New PS3 firmware update coming soon

By Ellie Gibson Published 24 June, 2009

Doesn't appear to do anything radical.

Another PS3 firmware update is "coming soon", according to the US PlayStation blog.

Once you've installed update 2.80, "The playback quality of some PlayStation 3 format software has been improved."

The update's not available yet though - we just checked - so you'll have to put up with the slightly less good playback quality of some PlayStation 3 format software in the meantime.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • drewman5150 #1 3 years ago

    Exactly what does "improve the playback quality of some PS3 software" mean?
    Does anybody really know, and if it's only "some" software, then surely it would make sense to check to see whether I've actually got said "some" software, and not bother wasting my time and bandwidth.

  • NoQuarter #2 3 years ago

    I'm sure this will definitely be worth the 20 minute download and install time.

  • Negotiator #3 3 years ago

    Does it ever.

  • Arwin #4 3 years ago

    It's already out. It's up but not yet obligatory, so if you manually go to 'Update Software' you'll get it. The overall performance of just about everything that has to do with online stuff seems to be improved. Trophy synching is much faster for instance. Also the browser is much faster - I don't know whether that is through a new browser version, better netcode (could be in-line with the rest of the performance upgrades) or both, but just try and load up Eurogamer or neogaf or anything else and you'll see what I mean. Eurogamer also hasn't crashed yet - it's lately been the only site that managed to get the PS3 browser stuck for me once in a while. But then again, it also broke 3 out of 5 PC browsers, so that may be Eurogamer's own fault.

  • seasidebaz #5 3 years ago

    Exactly what does "improve the playback quality of some PS3 software" mean?
    Does anybody really know, and if it's only "some" software, then surely it would make sense to check to see whether I've actually got said "some" software, and not bother wasting my time and bandwidth.

    It does exactly what it says. It improves playback quality of some PS3 software. One of these came out before and made Uncharted run better with far less tearing.

  • youhavenomail #6 3 years ago

    Do you think 'some PS3 software' means Ghostbusters?

  • Doctor_What #7 3 years ago

    @ Baz & Arwin: cheers, good answers :)

  • Vistrix #8 3 years ago

    You can get it on the Playstation site.

    It seems like the ingame XMB speed has been improved - I really wish they started posting a full update list.

  • X201 #9 3 years ago

    "The playback quality of some PlayStation 3 format software has been improved."
    I think its just a catch-all phrase for when they don't want to talk about what's actually in the update.

    Previous updates that have actually been to fix game problems have incremented the version number by small amounts, the last couple of these updates have had largish updates numbers, the version number has jumped quite a bit over the last few updates leading me to start the rumour mill that these updates actually contain more than Sony is letting on, and could be building blocks for the eventual release of 3.0 or perhaps the film download service for Europe.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 10:03

  • yegon #10 3 years ago

    What's the likelihood we'll ever see mkv support?

    Yes yes, I'm aware of mkv2vob and use it regularly, but it'd be nice to skip that process entirely.

  • andijames #11 3 years ago

    Yep i agree X201. Possible code changes for implementing larger features at a later date. Laying the foundations as it were. Must say it is zipping along nicely now with this update though. XMB does appear to be quicker (in game) amongst other things.

  • boggissimo #12 3 years ago

    On the UK site it says exactly the same thing for v2.76: "The playback quality of some PLAYSTATION 3 software has been improved."

  • dadrester #13 3 years ago

    have they moved the fucking battery indicator?!

  • Ste105 #14 3 years ago

    well the last update improved playback of DiVx movies i downloaded....sound is still missing on some of them, but thats just the compression used

  • peterfll #15 3 years ago

    I actually use the PS3 browser, I find it quite handy. Although it's a bugger for hanging and erractic display formatting, especially on sites that are quite Javascript intensive. I would welcome improvements to it.

    I'm also looking forward to the next "big" firmware update - any rumours on what might be in it yet?

  • Skire #16 3 years ago

    @yegon

    why don't you use PS3 Media Server? with that program there's no need to convert files anymore. it plays any format! you should try it.

  • #17 3 years ago

    Disc posted a link this morning about a rumour in V3. X-game chat and in game chat.

    I doubt it to be honest, I think they would have implemented this ages ago if it was technically possible as its the most asked for feature.

  • ph0b0z #18 3 years ago

    @Skire: It works, but there wouldn't be any need to let another 150Watt Machine do the transcoding if the PS3 would support mkv files. Sony calls it a MediaCenter! So it should be one. ;)

  • robg #19 3 years ago

    Doesn't appear to do anything radical

    That's a pretty negative view of the PS3.

  • Arwin #20 3 years ago

    I think if you look at how the chat-room works that was added a few versions ago, it does seem very likely that they'll use the framework to set up voice chat eventually. I'm definitely not discounting that rumor for 3.0. However I also really don't care! I'd rather they add Skype support to XMB or something like that, to be honest. Now that would be useful. ;)
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 12:36

  • Retroid #21 3 years ago

    Hasn't Sony previously said that x.x releases (like 2.4, or this 2.8) are the main ones? I find it odd they've not said what this adds.

  • makeamazing #22 3 years ago

    Wonder if it will fix the random DNS errors problem, according to SKY its a Sony problem... this doesnt sound like a fix for that :D

  • Johnsters #23 3 years ago

    @NoQuarter

    If your downloads/updates are taking 20 minutes then I will assume you are using the wireless network.
    A wired PS3 connection with about 4MB broadband takes me about 4-5 mins max

    There is talk on Forums that suggest the PS3 wireless card throttles. I have experienced this, though I have colleagues that use wireless and are okay but this maybe HW revision dependent. (I have a day 1 PS3)

    If wireless downloads are a problem may I suggest hard wiring into an Apple Express station and then connecting to a 802.11n network base somewhere else. THis is what I did and it works a treat. I can even stream AirTunes (Itunes over Wireless) at the same time as the download with no reduction in performance/quality

    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 13:27

  • Beano #24 3 years ago

    @Johnsters : I agree. I'm using wired LAN and NEVER experience performance issues downloading firmwares or DLC from PSN Store.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 14:20

  • stephen #25 3 years ago

    I don't understand how the PS3's wifi is so shit. When mine updates it takes well over an hour on 3Mbit broadband. If I go to the Sony site on my PC I can download the software update in a few minutes. Which is useless because the PS3 denies that its present if I put it on a USB key and insert it!

  • Darren #26 3 years ago

    I installed the new v2.80 firmware at 8am this morning so it was available, you just had to check for it manually by going to Settings > Update via Internet. Otherwise, as happened with me, the PS3 just signs into PSN as normal.

  • Darren #27 3 years ago

    @stephen - I have my PS3 connected to my router wirelessly and the firmware updates have never taken more than 4 - 5 minutes tops. I usually install them at 8am though which is probably the best time IMO as you get the quickest download speeds.

  • Diomedes #28 3 years ago

    Each firmware update compress further and further and optimizes the OS ,so it frees some memory and "improves the playback quality of software ".Thats ,less frame rate problems etc .

    The real reason the PS3 versions are up to par with 360 versions in multiplattform titles these days is because Sony has managed to reduce (even augmenting features ) the OS from the original 96 Mb to some 40-something in 2.76 ...its starting to get close to the 360 32mb of OS and we can see the results.

  • Darren #29 3 years ago

    @Diomedes - What you wrote is true but it doesn't look good when the competition managed to solve that problem before the console was even launched! ;)

    Still better later than never, right?

  • patch #30 3 years ago

    Rumours abound that this update has something to do with voice in it somewhere. Can someone confirm this for me please: Does the new update lock the microphone volume level to 3? It's something I've heard but can't confirm till 5 tonight :)

    Could well be there's more to this update than we suspected. Maybe something for the future *ahem* *cross game chat* *ahem*?

  • drewman5150 #31 3 years ago

    @diomedes if this is the case, then I can see why the "playback quality" would improve - see, that's all Sony have to say "We've reduced the footprint of the OS so there's more memory available, further updates will continue this trend where possible"

    Maybe I should send my CV to Sony PR...

  • ArcticMonkey #32 3 years ago

    @yegon:
    Chances of MKV support are there. DivX has added MKV support and the Sony has licensed DivX for PS3.

  • 2099net #33 3 years ago

    I wish they'd do something when playing 4:3 content on Blu-ray - its often used for supplements, especially archive stuff taken from old DVDs, and the PS3 insists on playing it in widescreen through HDMI. Being as their DVD software is clever enough not to do this, why can't their Blu-ray software?

  • Retroid #34 3 years ago

    @Diomedes: They're reducing the RAM overheads as you say, yes. But the developers can't presume there's going to be any more available to the machine than the number they're given to start with, so I doubt any optimisations would benefit existing games.

    That's for the games which're still coming.

  • man.the.king #35 3 years ago

    @Johnsters

    "There is talk on Forums that suggest the PS3 wireless card throttles. I have experienced this, though I have colleagues that use wireless and are okay but this maybe HW revision dependent. (I have a day 1 PS3) "

    Not for me. I have a 60 GB US launch model as well and have used WiFi ever since I got it. WiFi speed has never been an issue for me. The update takes place in a few minutes.

  • 3william56 #36 3 years ago

    Stephen - did you put the firmware file into the correct folder on your USB key (drive:/PS3/UPDATE)? I've never had a problem (hurrah for saving download quotas by getting it at work).
    Edited by 1 at 25/06/09 @ 06:56

  • Johnsters #37 3 years ago

    @man.the.king

    But it also could be the wireless network. I used to use a Netgear wireless router that was about 40ft from the PS3 using 802.11G. Now with .n, I don't have a problem.

  • man.the.king #38 3 years ago

    @Johnsters

    Could be. Myself, I don't have any wireless router outside of the 2Wire router that was supplied by AT&T with their DSL connection, and to my recollection, no update has ever taken more than 6-7 minutes, with the updates usually averaging at 4-5 minutes.

  • m0thr4 #39 3 years ago

    A wired PS3 connection with about 4MB broadband takes me about 4-5 mins max

    That sounds about right - it takes 30-40 secs on 50Mbps cable broadband.

  • m0thr4 #40 3 years ago

    @2099net
    I wish they'd do something when playing 4:3 content on Blu-ray - its often used for supplements, especially archive stuff taken from old DVDs, and the PS3 insists on playing it in widescreen through HDMI. Being as their DVD software is clever enough not to do this, why can't their Blu-ray software?

    Sounds like you have the BD/DVD Upscaler set to "Full Screen" instead of "Normal" (720p) or "Double" (1080p).

    Either that or your TV is doing it for you (ensure it's set to "Wide", "Widescreen" or "16:9", depending on the make).

    I just checked some 4:3 features a couple of seconds ago (2001: A Space Odyssey BD) and they play in proper 4:3 with black borders to the left and right.

  • 3william56 #41 3 years ago

    It's actually a bl**dy good and important update - makes the XMB a lot snappier, but the big news is that the web browser is finally up to (near) PC speeds and now usable as a first choice internet viewer (except for really heavy pages). Don't understand why the 3rd place console doesn't make a decent song and dance when it's updated, particularly when it really sorts out or adds something the competition doesn't do.