TOPIC: Introduction to PS3 video.

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Introduction
The PS3 is both a game console and a computer. Game consoles traditionally output to TV screens, computers traditionally output to computer monitors. TV screens and computer monitors have very little in common. The PS3 can output to both, and can also output to High-Definition (HD) TV screens. Since this involves several completely different sets of standards, things can get complex. This series of HOWTOs will attempt to reduce this complexity, provide some foundation material to better understand how your PS3 is talking to your TV or computer monitor, and how to adjust the display.


Video terminology
There are many terms and concepts that should be understood to get the best out of your PS3 display. The following is a list of useful Wikipedia articles:

• Overscan
• Interlace vs Progressive scan
• NTSC vs PAL vs SECAM television standards
• Computer display standard
• Standard-Definition television (SDTV) vs High-Definition television (HDTV)
• Composite video vs S-Video vs SCART vs VGA connector vs Component video vs Digital Visual Interface (DVI) vs High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
• High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)
• RGB, YUV, YCbCr, and YPbPr colour spaces
• Video standards comparison
• 480i vs 480p vs 576i vs 576p vs 720p vs 1080i vs 1080p vs WXGA vs SXGA vs WUXGA video modes

Video modes
The PS3 uses a set number of basic video modes, denoted by number rather than by resolution:

	60Hz modes
	    1:480i 2:480p 3:720p 4:1080i  5:1080p
	50Hz modes
	    6:576i 7:576p 8:720p 9:1080i 10:1080p
	VESA modes
	    11:WXGA 12:SXGA 13:WUXGA
	

60Hz modes are suitable for NTSC televisions, 50Hz modes are suitable for PAL and SECAM televisions, VESA modes are suitable for computer monitors. An "i" after a resolution represents an Interlace mode, and a "p" represents a Progressive scan mode. Except for old style CRT televisions, progressive scan is usually the better choice. On top of these basic video modes, several variations are possible when using the ps3-video-mode tool. The default is YPbPr (called YUV by ps3-video-mode) and Overscan. RGB and / or fullscreen can be chosen instead. The best variations for you depend on the monitor or television you use. We recommend that you find the basic video mode that works best for you, then try out the variations later.


During installation
When installing Yellow Dog Linux, you will need a monitor or television capable of at least 3:720p in order to perform a graphical install. If you do not have this capability, or running "install" at the KBoot prompt does not work with your monitor or television, "install-ps3-text" may be used instead. This will force the Yellow Dog Linux installer to run in a low-resolution text mode.

Once the system is installed, your system will default to text mode, you will have to refer to Video Config how-to to switch to graphical mode again.

If the default graphical install is supported by your hardware, then after installation, the default "ydl" boot can be used.


Minimum video mode for Yellow Dog Linux
The minimum supported graphical mode for running Yellow Dog Linux is mode number 3:720p. This functions with HDMI and Component connections as explained in the HOWTO PS3 video connections.

If you use a Composite connection, the graphical install is not supported. You will need to use the text based installer and then modify your post-install environment to support graphics. However, this is painful and not highly recommended as the resolution is too low for many applications to be useful. If you have only an S-Video connection and wish to enable graphics, refer to the HOWTO Switching to Graphical Mode after Text Based Install.

This HOWTO was written by Tim Renner and David Seikel, Terra Soft Solutions.