TV output for the Vita?

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VideoGameCritic
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TV output for the Vita?

Postby VideoGameCritic » May 4th, 2017, 5:33 pm

I'm reviewing a Vita import shooter called DariusBurst Chronicle (yes, of the Darius series) but the objects on the screen are so tiny I have to use extra large reading glasses just to make out the score! Is there a way to display Vita output on a TV screen? I do have a cable like that for my PSP.

Sonicx9
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Re: TV output for the Vita?

Postby Sonicx9 » May 4th, 2017, 8:36 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:I'm reviewing a Vita import shooter called DariusBurst Chronicle (yes, of the Darius series) but the objects on the screen are so tiny I have to use extra large reading glasses just to make out the score! Is there a way to display Vita output on a TV screen? I do have a cable like that for my PSP.


You need to buy a PlayStation TV console for 60 buck from Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-TV-v ... MHSUM?th=1

This should help a lot for you!

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Rookie1
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Re: TV output for the Vita?

Postby Rookie1 » May 5th, 2017, 7:51 am

Doesnt the Vita stream through the PS3/PS4? I thought that was one of its selling points?

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zetax
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Re: TV output for the Vita?

Postby zetax » May 5th, 2017, 10:57 am

The Playstation TV is an interesting little gizmo, but it doesn't let you play all of the Vita library. Here's Sony's official list...

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/ ... COMPATIBLE

I don't think that there is an output cable for the Vita like there is for the PSP.

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Atariboy
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Re: TV output for the Vita?

Postby Atariboy » May 5th, 2017, 10:56 pm

The PSTV is one of gaming's biggest missed opportunities. Strange incompatibilities (F1 2011 off PSN works, but the retail version doesn't), major 1st party titles that would've needed almost no work to be made compatible (Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the big one), or just the fact that Vita games with no touch screen/motion control just don't automatically work by default.

Heck, the PSTV and Vita don't even share the same backwards compatibility list with PSP content, despite being the handheld and console versions of the same system. There are PSP downloads that work on the PSTV but not on the Vita handheld itself, and vice versa.

zetax wrote:The Playstation TV is an interesting little gizmo, but it doesn't let you play all of the Vita library. Here's Sony's official list...


A lot of PSTV fans like myself rely on this list.

http://www.reviews2go.com/playstation-t ... h-america/

I prefer it over Sony's own list, if for nothing else it's easier to quickly scan through. It's also more accurate. Sony's own list is only the games that can be downloaded directly on a PSTV. But some games not on the official list can be transferred from a PS3 following the instructions below and will work.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document ... i_ps3.html

I just did this with Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded and Remixed, both on sale right now ($2.99 and $4.49, respectively). These PSP downloads aren't in the official compatibility list and cannot be downloaded directly from the Playstation Store on the PSTV, but work if you download them on your PS3 and then follow this transfer method I linked to above. Silent Hill 1 for the PS1 is another that I can personally confirm works this way, which is why it's absent on the official list.

I believe this unpublicized workaround that Sony allegedly allowed for PSP games the publisher signed off on for joining the PSTV compatibility list but didn't do the QA testing necessary to officially join it for one reason or another, expands the compatibility list in your link by several dozen more games.

zetax wrote:I don't think that there is an output cable for the Vita like there is for the PSP.


Which is another missed opportunity, since not only would it negate the compatibility issues that plague the PSTV such as allowing Uncharted to be played on the big screen, but the Vita 1000 was built to do just this. Has the port and an internal scaling chip to enable full-screen 16:9 output (Rectifying the big flaw with the PSP's tv-out capabilities), specifically for tv output.

But Sony changed course after the system was designed and thought up the PSTV instead, so didn't want to unlock this capability that would've been free to Vita owners other than the price of the tv out cable. The superfluous components were then sadly eliminated with the Vita 2000 revision, pretty much ending any hope they might reconsider and unlock this someday in the wake of the PSTV fiasco.

Rookie1 wrote:Doesnt the Vita stream through the PS3/PS4? I thought that was one of its selling points?


You have it backwards. You can't stream Vita games to the PS3/PS4 to enjoy on your television, but you can stream PS4 games to a Vita or PSTV (And if it's a Vita handheld, you can also stream certain PS3 content to the system like the Team Ico Collection and PS1 classics, which seems to be gone on a PSTV since I couldn't make PS3 to PSTV streaming work when I got curious one night).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Play

A fair number of PSTV's were sold just as PS4 system extenders. Wanted the capability to enjoy your PS4 on a second television in your home but didn't want to invest in an expensive second console? Buy a cheaper PSTV to connect to the second display and then use remote play to play your PS4 in a different room.

If anything, Sony primarily positioned this in the west just for this purpose, with the ability to play Vita games on the tv an afterthought in their marketing.
Last edited by Atariboy on May 6th, 2017, 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tron
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Re: TV output for the Vita?

Postby Tron » May 5th, 2017, 11:02 pm

The output cable for the PSP was grainy and ugly. I tried it briefly before sayin "Forget that". I haven't heard of a tv cable for the Vita, but I haven't heard of a good game worth playing on the Vita either. Whoop! Whoop!

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Re: TV output for the Vita?

Postby Atariboy » May 6th, 2017, 1:24 am

TxK is one such example of a good Vita game. One of the best uses for five dollars that I've found in the world of videogaming. :)

For the uninitiated, if you loved Jeff Minter's Tempest 2000 or the little known Tempest 3000 on the ill fated Nuon DVD platform, this is essentially Tempest 4000 without the Atari license.


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