your TV’s

991
00:36:45,143 --> 00:36:47,210

internal deinterlacing process,

992
00:36:47,210 --> 00:36:49,994

then you can simply use the passthrough option

993
00:36:49,994 --> 00:36:54,500

to send a digital 480i signal to your TV instead.

994
00:36:54,500 --> 00:36:56,650

I’m a bit unsure how I feel about

995
00:36:56,650 --> 00:36:58,669
bob deinterlacing myself,

996
00:36:58,669 --> 00:37:01,340

so that’s definitely a handy feature.

997
00:37:01,340 --> 00:37:04,320

We have been unable to test the

998
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,381

interlaced 3X mode due to compatibility issues.

999
00:37:08,381 --> 00:37:10,200

With 480p content,

1000
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:12,899

the OSSC’s default option is a straight

1001
00:37:12,899 --> 00:37:16,409
pass-through of 480p as digital output.

1002
00:37:16,439 --> 00:37:19,060
^ However, there is an interesting alternative,

1003
00:37:19,060 --> 00:37:24,390
^ which is a 2X mode that outputs 480p as 960p.

1004
00:37:24,390 --> 00:37:27,141

If your TV doesn’t mind the weird resolution,

1005
00:37:27,141 --> 00:37:29,868

then the result is ultra sharp,

1006
00:37:29,868 --> 00:37:32,188
^ though whether you prefer this over the

1007
00:37:32,188 --> 00:37:36,239
^ softer 480p passthrough is totally up to you.

1008
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:38,988
^ Among the OSSC’s greatest strengths

1009
00:37:38,988 --> 00:37:42,038
^ are the quality of its analog to digital conversion,

1010
00:37:42,038 --> 00:37:43,818
^ which does not add any apparent

1011
00:37:43,818 --> 00:37:46,649
^ noise that’s not caused by your cables…

1012
00:37:46,649 --> 00:37:48,509
^ and its color handling,

1013
00:37:48,509 --> 00:37:50,839
^ which is incredibly accurate.

1014
00:37:50,839 --> 00:37:52,717

If you’re curious about more

1015
00:37:52,717 --> 00:37:54,739

budget-friendly upscaling options,

1016
00:37:54,739 --> 00:37:57,138

watch RGB 105.

1017
00:37:57,138 --> 00:37:59,470

If your main problem is simply not having

1018
00:37:59,470 --> 00:38:02,382

any component or SCART inputs on your TV,

1019
00:38:02,382 --> 00:38:04,539

then generic scaling boxes

1020
00:38:04,539 --> 00:38:06,860

or the GBS-8200 actually offer

1021
00:38:06,860 --> 00:38:11,357

decent performance for 480i content.

1022
00:38:11,357 --> 00:38:14,618

So let’s suppose you feel compelled to spend...

1023
00:38:14,618 --> 00:38:16,259

more money.

1024
00:38:16,259 --> 00:38:17,960

We’ve been getting questions lately

1025
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,299
^ about the mCable Gaming Edition

1026
00:38:20,299 --> 00:38:22,133
^ by a company called Marseille.

1027
00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:24,929
^ This is an HDMI cable with active circuitry

1028
00:38:24,929 --> 00:38:27,269
^ that claims to improve image quality through

1029
00:38:27,269 --> 00:38:30,447
^ anti-aliasing with virtually no lag.

1030
00:38:30,447 --> 00:38:34,610

Considering anti-aliasing pretty much doesn’t exist on PS2,

1031
00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:37,927

we decided to go ahead buy one to test out for this episode.

1032
00:38:37,927 --> 00:38:39,647
^ Huh, well,

1033
00:38:39,647 --> 00:38:41,329
^ I can’t deny that what we’re looking

1034
00:38:41,329 --> 00:38:43,947
^ at here is pretty darn interesting.

1035
00:38:43,947 --> 00:38:46,390
^ The way that edges are smoothed over can

1036
00:38:46,390 --> 00:38:48,359
^ at times give certain parts of the image

1037
00:38:48,359 --> 00:38:51,299
^ a painted or smudged look,

1038
00:38:51,299 --> 00:38:53,180
^ especially as characters or objects

1039
00:38:53,180 --> 00:38:54,819
^ are farther from the camera.

1040
00:38:54,819 --> 00:38:57,220
^ Output from the mCable is 1080p

1041
00:38:57,220 --> 00:39:00,289
^ and some scaling artifacts may be visible.

1042
00:39:00,289 --> 00:39:02,480
^ It also messes with color a bit…

1043
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,059
^ but what do you think?

1044
00:39:04,059 --> 00:39:06,379
^ Is it an improvement overall?

1045
00:39:06,379 --> 00:39:08,308
^ Again, remember that the source

1046
00:39:08,308 --> 00:39:10,439
^ is still really low res,

1047
00:39:10,439 --> 00:39:13,107
^ so even if much of the image looks smoother,

1048
00:39:13,107 --> 00:39:16,087
^ you will still see plenty of of crawling edges…

1049
00:39:16,087 --> 00:39:18,408
^ they’ll just look a bit different.

1050
00:39:20,071 --> 00:39:21,492

Of course the PS2 went through

1051
00:39:21,492 --> 00:39:23,921

numerous revisions over the course of its life,

1052
00:39:23,921 --> 00:39:25,801

but we’ve seen little evidence to support

1053
00:39:25,801 --> 00:39:28,532

significant visible variations in the quality

1054
00:39:28,532 --> 00:39:30,962

of video output from system to system.

1055
00:39:30,962 --> 00:39:33,291
^ Comparing a relatively early unit

1056
00:39:33,291 --> 00:39:34,702
^ to various other models,

1057
00:39:34,702 --> 00:39:36,111
^ including Slim units,

1058
00:39:36,111 --> 00:39:39,132
^ they all seem to perform similarly enough

1059
00:39:39,132 --> 00:39:41,600
^ across various scenarios.

1060
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,251
^ The bigger considerations when it comes

1061
00:39:43,251 --> 00:39:46,362
^ to choosing a PS2 system is reliability

1062
00:39:46,362 --> 00:39:48,381
^ and hardware accuracy.

1063
00:39:48,381 --> 00:39:50,241
^ The disc drives in launch window

1064
00:39:50,241 --> 00:39:52,501
^ consoles have had a tendency to fail earlier,

1065
00:39:52,501 --> 00:39:55,830
^ while 39-thousand and 50-thousand series systems

1066
00:39:55,830 --> 00:39:58,991
^ have a reputation for still working like champs.

1067
00:39:58,991 --> 00:40:02,974
^ Japan got a unique PS2 system called PSX,

1068
00:40:02,974 --> 00:40:06,361
^ which includes some DVR and video editing functions,

1069
00:40:06,361 --> 00:40:09,991
^ but sadly we’ve heard that they aren’t particularly reliable.

1070
00:40:09,991 --> 00:40:12,811
^ There even exists an LCD TV

1071
00:40:12,811 --> 00:40:14,710
^ with a PS2 built into it…

1072
00:40:14,710 --> 00:40:16,651
^ sold only in Europe…

1073
00:40:16,651 --> 00:40:18,340
^ at a budget price…

1074
00:40:18,340 --> 00:40:20,601
^ in... 2010?

1075
00:40:20,601 --> 00:40:23,090
^ it’s hard to believe it would be anything special,

1076
00:40:23,090 --> 00:40:25,681
^ but sadly there’s not much of a feasible way

1077
00:40:25,681 --> 00:40:27,472
^ for us to test one.

1078
00:40:27,472 --> 00:40:30,442
^ Modding guru Voultar tells us that the first Slims,

1079
00:40:30,442 --> 00:40:31,988
^ the 70-thousand series,

1080
00:40:31,988 --> 00:40:35,169
^ are essentially perfect PS2s in miniature,

1081
00:40:35,169 --> 00:40:38,141
^ the same chips as a 50-thousand series fat model,

1082
00:40:38,141 --> 00:40:40,856
^ but on a radically consolidated mainboard.

1083
00:40:40,856 --> 00:40:42,211
^ But soon after,

1084
00:40:42,211 --> 00:40:44,336
^ Sony removed the main chip that handles

1085
00:40:44,336 --> 00:40:48,662
^ PS1 backwards compatibility, the R3000,

1086
00:40:48,662 --> 00:40:51,649
^ and replaced it with an emulated solution.

1087
00:40:51,649 --> 00:40:53,652
^ The trouble is that not only does this

1088
00:40:53,652 --> 00:40:56,181
^ make PS1 playback a bit less accurate,

1089
00:40:56,181 --> 00:40:59,510
^ but PS2 games could also use the

1090
00:40:59,510 --> 00:41:02,110
^ PS1 hardware for minor functions,

1091
00:41:02,110 --> 00:41:05,111

which means PS2 gameplay can be impacted

1092
00:41:05,111 --> 00:41:06,889

in some situations.

1093
00:41:06,889 --> 00:41:10,611

I’ve personally used a 90-thousand-1 Slim

1094
00:41:10,611 --> 00:41:12,331

quite a bit in recent years and never

1095
00:41:12,331 --> 00:41:15,091

encountered any obvious issues,

1096
00:41:15,091 --> 00:41:17,291

but it is something to keep in mind

1097
00:41:17,291 --> 00:41:19,470

if you’re a stickler for original hardware.

1098
00:41:28,204 --> 00:41:30,303

Sony went into the next generation thinking

1099
00:41:30,303 --> 00:41:31,806

they were unstoppable,

1100
00:41:31,806 --> 00:41:34,703

but were quickly humbled when consumers

1101
00:41:34,703 --> 00:41:38,085

showed that brand loyalty may not go quite as

1102
00:41:38,085 --> 00:41:41,694

far as five-hundred-ninety-nine US dollars.

1103
00:41:41,694 --> 00:41:42,952

At the time,

1104
00:41:42,952 --> 00:41:45,225

Sony considered visionary hardware design

1105
00:41:45,225 --> 00:41:46,953

and backwards compatibility

1106
00:41:46,953 --> 00:41:49,054

to be essential to its brand,

1107
00:41:49,054 --> 00:41:51,863
^ so the PlayStation 3 launched with the

1108
00:41:51,863 --> 00:41:54,805
^ PS2’s Emotion Engine CPU

1109
00:41:54,805 --> 00:41:57,863
^ and graphics synthesizer on board.

1110
00:41:57,863 --> 00:42:00,015

PS2 game functions that were originally

1111
00:42:00,015 --> 00:42:02,758

handled by the PS1’s R3000 chip

1112
00:42:02,758 --> 00:42:06,113

were moved to the PS3’s Cell processor.

1113
00:42:06,113 --> 00:42:09,555

The PlayStation brand’s rehabilitation took years.

1114
00:42:09,555 --> 00:42:12,644

Lowering the cost of the PS3 was essential.

1115
00:42:12,644 --> 00:42:14,563
^ The PS2 Emotion Engine was soon

1116
00:42:14,563 --> 00:42:16,414
^ removed from the board,

1117
00:42:16,414 --> 00:42:19,143
^ while the PS2 graphics synthesizer remained,

1118
00:42:19,143 --> 00:42:20,283
^ for a time.

1119
00:42:20,283 --> 00:42:22,264
^ Because CPU functions were now

1120
00:42:22,264 --> 00:42:24,524
^ emulated by the Cell processor,

1121
00:42:24,524 --> 00:42:26,175
^ these are sometimes called

1122
00:42:26,175 --> 00:42:28,596
^ “software backwards compatible”

1123
00:42:28,596 --> 00:42:31,785
^ or “partial-emulation” PS3s.

1124
00:42:31,785 --> 00:42:35,562

This was the only option when PS3 launched in Europe.

1125
00:42:35,562 --> 00:42:39,664

But PS2 backwards compatibility was not to last,

1126
00:42:39,664 --> 00:42:42,062

and the graphics synthesizer was removed,

1127
00:42:42,062 --> 00:42:43,495

once available stock of the

1128
00:42:43,495 --> 00:42:45,772

Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle dried up,

1129
00:42:45,772 --> 00:42:47,375

that was it.

1130
00:42:47,375 --> 00:42:50,273

Years later, after the slimmer redesign,

1131
00:42:50,273 --> 00:42:53,563

at a time when Sony was in a more comfortable position,

1132
00:42:53,563 --> 00:42:55,893
^ they began to release PS2 Classics

1133
00:42:55,893 --> 00:42:57,755
^ on the PlayStation Store,

1134
00:42:57,755 --> 00:43:00,784
^ all thanks to a newly-developed PS2 emulator

1135
00:43:00,784 --> 00:43:04,786
^ that could run entirely in software on any PS3,

1136
00:43:04,786 --> 00:43:07,824

For the systems that do support PS2 discs,

1137
00:43:07,824 --> 00:43:11,253

compatibility is not bad, broadly speaking...

1138
00:43:11,253 --> 00:43:13,694

although peculiar issues can crop up

1139
00:43:13,694 --> 00:43:16,192

in games that otherwise seem to work.

1140
00:43:16,201 --> 00:43:17,773

We’ll have to leave it to you to research

1141
00:43:17,773 --> 00:43:20,061

game-by-game compatibility issues

1142
00:43:20,061 --> 00:43:21,554

across console revisions,

1143
00:43:21,554 --> 00:43:23,852

but what we can do is give you an idea

1144
00:43:23,852 --> 00:43:26,441

of what kind of picture quality to expect when

1145
00:43:26,441 --> 00:43:28,191

it does work.

1146
00:43:29,384 --> 00:43:30,391

For starters,

1147
00:43:30,391 --> 00:43:31,834

let’s take a look at how things work

1148
00:43:31,834 --> 00:43:34,622

when you’re using digital output with HDMI.

1149
00:43:34,622 --> 00:43:36,272

Keep in mind that while the games

1150
00:43:36,272 --> 00:43:38,483

can be upscaled to HD,

1151
00:43:38,483 --> 00:43:41,681

the rendering resolution remains unchanged,

1152
00:43:41,681 --> 00:43:46,120

which means most games run internally at 480i,

1153
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:48,091

and the PS3 system performs

1154
00:43:48,091 --> 00:43:49,902

its own deinterlace.

1155
00:43:49,902 --> 00:43:52,622

The results are generally pretty solid,

1156
00:43:52,622 --> 00:43:53,841

but as usual,

1157
00:43:53,841 --> 00:43:56,910

you might catch a deinterlacing error here and there.

1158
00:43:56,910 --> 00:43:59,702

When you activate a game’s native 480p mode,

1159
00:43:59,702 --> 00:44:02,171

the system outputs 480p instead

1160
00:44:02,171 --> 00:44:04,057

of doing its own upscale.

1161
00:44:04,057 --> 00:44:05,209

In the system menu,

1162
00:44:05,209 --> 00:44:07,074

you can go to Game Settings

1163
00:44:07,074 --> 00:44:08,651

to set your preferred defaults.

1164
00:44:09,391 --> 00:44:10,520

Under Upscaler,

1165
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:12,921

“Normal” displays a 4:3 image

1166
00:44:12,921 --> 00:44:16,690

with upscaled output in 720p, 1080p,

1167
00:44:16,690 --> 00:44:18,372

or whatever resolution you have

1168
00:44:18,372 --> 00:44:20,372

your PS3 system set for.

1169
00:44:20,372 --> 00:44:24,000

“Full Screen” stretches the image to 16 by 9,

1170
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,210

so it’s only really useful if you’re using

1171
00:44:26,210 --> 00:44:28,401

a game’s widescreen mode.

1172
00:44:28,401 --> 00:44:31,761

“Off” overrides the PS3 system resolution

1173
00:44:31,761 --> 00:44:34,592

and instead displays in 480p.

1174
00:44:34,592 --> 00:44:37,369

As for the Smoothing settings,

1175
00:44:37,369 --> 00:44:40,783

well, that is what’s most interesting here.

1176
00:44:40,783 --> 00:44:42,371
^ With Smoothing “Off,”

1177
00:44:42,371 --> 00:44:44,552
^ the results are just about what you’d expect,

1178
00:44:44,552 --> 00:44:46,360
^ it’s similar to the best results we can manage

1179
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:48,291
^ to get with RGB to the Framemeister

1180
00:44:48,291 --> 00:44:50,304
^ from a real PS2.

1181
00:44:50,315 --> 00:44:53,044

So what happens when you turn Smoothing “On”?

1182
00:44:53,044 --> 00:44:54,024

Amazingly,

1183
00:44:54,024 --> 00:44:56,756

I’d say it cleans up the image considerably,

1184
00:44:56,756 --> 00:45:00,094
^ aliased edges are smoothed over reasonably well,

1185
00:45:00,094 --> 00:45:01,912
^ and there appears to be absolutely

1186
00:45:01,912 --> 00:45:04,033
^ no sharpness penalty.

1187
00:45:04,033 --> 00:45:06,462
^ Personally, I can’t see any reason to NOT

1188
00:45:06,462 --> 00:45:08,012
^ use the Smoothing function,

1189
00:45:08,012 --> 00:45:10,183
^ and I believe it offers a tangibly

1190
00:45:10,183 --> 00:45:13,362
^ improved image over Framemeister scaling.

1191
00:45:13,362 --> 00:45:16,234

But do launch window PS3 consoles

1192
00:45:16,234 --> 00:45:18,290

and partial-emulation consoles

1193
00:45:18,290 --> 00:45:20,910

produce the same visual results?

1194
00:45:20,914 --> 00:45:23,803
The answer turns out to be, “not quite.

1195
00:45:24,630 --> 00:45:26,688

”For one, partial-emulation systems

1196
00:45:26,688 --> 00:45:29,148

turn in a wider aspect ratio,

1197
00:45:29,148 --> 00:45:31,853
^ some circular objects appear more round,

1198
00:45:31,853 --> 00:45:33,863
^ but we’re not positive whether it would

1199
00:45:33,863 --> 00:45:35,703
^ be considered more accurate.

1200
00:45:35,703 --> 00:45:38,007

With Smoothing “Off,” results between

1201
00:45:38,007 --> 00:45:40,460

consoles otherwise appear similar.

1202
00:45:40,460 --> 00:45:42,460
^ But the most interesting thing is that for the

1203
00:45:42,460 --> 00:45:43,899
^ partial emulation system,

1204
00:45:43,899 --> 00:45:45,349
^ turning Smoothing “On”

1205
00:45:45,349 --> 00:45:47,690
^ seems to make the image appear not only cleaner,

1206
00:45:47,690 --> 00:45:49,710
^ but also crisper.

1207
00:45:49,710 --> 00:45:51,857
^ The launch system’s result tackles

1208
00:45:51,857 --> 00:45:54,279
^ aliasing a bit more comprehensively,

1209
00:45:54,279 --> 00:45:56,959
^ but both offer what is in my opinion

1210
00:45:56,959 --> 00:45:58,901
^ a clear visual improvement.

1211
00:45:58,901 --> 00:46:00,032

Do mind,

1212
00:46:00,032 --> 00:46:02,851

it still looks rather jagged and low resolution.

1213
00:46:02,851 --> 00:46:04,671

Don’t expect a miracle here,

1214
00:46:04,671 --> 00:46:06,992

but it’s still very well done,

1215
00:46:06,992 --> 00:46:09,854

and is arguably the best visual representation

1216
00:46:09,854 --> 00:46:12,770

that you can get on a high definition display

1217
00:46:12,770 --> 00:46:15,972

when using some form of real PS2 hardware,

1218
00:46:15,972 --> 00:46:18,879

incomplete as it may be.

1219
00:46:18,879 --> 00:46:22,248

Or… can you go one step further?

1220
00:46:22,248 --> 00:46:23,570

With the aforementioned

1221
00:46:23,570 --> 00:46:25,234
^ mCable Gaming Edition,

1222
00:46:25,234 --> 00:46:27,691
^ combined with the PS3’s smoothing function,

1223
00:46:27,691 --> 00:46:29,622
^ we found some pretty neat results in

1224
00:46:29,622 --> 00:46:33,141
^ PS2 games when the system was set for 480p.

1225
00:46:33,141 --> 00:46:35,773
This is certainly not convenient or practical,

1226
00:46:35,773 --> 00:46:39,382
and not all of the mCables effects are good...

1227
00:46:39,382 --> 00:46:41,662

but it’s certainly interesting to consider

1228
00:46:41,662 --> 00:46:43,501

what might be possible if you were

1229
00:46:43,501 --> 00:46:45,960

to take things this far.

1230
00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:50,151

Of course the PS3 can also output analog video,

1231
00:46:50,151 --> 00:46:51,292

and visually,

1232
00:46:51,292 --> 00:46:52,399
you should expect

1233
00:46:52,425 --> 00:46:54,773
pretty similar results to a real PS2.

1234
00:46:54,773 --> 00:46:55,918

Composite,

1235
00:46:55,918 --> 00:46:56,794

S-video,

1236
00:46:56,794 --> 00:46:57,623

component,

1237
00:46:57,623 --> 00:46:58,635

and RGB,

1238
00:46:58,635 --> 00:47:01,294

including sync-on-green for higher resolutions,

1239
00:47:01,294 --> 00:47:03,244

are all supported.

1240
00:47:03,244 --> 00:47:05,205
^ The Smoothing function is once again

1241
00:47:05,205 --> 00:47:07,725
^ the secret sauce for improved image

1242
00:47:07,725 --> 00:47:09,694
^ quality on CRTs too,

1243
00:47:09,694 --> 00:47:11,373
^ once again showing less apparent

1244
00:47:11,373 --> 00:47:14,303
^ aliasing compared to a real PS2,

1245
00:47:14,303 --> 00:47:17,873
^ while not negatively impacting overall sharpness.

1246
00:47:17,873 --> 00:47:19,234

But unfortunately,

1247
00:47:19,234 --> 00:47:21,921

there is simply no way that the PS3

1248
00:47:21,921 --> 00:47:23,973

can output 240p,

1249
00:47:23,973 --> 00:47:25,556

meaning that when connected

1250
00:47:25,556 --> 00:47:27,423

to a standard definition TV,

1251
00:47:27,423 --> 00:47:30,526

PS1 and PS2 games that are 240p

1252
00:47:30,526 --> 00:47:33,295

will unfortunately be interlaced.

1253
00:47:33,295 --> 00:47:35,668

Also, despite what Wikipedia might say,

1254
00:47:35,668 --> 00:47:37,720

we had good luck with using Guncon 2s

1255
00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:40,223

on full-hardware as well as

1256
00:47:40,223 --> 00:47:43,662

partial-emulation PS3 consoles.

1257
00:47:43,662 --> 00:47:46,082

Here’s a fun trick we learned from

1258
00:47:46,082 --> 00:47:47,851

Bob of Retro RGB,

1259
00:47:47,851 --> 00:47:50,453

If you’re a fan of VGA computer monitors,

1260
00:47:50,453 --> 00:47:52,072

you can buy this inexpensive

1261
00:47:52,072 --> 00:47:55,294

HDMI to VGA adapter on Amazon.

1262
00:47:55,294 --> 00:47:57,723

Set your PS3 for 480p,

1263
00:47:57,723 --> 00:47:59,353

and you’re good to go.

1264
00:47:59,353 --> 00:48:01,043

Having said all this,

1265
00:48:01,043 --> 00:48:03,254

do we recommend backwards compatible

1266
00:48:03,254 --> 00:48:06,402

PS3 systems as the ultimate way to play

1267
00:48:06,402 --> 00:48:09,393

your PS2 disc games on an original hardware

1268
00:48:09,393 --> 00:48:12,316

or semi-original-hardware solution?

1269
00:48:12,316 --> 00:48:15,269

Well, it’s up to you whether it’s worth the risk.

1270
00:48:15,300 --> 00:48:17,712

Game accuracy varies wildly,

1271
00:48:17,712 --> 00:48:20,573

especially on partial-emulation consoles,

1272
00:48:20,573 --> 00:48:23,741
^ and then there’s the Yellow Light of Death.

1273
00:48:23,741 --> 00:48:25,982
^ It may not be as iconic as the

1274
00:48:25,982 --> 00:48:28,605
^ Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death,

1275
00:48:28,605 --> 00:48:32,531
^ but these fat PS3s are still not necessarily

1276
00:48:32,531 --> 00:48:35,056
^ the most reliable consoles ever made.

1277
00:48:35,056 --> 00:48:37,569

I had to have my own Metal Gear Solid 4

1278
00:48:37,569 --> 00:48:39,861

bundle system replaced by Sony with

1279
00:48:39,861 --> 00:48:43,171

a refurb after two to three years of use,

1280
00:48:43,171 --> 00:48:46,010

and I now primarily use a Slim model just

1281
00:48:46,010 --> 00:48:48,860

because it feels like a safer long-term bet.

1282
00:48:48,860 --> 00:48:50,341

And anecdotally,

1283
00:48:50,341 --> 00:48:52,340

friends who have tried to have so-called

1284
00:48:52,340 --> 00:48:55,731

repair services fix their dead fat PS3s

1285
00:48:55,731 --> 00:48:58,932

have not had lasting success.

1286
00:48:58,932 --> 00:49:01,620

There is also of course the question of lag.

1287
00:49:01,620 --> 00:49:04,280

Our tests lead us to believe that there is no

1288
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:05,943

difference between full hardware and partial

1289
00:49:05,943 --> 00:49:08,690

emulation PS3 consoles in this regard,

1290
00:49:08,690 --> 00:49:11,570

and that Smoothing has no effect on lag.

1291
00:49:11,570 --> 00:49:14,530
^ However, analog output to a CRT appears

1292
00:49:14,530 --> 00:49:17,574
^ to be not as responsive as a real PS2,

1293
00:49:17,574 --> 00:49:19,652
^ although more technical testing should be

1294
00:49:19,652 --> 00:49:22,941
^ done before drawing firm conclusions.

1295
00:49:22,941 --> 00:49:24,732

We have to give a big big thank you to

1296
00:49:24,732 --> 00:49:27,152

My Life in Gaming viewer Scott Davis for letting

1297
00:49:27,152 --> 00:49:30,600

us borrow his launch PS3 for this episode.

1298
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:33,211

Scott also wanted us to let you know that if

1299
00:49:33,211 --> 00:49:36,532

you enjoy digital audio formats like DTS,

1300
00:49:36,532 --> 00:49:40,880

they will not work over HDMI while playing PS2 games,

1301
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:42,981

SSX3, for example.

1302
00:49:42,981 --> 00:49:45,132

You’ll just have to choose a different audio

1303
00:49:45,132 --> 00:49:47,704

mode or else you won’t hear anything at all…

1304
00:49:47,704 --> 00:49:50,341

or connect with an optical audio cable.

1305
00:49:52,364 --> 00:49:54,568

As for the PS2 Classics that can be purchased

1306
00:49:54,568 --> 00:49:57,387

and and downloaded for play on any PS3

1307
00:49:57,387 --> 00:49:59,839

system via full software emulation...

1308
00:49:59,839 --> 00:50:02,639

again, don’t expect a bump to HD.

1309
00:50:02,639 --> 00:50:04,917

The emulator’s setup may vary on a

1310
00:50:04,917 --> 00:50:06,969

game-by-game basis, for instance,

1311
00:50:06,969 --> 00:50:09,036
^ the lack of deinterlacing errors in

1312
00:50:09,036 --> 00:50:10,420
^ Contra Shattered Soldier

1313
00:50:10,420 --> 00:50:13,188
^ suggests an internally forced 480p,

1314
00:50:13,188 --> 00:50:16,549
^ but this is not the case with Maximo.

1315
00:50:16,549 --> 00:50:18,839
^ Compared to the 1080p output of

1316
00:50:18,839 --> 00:50:20,809
^ hardware-based backwards compatibility,

1317
00:50:20,809 --> 00:50:23,063
^ the maximum upscale for PS2 Classics

1318
00:50:23,063 --> 00:50:25,209
^ tops off at 720p.

1319
00:50:25,209 --> 00:50:27,997
^ Unpleasing scaling issues can crop up,

1320
00:50:27,997 --> 00:50:30,238
^ like the jagged text box edge that simply

1321
00:50:30,238 --> 00:50:32,239
^ isn’t visible with any other method

1322
00:50:32,239 --> 00:50:33,999
^ of playing Persona 4.

1323
00:50:33,999 --> 00:50:36,550

And while this may not fairly represent

1324
00:50:36,550 --> 00:50:38,288

PS2 Classics as a whole,

1325
00:50:38,288 --> 00:50:40,459

this obvious visual glitch in the first scene

1326
00:50:40,459 --> 00:50:42,288

leaves a bad impression.

1327
00:50:42,288 --> 00:50:45,808

The PS3’s PS2 Classics library does include

1328
00:50:45,808 --> 00:50:47,917

a handful of fan-pleasing favorites…

1329
00:50:47,917 --> 00:50:50,611

but the overall selection is too spotty to

1330
00:50:50,611 --> 00:50:54,243

seriously consider as a PS2 replacement.

1331
00:50:54,243 --> 00:50:56,389
^ Homebrew hacks have made it possible

1332
00:50:56,389 --> 00:51:01,178
^ to inject your own PS1 and PS2 disc images

1333
00:51:01,178 --> 00:51:03,245
^ into your PS3 hard drive to play

1334
00:51:03,245 --> 00:51:05,149
^ via software emulation…

1335
00:51:05,149 --> 00:51:07,769
^ the finer specifics of which aren’t really

1336
00:51:07,769 --> 00:51:09,488
^ a topic we’re interested in exploring

1337
00:51:09,488 --> 00:51:11,107
^ too deeply for this episode,

1338
00:51:11,107 --> 00:51:13,569
^ because it sounds like compatibility is a serious issue.

1339
00:51:13,569 --> 00:51:15,491

As a bit of an aside to finish up

1340
00:51:15,491 --> 00:51:17,418

our discussion on the PS3,

1341
00:51:17,418 --> 00:51:20,009

don’t forget that all PS3 systems

1342
00:51:20,009 --> 00:51:23,439

can play PS1 discs via emulation.

1343
00:51:23,439 --> 00:51:26,210

This functionality was never removed

1344
00:51:26,210 --> 00:51:28,828
^ from any version of the PlayStation 3.

1345
00:51:28,828 --> 00:51:30,259
^ For more information,

1346
00:51:30,259 --> 00:51:32,929
^ watch RGB 206.

1347
00:51:37,668 --> 00:51:40,339
- Sony took a very different approach

1348
00:51:40,339 --> 00:51:42,211

to the design of the PlayStation 4,

1349
00:51:42,211 --> 00:51:44,718

resulting is an impressively optimized but

1350
00:51:44,718 --> 00:51:47,510

ultimately very “normal” PC-like architecture.

1351
00:51:47,510 --> 00:51:50,958

Given the very particular design of the PS3 Cell CPU,

1352
00:51:50,958 --> 00:51:53,297

backwards compatibility was ruled out.

1353
00:51:53,297 --> 00:51:57,058

Sony also omitted PS2 and even PS1 emulation,

1354
00:51:57,058 --> 00:51:59,885

marking a sharp turn from PlayStation tradition.

1355
00:51:59,885 --> 00:52:01,500

But in late 2015,

1356
00:52:01,500 --> 00:52:02,748
Sony began to trickle out

1357
00:52:02,762 --> 00:52:05,678
digital downloads of PS2 Classics for PS4,

1358
00:52:05,678 --> 00:52:07,557

running on a new software emulator.

1359
00:52:08,322 --> 00:52:09,564
There are a number of benefits

1360
00:52:09,564 --> 00:52:11,813
over the PS3’s PS2 Classics.

1361
00:52:11,813 --> 00:52:12,762
^ Most obviously,

1362
00:52:12,762 --> 00:52:14,562
^ the internal render resolution has been

1363
00:52:14,562 --> 00:52:16,201
^ increased very noticeably,

1364
00:52:16,201 --> 00:52:18,542
^ although perhaps not as much as you might hope.

1365
00:52:18,562 --> 00:52:19,882
^ According to Digital Foundry,

1366
00:52:19,882 --> 00:52:22,045
^ it’s just north of 720p.

1367
00:52:22,045 --> 00:52:23,664
For the purposes of viewing

1368
00:52:23,664 --> 00:52:25,123

on a high resolution display,

1369
00:52:25,123 --> 00:52:26,943

it’s hard to deny that this is visually

1370
00:52:26,943 --> 00:52:28,863

an improvement over PS2 hardware,

1371
00:52:28,863 --> 00:52:32,634

but aliasing issues hold it back from a more ideal presentation.

1372
00:52:32,634 --> 00:52:34,473

Digital Foundry’s framerate analysis

1373
00:52:34,473 --> 00:52:36,193

shows very interesting results,

1374
00:52:36,193 --> 00:52:38,193

with the emulations on PS4 typically

1375
00:52:38,193 --> 00:52:40,604

performing better than original PS2 hardware,

1376
00:52:40,604 --> 00:52:42,093

but definitely don’t expect perfectly

1377
00:52:42,093 --> 00:52:44,263

smooth results by any means,

1378
00:52:44,263 --> 00:52:46,464

even with Boost Mode on PS4 Pro.

1379
00:52:46,464 --> 00:52:48,657

Also note that we’ve heard about 50Hz issues

1380
00:52:48,657 --> 00:52:50,342

on PAL region releases.

1381
00:52:50,342 --> 00:52:51,885
^ As always with emulation,

1382
00:52:51,885 --> 00:52:53,945
^ you aren’t going to get a perfect recreation

1383
00:52:53,945 --> 00:52:55,174
^ of every effect.

1384
00:52:55,174 --> 00:52:57,155
^ Other issues may also arise,

1385
00:52:57,155 --> 00:52:58,603

like the occasional audio stutters we heard

1386
00:52:58,603 --> 00:52:59,789

in Rogue Galaxy.

1387
00:52:59,818 --> 00:53:01,408

You could also make an argument that

1388
00:53:01,408 --> 00:53:04,169

higher-res 3D graphics don’t blend so well

1389
00:53:04,169 --> 00:53:06,957

with the original 2D assets or a level of detail

1390
00:53:06,957 --> 00:53:08,298

that was originally designed

1391
00:53:08,298 --> 00:53:10,079

for standard definition TVs…

1392
00:53:10,079 --> 00:53:12,628

making for a less cohesive presentation.

1393
00:53:12,628 --> 00:53:14,050

I mean, yeah it’s great to see some

1394
00:53:14,050 --> 00:53:15,552

of these games get a re-release,

1395
00:53:15,552 --> 00:53:17,958

but there are also some strange choices…

1396
00:53:17,958 --> 00:53:20,901
^ for example, Jak & Daxter ironically enough

1397
00:53:20,901 --> 00:53:23,189
^ has a proper HD port for PS3,

1398
00:53:23,189 --> 00:53:25,108
^ and the emulated version on PS4

1399
00:53:25,108 --> 00:53:26,928
^ just doesn’t feel as clean.

1400
00:53:30,228 --> 00:53:31,562

Speaking of HD ports,

1401
00:53:31,562 --> 00:53:33,278

while they have plenty of detractors,

1402
00:53:33,278 --> 00:53:35,143

it’s been one of our favorite gaming trends.

1403
00:53:35,152 --> 00:53:36,823

With modern games having so much going

1404
00:53:36,823 --> 00:53:38,495

on and assaulting your eyes

1405
00:53:38,495 --> 00:53:40,132

with so many granular details,

1406
00:53:40,132 --> 00:53:42,132

sometimes a good old PS2 game

1407
00:53:42,132 --> 00:53:44,192

in high resolution is just the break you need.

1408
00:53:44,192 --> 00:53:45,451

When properly handled,

1409
00:53:45,451 --> 00:53:48,273

HD ports, or “remasters” if you prefer,

1410
00:53:48,273 --> 00:53:50,651

have more potential than straight-up emulation

1411
00:53:50,651 --> 00:53:51,933

because the developer can go back

1412
00:53:51,933 --> 00:53:53,374

and tune the game to suit the

1413
00:53:53,374 --> 00:53:55,073

new hardware that it’s running on.

1414
00:53:55,073 --> 00:53:57,034

A higher level of detail can be pushed farther out,

1415
00:53:57,034 --> 00:53:59,604

and the highest resolution textures

1416
00:53:59,604 --> 00:54:01,123

available might be implemented,

1417
00:54:01,123 --> 00:54:03,033
^ or even redrawn in some cases,

1418
00:54:03,061 --> 00:54:04,012
^ At this point,

1419
00:54:04,012 --> 00:54:05,685
^ it’s pretty much expected that character models

1420
00:54:05,685 --> 00:54:07,242
^ will be at least moderately revamped

1421
00:54:07,242 --> 00:54:08,873
^ with a higher polygon count.

1422
00:54:08,873 --> 00:54:12,283

FMV renders can be given more refined upscales,

1423
00:54:12,283 --> 00:54:13,982

and additional lighting and other effects

1424
00:54:13,982 --> 00:54:15,753

are sometimes implemented to

1425
00:54:15,753 --> 00:54:17,501

make it all look a touch more modern.

1426
00:54:17,501 --> 00:54:19,223

And very often framerates are optimized for

1427
00:54:19,223 --> 00:54:21,753

much better stability than the original versions,

1428
00:54:21,753 --> 00:54:23,281
^ or in some instances you might even get

1429
00:54:23,281 --> 00:54:25,351
^ a leap from a target of 30 frames per second

1430
00:54:25,351 --> 00:54:27,283
^ to 60 frames per second...

1431
00:54:27,283 --> 00:54:28,712
^ although 30 frames is sometimes

1432
00:54:28,712 --> 00:54:30,500
^ too intertwined with a game’s original code

1433
00:54:30,500 --> 00:54:32,753
^ to feasibly tamper with it.

1434
00:54:32,753 --> 00:54:34,641
^ Remasters on PS3 tend to run between

1435
00:54:34,641 --> 00:54:36,903
^ 720p and 1080p,

1436
00:54:36,903 --> 00:54:38,671

while Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II

1437
00:54:38,671 --> 00:54:41,503

have managed to push a native 4K resolution

1438
00:54:41,503 --> 00:54:43,810

at 60 frames per second on PS4 Pro!

1439
00:54:43,826 --> 00:54:45,615

Some studios, like Bluepoint Games,

1440
00:54:45,615 --> 00:54:47,237

have even built an entire business

1441
00:54:47,237 --> 00:54:48,958

around handling high quality conversions

1442
00:54:48,958 --> 00:54:50,980

of games from earlier generations.

1443
00:54:51,001 --> 00:54:53,280

Now, they aren’t all good,

1444
00:54:53,280 --> 00:54:55,381

some HD ports are infamously bad,

1445
00:54:55,381 --> 00:54:57,879

the Silent Hill HD Collection for example,

1446
00:54:57,879 --> 00:54:59,851

while others are pretty no-frills,

1447
00:54:59,851 --> 00:55:01,830

but at least technically sound.

1448
00:55:01,830 --> 00:55:03,849
There's something to be said for the idea

1449
00:55:03,849 --> 00:55:05,566
that this reduces the technical artistry

1450
00:55:05,566 --> 00:55:07,250
that went into many of these games...

1451
00:55:07,250 --> 00:55:09,089
which were so tightly designed around

1452
00:55:09,089 --> 00:55:11,179
the PS2 hardware and pushed it beyond

1453
00:55:11,179 --> 00:55:13,235
what anyone would have believed it's limits were.

1454
00:55:13,235 --> 00:55:15,905

Luckily it feels like a very significant portion

1455
00:55:15,916 --> 00:55:17,735

of the PS2’s most iconic games

1456
00:55:17,735 --> 00:55:19,668

have already been properly remastered,

1457
00:55:19,668 --> 00:55:21,335

sometimes with multiple ports already.

1458
00:55:21,335 --> 00:55:23,516

But what if you want to see what

1459
00:55:23,516 --> 00:55:25,290

Dragon Quest VIII looks like in HD?

1460
00:55:25,290 --> 00:55:28,286

Seriously, why does this still have no HD version?

1461
00:55:28,286 --> 00:55:29,408

Well obviously,

1462
00:55:29,408 --> 00:55:31,859

we’re talking about emulating PS2 games on your PC.

1463
00:55:38,559 --> 00:55:41,045

Emulation is changing every day thanks

1464
00:55:41,055 --> 00:55:42,865

to dedicated communities that have worked

1465
00:55:42,865 --> 00:55:44,489

some really impressive magic.

1466
00:55:44,489 --> 00:55:45,504

That said,

1467
00:55:45,504 --> 00:55:47,773

we aren’t super tuned into the scene ourselves,

1468
00:55:47,773 --> 00:55:49,334

and don’t want to pretend we are.

1469
00:55:49,356 --> 00:55:50,809

The particulars of emulation

1470
00:55:50,809 --> 00:55:52,768

could fill entire videos themselves,

1471
00:55:52,768 --> 00:55:55,236

which is better left to the real emulation experts,

1472
00:55:55,236 --> 00:55:57,068

so this is just a quick look.

1473
00:55:57,068 --> 00:55:58,838

In the world of PS2 emulation,

1474
00:55:58,838 --> 00:56:02,108

PCSX2 seems to be the biggest game in town.

1475
00:56:02,108 --> 00:56:05,238

It’s open source and completely legal in and of itself.

1476
00:56:05,238 --> 00:56:08,029
^ It does require the PlayStation 2 BIOS to run,

1477
00:56:08,029 --> 00:56:09,916
^ which they can’t legally distribute,

1478
00:56:09,916 --> 00:56:11,408
^ but they do provide you with the tools

1479
00:56:11,408 --> 00:56:12,964
^ to extract your the BIOS from

1480
00:56:12,964 --> 00:56:14,989
^ your own PS2 console via homebrew.

1481
00:56:14,989 --> 00:56:17,366

Typical of emulators for disc-based consoles,

1482
00:56:17,366 --> 00:56:19,175

you can run your own copies of the game

1483
00:56:19,175 --> 00:56:20,935

straight from your DVD drive.

1484
00:56:20,950 --> 00:56:22,989

PCSX2 seems to have brought the state

1485
00:56:22,989 --> 00:56:25,671

of PS2 emulation to a much higher level

1486
00:56:25,671 --> 00:56:26,991

in recent years.

1487
00:56:26,991 --> 00:56:28,870

They tout very high compatibility,

1488
00:56:28,870 --> 00:56:30,441

easy controller support,

1489
00:56:30,441 --> 00:56:32,566

resolutions beyond 4K,

1490
00:56:32,566 --> 00:56:34,581

and plenty of graphics options.

1491
00:56:34,581 --> 00:56:36,557

It can’t always match the developer’s touch

1492
00:56:36,557 --> 00:56:37,989

of refinement when compared against

1493
00:56:37,989 --> 00:56:39,720
^ the best official HD ports,

1494
00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:41,463
^ but the appeal of raw resolution

1495
00:56:41,463 --> 00:56:43,389
^ and the ability to hack, edit,

1496
00:56:43,389 --> 00:56:46,236
^ and tinker might be just the thing for a lot of people.

1497
00:56:50,826 --> 00:56:52,096
- Final Fantasy.

1498
00:56:52,103 --> 00:56:53,097

Metal Gear.

1499
00:56:53,097 --> 00:56:54,270

Devil May Cry.

1500
00:56:54,270 --> 00:56:55,354

Rachet & Clank.

1501
00:56:55,354 --> 00:56:56,454

Kingdom Hearts.

1502
00:56:56,454 --> 00:56:57,434

God of War.

1503
00:56:57,434 --> 00:56:58,463

Okami.

1504
00:56:58,463 --> 00:56:59,375

Persona.

1505
00:56:59,375 --> 00:57:00,974

Shadow of the Colossus.

1506
00:57:00,974 --> 00:57:04,693

All just a few of the iconic PlayStation 2 titles

1507
00:57:04,693 --> 00:57:07,723

at the base of its incredible legacy,

1508
00:57:07,723 --> 00:57:09,648

but they are all also games that,

1509
00:57:09,648 --> 00:57:10,583

since then,

1510
00:57:10,583 --> 00:57:13,693

you’ve been able to play on more advanced platforms.

1511
00:57:13,693 --> 00:57:17,303

But those games are far from the whole PS2 story.

1512
00:57:17,303 --> 00:57:20,515

The PS2 is a treasure trove of cult classics,

1513
00:57:20,515 --> 00:57:21,823

hidden gems,

1514
00:57:21,823 --> 00:57:23,723

wonderfully weird experiments

1515
00:57:23,723 --> 00:57:25,863

that we can’t believe were actually made,

1516
00:57:25,863 --> 00:57:27,764

and that one dumb game you used to play

1517
00:57:27,764 --> 00:57:29,009

with your friends that probably

1518
00:57:29,009 --> 00:57:30,673

no one else cares about.

1519
00:57:30,673 --> 00:57:33,263

The PS2 has one of the broadest libraries

1520
00:57:33,263 --> 00:57:34,936
in gaming history.

1521
00:57:34,962 --> 00:57:36,686

Is the PS2 retro yet?

1522
00:57:36,686 --> 00:57:39,119

Or do you think it’s still kind of modern?

1523
00:57:39,119 --> 00:57:42,028

Was the PS2 your main console in college?

1524
00:57:42,028 --> 00:57:44,117

What you had as a little kid?

1525
00:57:44,117 --> 00:57:45,007

Your introduction to

1526
00:57:45,007 --> 00:57:47,767

the wide world of online gaming?

1527
00:57:47,767 --> 00:57:49,407

Whatever your reason for revisiting

1528
00:57:49,407 --> 00:57:50,887

the PS2 library

1529
00:57:50,887 --> 00:57:53,098

(or checking it out for the first time),

1530
00:57:53,098 --> 00:57:55,127

whether on an original console

1531
00:57:55,127 --> 00:57:57,248

in composite or component,

1532
00:57:57,248 --> 00:58:00,409

on a CRT, an HDTV, a 4K TV,

1533
00:58:00,409 --> 00:58:03,955

a PS3, a PS4, your computer, whatever,

1534
00:58:03,955 --> 00:58:05,659
no matter how you play

1535
00:58:05,670 --> 00:58:08,516
the PS2's greatest strength will always be...

1536
00:58:08,516 --> 00:58:11,106
that is has something for everyone!

1537
00:58:46,935 --> 00:58:49,944
^ (Subtitling done by Jordan "Link584")