Playstation Portable

Sony PSP Go console. The penultimate model produced by Sony, it lacks the UMD disc drive present on all other models

The Sony PSP is a portable games console produced by Sony between 2004 and 2014. While always designed and marketed as a portable system, later models of the PSP introduced a TV out option which makes them of interest to users of upscalers.

Models

There were a total of five different hardware revisions. The first revision (PSP-1000) and the last (PSP Street or PSP-E1000) do NOT offer a TV/external display output option. The PSP-2000, PSP-3000 and PSP Go variants DO offer this option however. The PSP Go is particularly attractive to gamers wanting to play on the big screen as it can be paired with a DualShock 3 controller.

When using the PSP with an external display, games are rendered at the 480 × 272 resolution of the PSP screen, rather than the standard 480p (720×480) resolution used for output. This means games are displayed with black windowboxing on the external display. To get around this limitation, an external video processor with picture zoom functionality is required.

Models tested

Sony PSP Go (with OSSC)

XRGB-2 Specific settings

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XRGB-3 Specific settings

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XRGB-Mini Specific settings

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OSSC Specific settings

Since the OSSC is a line doubler not a full blown video scaler, it cannot be used to zoom the PSPs output. It can however be used with another video scaler to produce a more pleasingly scaled image than would otherwise be possible.

480p linedouble and PSP

Using the OSSC's 480p line double mode with the PSP produces an image that is extremely sharp. This is useful when scaling the image using a secondary scaler such as a ABT/DVDO unit since these scalers typically produce a very soft image when used to zoom PSP games on their own.

With the iScan VP50 Pro (and similar ABT scalers)

To use the OSSC's 480p line double mode in conjunction with the VP50 Pro, first connect your PSP to the OSSC via the component video TV cables and select "Connected Display Settings" on the PSP to switch to TV out mode. You can connect the PSP to the OSSC using AV2 or AV1 with a suitable adapter. Make sure YPbPr mode is selected on whichever input you are using.

Verify that you have a stable image with the basic settings, now follow the steps below to enable compatible 480p line double settings for the VP50 Pro.

1) Navigate to the "Output Opt." menu on the OSSC and enter it. Find "480p/576p proc" and set it to "Line2x". You VP50 Pro will lose picture now, but don't panic.

2) Leave the Output Opt menu and navigate to the "Sampling Opt." menu and enter it. Find "Adv. Timing" for 480p and enter this menu.

3) Enter the following settings:-

• V.Active 360
• H.Active 640
• H.Backporch 95
• V.Backporch 63

After entering those settings, an image should appear on your VP50 Pro

4) Minimise image jitter by adjusting the Sampling Phase under the "Sampling opt." menu. The PSP's pause screen is useful for this, check for jitter around the white text. You may need to re-do this calibration every time you use the PSP with the OSSC.

5) Use the Zoom controls on the VP50 Pro (under Input Asp.Ratio) to zoom and centre the image. The values should be approximately as follows:-

• Zoom->Hor. 1.322x
• Zoom->Ver. 1.322x

• Pan->Hor. 0 or +1
• Pan->Ver. +52

6) Optionally apply post processing to the image. Line doubled 480p produces a very over-sharpened looking image with lots of saw-tooth edges. If you do not like this, you can use the VP50's picture controls to soften it somewhat. In the "Picture Control" menu choose "Fine Detail" and reduce this to around -65. You can also try reducing the Edge Enhancement setting too. On the OSSC you can turn on scanlines if desired. Although PSP games never had scanlines, their resolution is similar to that of retro consoles and the addition of scanlines may give the image a pleasing retro look and reduce some of the sawtooth edges that 480p line double mode causes.

7) Save the presets/profile settings on both the VP50 and the OSSC so that they do not need to be manually entered next time you play.

Thanks to Nikodem R for these settings. See the Youtube videos below for some footage captured from a iScan VP30 scaler.

• Digimon World RE:Digitize
• Brave Story