For Playstation 2 owners who want to enjoy playing their games in HDTV, but do not want to wait until the Playstation3 comes out or jump to the Xbox 360, Xploder has confirmed that they will launch an add-on for the Playstation 2 that allows gamers to either play their games or watch movies in High Definition up to a resolution of 1080i.
The add-on will feature a choice of outputs including 480p, 720p and 1080i for either a higher quality progressive picture (on TVs that support progressive video) or High Definition gaming, which is sent to the TV via component video. For those interested in using a projector or monitor, the upgrade also features VGA output. For Games, this device will give a superior crystal clear picture from PS2 games, however for movie playback, it will give similar performance to a HD-upscaling DVD player. The device includes a high quality component video cable, however for VGA playback, the consumer will need to purchase a separate VGA cable.
As Xploder has released two separate press releases to mention about the DVD Movie upgrade and the Game upgrade players, it is unclear if they are actually releasing a single add-on that covers both Games and DVD playback or if the add-on to play Games in HD is different to the add-on that upscales DVD movies. Also, it is unclear if the add-on actually allows the Playstation 2 to render the games in HDTV or if the device simply takes the Playstation's video output and upscales it to HDTV as with a standalone HD upscaler.
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If like many others, you've bought a HDTV but you're waiting for the outcome of the next generation DVD format war before investing in a new DVD player, you'll be pleased to hear that you can UPGRADE NOW and get enhanced crystal-clear picture quality from your existing movie collection by simply hooking up a Playstation 2 console to your HDTV set. Further info can be read here and in their HDTV DVD Movie Upgrade press release here. |
If this add-on does indeed allow the Playstation 2 to render its game's video directly in HDTV, this should help the Playstation 2 to compete against the Xbox 360, which natively renders video in HDTV. However, even if this is the case, this does not make the Playstation 2 any more powerful than it currently is and as the games would have been designed for an audience with standard definition TVs, chances are that apart from smoother edges to objects, there will unlikely be any further detail revealed in the high definition image. On the other hand, this add-on will likely be useful for those who already have a HDTV set and would like to make use of its high definition capabilities without jumping to the Playstation 3 for the foreseeable future.
Source: Xploder - Press Releases
