Sony PSP screen differences between models?

[Guspaz]

I recently used my DS3 to play through Bloodstained on my PC (there are official Sony drivers for it now, no third party software required), and yeah, every time I disconnected the USB cable from the PC, my PS3 turned on. It was annoying.

[Hoagtech]

The PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 don't support controllers. So you need to hold the PSP in your hands and get some component extension cables, which is not ideal compared to a dualshock 3.

The original component cable is pretty long, maybe 2.00m? 2.50m? You will have to use the PSP as a controller, but these play UMDs, if not you can install Custom Firmware on a PSPGo and call it a day, there's quite a few fan-translated games too: https://www.romhacking.net/?page=transl ... ssearch=Go

Oh you also need a PS3 to sync the Dualshock 3 to the PSPGo and you will lose the sync each time you rehook the Dualshock 3 on the PS3 needing to redo the process again, the best thing to do is get a dedicated dualshock 3 just for the PSPGo, never hook it again and use the Dualshock 3 Charging Station.

The official component cable is ridiculously short (1.7M) IMO even for a desktop setup.

I have mine gong through AA component switchboxes and then in its own cubby with the ps TV. SO I bought a 25' Component cable and a coupler

These couplers are a godsend though and can be be bought for $5 on ebay.



The PSP feels great in your hand playing on a TV but Sony's decision to place the cable in the lower right corner of the PSP instead of directly on top does feel a little awkward.

One advantage a PS TV jailbroken does have is a full screen stretch. It looks muddy but I prefer it to sharp pixels and a full black bar border.

Sony LCD TV manufactured around 2010-2015 featured a "Portable Mode" which is designed for the PSP and stretches the image edge to edge with non interger scaling albeit. I have the Sony 65W950B which was manufactured 2013.

I have never heard of the euro street ones but that sounds like the winner as I have a collection of about 40 UMD's and would love a progressive screen with a better brightness.

[jd213]

I have the Street, it doesn't have the interlacing of the 3000 but it doesn't have expanded color (or whatever the setting was called), so it looks a bit washed out in comparison, and it doesn't have the button for adjusting brightness, so you need to go into the menu every time you want to adjust it.

My favorite is the Go screen, and I mostly only play RPGs when on the go anyway so I don't mind the form factor much.

[Lawfer]

Sony LCD TV manufactured around 2010-2015 featured a "Portable Mode" which is designed for the PSP and stretches the image edge to edge with non interger scaling albeit. I have the Sony 65W950B which was manufactured 2013.

They started earlier than 2010, also someone posted the result here and it wasn't good at all, whereas playing PSP games on the PS TV increase pixelization by 10000 folds, the whole stretching thing on Sony TVs increases blurriness by 10000 folds, the best thing to do is either play it unstretched, play it on a pro CRT monitor and use the settings to fill the whole screen, use an XRGB-3 or use an OSSC + Extron DSC 301 HD.

[bobrocks95]

A modded PSTV lets you use nearest-neighbor scaling for PSP games, and I believe the Vita has the PSP's CPU, so the emulation seems close to perfect from all the games I've tried. Looks quite sharp, wayyy better than my PSP-2000 hooked up with component.

[Lawfer]

I believe the Vita has the PSP's CPU

It's been confirmed through PS Vita firmware update info that the PS Vita is using a PSP emulator, it still uses emulation.

See the teardown:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlaySta ... rdown/7872

[bobrocks95]

I believe the Vita has the PSP's CPU

It's been confirmed through PS Vita firmware update info that the PS Vita is using a PSP emulator, it still uses emulation.

See the teardown:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlaySta ... rdown/7872

The MIPS R4000 CPU from the PSP is included in the Vita's SoC, so all CPU code is executed natively, while the GPU is emulated. IIRC the PS2 does the same with PS1 hardware.

[Lawfer]

I believe the Vita has the PSP's CPU

It's been confirmed through PS Vita firmware update info that the PS Vita is using a PSP emulator, it still uses emulation.

See the teardown:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlaySta ... rdown/7872

The MIPS R4000 CPU from the PSP is included in the Vita's SoC, so all CPU code is executed natively, while the GPU is emulated. IIRC the PS2 does the same with PS1 hardware.

Partial emulation is still emulation, this is why the PS Vita still relies on a PSP Emulator to run PSP games, PS2 on the other doesn't use an emulator to run PS1 games.

[fernan1234]

I guess we have to wonder how sensitive the PSP library is to emulation artifacts. I don't really know how specialized the hardware structure of the PSP is, but maybe emulation, especially when done in-house by Sony, doesn't really matter for most titles.

[bobrocks95]

It's been confirmed through PS Vita firmware update info that the PS Vita is using a PSP emulator, it still uses emulation.

See the teardown:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlaySta ... rdown/7872

The MIPS R4000 CPU from the PSP is included in the Vita's SoC, so all CPU code is executed natively, while the GPU is emulated. IIRC the PS2 does the same with PS1 hardware.

Partial emulation is still emulation, this is why the PS Vita still relies on a PSP Emulator to run PSP games, PS2 on the other doesn't use an emulator to run PS1 games.

Never said it wasn't emulation.

[Link83]

PS2 on the other doesn't use an emulator to run PS1 games.

Except the PS2 kind of does emulate much of the PS1:-
http://psx-scene.com/forums/f20/ps1-bac ... ns-120077/
Which leads to a number of compatibility issues:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_P ... yStation_2
Suprisingly some models of PS2 Slim wont even play certain PS2 games!

[hurda]

PS2 on the other doesn't use an emulator to run PS1 games.

Which leads to a number of compatibility issues:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_P ... yStation_2
Suprisingly some models of PS2 Slim wont even play certain PS2 games!

7700x being affected is just wrong, and the cited sources don't mention that model either.
7500x had those incompatibilities due to flaws when Sony merged CPU and GPU, 7700x went back to the two-chip-design of 7000x.

[Lawfer]

I was talking about the original PS2, never owned a slim, these don't even have the original PS1 sound card them.

[Classicgamer]

None of the hardware differences between the PS1 and PS2 matter in terms of how games look, sound or run. I've owned both and for the most part, you couldn't tell which one you were playing the PS1 game on.

Some think there is a slight difference in RGB output clarity but, if it is there, it's too minor for most people to care about.

The PS2 PS1 hardware has none of the issues that people find bothersome about emulation such as differences in game speed, missing frames, missing effects etc.

It's not too different to the minor differences you find in different models of the same console. Manufacturers refine their designs over time and switch to cheaper or more efficient hardware with no meaningful difference in how games run. Using a different gpu or sound card is not the same as emulators using software to emulate hardware.

[Lawfer]

Some think there is a slight difference in RGB output clarity but, if it is there, it's too minor for most people to care about.

The PS1 models have a varying different output look, banding in early models, higher brightness in latest models etc.

[Link83]

7700x being affected is just wrong, and the cited sources don't mention that model either.
7500x had those incompatibilities due to flaws when Sony merged CPU and GPU, 7700x went back to the two-chip-design of 7000x.

Not sure where you heard that, but the SCPH-7700x series still uses a combined EE+GS chip - its just a further revised version of the chip than the one used on the SCPH-7500x series.

I have no further knowledge of the Slim compatability issues however, so I dont know if the SCPH-7700x fixed any of the issues the SCPH-7500x had. I would be interested to know if anybody has carried out testing to confirm which revisions have issues/were fixed.

<EDIT> Seems its likely the IOP (Input Output Processor) thats the cause of any compatability issues, as from the SCPH-7500x series onwards the IOP is emulated on a PPC processor (IBM PPC 405GP) using the DECKARD emulator. Perhaps Sony tweaked/improved the DECKARD emulator on the SCPH-7700x series onwards to improve compatability?

I was talking about the original PS2, never owned a slim, these don't even have the original PS1 sound card them.

I was referring to all models of PS2, including the original. To quote SP193 from the thread I linked earlier:-

There is a MIPS R3000A that has dual operating modes (36MHz and 33MHz) alright, but the GPU of the PlayStation was always emulated in software. This is true, starting from the first [PS2] model (SCPH-10000 GH-001) to the last one (PS2TV PX300-1).

[Classicgamer]

Some think there is a slight difference in RGB output clarity but, if it is there, it's too minor for most people to care about.

The PS1 models have a varying different output look, banding in early models, higher brightness in latest models etc.

Exactly and yet, nobody considers it emulation when playing on a different model. Using different hardware to make the same console does not mean it's emulation. Emulation is where that hardware is replaced with software on a completely different platform.

The PS2 could easily emulate PS1 hardware but they specifically chose to include actual PS1 hardware instead.

[Link83]

Exactly and yet, nobody considers it emulation when playing on a different model. Using different hardware to make the same console does not mean it's emulation. Emulation is where that hardware is replaced with software on a completely different platform.

The PS2 could easily emulate PS1 hardware but they specifically chose to include actual PS1 hardware instead.

...Except all PS2 models emulate the PS1 GPU in software, not hardware.

<EDIT> Some additional details here:-
https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/wiki/PSX-mode
"To PSX software, it looks like it was talking to a regular PSX GPU while the EE+GS GPU emulation outputs visuals using PS2 hardware."

[fernan1234]

Funny how I participated in this topic 5 years ago (with some kinda bad suggestions lol), and just now bumped into it while looking up info on PSP screens, since lately I've gotten into original PSP hardware and have gone through pretty much all models. Decided might as well necro this topic to share my observations.

PSP-1000: awful, awful ghosting that makes it near unusable - but its non-standard/limited color space is what I take as the reference "correct" colors to gauge other screens (and for this reason IPS mods are out of the question).
PSP-2000: bad ghosting also takes it out of the race.
PSP-3000*: excellent quality, great lack of ghosting for its time, great colors as long as "normal" rather than "wide" color gamut is selected, the interlacing is not as bad as people make it out to be (and 1000 and 2000 screens also had it, but ghosting and contrast was so bad that it was not visible), but it is noticeable.
PSPGo: excellent also, but too small (same interlacing as 3000, but less noticeable due to size).
PSP-E1000 (Street): would be the best, with response comparable to 3000 and colors closer to 1000, if not for an ugly dithering across the whole screen.
PSVita 1000 (OLED): beautiful blacks of course, but terrible colors for the PSP, even selecting the PSP color space does not get even close, and way too warm/yellow white point (plus blotchy "mura" effect on solid colors from this being an early consumer OLED screen). Plus it's emulation.
PSVita 2000 (LCD): would be close to ideal if colors and white balance would be closer to reference. Emulation.

*The PSP-3000 is supposed to have used three different screens. A Sharp screen originally for most motherboards, which was apparently replaced by a Samsung screen of comparable quality in some regions at some point, and a Toshiba screen on TA-095 (07g) motherboards which some say was the best screen, but I have only been able to use a Sharp screen.

So all options involve significant compromises, sadly. Perhaps an ideal option, except it being emulation and non-portable, would be a PSVita TV through a Retrotink4K with the PSP color correction filter on a nice little OLED. All in all, I think I'm sticking with the 3000, particularly a Japanese Monster Hunter edition with great shell texture and the best nub stick.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Funny how I participated in this topic 5 years ago (with some kinda bad suggestions lol), and just now bumped into it while looking up info on PSP screens, since lately I've gotten into original PSP hardware and have gone through pretty much all models. Decided might as well necro this topic to share my observations.

PSP-1000: awful, awful ghosting that makes it near unusable - but its non-standard/limited color space is what I take as the reference "correct" colors to gauge other screens (and for this reason IPS mods are out of the question).
PSP-2000: bad ghosting also takes it out of the race.
PSP-3000*: excellent quality, great lack of ghosting for its time, great colors as long as "normal" rather than "wide" color gamut is selected, the interlacing is not as bad as people make it out to be (and 1000 and 2000 screens also had it, but ghosting and contrast was so bad that it was not visible), but it is noticeable.
PSPGo: excellent also, but too small (same interlacing as 3000, but less noticeable due to size).
PSP-E1000 (Street): would be the best, with response comparable to 3000 and colors closer to 1000, if not for an ugly dithering across the whole screen.
PSVita 1000 (OLED): beautiful blacks of course, but terrible colors for the PSP, even selecting the PSP color space does not get even close, and way too warm/yellow white point (plus blotchy "mura" effect on solid colors from this being an early consumer OLED screen). Plus it's emulation.
PSVita 2000 (LCD): would be close to ideal if colors and white balance would be closer to reference. Emulation.

*The PSP-3000 is supposed to have used three different screens. A Sharp screen originally for most motherboards, which was apparently replaced by a Samsung screen of comparable quality in some regions at some point, and a Toshiba screen on TA-095 (07g) motherboards which some say was the best screen, but I have only been able to use a Sharp screen.

So all options involve significant compromises, sadly. Perhaps an ideal option, except it being emulation and non-portable, would be a PSVita TV through a Retrotink4K with the PSP color correction filter on a nice little OLED. All in all, I think I'm sticking with the 3000, particularly a Japanese Monster Hunter edition with great shell texture and the best nub stick.

If Sony had gone with an OLED screen setup with it's 2nd-gen PS Vita 2000 setup, would it have used a better & improved 2nd-gen OLED-based screen setup? I know Sony ultimately decided to use a cheaper LCD-based screen to lower overall production costs with the 2nd-gen PS Vita and sell it at a lower MSRP compared to it's 1st-gen PS Vita release.

Whom was the OLED screen manufacturer of the 1st-gen PS Vita 1000 handheld anyways? (On a related note regarding OLED-based gaming handhelds, I know Nintendo went with the Samsung manufactured OLED screens used with the current OLED Switch handheld setup -- it certainly is quite razor sharp and eye-popping colorful.)

It's well known that Mark Cerny had designed the PS Vita from the ground up since it's initial inception. I'm always amazed at how fast it starts up from a cold boot -- current modern-day consoles sure could take some notes with their longer boot up times indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[fernan1234]

No idea about the Vita OLED panel manufacturer. Maybe it was JOLED? Not many were making OLED screens back then, I'd bet it's made in Japan at least.

An improved OLED screen on the 2000 Vita would have been great, but the LCD it uses is actually pretty good. Somehow the white point is even warmer than on the OLED model, which makes it worse for PSP, which had a pretty cool/blueish WP, probably staying close to D93 Japanese standards.

I was actually surprised to see that LCD Vitas are noticeable more expensive than OLED Vitas in the second-hand market, and I can see why. Even though blacks are worse and colors pop less, it also produces more natural tones and has more evenness on solid colors. Plus no worry about burn-in. It's an improvement over the OLED screen in real ways.

[jd213]

I remember a teardown showing that the panel was from Samsung when the Vita first came out in Japan. Ironic considering Sony had the first OLED TV back in 2007 with that tiny and expensive XEL-1 in the 2000's that could only do 540p.

Not sure if all Vita OLED panels were made by Samsung though.

[fernan1234]

Actually that would make sense. Sony had been sourcing from Samsung by then starting from the PSP years. It was an impressive screen for its time but now it kinda shows its age though. That said, it would likely be my go to for most 3D Vita games.

[Rulumi]

Most "main" parts of the PS Vita's "PSPEMU" is hardware based and not emulated.

[ASDR]

One thing I like about the PSP Go is that you can still get replacement screens dirt cheap. They're laminated, there's no shell in front of them. I bought a couple scratched / broken PSP GOs for cheap and just replaced the screens. Getting a PSP-1/2/3 without scratches can be difficult (hard to see scratches on eBay pictures) or pricey when buying from people advertising perfect condition. The replacement shells I tried all sucked.

I know the most practical way of playing PSP games is probably a Vita/Vita TV with that sharpscale firmware or whatever it was called, but I always wanted to make things work with a Go and a CRT.

(Side note, the SIXAXIS/DS3 pairing procedure for this console has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. You need a PS3 to do it, but then you immediately run into the issue that the controller unpairs if you connect it to any computer or console. It also doesn't charge if there are no data connection, so dumb USB chargers won't work. Literally the only way to charge a DS3 paired to a Go without unpairing it is to use a special DS3 charger)

One problem I encountered with the CRT setup is that I only managed to find a composite cable. The official S-Video/Component cables are super pricey and the China clones suck. Also if you want to charge while using video out you need the dock, which is also super expensive. Has somebody made an affordable & quality cable yet that can charge and output S-Video yet? The other issue is that the scaling of the TV output sucks. I think using 480i would probably be best as 272p won't scale nicely to 240p even when using anamorphic widescreen. Some of the extra resolution from 480i could be used for a flicker filter. I remember there were some custom firmware attempts to improve the quality, but they got abandoned. Guess everybody uses a Vita for that.

[fernan1234]

One thing I like about the PSP Go is that you can still get replacement screens dirt cheap.

Yes, other than the size, which you may not mind if you put the Go really close to your face, the Go screen has a good argument for being the best especially if it's a new replacement (they are prone to get yellowing on the edges or ultimately the whole screen).

One problem I encountered with the CRT setup is that I only managed to find a composite cable.

Aren't the composite and S-video cable videos severely limited in what they can display? And I'm not only talking about not being able to output 480p. I recall someone mentioning they don't even work for PSP games, just for UMD movies or something. Not sure since I never used them, only used the component cables, which are actually not that expensive where I am (even new old stock ones go for about 7USD). The external display output settings do include the option to turn a flicker filter on or off for the interlaced output. With component cables the TV output is really good, and colors are quite accurate if displayed on a CRT with a D93 white point. The viewable area is very small when playing PSP games which is a bummer. Ironically, it may be better to run the PSP video out through a scaler.

The Dock as you mentioned is a problem, as it is rare and expensive everywhere. My advice would be to not bother with it, simply play as much as your PSPGo's battery allows. Better spend cash on a cheap PS3 controller charging thing to avoid the pairing problem that you mentioned.

[ASDR]

Got a few spares screens lying around so I think I'll be good with my PSP GOs.

From what I can tell the composite cable has no limitations other than the reduced quality. Like you said, I wish the system had better scaling and the games would actually be fullscreen and use anamorphic widescreen output. There were some attempts at a firmware that does this but last I checked it was abandoned.

I now own two official DS3 chargers, so I'm good there but I'd still like a proper cable. Would be cool if RGC or so would make a cable with S-Video and a USB port for charging.

[jd213]

Isn't the dock essentially just a breakout adapter for the PSPgo's charging/AV port? If so, one would think it wouldn't be too hard for one of the RGB cable makers to make a clone or something. Then again, I wouldn't want to try soldering a bunch of wires to that tiny connector myself.

The DS3 pairing thing does suck, though.

[ASDR]

Isn't the dock essentially just a breakout adapter for the PSPgo's charging/AV port? If so, one would think it wouldn't be too hard for one of the RGB cable makers to make a clone or something. Then again, I wouldn't want to try soldering a bunch of wires to that tiny connector myself.

Yes, I think it would be a simple cable. They'd probably make a component cable, though. I'd prefer SCART RGB but that would require a YPbPr->RGBS converter and be way more expensive/complicated. I'd settle for S-Video, though. I'm not really interested in using component+scaler, I want this on a CRT and here basically every CRT has S-Video/RGB but virtually none have component.

The DS3 pairing thing does suck, though.

It's so ridiculous. Imagine buying blutooth earphones for your iPhone but you need to buy an iMac to pair them. And they'd refuse to charge on a standard USB charger but lose pairing everytime you plug them into any computer. "There's got to be a better way"

[Augemitbutter]

(Side note, the SIXAXIS/DS3 pairing procedure for this console has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. You need a PS3 to do it, but then you immediately run into the issue that the controller unpairs if you connect it to any computer or console. It also doesn't charge if there are no data connection, so dumb USB chargers won't work. Literally the only way to charge a DS3 paired to a Go without unpairing it is to use a special DS3 charger)

i could charge mine on a windows PC and it would never unpair. Did you install different drivers or did you press the PS button while charging? I only used the normal cable that came with the PS3, no other chargers.