Sony announces PSP 1seg TV tuner

It looks like Sony's finally deemed it necessary to offer an updated version of Sega's Game Gear TV tuner, with the company today announcing its 1seg TV tuner for the PlayStation Portable. That technological distinction of course means that the device won't be making its way to North America (at least in its current form), but PSP users in Japan will soon be able to pick up some digital TV signals for the not unreasonable price of ¥6,980 (or about $57). There is a catch, however, in that the device is apparently only compatible with the new, slimmer PSP -- hopefully not a sign of further things to come from Sony. If that's not a deal-breaker for ya, you'll be able to grab one on September 20th.

[Via PS3Forums, thanks Stan]

[benj @ Feb 23rd 2008 5:35AM]

can i use 1seg tuner here in the philippines?

[Billak0s @ May 19th 2008 3:13AM]

I'm waiting for Sony PSP Tv Tuner only!!
I have all the other accessories exept PSP Gps.

[petsas @ Aug 11th 2008 9:00AM]

any one have a English manual? mine came with japan language and i dont know how to start it.

[petsas @ Sep 14th 2008 2:11AM]

any one have a English manual? mine came with japan language and i dont know how to start it.

[petsas @ Aug 11th 2008 9:07AM]

any one have a English manual? mine came with japan language and i dont know how to start it.

[jaro @ Sep 28th 2008 4:03PM]

God! this is freakin crazy,sony u guys ROCK!,i mean m a really BIG! sony fanboy......but can someone tell me does 1seg work in nigeria coz dats were i live and we use both the NTSC and PAL,....so does dat mean it can work?...can someone pls tell meeeee!!!!!.

[Aiden @ Dec 5th 2008 3:45PM]

is the 1seg tvtuner available in uk and doese it work in uk and where and how much would it cost me ive got a psp-2000

[Jim @ Dec 8th 2008 10:14AM]

I have been thinking about picking up a PSP... it seems like all these nice add-ons are only in the Japanese market. A few more people live in the US than Japan...you'd think they would clamor to have something such as this to further set themselves apart from the iPods of the world...

Bigger market, more money for Sony...you'd think it would be a no-brainer.

[pprexx @ Jan 15th 2009 6:53PM]

Is it available in the Philippines?

[r.alandy26 @ Jan 26th 2009 2:41AM]

can we use 1seg tuner here in philippines???

is there any signal we can get??
thanks!

[le_zer_00 @ May 24th 2009 1:04AM]

will there be a release of 1seg tv for psp here in the philippines?

[weilongzhao @ Oct 8th 2009 2:30AM]

yes !do you know where to buy thit at u.s.a?

[unkone @ Jul 17th 2007 2:31PM]

can you play divx on a psp?

[Chris Derry @ Jul 17th 2007 2:52PM]

Nope.

[andras @ Jul 18th 2007 6:03PM]

Easy conversion by Cucusoft PSP converter. If you have PSP it is a good buy; you can also rip your DVDs onto memorystick.

[Castle @ Jul 17th 2007 3:40PM]

It picks up Digital terrestrial broadcast TV. Currently only broadcasted in Japan, the DS, Cellphones, cars, etc now have 1Seg built in. Great quality compared to the analog TV signals. Immensely useful and free to watch.

[Castle @ Jul 17th 2007 3:42PM]

>>DS, Cellphones, cars, etc now have 1Seg built in. Great quality compared to the analog TV signals. Immensely useful and free to watch.

I should say (in the case of the DS), the DS also has a 1seg tuner available. New car navigation systems have the tuner as well. Also a good deal of new cell phones in Japan have them as well.

[required @ Jul 17th 2007 2:34PM]

new ipod new features
old ipod old features

[Chris Derry @ Jul 17th 2007 2:36PM]

I'm still waiting for the (US) GPS... :|

[Blake Kachman @ Jul 17th 2007 2:46PM]

seriously

[JB @ Jul 17th 2007 2:41PM]

The kitty sold me.

[Tom @ Jul 17th 2007 2:52PM]

IM IN UR PSP, TUNIN UR SIGNALZ

[Rock Stone @ Jul 17th 2007 2:49PM]

What a different world we'd live in if Sony had the foresight to stock at least 6 different add-ons / accessories like this on launch day over two years ago...

Jeezus Sony, open up your libraries and let the accessories come crawling out like rats on a sinking ship... see what happened to the iPod?

[BananaBoat @ Jul 17th 2007 2:54PM]

If Sony would just allow all the Japan-centric games to come to the US, the PSP could probably be saved (Look at the DS and all the Brain Age games that noone thought Americans would play). But that's another argument for another story.

1seg doesn't affect the US, since our TV is ATSC and NTSC. Why Sony can't come out with an ATSC/NTSC addon for the PSP, I have no idea. But the 1seg being slim-PSP only has pre-emptively made this accessory a non-story. Noone is going to buy the thing. Kudos Sony for another huge mistake.

[jason @ Jul 17th 2007 2:58PM]

Hopefully, this one won't be dangerous to your health like the Sega one that leaked radiation.

[Blake Kachman @ Jul 17th 2007 3:26PM]

Radiation is just extra flavoring...

[Nick @ Jul 17th 2007 4:36PM]

MMMMMMMM radiation.

[Lucas Bang @ Jul 17th 2007 9:09PM]

wow... it can only be used with the new psp? What a way to force people to buy a new psp to use an add-on. There is no hardware related reason why this couldnt be used on any old psp.

BTW i dont own a psp and i am a nintendo fanboy so my opinion is as biased as it can get.

[HyperHacker @ Jul 17th 2007 6:11PM]

"the device is apparently only compatible with the new, slimmer PSP"
Sony screws over their customers again. Anyone surprised?

[LongCat @ Jul 17th 2007 7:55PM]

new hardware = new features. Not exactly a screw over.

[JJ @ Jul 17th 2007 8:40PM]

It's not exactly screwing them over. I think the one main reason is that the PSP-2000 model can output to Component and Composite Video. With a Digital TV tuner for $57 (!!!) and a PSP ($169), and output to component, is actually somewhat of a bargain.

[HyperHacker @ Jul 17th 2007 8:43PM]

Hm, I didn't know there were new features, but I don't see why component/composite output is required to use a TV tuner.

[JJ @ Jul 17th 2007 8:50PM]

I can only think of the small screen is the reason to have a component and composite output to the TV. Other than that, not sure what else would warrant a reason to have the TV tuner to be on the 2000 and not the 1000 model. It could be that the slot to accommodate the tuner isn't compatible with the 1000 model, or there is a BIOS difference between the two, or hardware difference, but unlikely.

[DeViL303 @ Sep 3rd 2007 8:38PM]

yes there is one major hardware difference that probably makes this accessory possible,it has 64MB of RAM,not 32MB like standard PSP.this could lead to more things not being compatible with old psp,maybe even games eventually,but certainly accessories,maybe even in game xmb access like everyone wants for ps3 may be possible,pick your own music then go into the game and it keeps playing- IMAGINE!

[Jamesology @ Jul 17th 2007 8:45PM]

OMG that's seriously kick ASS I love these portable gaming systems. I didnt know DS' have them too how do I use it. I bought the GPS for the PSP work pretty good!! Now I have to get this TV tuner, though it doesnt really matter since I have Location Free for my PSP and there's WiFi everywhere I go. But can someone tell me how to get1Seg working on my DS

[Jay @ Jul 18th 2007 6:57AM]

The reason most of us didn't know that DS has this is because DS owners are mostly 13 year old girls who want the handheld for Nintendogs, not Digital TV, GPS, movies or real games.

[bratkun @ Jul 17th 2007 9:35PM]

I definitely think this is sweet! But then again, I do live in Japan.

[B'Fresh @ Jul 18th 2007 6:46AM]

never mind pissing about with bloody tv tuners, wheres the GPS for europe?

[MarcoG @ Jul 19th 2007 9:16PM]

It looks pretty sweet, I'm going to buy one just to have it on the top of my soon to be owned Starwars PSP. People will ask what it is and I'll just make up some stuff and I'm sure it'll come in handy when I travel to Japan.

[William @ Aug 19th 2007 11:49PM]

I'm wondering why Sony has not, to my knowledge, released the PSP camera or GPS attachment to the US yet. I was really looking forward to the GPS attachment.
Looks like this device will bypass the US too! :(

[josh @ Nov 27th 2007 12:57PM]

they hacked it for the fat...google "psp slim tv tuner hacked" first result.

[Nathan C. @ Jan 8th 2008 1:24AM]

This Is Mad!

Is It Avaliable In Australia And Where Can I Buy It!

Please Respond A.S.A.P

Regards Nathan