SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT READIES FOR
MARKET EXPANSION WITH CREATION OF A NEW HANDHELD
ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM
Sony Unveils Plans to Extend PlayStation
Family of Products with PSP
LOS
ANGELES, May 13, 2003 - Enhancing its strong platform
strategies, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI)
announced today plans to expand its in-home entertainment
to outside the home with a new, all-in-one portable
entertainment platform, “PSP™”
The
introduction of “PSP” highlights the
company’s long-awaited foray into the portable
entertainment market. With unmatched advantages of the
Sony Group, such as global brand awareness, superior
technologies in the most advanced semiconductor
processes, “PSP” further broadens entertainment
experiences into the portable arena.
The foundation of this new platform is Universal Media
Disc (UMD), which comprises of a 60mm optical disc (1.8
GB) in a cartridge, developed by the Sony Group,
utilizing its latest disc technologies. Compared to the
out-dated mask ROM cartridge, optical disc has huge
advantages such as shorter turn around time for
manufacturing, larger data capacity and lower media
costs. The latest copy-protection technology will be
applied to offer content developers and publishers a safe
and copy-protected environment.
“PSP” will be equipped with a wide screen 480 x
272 pixel (16 by 9) TFT LCD monitor with a backlight, and
powered by super chipsets utilizing the latest 90 nm
semiconductor technology. For graphics, 3D rendering will
be enhanced by the employment of curved surfaces (NURBS)
along with conventional polygons. Video quality will also
be enhanced with MPEG4, which delivers quality equivalent
to DVD video at a low data rate.
“PSP” will have an USB 2.0 port for further
expandability and connectivity to other devices, such as
“PSP,” PlayStation 2 and many other systems,
along with a Memory StickTM slot for network applications
and data transportability in a wireless environment.
SCEI will offer PC-based development tools starting from
fall 2003 for the preparation of a new range of computer
entertainment content. A new license scheme for
“PSP” software development will be announced in
summer 2003. Pursuing the founding principles of the
PlayStation business, Sony Computer Entertainment will
expand its efforts to support content developers to
create new forms of computer entertainment.
Together with its business partners, SCEI aims to
aggressively promote this new platform to further broaden
the arena of entertainment.
“Just as PlayStation and PlayStation 2
revolutionized in-home computer entertainment, we aim to
become a new driving force in the portable entertainment
platform arena,” said Ken Kutaragi, president and
CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “The world of
PlayStation encompasses hundreds of millions of users
worldwide, most of whom view computer entertainment as
part of their everyday lives. We look forward to
extending the experience through a portable entertainment
platform, and are excited about the possibilities and
impact ‘PSP’ will have on the market. Along
with game applications, ‘PSP’ will have a huge
potential for delivering other forms of entertainment as
well as live entertainment through the network, anywhere,
anytime. This is the ‘Walkman’ of the 21st
century.”
“PSP” Specifications
Display:
Wide screen (16:9)
TFT LCD with backlight (480 x 272 dots)
Disc
medium: “UMD” 60mm optical secured
ROM disc with cartridge (1.8GB)
Video
CODEC: MPEG4
Graphics:
3D Polygon/NURBS
Sound:
PCM (built-in stereo speakers, stereo headphone output)
I/O:
USB 2.0, Memory StickTM slot
Battery:
Rechargeable
(lithium-ion)
CPU
MIPS R4000 32-bit core
128-bit bus
1-333MHz (1.2V)
8MB eDRAM main memory
2.6Gbps bus bandwidth
FPU, VFPU (2.6 billion flops)
3D graphics extended instructions
Graphics Core
1-166MHz (1.2V)
256-bit bus
2MB eDRAM (VRAM)
5.3Gbps bus bandwidth
664 million pixels per second pizel fill rate
3D curved surface and 3D polygon engine
Support for compressed textures, hardware clipping,
morphing, bone, tessellation, bezier, b-spline (NURBS)
Maximum of 33 million polygons per second
24-bit full color (RGBA)
Sound Core
VME (Virtual Mobile Engine)
Reconfigurable DSP
166MHz (1.2 V)
128-bit bus
5 giga operations per second
CODEC capabilities
3D sound, 7.1 channels
Synthesizer, effecter, and other abilities
ATRAC3 plus, AAC, MP3 for audio
Media Engine
MIPS R4000 32-bit core
128-bit bus
1-333MHz (1.2V)
2MB eDRAM submemory
90nm CMOS
Media
UMD (Universal Media Disc)
60mm-diameter disc
660nm laser diode
1.8GB capacity (dual-layered disc)
11Mbps transfer rate
AES crypto system
Unique disc ID
Shock proof
Regional code system
Parental lock system
Repeat ordering system
More Specifications
16:9-format widescreen TFT LCD
(480x272 pixels, 24-bit full color)
MPEG4 AVC decoder
Wireless LAN (802.11)
IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
USB 2.0
Memory Stick
AV in/out
Stereo headphone out
Lithium ion battery
Expansion port
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