PSP as a Portable Video Player?

[Rumz]

So I saw the PSP at a store today, $199 for the barebones system. Add that to the fact that 2gb memory stick flash cards are reasonably cheap, and this starts to look appealing as a video player-- screen is decent-sized and a pretty slim profile. (That and I'm getting tired to waiting for the rumored widescreen video iPod).

So, anyone out there use theirs as a video player? Obviously it plays back UMD media but I'm not really interested in that.

It sounds like, from one thread on here, that there may be an issue with ghosting. Is this true? How watchable are action movies on the PSP?

I take it that the PSP will play back h.264 mp4 files?

What resolution is the PSP screen (or better yet, whats optimum size / resolution for video files for playback on PSP?)

What's battery life like when playing back video off the PSP? (I imagine H.264 is taxing, what other video formats does it support?)

Mainly I'd like to have something not quite so large as a portable DVD player to watch TV shows at the gym.

How do 4:3 formatted videos look on the screen, are they watchable (large enough)?

A video player is the only use I'd have for the PSP-- I don't plan on playing any games on it. Any alternative video players you'd recommend that have a pretty decent profile and price? I don't mind the 2gb limit as I'd just load a few episodes of a TV show on to take to the gym, as long as I get a couple hours of battery life I'm set.

Sorry if I've asked a ton of questions-- thanks for any light you can shed on the PSP for me

[acekat13]

For its price, size, weight, and removable flash memory...I think its great. I have NEVER had a problem with "ghosting," on any type of movie. If you invest in any memory stick over 1GB, you can store a decent amount of video files to take with you on the go. UMD video is also great. I use EBAY to buy UMD movies and I have never paid more than 10 dollars for a UMD disc. You can find great bargains on EBAY when it comes to UMD movies. On a full battery charge I can watch around 3 hours of video, now that my battery is almost 2 years old I only get about 2-2.5 hours of video. I also bought a headphone splitter and got an extra set of official Sony PSP headphones on ebay for under 12 bucks!!! So on flights, both my girlfriend and I can enjoy a movie together. Overall I think its a great investment, my only problem with it is that the volume on some UMD discs does not go as loud as I would like it to, but if you convert your own video files you can adjust them so they are nice and loud. Hope my opinion helps!!!

[Ishiyoshi]

So, anyone out there use theirs as a video player? Obviously it plays back UMD media but I'm not really interested in that.

It sounds like, from one thread on here, that there may be an issue with ghosting. Is this true? How watchable are action movies on the PSP?

Yes, I do frequently - both UMD Video & self-encoded AVC (H.264) full to short video clips. No significant ghosting issue at my end. I believe the issue arises from improperly encoding and the quality of the original source. Overall, action movies are watchable on the PSP.

I take it that the PSP will play back h.264 mp4 files?

What resolution is the PSP screen (or better yet, whats optimum size / resolution for video files for playback on PSP?)

The PSP supports AVC and standard .mp4 files. If you prefer the absolute video quality - encode to AVC format at 368 x 208 (ideal for widescreen format) @ two-pass whenever possible. Note: the PSP has a maximum resolution of 480 x 272 pixels but you can only (at the moment) encode video clips/full length movies at either max. resolution of 368 x 208 or the usual* 320 x 240. *from utilities such as Image Converter 2 Plus.

What's battery life like when playing back video off the PSP? (I imagine H.264 is taxing, what other video formats does it support?)

Mainly I'd like to have something not quite so large as a portable DVD player to watch TV shows at the gym.

How do 4:3 formatted videos look on the screen, are they watchable (large enough)?

PSP only support AVC (H.264) and standard .mp4 files. No problem with either 4:3 or 16:9 formatted videos - just remember to set your conversion settings accordingly.

As for battery life, acekat13 is about just right - I do get the usual 2.5 to 3 hrs (with the standard 1800mAh battery) and about 4hrs++ (with the larger 2200mAh battery) of video time.

Sorry if I've asked a ton of questions-- thanks for any light you can shed on the PSP for me

If you have further queries, feel free to drop me an im.

[mercury_in_flames]

I dunno rumz. First thing to do is to try converting your own videos to the right format and see how they look, sound and how it feels doing it. I mean if you cant be bothered to wait if your computer isnt very fast. Also it will give you an idea if you will have any problems with audio/video sync. I had sync problems and decided to keep my money.

[Rumz]

Thanks for all your replies, so far. One or 2 more questions:

The PSP supports AVC and standard .mp4 files. If you prefer the absolute video quality - encode to AVC format at 368 x 208 (ideal for widescreen format) @ two-pass whenever possible. Note: the PSP has a maximum resolution of 480 x 272 pixels but you can only (at the moment) encode video clips/full length movies at either max. resolution of 368 x 208 or the usual* 320 x 240. *from utilities such as Image Converter 2 Plus.

PSP only support AVC (H.264) and standard .mp4 files. No problem with either 4:3 or 16:9 formatted videos - just remember to set your conversion settings accordingly.

Encoding issues aside, could the PSP *play back* a video file encoded at 480 x 272? What about a larger sized video (ie native resolution of the DVD-- can the PSP downscale that to play it?) I imagine battery life would be somewhat less with larger files?

There is a Mac program called HandBrake that I use to encode DVDs to h.264, which allows me to scale videos to whatever size I need (this program is 100% free, too!)

Also this machine has 2 gb ram and a dual core 2.16 processor, so it has enough muscle to do some 2-pass h.264 encoding (I've already encoded several DVDs, just not at PSP resolutions).

One last question that popped into mind: for those of you playing videos off a 1gb+ memory stick, is it just a standard memory stick? IE, do you need something faster like the "ultra" variety that sandisk has?

[Ishiyoshi]

Thanks for all your replies, so far. One or 2 more questions:

Encoding issues aside, could the PSP *play back* a video file encoded at 480 x 272? What about a larger sized video (ie native resolution of the DVD-- can the PSP downscale that to play it?) I imagine battery life would be somewhat less with larger files?

Yes, the PSP can definitely playback video files encoded at 480 x 272. In addition, you can definitely downscale (encode it into AVC format) .vob files easily with free software such as PSP Video 9 at the highest available quality settings. As for battery life, it is relative to the brightness settings and definitely length of the video in question.

Also this machine has 2 gb ram and a dual core 2.16 processor, so it has enough muscle to do some 2-pass h.264 encoding (I've already encoded several DVDs, just not at PSP resolutions).

I remember you did mention that your brother has a PSP. So, you are all set for a test drive.

One last question that popped into mind: for those of you playing videos off a 1gb+ memory stick, is it just a standard memory stick? IE, do you need something faster like the "ultra" variety that sandisk has?

You can just utilize standard Memory Stick Pro Duo. I utilize a few standard 2GB MS Pro Duo and I am pretty satisfied with its performance for video. Of course, you will definitely experienced a boost in performance with those high speed variety.

[Rumz]

Yes, the PSP can definitely playback video files encoded at 480 x 272. In addition, you can definitely downscale (encode it into AVC format) .vob files easily with free software such as PSP Video 9 at the highest available quality settings. As for battery life, it is relative to the brightness settings and definitely length of the video in question.

I remember you did mention that your brother has a PSP. So, you are all set for a test drive.

You can just utilize standard Memory Stick Pro Duo. I utilize a few 2GB MS Pro Duo and I am pretty satisfied with its performance for video.

Haha, well my brother doesn't have one but based on the comments of those here, the PSP seems like a worthy investment as a portable video player. For less than $300 I could have a PSP + 2gb of memory-- perfect. I have several videos encoded already to 320x240, now that I think about it-- but they were done in Nero for playback on my cell phone and quality is lacking on the (the screen on my cell phone (Treo 650) is just 320x240)-- not quite big enough for use at the gym.

Thanks for all your comments. As a side comment, any must-have games out there? Can't say I play console cames much but I might as well look into them as this thing does play them

[Ishiyoshi]

Haha, well my brother doesn't have one but based on the comments of those here, the PSP seems like a worthy investment as a portable video player. For less than $300 I could have a PSP + 2gb of memory-- perfect. I have several videos encoded already to 320x240, now that I think about it-- but they were done in Nero for playback on my cell phone and quality is lacking on the (the screen on my cell phone (Treo 650) is just 320x240)-- not quite big enough for use at the gym.

Once you've acquired a PSP, do try and encode at 368 x 208 - it fits the PSP better at full screen mode.

[Rumz]

Once you've acquired a PSP, do try and encode at 368 x 208 - it fits the PSP better at full screen mode.

So whats the difference between memory stick pro and memory stick pro duo? Will either work in a PSP? Is 4gb the largest capacity currently available?

[Ishiyoshi]

So whats the difference between memory stick pro and memory stick pro duo? Will either work in a PSP?

Only the PRO Duo will work in a PSP. --> read this Sony guide for further details.

Is 4gb the largest capacity currently available?

Yes, it is - in Japan, one can get the SanDisk version for approx. 21,000 yen; and I believe much lower in the States.

[pata2001]

PSP is a good video playing device mainly because of its screen. However, I find its format support is very finicky. For example, on SP MP4 videos, it can only support videos encoded with AAC audio using 24kHz sampling frequency. Any different it won't play the file. As for AVC, the audio MUST be AAC with 48kHz sampling frequency (not 44.1kHz). Other than that, and the PSP will refuse to play the video. I don't understand this silly restriction.

There is also the frame-rate issue. The PSP only supports 29.97fps or 14.98 fps. Nothing in between. So, if you have videos with 30/24fps frame rate or some other number, most encoders for the PSP (including PSP video 9 and Nero) will have problems with audio out of sync with the video. Really super annoying!

Another thing, the resulted MP4 video needs some odd tags for the PSP, which explains why you need to use special program like PSP video 9 or the PSP preset in Nero Recode. If you use other MPEG4 encoders (eg. Divx/Xvid), or even non-PSP preset in Nero Recode, even if you specify the video/audio spec exactly to match the PSP requirement, the resulting MP4 won't be playable on the PSP if it lacks those specific tags.

The 5G iPod has better MP4/AVC support compared to the PSP. Too bad it has a small non-wide screen and worse battery life.

[Rumz]

PSP is a good video playing device mainly because of its screen. However, I find its format support is very finicky. For example, on SP MP4 videos, it can only support videos encoded with AAC audio using 24kHz sampling frequency. Any different it won't play the file. As for AVC, the audio MUST be AAC with 48kHz sampling frequency (not 44.1kHz). Other than that, and the PSP will refuse to play the video. I don't understand this silly restriction.

There is also the frame-rate issue. The PSP only supports 29.97fps or 14.98 fps. Nothing in between. So, if you have videos with 30/24fps frame rate or some other number, most encoders for the PSP (including PSP video 9 and Nero) will have problems with audio out of sync with the video. Really super annoying!

Another thing, the resulted MP4 video needs some odd tags for the PSP, which explains why you need to use special program like PSP video 9 or the PSP preset in Nero Recode. If you use other MPEG4 encoders (eg. Divx/Xvid), or even non-PSP preset in Nero Recode, even if you specify the video/audio spec exactly to match the PSP requirement, the resulting MP4 won't be playable on the PSP if it lacks those specific tags.

The 5G iPod has better MP4/AVC support compared to the PSP. Too bad it has a small non-wide screen and worse battery life.

Wow... that sounds like a hassle. So not so easy as just telling handbrake to rip h.264 / AAC @ 48Khz / 29.97fps, huh? I mean that in and of itself is pretty finicky... but to have to use another program to tag it right... wow. Maybe I should hold off just yet... and this pickiness isn't something that has been resolved by firmware updates, huh? I certainly hope that if Sony releases a device geared specifically towards portable video playback (not a game console) that it isn't this picky...

[pata2001]

Wow... that sounds like a hassle.

The good news is there is a freeware like PSP video 9 that takes all (except the frame rate issue) that into consideration, and produces PSP compatible videos. And if you have Nero recode, it has a PSP preset (but no AVC). Both are Windows only though. However, there is still no fix for the frame rate issue, unless you transcode the video with another program first that can correctly do a frame rate conversion without loosing audio sync.

[DrSiddons]

I've been using the PSP as a video viewer for months. I commute 2 hours daily on a train. Watching movies and tv series (Battlestar Gallectica, Ghost In The Shell, The 4400, etc.) makes the commute manageable.

I use the PSP with my Mac. I use Handbrake and iPSP to do the conversions. The screen on the PSP is drop dead gorgeous. It took me several tries to get all the settings right (for best sound and image). But once the learning curve is done it works great.

Enjoy.