Hi there,
Just now I noticed that the Plex App for PS3 outputs only a 720p 12 bit signal.
Other video-apps (like Netflix and Vidzone) output a 1080p 12bit signal.
Does anyone know what the reason for this is? I can't find anything about this in the FAQ.
I would love to see 1080p 12 bit support in a later release ;-)
Rolf
Yes, it's really 720p only. Pretty sure it's just a bug. There is no technical limitation of the ps3 i can think of that could cause this.
It's a limitation of the Sony software platform we're using. It can't handle 1080p UI.
Is the PS4 version 1080p?
Is the PS4 version 1080p?
No, I don't think so. The UI is noticeably more fuzzy than other parts of the PS4 interface. The video is also a lot sharper when played through my TV's DLNA player, than through the Plex for PS4, even though no transcoding is going on.
It's a limitation of the Sony software platform we're using. It can't handle 1080p UI.
Does that mean that only the UI of the app is in 720p and 1080p video content is displayed as 1080p, or can the app only output *everything* at a max of 720p?
No, I don't think so. The UI is noticeably more fuzzy than other parts of the PS4 interface. The video is also a lot sharper when played through my TV's DLNA player, than through the Plex for PS4, even though no transcoding is going on.
At least my TV shows 1080p/60hz on PS4 in UI and while playing a video.
Does that mean that only the UI of the app is in 720p and 1080p video content is displayed as 1080p, or can the app only output *everything* at a max of 720p?
It seems to be 720p on ps3 even when playing a Full HD-VIdeo.
Yep, can’t see any way to make it 1080p. Rather poor show really.
A 1080p interface for the PS3 isn't possible. Cut it some slack, k? It's hardware from 2005/6. Many (most?) games on the PS3 are also 720p and scaled up to 1080p.
> No, I don't think so. The UI is noticeably more fuzzy than other parts of the PS4 interface. The video is also a lot sharper when played through my TV's DLNA player, than through the Plex for PS4, even though no transcoding is going on.
Yes, the UI is 720p on the PS4 as well. We'll get it up to 1080p in a future app update.
In general, my understanding was that the output signal is 1080p. The 720p UI would be scaled up to meet this resolution. In this way the video playback still comes through at a native 1080p.
> Rather poor show really.
Check back in a few months, maybe we'll have more pixels to please you with.
Yes, the UI is 720p on the PS4 as well. We'll get it up to 1080p in a future app update.
That's great news, looking forward to what you'll be doing with the app. :)
A 1080p interface for the PS3 isn't possible. Cut it some slack, k? It's hardware from 2005/6. Many (most?) games on the PS3 are also 720p and scaled up to 1080p.
That is a rather uninformed or poorly explained response.
The PS3 native interface can and does run perfectly well at 1080p and there are games that are natively rendered at 1080p.
It can also play 1080p video content perfectly well – BluRay movies were available when the PS3 was released and it was the best BD player available for a very long time. I have personally never had an issue playing 1080p BD content on my PS3.
Here is a detailed discussion on the topic of 1080p rendering for games on the PS3 which lists the native rendered resolutions of games from back in 2008 – https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/list-of-rendering-resolutions.41152/
While it's true that there aren't many games that are 100% natively rendered at 1920x1080p, there are a few that render using a true, native back buffer at 1080p, including (from the source above) Fifa Street 3, God of War: Collection Volume II, Ico, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.
With these facts, what's the real issue with direct play and streaming to a native Plex Client to the PS3 at 1080p?
All of my content is stored in m4v format (mp4 container, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video and AAC audio), so surely that should help with the PMS determining whether to stream or transcode and in if AAC isn't natively supported, offer a part-streamed/part-transcoded solution by only transcoding the audio stream?
Perhaps it would be good to have some advice around PMS' preferred container and codec formats for various official clients to best facilitate direct streaming, if these don't already exist?
I'm just conjecturing here, but if it's anything like other platforms then app developers won't have access to the same resources as a game developer would. It could be possible they don't have access to hardware acceleration or apps are competing for resources with the OS, unlike games which switch into a 'game mode'.
I'm just conjecturing here, but if it's anything like other platforms then app developers won't have access to the same resources as a game developer would. It could be possible they don't have access to hardware acceleration or apps are competing for resources with the OS, unlike games which switch into a 'game mode'.
Conjecture all you like, I doubt this is the case.
I'll wait for someone who knows what they're talking about to respond.
A 1080p interface for the PS3 isn't possible. Cut it some slack, k? It's hardware from 2005/6. Many (most?) games on the PS3 are also 720p and scaled up to 1080p.
> No, I don't think so. The UI is noticeably more fuzzy than other parts of the PS4 interface. The video is also a lot sharper when played through my TV's DLNA player, than through the Plex for PS4, even though no transcoding is going on.
Yes, the UI is 720p on the PS4 as well. We'll get it up to 1080p in a future app update.
In general, my understanding was that the output signal is 1080p. The 720p UI would be scaled up to meet this resolution. In this way the video playback still comes through at a native 1080p.
> Rather poor show really.
Check back in a few months, maybe we'll have more pixels to please you with.
So the UI is 720p... is the video at least 1080p?
If it isn't it is worse then a chromecast lol
So the UI is 720p... is the video at least 1080p?
If it isn't it is worse then a chromecast lol
Both the UI and playback is locked to a maximum resolution of 720p. 1080p video is transcoded by the Plex server to 720p for playback by the PS3.
Any hope that it will be changed in the futur ? I also took a forever plex pass for the PS3 player...
Perhaps it would be good to have some advice around PMS' preferred container and codec formats for various official clients to best facilitate direct streaming, if these don't already exist?
This is exactly what I was thinking but didn't know where the most appropriate place would be to post the request. I am quite disappointed as I fell upon the 720p PS3 restriction by accident deep in the support pages having already bought my Plex Pass intending specifically to use the PS3 as my main media client (it's all hooked up to my AV system).
With these facts, what's the real issue with direct play and streaming to a native Plex Client to the PS3 at 1080p?
It's a limitation of the Sony software platform we're using. It can't handle 1080p UI.
I think that's the real answer. Sony's probably gone through half a dozen media app SDKs for the PS3 over the years, and it's possible this one just kinda stinks. I think there's been times when they've had more SDKs than apps that used them. It's probably meant to be more cross-platform so app developers can make one app that works on the PS3, PS4, and some other stuff (TVs?).
There's really no question the PS3 can handle 1080p media apps, both UI and video. The thing can handle 1080 3D Blu-Ray, HD audio, and blu-ray Java all on the CPU, not to mention games like Wipeout HD (it's 1080p most of the time...). I'm not even sure how the SDK can't handle 1080p UI, since it's surely not doing the drawing on the CPU and the RSX is more than capable of sliding a few textures around at 1080p. Memory usage? I could see the SDK being a total memory hog if it was browser based, but the output resolution would be affected by graphics memory, not system memory. Even if the SDK was badly optimized in terms of draw calls, it still shouldn't be affected by resolution. Thumbnails and backgrounds taking up too much graphics memory would be fixed simply by not caching as much. I doubt it's even any sort of weird movie studio politics since the PS4 version is slated to handle 1080p
Keep in mind, when they're dealing with game consoles, the Plex devs are probably tied up in a mountain of NDAs. They might not even know why the SDK is limited to 720p, it could just be a note in the feature list and the Plex developers are going "eh?".
