PS3 video upscaling to 4K?

[Yuri]

Sony has recently proven that PlayStation 3 can do upscaling of images to 4K resolution (4096 X 2160 pixels), for output (via HDMI) to devices like their VPL-VW1000ES projector and no doubt other displays. You can do this for still pictures with the PlayMemories app.

So why not with moving pictures i.e. video? Their latest top-of-the-range BD player, the BDP-S790, can do it with Blu-ray Discs at $249.

Of course, this requires a significant amount of processing power to do in real time, but if PS3 can do on-the-fly DST decoding (decompression) and DSD-to-PCM transcoding ftom SACD playback purely in software on the Cell processor (using 5 PE's, no less) surely it can do a nice job on 4K upscaling? Or not? Will we need to wait for PS4 to pull this off?

[Brandon B]

Keep in mind that, worst case, it would need to be doing ALL of the following simultaneously:

Decoding H264, or VC 1 or MPEG 2 into uncompressed HD video;
Decoding Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD MA into multichannel PCM;
Downmixing, if any, for your selected audio output format (i.e. to stereo, or 7.1 -> 5.1 more typically for disks that are 7.1);
Plus your added step of upscaling that video to 4K

The PS3 cell was a pretty impressive thing many years ago. Not today. I don't think it is up to this, as it is just able to do BD 3D, or BD playback at 1.5X.

[Yuri]

You're right. It's easy to forget how much has to happen in real-time, not only for video but also for audio processing. And all that in software on a rather generic processor i.e. without dedicated accelerators for video codecs like the BD player undoubtedly has. Still impressive how much performance they've managed to squeeze out of it over the years, with so many software upgrades.

[The Seventh Taylor]

Interesting suggestion posted by the WSJ today:

'4K' Video: A Hope for Japan’s Electronics Makers?

Reading this article about the (SACD-compatible BD player witj 4K upscaling) BDP-S790 in about.com however makes me rather pessimistic:

Sony hits a new high and a new low

[PS3SACD]

Actually the Sony BDP-S790 doesn't even sell for $399 but for a ridiculously low $288, currently at Amazon.

Sony BDP-S790 3D Blu-ray Disc player with SACD playback and 4K digital video output

[Yuri]

Now that Sony's 2012 BDP-Sx90 models are (supposedly) replaced by the 2013 BDP-Sx100 models (see CES 2013 coverage on news page), where's a BDP-S7100 to succeed the BDP-S790? Specifically, with 4K Ultra-HD being all the rage at this year's CES, where is Sony's new 4K upscaling model? The feature hasn't trickled down to the rest of the range. Is Sony simply planning on running the S790 for another year? Or until CEDIA 2013? Could we perhaps after all this time expect a decent successor to the BDP-S5000ES later this year?

[Yuri]

Why would Sony choose not to launch a successor to last year's flagship BD player that featured 4K upscaling, in year when 4K UltraHD has got all the hype it could wish for?

Having given it some more thought, I can only think of one explanation.

Likely, Sony is going to launch a 'Blu-ray' player later this year, either at IFA or CEDIA 2013, that doesn't just upscale HD to 4K but actually decodes 4K from a disc format that's currently being standardized by the Blu-ray Disc Association (plus, surely, online streaming).

I'm guessing they figured it would be confusing the messaging if they'd launch a 'flagship' player with 4K upscaling in the May/June time frame and then a 4K decoding player in September, so they probably cancelled a BDP-S7100.

I'm just wondering what we can look forward to exactly. A BDP-S7100ES? Anyway, I hope it's a true ES series product, like the BDP-S5000ES long before it.

[Brandon B]

Reasonably plausible, but I'll take on the "only one explanation" point.

They just dropped the price of their 4K displays. It may be that sales of the existing 4K upscale machine were so abysmal it did not warrant developing a replacement one year later. They may just be strategizing efficient marketing and market positioning.

Slightly off topic, I got to see a demo of 4K laser based 3D theatrical projection last week in Burbank. Pretty nice improvement, over 4 times the brightness out of the projector, which they are using to increase the dynamic range of the image, not to punch up everything. Best quality 3D image I've seen in a theater.