PSP Tech: The Specs


Specs. What are specs? Aren't they glasses?

In the electronics world, specs means specifications, which tell you all about a device such as a microwave oven, a computer, or a PlayStation Portable.

The specifications in the PSP instruction manual tell you some things, but not all you could possibly know about the device. And the manual doesn't do much to explain some of the gnarly jargon. Let's look more thoroughly at the specs of the PSP.

If technical gibberish bothers you or means nothing to you, feel free to skip this section. Although it's interesting to know what your PSP is made of, you don't necessarily need to know this stuff to get the most out of the device.


Core Specifications

Dimensions: This little guy is 170mm long, 74mm wide, and 24mm thick. In American terminology, that's about 6.7 inches long by 2.9 inches wide by .9 of an inch thick.

Central processing unit (CPU): The CPU runs at anywhere from 1 MHz to 333 MHz, depending on the application. It's a dual-core MIPS32 processor, which is popular among game systems; similar CPUs are used in the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo 64.

Memory: The PSP has 32 MB of RAM, plus 4 MB of embedded DRAM (which is faster and more readily accessed memory). The graphics processor has its own 2 MB of embedded RAM as well.

Video and Audio Specs

Display dimensions: The screen on your PSP is 4 3/10 inches diagonal with a 16:9 aspect ratio (which means that it's a widescreen display). Aspect ratio indicates how far it is across to how it measures vertically.

Display specifications: The TFT LCD (thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) screen is bright, flat, and very thin. The PSP includes brightness adjustment, and the brighter you keep the screen, the faster it drains the battery. It's 480 pixels across by 272 pixels down (pixels are the dots that make up the display).

Speakers: The speakers are, well, stereo speakers.

Media Compatibility Specs

Compatible video formats: The PSP can play the UMD Video format, which is MPEG-4. It can also play MPEG-4 movies from Memory Sticks.

Compatible audio formats: The PSP can handle UMD Audio format (but I have yet to see any UMD Audio discs in existence), which is MPEG-4 layer 3 (MP3), and also ATRAC3 (which is rarely used); WAV; and, with recent firmware, WMA and ACC.

Compatible image formats: For showing pictures and other images, you can load up a Memory Stick with images in the following formats: JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, and BMP.

Stuff You Can Stick into the PSP Specs

Universal Media Disc (UMD): A UMD can store 1.8 GB of information. A tiny disc in a plastic package, a UMD can hold music, movies, games, or other data. The UMD drive is in the PSP is read-only, so it cannot burn UMDs. It uses a 660-nanometer red laser to read data.

Power: An included AC adapter for 120V lines (in North America) can both charge the battery and run the unit from an outlet. It charges at 5V DC.

Battery: The battery included with the PSP is a lithium-ion rechargeable battery, which can be charged any time without the need for complete discharge first. It's user-replaceable, and a charge can last 2 to 6 hours, depending on factors such as screen brightness, whether WLAN networking is being used, and the activity of the user (gaming, for example, can drain the battery faster than listening to music). Ideally, the battery should provide adequate power for 2 years' worth of charges and recharges.

Memory Stick Duo: The PSP's removable memory is in the format of Sony's Memory Stick Duo. Depending on the package, the PSP could come with a 32 MB or 1 GB stick and can use larger capacities.

Interfacing with Other Things Specs

WLAN: The WLAN conforms to the Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b specification and can interface with other units directly in ad-hoc networks or with an access point in an infrastructure network. It supports WEP and, with recent firmware, WPA-SPK security standards. The WLAN can be used to access the Internet and for multiplayer gaming.

USB: The USB port on your PSP supports Hi-Speed USB 2.0 data transfer and is also compatible with USB 1.1 to interface with older computers that lack the newer, faster USB standard.

Infrared: Although the PSP includes an IRdA infrared communication port, it's not currently supported by games or even the unit's firmware.




Secrets of the PlayStation Portable
Secrets of the PlayStation Portable
ISBN: 0321464362
EAN: 2147483647
Year: N/A
Pages: 95
Authors: Joel Durham

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