The PlayStation Portable Works

The Sony PlayStation 2 has become a mainstay in the living
rooms of video game players around the world. With the PSP
(PlayStation Portable), Sony took its first step into the
portable, handheld video game arena.

With devices like the Nokia N-Gage, the Nintendo Game Boy
Advance and Nintendo's newest handheld, the DS, on the market,
the PSP faces stiff competition. But with its widescreen
display, powerful graphics and ability to do more than play
games, the PSP still stands out in the crowd. In this article,
we'll learn what sets the PSP apart when it comes to gaming
on the go.

PSP Innovations


Sony practically invented the world of portable electronics
when it released the Sony Walkman audio cassette player in
1979. When it came time to design a portable gaming system,
Sony wasn't content to replicate what had come before:
Typical handheld game systems are a few generations behind
the cutting edge of home console gaming -- the Nintendo DS
is about as powerful as a Nintendo 64, which came out in
1996. But the PSP has the same amount of CPU power as the
full-size PlayStation 2.

The first thing most people notice about the PSP is the
widescreen monitor that takes up practically the entire width
of the device. The screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio and
features a 480x272-pixel TFT-LCD screen (thin-film transistor
liquid-crystal display -- also known as an active-matrix LCD).

Sony has also designed an all-new format for the medium that
carries games, movies and other information for use on the
PSP. Universal Media Discs (UMD) are 60-mm optical discs that
hold up to 1.8 gigabytes (GB) of information. Sony reports
that the UMD cartridge was designed to be manufactured
quickly and for lower costs than earlier, lower-capacity
portable media.

Earlier game systems, both portable and console-based, have
split different functions into separate processors, such as
a processor for graphics and a processor for mathematical
calculations. The PSP takes this concept to another level:
It features a main central processing unit (CPU), a media
processor, a 3-D graphics processor, a security processor to
prevent piracy and a final processor to manage power and
conserve battery life.

In one area, the PSP does not diverge from what has come
before. The portable system features the buttons that are
familiar to PlayStation players, and all the controls are
mounted to the ergonomically designed body of the unit.