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Dom Robinson reviews
Sony Playstation 2
Modified by
Channel Technology.com
- Price: £94.00 inc. delivery
It’s very rare to find something that does exactly what it says on the tin,but Channel Technology‘s Playstation 2 modification does the necessary.
For all the goodies that a shop-bought PS2 does provide, clickHERE, but one thingeveryone wanted from the off was the ability to not only play Region 2 DVDsfrom the UK and Europe, but those from the rest of the world too.
Now, fairplay to Sony for at least allowing the console to play Region-freeDVDs and Region 2 in both NTSC as well as standard PAL, but if, like me, youhave an extensive Region 1 collection too, you’ll want to enjoy those whereveryou have your PS2 too.
Personally, I watch most DVDs on my PC’s Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM card, with theTV-out connection going to a 32″ Widescreen TV and the Dolby Digital 5.1sound being played through a Sony STR-DB930 receiver/amplifier, while thePS2 spends time in either the bedroom or the spare downstairs TV.
But – and this is a personal gripe against the Dxr2 card, while the Dxr2can play DTS soundtracks, Creative have refused to release the software forthis card to do that, preferring instead to furnish only its lacklustresuccessor, theCreative Dxr3,with DTS-playback ability. Hence, with a PC DVD-ROM drive that won’t playDTS and a PS2 that wouldn’t play Region 1 DVDs, I had a dilemma – and it’sincreasingly the case that the UK versions will contain only a Dolby Digital5.1 soundtrack while our American counterparts will get both that and theDTS, which tends to carry a deeper bass sound.
However, not only does this modification allow you to play standard DVDs fromall regions, but also those Region 1 DVDs that are “RCE-protected”. Whatthis means is that such a disc, eg. Charlie’s Angels and Road Tripwill check to see if your DVD player is multi-region (ie. all regions activatedat once). If the DVD finds your player will accept Region 1 DVDs, it will thencheck for Region 2 compatibility or any others until it finds at least one otherto which it receives a ‘yes’ reply. If so, the DVD refuses to play.
What the NEO 3 does is to make the PS2 “region-selectable”, but automatically.I tested the PS2 with both of the aforementioned DVDs as its first NTSCRegion 1s and it found them both agreeable. The modification also allows NTSCdiscs to be played back at PAL 4.43mhz/60hz, making connection via RGB possibleusing a suitable PSX/PS2 RGB SCART lead to a TV’s RGB-compatible SCARTsocket, so all games and DVD discs will be in colour. The PAL60 mod allows youto use AV or RF leads on most TVs whether they are NTSC-compatible or notand most TVs will successfully hold the 60hz rate.
Note that the mod also improves the PS2’s video characteristics thus allowingmuch better quality playback.
Sony had disabled RGB playback in the PS2 when in DVD mode, for reasons theystated of security since they expected everyone to start copying their DVDsto tape, when the majority of us just wanted the better quality of picture outputthat RGB provides compared to a basic RF lead, without getting the ‘greenscreen’ effect over the top that was put on deliberately.
What’s the other question people have been asking since the PS2 was released?That’s right – when can they play “backups”, aka pirated versions of games.Well, this modification allows that too, but of course I have to stressthat neither DVDfever.co.uk nor Channel Technologysupport the use of such games for the obvious reasons.
Legal guff aside and the mod directly disables anti-NTSC playback (PALconsoles are disabled from playing NTSC game titles). This means that PSXimport titles – either original / HK Silver or backup import normally wouldrefuse to load, but the NEO 3 counter-attacks this and enables the NTSCplayback. Also, due to the unique way in which the NEO 3 sets the PSX mode,it also allows playing of import original games (PSX not PS2).
Anything other than UK originals does require eith a Datel Action Replayor a Datel XtremeFM unit, the latter of which is suppied as part of theupgrade. There are three methods to loading these games, depending on thenature of some discs :
- 1.: Insert the Datel XtremeFM disc and wait until the information screenappears. Navigate down the screen to the “PLAY” button and press “X”, then whenprompted to change the disk, do so with your backup then press “X” to confirm.
- 2.: Insert the Datel XtremeFM disc and then power-off the console using thereset button. Now again power-on the console but hold the reset button pressedfor at least five seconds. Again, follow the above prodedure as described in(1), but watch for the disc tray to automatically eject. When it does, you havefour seconds to change the disc. You must act quickly because the disc willautomatically close and when it does, follow the on-screen instructions andyour game will load.
- 3.: Insert the Datel XtremeFM disc and power-off the console usingthe reset button. Now power-on the console, but this time holding the resetbutton continuously until you see the Xtreme FM menu. The tray will immediatelyeject, allowing four seconds to change the disc as in (2).
Of course, these instructions are supplied with the upgrade and if you areusing an Action Replay unit then details for that are supplied, but they’renot much different than in (1) and (2).
For PSX backups, imports or HK silvers, on powering-on the console, press thereset button twice (must be pressed briefly within two seconds) and the gamewill load.
Note that due to video restrictions with the PS2, directly-booted NTSC titleswill not play full screen and a small portion of the screen will be missing.To obtain full screen, it will be necessary to patch the backup games toPAL format.
Something else the XtremeFM does, as the name would suggest, is toplay FM radio, using the small attached aerial, through your PS2. It’s verysimple to use with total software control and saveable settings, an intuitiveon-screen graphical interface and hot-swappable skins to suit all moods. I tunedin Radio 1, Radio 2, Classic FM and a couple of local stations with ease.
The only time I did have a problem with it was initially when no music wouldcome out. The reason for this is that I have a digital optical cable connectedbetween the PS2 and my Sony amp to playback the Dolby Digital and DTSsoundtracks from DVDs, as well as the PCM stereo tracks from PS2 games, whichoverrides the standard stereo outputs. Remove the optical cable when using theXtremeFM device and your chosen radio stations will be heard.
To sum up, I am very impressed with this upgrade. When my console was pickedup, I waited only two working days before it was returned and received a phonecall inbetween to confirm that the upgrade was successful and that it was onits way back to me.
To summarise what your PS2 can do after the upgrade :
- 1. Formats: PS2 PAL originals, PS2 backups (inc. import backups),PSX PAL originals, PSX backups (inc. import backups), PSX import originals,HK silvers, Multi-region DVD (automatic selection)
- 2. RGB Playback: Enabled
- 3. NTSC discs: Play at PAL 4.43Mhz/60Hz, connection via RGB ispossible using a suitable PSX/PS2 RGB SCART lead and connecting to a televisionvia an RGB-compatible SCART socket. All games/DVDs will play in colour.
- 4. RCE: RCE-protected films will play automatically
The upgrade is only available for V3 version consoles – if youhave an electrical hazard warning imprinted to the bottom of your PS2 thenit is NOT compatible with the NEO 3 version of the upgrade.
If a future version is the NEO 3 upgrade becomes available, I’d like to seeit disable Macrovision, the copy-protection system used by many DVDs, insimilar fashion to the Remote Selector atVisual Domain.net.However, this particular mod isn’t described as attempting to do that so I won’tmark it down for that.
One final note: If you just want the DVD mod-chip and are able to perform thesurgery yourself, it is available for £23.50 and an installation guideis available online.
For further info and to order, visit:ChannelTechnology.com
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.