PSP-3000 Firmware Changes Discovered
Coinciding with Sony's announcements today regarding the PSP-3000's Japanese release, the Japanese press appears to have taken delivery of sample hardware. Both Famitsu.com and Impress Watch have posted comparison shots showing off differences in screen quality and also detailing a few hidden features of the new hardware.
The hidden features are in the firmware. That's right, the PSP-3000 offers users a few bonus options. Famitsu.com makes note of three areas in particular.
The PSP-3000 has a setting for "Color Space" under the system settings section of the XMB. This can be switched between Wide and Normal. Wide exploits the full color depth of the revised hardware, while Normal returns you back to PSP-2000 level color.
The 3000 firmware has an option for Automatic USB Connection. When this is switched on, the PSP switches to USB mode automatically when a USB device is connected.
Finally, the 3000 firmware offers a noise reduction feature for video out. This is used to cut the noise when outputting the PSP's video signal to a television.
Outside of the firmware changes, the Famitsu.com article makes note of some of the changes that players might notice (or might not notice) when doing screen comparisons for themselves. The PSP-3000's screen strengths are most apparent when looking at natural colors such as human skin. However, the differences may not be as apparent with current games. The Famitsu.com article shows a shot of the LocoRoco title screen with the differences barely distinguishable between the two units.
The problem, the site speculates, could be that current games have had their colors fine tuned to look best under the 2000's limited color depth. The site expects future games to fully exploit the PSP-3000 screen's strengths.
http://uk.psp.ign.com/articles/907/907086p1.html
