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PlayStation technical specifications

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PlayStation technical specifications

The PlayStation technical specifications describe the various components of the original PlayStation video game console.

Contents

Central processing unit (CPU)

LSI CoreWare CW33300-based core[1]
  • MIPS R3000A-compatible 32-Bit RISC CPU MIPS R3051 with 5KB L1 cache, running at 33.8688 MHz.
  • The microprocessor was manufactured by LSI Logic Corp. with technology licensed from SGI.
  • Features:
  • 850K-1M Transistors
  • Operating performance: 30 MIPS
  • Bus bandwidth 132 MB/s
  • One arithmetic/logic unit (ALU)
  • One shifter
  • CPU cache RAM:
  • 4 kB instruction Cache
  • 1 kB non-associative SRAM data cache
    • Geometry Transformation Engine (GTE or Cop2)
  • Coprocessor that resides inside the main CPU processor, giving it additional vector math instructions used for 3D graphics, lighting, geometry, polygon and coordinate transformations ‒ GTE performs high speed matrix multiplies.
  • Operating performance: 66 MIPS
  • Polygons per second (rendered in hardware):
  • 90,000 with texture mapping, lighting and Gouraud shading
  • 180,000 with texture mapping
  • 360,000 with flat shading
    • Motion Decoder (MDEC)
  • Also residing within the main CPU, enables full screen, high quality FMV playback and is responsible for decompressing images and video into VRAM.
  • Operating performance: 10 MIPS
  • Documented device mode is to read three RLE-encoded 16×16 macroblocks, run IDCT and assemble a single 16×16 RGB macroblock.
  • Output data may be transferred directly to GPU via DMA.
  • It is possible to overwrite IDCT matrix and some additional parameters, however MDEC internal instruction set was never documented.
  • Features:
  • Compatible with MJPEG and H.261 files
  • Directly connected to CPU bus
    • System Control Coprocessor (Cop0)
  • This unit is part of the CPU. Has 16 32-bit control registers.
  • Modified from the original R3000A cop0 architecture, with the addition of a few registers and functions.
  • Controls memory management through virtual memory technique, system interrupts, exception handling, and breakpoints.

    • Memory

  • 2 MiB main EDO DRAM
  • Additional RAM is integrated with the GPU (including a 1 MiB frame buffer) and SPU (512 KiB), see below for details.
  • Cache RAM for CPU core and CD-ROM. See the relevant sections for details.
  • Flash RAM support through the use of memory cards, see below.
  • BIOS stored on 512 KiB ROM

    • Graphics processing unit (GPU)

    32-bit Sony GPU
  • Handles display of graphics, control of framebuffer, and drawing of polygons and textures
  • Handles 2D graphics processing, in a similar manner to the 3D engine
  • RAM:
  • 1 MB VRAM (later models contained SGRAM) for framebuffer
  • 2 KB texture cache (132MB/sec memory bus bandwidth, 32-Bit wide)
  • 64 bytes FIFO buffer
  • Features:
  • Adjustable frame buffer (1024×512)
  • Emulation of simultaneous backgrounds (to simulate parallax scrolling)
  • Mask Bit
  • Texture Window
  • Dithering
  • Clipping
  • Alpha Blending (4 per-texel Alpha Blending Modes)
  • Fog
  • Framebuffer Effects
  • Transparency Effects
  • Render to Texture
  • Offscreen Rendering
  • Multipass Rendering
  • Flat or Gouraud shading and texture mapping
  • No line restriction
  • Colored light sourcing
  • Resolutions:
  • Progressive: 256×224 to 640×240 pixels
  • Interlaced: 448×256 to 640×480 pixels
  • Colors:
  • Maximum color depth of 16,777,216 colors (24-bit true color)
  • 57,344 (256×224) to 153,600 (640×240) colors on screen
  • Unlimited color lookup tables
  • 32 levels of transparency
  • All calculations are performed to 24 bit accuracy
  • Texture mapping color mode:
  • Mode 4 - 4 bit CLUT (16 Colors)
  • Mode 8 - 8 bit CLUT (256 Colors)
  • Mode 15 - 15 bit direct (32768 Colors)
  • Mode 24 - 24 bit (16,777,216 Colors)
  • Sprite engine
  • 1024×512 framebuffer, 8×8 and 16×16 sprite sizes, bitmap objects
  • Up to 4,000 sprites on screen (at 8×8 sprite size), scaling and rotation
  • 256x256 maximum sprite size
  • Special Sprite Effects:
  • Rotation
  • Scaling up/down
  • Warping
  • Transparency
  • Fading
  • Priority
  • Vertical and horizontal line scroll

    • Sound processing unit (SPU)

    16-Bit Sony SPU
  • Supports ADPCM sources with up to 24 channels
  • Sampling rate of up to 44.1 kHz
  • 512 kB RAM
  • PCM audio source
  • Supports MIDI instruments
  • Digital effects include:
  • Pitch modulation
  • Envelope
  • Looping
  • Digital reverb

    • I/O system and connectivity

    CD-ROM drive
  • (660MB maximum storage capacity, double speed CD-ROM drive)
  • 2×, with a maximum data throughput of 300 kB/s(Double speed), 150 KB/sec. (Normal)
  • XA Mode 2 compliant
  • Audio CD play
  • CD-DA (CD-Digital Audio)
  • 128 kB buffer
    • Two control pads via connectors
  • Expandable with multitap connector
    • Backup flash RAM support
  • Two removable cards
  • Each card has 128 KB flash memory
  • OS support for File Save, Retrieve and Remove
    • Video and audio connectivity
  • AV Multi Out (Composite video, S-Video, RGBS)
  • RCA Composite video and Stereo out (SCPH-100x to 3xxx only)
  • RFU (SCPH-112X) DC Out (SCPH-100x to 3xxx only)
  • S-Video Out (SCPH-1000 only)
    • Serial and parallel ports
  • Serial I/O (used for PlayStation Link Cable SCPH-100x to 900x only)
  • Parallel I/O (N/A) SCPH-100x to 750x only)

    • References

    PlayStation technical specifications Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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