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Handhelds Portables (Games) Hardware

No Modification PSP TV Adapter 200

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the because-voiding-the-warranty-is-bad dept.
Craig writes "PSP Owners have long been interested in watching the UMD films and playing games on the TV, well now according to a report from Lik Sang they can, the new PSPTV being produced eventually by Gametech will be a no modification addon. From the article: 'The TV Adapter for PSP lets you hook up your PSP to your home television (NTSC and PAL) via Composite or S-Video and Stereo connectors. This adapter requires no modification of your PSP console. This new peripheral takes a completely different approach and clips on top of your PSP screen, with two screws to fit at the back of the handheld (in these two holes you can see on the top of the UMD drive). Some sort of pyramid grows from the base, with a precision lens and mirror system at the top, capturing the image and light, in a similar way a scanner or camera would. It then converts it into a video signal that is sent through video leads going from the adapter to your TV set.'"
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No Modification PSP TV Adapter More

No Modification PSP TV Adapter

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  • and... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I bet its going to cost you a kidney too...

  • now all you need... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:34PM (#13804552)
    ... is a TV that fits in your packet

  • anyone else (Score:5, Insightful)

    by firl ( 907479 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:35PM (#13804554)
    think this is a horrible idea?

    Covert it from the out put via capture to digital back to analog, just a couple conversions too many imo.

    • Re:anyone else (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ironsides ( 739422 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:45PM (#13804615) Homepage Journal
      "There's a sucker born every minute." - David Hannum

      Someone will buy it.

    • Re:anyone else (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TrappedByMyself ( 861094 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:50PM (#13804645)
      think this is a horrible idea?

      Yeah, it will look like ass. And what the hell is the point of providing component and s-video support when the video is already trashed?
      • [What is] the point of providing component and s-video support when the video is already trashed?

        Less dot crawl and rainbowing with the s-video hook up!

    • Re:anyone else (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:50PM (#13804647)
      Somehow this keeps coming to mind:

      http://www.ebaumsworld.com/images/howtoprint.jpg [ebaumsworld.com]
      • Well... if it is a DRMed document, this would actually make sense.[*]

        [*] If we don't count that the copy machine wants a reflective surface and a copy from a CRT would likely not work. However, with e-paper it could be a good solution. With the proliferation of the digital restriction management cancer, such methods are bound to be really deployed.
    • ..Don't buy a printer! Just stick this flat-screen monitor in any photocopier and have one-click printing with no hassle !!!!
      • ..Don't buy a printer! Just stick this flat-screen monitor in any photocopier and have one-click printing with no hassle !!!!

        In one sentence, you pretty much summed up anything of insight anyone is likely to say about this "incredible" add-on.

        Plus, it was oddly reminiscent of one of Viz's [viz.co.uk] "Top Tips". (Example: "SHOPPERS When buying oranges, get more for your money by peeling them before taking them to the counter to be weighed.")
    • think this is a horrible idea?

      Not only horrible but a totally stupid idea.

      I fully expect that Sony will be putting out DVD / UMD combo players soon enough, but using some kind of Heath Robinson device for capturing your screen via a series of mirrors, lenses and a camera, is quite frankly, fucking stupid by a long margin.

      It would be nice to see a PSP with some kind of expansion port, but this kind of thing really is ridiculous. Chances are the quality is on par with your average bootleg cinema-to-camc

      • Re:anyone else (Score:3, Insightful)

        by exhilaration ( 587191 )
        I fully expect that Sony will be putting out DVD / UMD combo players soon enough

        Why would they do that when they've discovered that millions [joystiq.com] of suckers will pay for both a DVD and UMD of their favorite movie(s)?

    • Re:anyone else (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Bachus9000 ( 765935 )
      This particular implementation is stupid and probably sucks horribly, but the idea of playing a portable system's games on a bigger screen is appealing (at least to me). I'm visually impaired to the point where I can barely make out the picture on these modern handhelds--I can barely make out the GBA picture as it stands. I'd pay a fair bit of money to play DS and PSP games on a television (well, mainly DS games, but there are some interesting looking PSP games, too). I hope Nintendo and Sony are listeni
      • I think it would be a very good idea to be able to play a handheld on a full size tv. With the size of the Nintendo Revo, it's not hard to imagine the next gen of systems after that, could be small enough to provide a portable gaming system that you could hook up to a tv when you have one around. It would be nice not to have to have 2 systems just to have a portable and a tv console. Maybe they could even make it dumb down the graphics a bit when you are playing on the portable unit, since no one notices

  • Hahahah. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Seumas ( 6865 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:35PM (#13804558)
    If you paid $20 for content on UMD so you could watch it on a tiny little screen, you deserve to be shot. Spending $20+ on a full sized DVD that you can watch on your widescreen television once or twice in your life is absurd enough, much less this PSP UMD nonsense. But it just proves, people will buy anything!

    UMD? More like D U M! Giggady giggady gig!

    • Re:Hahahah. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by SmokeSerpent ( 106200 )
      Spending $20+ on a full sized DVD that you can watch on your widescreen television once or twice in your life is absurd enough ...
      Trading less than an hour's work for 4+ hours of entertainment is well within reason.

      Besides, do you really think that most people watch most DVDs that they buy only 1 or 2 times?
      • Given that the median wage in the U.S. is $11.87, and that huge numbers of people (particularly out of work tech people) make $5.15 an hour or have no income at all, that $20 represents at the very LEAST more than an hour of work in all probability.

    • Re:Hahahah. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by NanoGator ( 522640 )
      "If you paid $20 for content on UMD so you could watch it on a tiny little screen, you deserve to be shot. Spending $20+ on a full sized DVD that you can watch on your widescreen television once or twice in your life is absurd enough, much less this PSP UMD nonsense. But it just proves, people will buy anything!"

      Or it proves that some people find themselves spending time idling and they want something to occupy themselves. I've heard a few times that people who ride the bus a lot find the PSP to be a wond

      • Re:Hahahah. (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Fred_A ( 10934 )
        Except that being stuck with UMD disks that likely won't ever be readable by anything useful doesn't sound too great.

        DVDs, encumbered with the stupid zoning and encryption as they are are, at least reasonably versatile. I can read them on my desktop, on my TV, on my laptop, I can rip them to a pocket media player...

        When you buy UMD content, there's a fair chance you'll never be able to do anything worthwile with it, even if you manage to extract the video, it will look like VHS at best. But it's still sold
        • "When you buy UMD content, there's a fair chance you'll never be able to do anything worthwile with it, even if you manage to extract the video, it will look like VHS at best. But it's still sold at about the same price as a DVD."

          Doesn't really bug me. The fact is, I'd be paying $15 for the convenience of having it in a really small form factor. When you're travelling by air, even a portable DVD player is too big. (and that's not including the delicate media.) As for getting stuff off it, I really don't

          • Re:Hahahah. (Score:2, Funny)

            by FLEB ( 312391 )
            I'm in a hotel, EVERYTHING (including the food) is VHS quality.

            By George, I think you may have just hit upon my next snappy saying du jour.
    • $20? Think yourself lucky. In the Ireland UMD discs cost 24. Who is actually buying them is a complete mystery though.
    • If you paid $20 for content on UMD so you could watch it on a tiny little screen, you deserve to be shot. Spending $20+ on a full sized DVD that you can watch on your widescreen television once or twice in your life is absurd enough, much less this PSP UMD nonsense. But it just proves, people will buy anything!

      Damn straight. You could buy 5 or 6 ringtones for that $20.

    • Spending $20+ on a full sized DVD that you can watch on your widescreen television once or twice in your life is absurd enough

      I guess you don't go to the movie theater much. I think I'd rather own the movie for that $20 than to have paid $20+ to watch it once having nothing to show for it afterwards.

  • Overhead projector mod? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by saskboy ( 600063 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:36PM (#13804559) Homepage Journal
    Does this essentially turn your PSP screen into a transparency, and a digital version of an overhead projector sends it to the TV screen?

  • I'm skeptical (Score:5, Funny)

    by bchernicoff ( 788760 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:36PM (#13804560)
    I wonder what this will cost, weight, and how good the picture will look. Also, can I clip it to my wang?

    Ben

  • What's the point? Buy a PS2 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by poopie ( 35416 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:38PM (#13804572) Journal
    The whole exercise seems like a lot of work to hook a PSP up to a TV with a device that's got to be ugly and unweildy. Why not just buy a PS2 if you want to play games on the TV?

  • Um... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Kraeloc ( 869412 )
    Seems to me this might be a response to the Video iPod.

  • I Don't See... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by monkaduck ( 902823 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:40PM (#13804589)
    So essentially I'm paying for a UMD disk, then a converter to play it on the TV? And then the PSP version of the game and said converter to play on TV? I already have this. It's called my PS2. I'm not paying for stuff twice just so I can be "cool."
    • A friend at work just bought the PSP version of SSX 4. He was royally pi$$ed to find out that the PSP version he just bought is 10 dollars more than the regular console versions.

      On the one hand, I'm surprised that as many UMD movie disks are selling as they are. The idea of portable movies isn't new or revolutionary, and the PSP has the capacity to playback movies from resonably affordable [pricewatch.com] flash memory.

      On the other hand, I can't see strapping a cheap digitizer to an LCD screen, feeding the video to a tele

      • the PSP has the capacity to playback movies from resonably affordable flash memory.

        It's too bad that in most of the English-speaking world (by population), you could go to prison if you rip a store-bought DVD to flash memory. DMCA is law in the United States, and per the WIPO Copyright Treaty, Australia and the United Kingdom have adopted DMCA-alike legislation.

        PSP UMD disks have resolutions significantly below broadcast quality, and not at all up to DVD standards.

        For one thing, "broadcast quality

  • hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by atarione ( 601740 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:42PM (#13804595)
    PSP $249
    UDM movie $20
    funny looking video capture device on top of your PSP $100
    watching crappy degraded UDM movie on your TV...... PRICELESS.

    oh wait... no this seems really f'ing stupid... why dosn't the psp have some sort of tv out anyway?

  • Pict (Score:5, Informative)

    by PyroX_Pro ( 579695 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:47PM (#13804628) Journal
    Here's a picture, LoL. [qj.net]

    You'd be a tool to buy this.
    • true, though if it were a little larger itd make a nice codpiece, so you could us it *for* your tool....
      At least then it might have some practical value

  • Version 2 in the works already (Score:4, Funny)

    by TheGuano ( 851573 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:53PM (#13804664)
    Why do you need a TV for a big-screen experience on the PSP? Just make a verison that clips on to a huge fresnel lens. Instant 40" widescreen action!
    • Or how about fitting arms to the side of the PSP that fold round and hook over your ears, so that you can wear it like a pair or shades?

      With the screen just an inch or so in front of your eyes, it's bound to appear HUGE! Just like those virtual reality goggles - "gives the appearance of a 52 inch screen at a distance of 3 feet"...
  • It sounds awful cheesy to me.

  • Excellent (Score:5, Interesting)

    by taskforce ( 866056 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @01:59PM (#13804699) Homepage
    While I'm sure nobody is particularly thrilled or compelled to rush out and get a PSP so they can use one of these, It sure does present a great way of getting the UMD content onto a PC (albeit through an analogue in) on a VIVO equipped PC of some kind. In the days of DRM, analogue is your friend.
    • Translation: "Nobody would buy this except a pirate, which is good because that saves the rest of us from having to buy either the actual media or this godawful-stupid looking capture device."

      Why is it that Slashdot thinks they have a God-given right to watch movies for free? (I discount the possibility that the parent is discussing legal format-shifting, because its format-shifting which is in every possible way inferior to just buying the bloody DVD of the same movie, for the same amount of money.)

  • UMD (Score:2, Insightful)

    by TX297 ( 861307 )
    I for one don't see the purpose of buying movies on UMD, especially since you can buy a full-size DVD and rip it to your PC to use on a memory stick. Much more versatile that way.

    Also, Lik-Sang does sell a modification kit with a pure s-video out and PS2 controller port if you look around in TFA.

  • Sony is not going to like this... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16, 2005 @02:09PM (#13804756)
    Sony is gona have a field day since people can intercept the signal and upload it as pirated UMD movies. Given Sony's love for DRM, I am not suprised if they ask the customs to intercept those devices and have the courts declear them illegal.

  • Um... okay (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Sunday October 16, 2005 @02:23PM (#13804821) Homepage
    So between this and the PSP's already-announced "virtual boy" addon [engadget.com], do you think we're starting to see a trend here?
  • This is significant because it completely circumvents the DMCA. For years we've been saying, "the DMCA has no teeth, because ultimately; if I can see it or hear it, I can record it." That is exactly what is happening here, but it avoids the DMCA because it does not break any encryption or other form of effective copyright protection.

    So, who's placing bets on how long it will take for the volley of lobbyists to reach DC?
    • This doesn't fall under the DMCA since no circumvention is taking place. Frankly, they could do a hardware mod that taps into the video feed and still be legal, so long as the original hardware is doing all the decoding. While not necessary to maintain legal status, this could be classified as an aid for the visually impaired which makes it harder for Sony to shoot down.

      At the end of the day this is just a crappy exploit of the analog hole and the big media companies aren't fighting that battle anymore. The
      • I'm with your first paragraph, but your second paragraph is utterly wrong. Big media companies *are* busy working towards completely digital paths to the final output devices. They are not doing that because they have given up on plugging the analog hole. If they had given up on doing that, they wouldn't have new laws on the books about camcorders in theaters.

        In the end, this does prove that once you can see or hear it you can copy it. It doesn't prove they won't try to prevent it (if you will recall, the "

  • Obvious! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Stavr0 ( 35032 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @02:35PM (#13804896) Homepage Journal
    So how does this compare to putting the PSP and a camcorder in a black shoebox and running the cables to your TV?

    Patent pending: to use this technique you must send me $100.

  • Stupidist Idea Ever (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16, 2005 @02:44PM (#13804941)
    UMD Video will be on our tv's soon enough. People think the content was only designed for the psp screen but in all reality, UMD Video is actually encoded at 720x480 (Same resolution as a DVD Video). Think about the math for a second
    1.8 gig umd encoded with mpeg 4 avc codec.
    4.7 gig dvd encoded with mpeg 2

    Mpeg 2 -> Mpeg 4 cut file sizes in half by itself
    Mpeg 4 -> h.263 (avc) Cuts file sizes almost in half again
    That really comes down to mpeg 2 dvd quality can fit in 1/4 the space when encoded with h.263
    1.8 gigs a disc is really quiet a bit for a h.263 encoded movie at dvd resolution, just look at divx, where you can rip an entire movie down to 700meg and maintain most it's quality. H.263 pushes that even further.

    If sony was to encode video for the psp at 480x272 with a bitrate of about 1 meg a second for video and 128kb sound, it would come out far smaller then 1 gig, but the reason you don't see umd rips (which could be played back on a computer using a special player) is because currently there are not many 2 gig pro duo sticks and it makes these movies hard to rip because they almost always take the full 1.8 gig of the umd.

    This sony encoding at 720x480 is not just a hunch based on file sizes either, it's a little bird that wispered in my ear. I think in the next year or two, you can expect to see other umd format devices, such as home players and maybe higher resolution portable movie players.

    People who take this path of scanning there psp to show it on the tv are morons, and they are potentially going to have the worst quality ever seen on a tv. The only way it would be bareable is if the tv your watching it on has a smaller screen then the psp itself, otherwise you'll just have a blurry mess.
    • I am highly in doubt that a 75% reduction in file size will net video quality that is anywhere close to that of a standard DVD as you are claiming. I guess time will tell though.

    • H.264 (Score:3, Informative)

      by YesIAmAScript ( 886271 )
      AVC is H.264, not H.263.

      I think you overstate the level of compression possible without losing quality though.

      I don't believe PSP videos are encoded at 720x480. But time will tell, I suppose.

  • PSone (Score:2, Insightful)

    by PopeOptimusPrime ( 875888 )
    If I wanted to play PSP games on my TV I'd buy a PSOne.
  • This is exactly why I'm not real sure why we're so paranoid about getting locked out of copying DVDs or pay-per-view movies. Look, the worst that'll happen is that you have video tape what you're watching. Until companies figure out how to pipe the goods right into electrodes sitting in our brains, we'll continue to have an awfully natural break point from which to grab anything we can experience -- from the contraptions that allow us to preserve "real life". This Sony PSP handheld projector is an awfully s

  • Long been interested? LONG?!?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by vain gloria ( 831093 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @06:37PM (#13806046) Homepage
    "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that 'all men are created equal'. Which is all well and good, but why the fuck can't I hook my PSP up to the TV? It's a God-damn simple concept! I just keep asking myself how long is it going to take for someone to crack this shizzle, you knizzle?"

    - Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863

  • Sony vs Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FullCircle ( 643323 ) on Sunday October 16, 2005 @06:38PM (#13806050)
    You KNOW that the only reason there is no video output on the PSP is because the Sony content masters are a separate division from the electronics division.

    One has to protect the content at all costs, the other has to sell hardware with restrictions imposed by the content division. What fun it must be to work at Sony ...

    It's like all the DVD players they sold that wouldn't read DVD-R (even those written in Sony burners) a few years ago.
  • Not sure how well This [modchipworld.com] is going to work but it claims to let you use a ps2 controller! No more carpal tunnel after a marathon session of Lumines.
  • still call it illegal and theft.

    i mean after all, when you buy a console, sony/ms/nintendo are still the owners, it's THEIR machine. you have to pay them for the privilege of making addons for it or for executing any code on the processors.

    remember kids, property rights are for hippies and pinko commies and "terrists".
    • i mean after all, when you buy a console, sony/ms/nintendo are still the owners, it's THEIR machine. you have to pay them for the privilege of making addons for it or for executing any code on the processors.

      I know that you're sarcastically stating that Sony will crush its competition as always, but that would be STUPID. Sony can sell MORE PSPs if people know about good add-ons. Nothing, no pride or anger, would lead one company to attack another company when both their bottom lines are improving. It see
  • This is a really bad idea, but it seems to me there are going to be a lot of projects modding these things if they ever come to market and aren't insanely expensive (Even if they are just moderately) expensive, just because it would be fun.
  • ... or are you just happy to see me?

    Don't forget to take the "pyramid like object" off the PSP before putting back in your pocket.
  • Guess what? The PSP is not designed to be hooked up to a television. if you want to do so, you have two options. The first, is to get some half-assed contraption like this, which is going to likely offer crap video quality.

    And then there's the RIGHT WAY. http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3696 [lik-sang.com] Which has been adopted by many gaming news outlets, prior to it even being released.

    It even lets you hook up a PS2 controller. Are you really going to play your PSP with this new contraption on the front of it?

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