PS3 PlayTV first look

PlayTV is Sony’s upcoming PS3 compatible Freeview box which will plug into the PS3 via a USB port. So what? I hear you cry. Why would I buy that? I’ve got one built into by super-duper mammoth HD TV already! Here’s why: Sony plans to let you record programs while you’re playing games on your PS3, and then let you save them in a file format that will work outside the console. Interested now ‘aint ya.

We got a chance to see how this will actually work when we popped along to Sony’s 3Rooms apartment in London’s East End earlier this week. Developed with the help of Sony’s Bravia team, PlayTV will work like a Freeview box, except you’ll be able to record programs. This will work in one of two ways. One – you can view the channel guide, browse all of the currently available Freeview channels and set your PS3 to record a programme. The plan is to allow you to do this while playing a game (the team won’t do anything that will jeopardise gameplay, encouragingly the Q&A team in Liverpool hasn’t encountered any problems so far). If you’re playing a game the PS3 will let you know that it has started recording a programme via a small window in the top-right hand corner of the screen. Your PS3 will even “wake up” to record a programme if it is asleep. Sweet.

Two – you can view a programme, pause it with the start button, go and make a cup of coffee, then come back and play it again. When you pause a programme the PS3 will start buffering up to a maximum of two gigs of data (roughly an hour and a half of standard definition programming, depending on the bit rate of the broadcast). This is represented by a blue bar positioned above the programme details window. Right now the contrast between the length of the programme and the buffer progress isn’t great, but the team is working on making this better. You can set the PS3 to always buffer when you watch a programme or simply start buffering when you pause it – Sony is anxious not to work the PS3’s hard drive if it doesn’t have to. Either way, this is a great feature and one you don’t normally get with basic Freeview boxes.

Now here’s the really interesting part. You’ll be able to save out programmes to the PS3’s Home menu as Mpeg2 videos and, from there, save them to a memory stick and do what you like (pop them on your PC no doubt). Obviously this opens up a can of worms regarding copyright and reproduction of television programmes. But at the end of the day there won’t be any problems – you can already use DVD recorders to save Sky programmes without fear of recrimination. You can even swap out the PS3’s hard drive and use your own to save lots of television programmes, like an entire series of Friends on E4 for example. This, as we’ve been told by some of our chums, might sell a PS3 on its own.

PlayTV will sit in between the videos games on the XMB. From there you can go straight in and watch TV or search the guides, via keyword, and program in recording. From what we’ve seen it’s very quick and easy to navigate, either with the Blu-ray remote, the Sixaxis controller or the PSP. You’ll be able to take a screenshot during the programme and use that as the programme icon, in the same way that images of games show up in the Home menu, too. And you’ll be able to organise your programmes stored on your PS3, so that you’ll have all those episodes of Heroes neatly tucked away for quick finding later.

The PlayTV device itself is a small PS3 branded box with a USB port and a digital aerial receiver. It’s black, so shouldn’t look out of place next to the PS3, but it will be connected via a wire. Bah – we hate wires.

What PlayTV promises for the future is almost as encouraging as what it promises right now. We’re told that if there’s demand then Sony may offer paid-for premium channels, like Setanta Sports. That sounds pretty cool to us. And there’s the prospect of receiving HD channels through the box too, though nothing is confirmed. For now though, we’re excited enough by the prospect of being able to record Freeview programmes without stopping gaming, and even more pumped at the prospect of being able to save those to a PC. There’s no price or release date confirmed as of yet, but as long as PlayTV ends up cheaper than a decent-ish PVR Freeview box, it’ll be worth it. Watch this space.