Deep Inside PS3

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PlayStation3 isn't just going to be a bit better, or a bit different, or a bit more powerful than PlayStation2 - it's going to be tens and hundreds of times more... more everything. That means more complex to understand, harder for game makers to comprehend and more technology under the bonnet to get to grips with, both for gamers and those poor souls currently locked away in windowless offices programming the PS3 games we'll be playing at the end of the year.

The most complicated part of PS3 is also the most important, and it lies at its very core - the Cell. Developed in partnership between Sony, Toshiba and IBM, Cell is the brain, the main processor unit that powers the new machine. Incorporated into PS3 as the Cell Broadband Engine, Cell contains eight Syngergistic Processor Elements (SPEs) that all work together within Cell. Each can be assigned different tasks or can be harnessed together, ensuring PS3 isn't just powerful - it can multi-task. It can pat its head while stroking its tummy and playing the piano.

Of these eight SPEs one is a spare - put in there in case manufacturing problems or wear and tear breaks one - with PS3's Cell only using seven of these separate cores at any one time. The Cell itself also contains a main PowerPC Architecture Unit (PAU) which organises the workload between those seven SPUs. The PAU is the brainstem and Cell's workshop foreman, perhaps allocating one SPU to look after a game's enemy artificial intelligence, while another looks after maintaining the connection to your online game and another handles the way the blood splatters out of whoever it is you're currently shooting.

That's the core concept behind Cell - there won't be slowdown as the processor gets bogged down, it should all just... work. Power can be pulled in from elsewhere if needed, tasks shared or separated to ensure consistency. The magic number Sony is pushing around for Cell's power is 218. That's 218 gigaflops, or supercomputer levels of power. This multiple processing thing is going to be essential in the next generation of games machines - because they're not just games machines. PS3 won't just play whatever new Grand Theft Auto they make next, it will also play high-definition movie footage, connect to your PSP, link to any computer network and let you play against others online. It needs a central processor that's versatile, one that can cope with everything PS3 can do - and that's what Cell has been designed to do.

PLAY AND DISPLAY
But these days it's not enough to just have a powerful processor. High-definition displays and massively complex 3D worlds require dedicated processors to handle the vast amount of data that's being compiled and thrown out of the core and in the direction of your television. To help with this, attached to the Cell is your graphics processor. In PS3's case it's called RSX, made by cutting edge tech specialists NVIDIA. It'll soon be hyped as the "Reality Synthesiser", or this generation's answer to PS2's Emotion Engine.

The RSX is a 550Mhz graphics chip, one that, according to NVIDIA, is more than twice
as powerful as its current cutting-edge GeForce 6800 Ultra range of cards. The 6800s currently cost around 200 on their own. PS3's going to have twice the grunt. In fact, Sony reckons all this internal hardware will give PS3 two teraflops of power in total - Xbox 360 just about scrapes together one. And to get all that graphical power onto your screen, there's not one but two HDMI sockets. HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface - is the latest tech standard that gets high-definition images onto your LCD screen, plasma TV or PC monitor.

HI-DEF: THE GOOD AND THE BAD
The console makers love HDMI because it's digital, and also carries a secondary signal
along with the picture data referred to as HDCP, and HDCP is the other next big thing
in high-definition playback. It stands for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection and is the latest thing Hollywood boffins have invented to try to stop movie piracy.

Any screen badged 'HD Ready' will support HDCP, and if it supports HDCP it means you'll be limited in what you can watch. All digital content will be signed and encrypted by the player, then will only play on screens that have the correct decoding key - if your TV isn't 'HD Ready' and can't accept HDCP signals over HDMI, you won't get PS3 or Blu-Ray movies in their intended highest resolution. The makers say it's designed to ensure the display signal is of the correct quality, but its secret special mission is to make piracy that much harder.

PS3 will also support the emerging 1080p television standard, thanks to its digital HDMI sockets. You can't buy that many 1080p screens yet - and those you can buy are several thousands of pounds - but it's commonly agreed that 1080p is the future format for all high-definition TV. 1080 is the number of lines the picture is made up of, and the 'p' means you're getting a progressive picture - the entire image updated 50 or 60 times a second. Current TVs update half the picture in the same time period, giving you a lower quality interlaced display.

Xbox 360's maximum progressive output is 720p. PlayStation3's going to eclipse that and then some, although it may not be quite the dream we're lead to believe. Higher resolutions take up more processor power and are tougher on the poor old RSX, and it's thought that most PS3 games will in fact run at the less demanding 720p format so there's more oomph left over for piling on the special effects and keeping frame rates silky smooth.

Another reason for the possible lessening of output power is Sony's bewildering decision to put two HDMI connectors on PS3, meaning that, if you want, you can have two high-def screens connected to it. A fancy feature and possibly of some use for multiplayer games, but even a machine with the power of PS3 might struggle a bit to generate two high-def games at the same time. Six USB ports are another puzzling step too far - why on earth would a games machine need six USB ports? Unless, as Xbox 360 owners are finding out to their cost, the batteries on wireless controllers don't tend to last that long so you end up leaving them plugged in via the charge cables all the time...

Big games need lots of storage, and that's another place PS3 stomps triumphantly over the opposition. As with 1080p, Blu-Ray is another emerging technology most industry observers believe is the next-generation replacement for DVD, thanks to a maximum storage capacity of 54 gigabytes on its dual-layer discs. Old DVD managed 9 gigabytes.

Discs won't be the only way to get data onto your PS3. The machine has a Memory Stick slot, boosted surprisingly by SD and CompactFlash card holes so you can grab data off just about any mobile phone, camera or other memory-guzzling gadget. The controllers are another miracle of connectivity, using Bluetooth to allow up to seven to connect at the same time.

WI-FI SWAP PARTY
In other connectivity news, PS3's also packing full wi-fi features, supporting the industry standard of 801.11b/g. This means the console will be able to hook into any wireless network in range, without the need for additional hardware. It'll just work, and will just connect to your PSP as well. The potential for being able to download stuff through your PSP and then simply wi-fi it onto your PSP is immense.

Which leads us onto the community aspect of PS3, the one area in which Sony has started losing ground to Microsoft recently, thanks to the rival Xbox format's superior online service. PlayStation3 is going to change all that, introducing what Sony is referring to as the PS3 HUB - an always-on, free broadband service where you meet your friends to play games, chat, download music, and coordinate your PS3 and PSP gaming. What you will have to pay for is game, film or music downloads. Sony
have confirmed that certain PSone games will be available for download for use on PSP, hence the Memory Stick slot on the PS3. Because Sony isn't just a games company, HUB won't simply be you playing your mates at Tekken.

An EyeToy-like service has also been confirmed, with a PS3-compatible HD-IP (High-Definition Internet Protocol) camera that can capture high-def images and then rebroadcast them via your network to anyone in the world you want to see you. Naked or not. Don't worry about your gaming collection either - the 13,000 existing PSone and PS2 games will run on PS3, thanks to full backwards compatibility. Key games like GT4 will magically look better on PS3, thanks to Sony tech boffins. You'll be needing a hard drive if you want to save seriously large amounts of stuff, too. The PS3 hard drive is 60 gigabytes, removable, portable and is going to be supplied with every PS3. So that's what
you'll be getting inside PlayStation3. So far Sony has also announced that more than 4000 final versions of the PS3 hardware are currently in the hands of developers worldwide. Tens of thousands of men are currently puzzling over technical manuals trying to work out how best to get all the new bits of PlayStation3 working, and we'd imagine a lot of them are crying a bit and smashing their mice down on the desk quite hard. It is hard, but is going to be worth it. Roll on November...

PSW Staff