Hi,
I have acquired a PlayStation 5 and now I’ve noticed that it doesn’t have wide-monitor support (come on…), but I think I can do something about it and it can be a fun project to make (quite challenging also).
I want to know what do you think about it, if you think it’s viable or not, and some recommendations for the journey.
Also, I want to apology for this not being 100% Arduino-related, but this is the forum that best fits what I need. Still, if Arduino MKR VIDOR 4000 can do the job (which I doubt) I can use it without any problem.
Here’s what I want to do:
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HDMI to DisplayPort
My monitor (AOC CU34G2X/BK) have HDMI 1.4. The PlayStation 5 uses HDMI 2.1, and I have read that even HDMI 2.0 won’t be enough to use all the PlayStation 5 potential, so I am forced to “translate” that HDMI input into DisplayPort 1.2 output (which can output 4k@60Hz, so it should be enough).
Something that should make the project much easier is the fact that my monitor doesn’t have speakers, so I can just ignore the HDMI part responsible for the audio. -
Remove black bars from the movies
Wide monitors have the exact same resolution as movies, so the video perfectly fits into the screen. The problem is that PlayStation sends QHD video (2560x1440), and then make it wider so it can fit into WQHD (3440x1440), thus distorting the image, and keeping the black bars.
What I have thought is asking the PlayStation to output 4K (3840x2160) at 24Hz (apparently that’s the films display-rate), then keep only the part of the video without black bars, and scale it down to WQHD. There’s an example below.
I can do the same with QHD instead of 4K, but then I should scale it up and lose resolution.
I want to clarify that I have 4K movies, and the PS5 can read them, so playing 4K video isn’t a problem.
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Don’t scale games
As I have said, the PS5 distort the image, and I don’t want that (I want the video to display as it was meant to be).
I know I can change the settings on the monitor and display it as it was a normal one, but maybe I can do something with the borders so they don’t seem boring. I have thought something like scale the image and applying some blur. There’s an example below.
Here’s the challenging part: we’re working with videogames, so I want the max resolution (WQHD), with the max framerate (144Hz), and the minimum delay (<15ms?). That means that the FPGA needs to be a beast (I don’t know the exact GHz number, but I assume it should be around 1.5GHz).
Considerations (my experience):
I have mid-level experience with microcontrollers, but I have read that working with video with them it’s a big no.
My experience with FPGA is more limited, but I have done something with them (anything impressive, so going from turning on an LED to this it’s a big jump…).
Also, I have worked with external hardware (logic gates, registers…), so I can add them if necessary. Just I don’t feel comfortable with the SMD components that have pins below them, but if there isn’t any alternative, I can try to do it.
I don’t know ANYTHING about HDMI/DisplayPort communication protocol, and that can be a big problem.
Any information that can help it’s appreciated.
Thanks,
Roger.
