PS1 The graphical difference between the first PS1 models and later ones

[ThunderBoy]

Did you know this?
Was it just a specific case with Tomb Raider, or did it happen with other games too?

The difference is very noticeable.

 

[Leon]

I didn't know this was even a thing, you'd think sony would have advertised it but i guess not.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

that is crazy but so far only one game? Seems kinda fishy if you ask me.

 

[ZEGA ZONIC]

Seems cool.

 

[bjork]

I love the older looking version. Give me that Polygon Man-ass Lara Croft with the weird lighting 100 out of 100 times. Bonus points for texture warp.

 

[Scotty Scotty]

Never even knew that was a thing.

 

[Clippy]

Seems more likely that the game got a newer revision. Imagine if revising the hardware broke compatibility with games. Would be a nightmare for Sony.

Then again, I know they revised the hardware to try and combat piracy so who knows, maybe they tweaked display too.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin TruxtonTatsujin]

I think I've noticed this before but never really thought much of it. I've seen a similar difference between PS1 and PS2 in back compat mode. The PS2 probably uses the newer GPU so it might be the same thing mentioned here. I was playing Legend of Legaia and remember thinking it looked better on the OG PS1.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Seems more likely that the game got a newer revision. Imagine if revising the hardware broke compatibility with games. Would be a nightmare for Sony.

Then again, I know they revised the hardware to try and combat piracy so who knows, maybe they tweaked display too.

i think there is way to many variables with this. Is this the Greatest hits edition or the black label version? Doesn't seem like it tells us anything.

 

[mrrgrrgrr]

There's a reddit post from 4 years ago that goes into a bit more detail about this. It even references the same screenshots of Tomb Raider, and goes on to show that color banding was improved in other games as well. The new GPU also helped reduce lag in certain games, such as the animation for the summons in Final Fantasy VIII. Neat stuff.

 

[iamthemilkman]

Never knew this. I had the older one when I was a kid, but now I have a PSOne with the screen. I used to be able to find the older PS1's at flea markets and thrift shops all of the time for <$10, however the lasers almost always ended up being faulty.

 

[RageBurner]

Hm... I wonder if this affects emulation as well.

 

[NotReallyHere]

While I didn't know this was a thing for the PS1 (from a visual standpoint) other consoles of the time went through some A/V revisions, as well. The Sega Genesis is a pretty well-documented case, where the original Model 1 consoles tend to sound better, while the later Model 2 and Model 3 consoles tend to look better.

https://www.sega-16forums.com/forum...-good-genesis-1s-and-genesis-2s-from-bad-ones

Unfortunately, many of the screenshots from that message board have been lost in time, but the information is still there, at least

For the PS1, the original launch-window console version (with dedicated RCA jacks on the back) has long been held in high regard for its audio quality. I don't know the specifics, but I believe it used a similar DAC as Sony's stereo systems at the time, and possibly even silver solder inside?

The issue with those consoles is that the CD mechanism, itself, tends to get out-of-whack over time. And it lacks the visualizer found in later console versions. But having done the ear-to-ear test with a launch console versus a later one for myself, I can vouch that, as a stand-alone CD player, the launch model PS1 sounds gooooooooooood

 

[RX78GP02A]

I think a CRT via composite would have hide these imperfections in the first model, its very apparent here because its the perfect image.

 

[ThunderBoy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2004583718103793975

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Did you know this?
Was it just a specific case with Tomb Raider, or did it happen with other games too?

The difference is very noticeable.

Wow nice. It almost looks like a Jaguar game in a way.

We got the PSX Pro before pro consoles were a thing!

 

[RX78GP02A]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2004583718103793975

Emulation RULES...
Dont get me wrong, i like hardware as well, but to be honest hardware is more of a nostalgia thing these days than anything else; As someone who wasted a lot of time and money on retro stuff i can attest that its all nostalgia... emulation on a LCD screen is not bad at all and after thinking about it and comparing both the CRT TV and my IPS LED Monitor i prefer the sharp pixels.

 

[NeonKnights]

I prefer the shaded look from older models on the left. I have an SCPH-1001 and I read about this regarding a specific game (I can't recall which), I compared the graphics to those on one of my PS1 Classic consoles and there was a significant difference. I didn't know that this applied to other games as well. I love original hardware as long as I am using it with 100% digital games, as the age of the affordable physical game has passed into memory.