PlayStation technical specifications

The PlayStation technical specifications describe the various components of the original PlayStation video game console.

Central processing unit (CPU)

LSI CoreWare CW33300-based core

• MIPS R3000A-compatible 32-Bit RISC CPU MIPS R3051 with 5KB L1 cache, running at 33.8688 MHz .^[1]
• The microprocessor is manufactured by LSI Logic Corp. with technology licensed from SGI.
• Features:
  • 850K-1M Transistors
  • Operating performance: 30 MIPS^[2]
  • Bus bandwidth 132 MB/s^[3]
  • One Arithmetic/Logic unit (ALU)
  • One Shifter
• CPU cache RAM:
  • 4 kB instruction Cache^[1]
  • 1 kB non-associative SRAM data cache

Geometry Transformation Engine (GTE or Cop2)

• Coprocessor that resides inside the main CPU processor, giving it additional vector math instructions used for 3D graphics, lighting, geometry, polygon and coordinate transformations - GTE performs high speed matrix multiplies.
• Operating performance: 66 MIPS^[3]
• Polygons per second (rendered in hardware):
  • 90,000 with texture mapping, lighting and Gouraud shading
  • 180,000 with texture mapping^[4]
  • 360,000^[5] with flat shading

Motion Decoder (MDEC)

• Also residing within the main CPU, enables full screen, high quality FMV playback and is responsible for decompressing images and video into VRAM.^[2]
• Operating performance: 10 MIPS
• Documented device mode is to read three RLE-encoded 16×16 macroblocks, run IDCT and assemble a single 16×16 RGB macroblock.
• Output data may be transferred directly to GPU via DMA.
• It is possible to overwrite IDCT matrix and some additional parameters, however MDEC internal instruction set was never documented.
• Features:
  • Compatible with MJPEG and H.261 files
  • Directly connected to CPU bus

An SCPH-1001 motherboard.

An SCPH-9001 motherboard

System Control Coprocessor (Cop0)

• This unit is part of the CPU. Has 16 32-bit control registers.
• Modified from the original R3000A cop0 architecture, with the addition of a few registers and functions.
• Controls memory management through virtual memory technique, system interrupts, exception handling, and breakpoints.

Memory

• 2 MiB main EDO DRAM^[2]
• Additional RAM memory is integrated with the GPU (including a 1 MiB frame buffer) and SPU (512 KiB), see below for details.
• Cache RAM memory for CPU core and CD-ROM. See the relevant sections for details.
• Flash RAM support through the use of memory cards, see below.
• BIOS stored on 512 KiB ROM

Graphics processing unit (GPU)

32-bit Sony GPU

• Handles display of graphics, control of framebuffer, and drawing of polygons and textures
• Handles 2D graphics processing, in a similar manner to the 3D engine
• RAM:
  • 1 MB VRAM^[2] (later models contained SGRAM) for framebuffer
  • 2 KB texture cache (132MB/sec memory bus bandwidth, 32-Bit wide)
  • 64 bytes FIFO buffer
• Features:
  • Adjustable frame buffer (1024×512)
  • Emulation of simultaneous backgrounds (to simulate parallax scrolling)
  • Mask Bit
  • Texture Window
  • Dithering
  • Clipping
  • Alpha Blending (4 per-texel Alpha Blending Modes)
  • Fog
  • Framebuffer Effects
  • Transparency Effects
  • Render to Texture
  • Offscreen Rendering
  • Multipass Rendering
  • Flat or Gouraud shading and texture mapping^[1]
  • No line restriction
  • Colored light sourcing
• Resolutions:
  • Progressive: 256×224 to 640×240 pixels^[1]
  • Interlaced: 448×256 to 640×480 pixels
• Colors:
  • Maximum color depth of 16,777,216 colors (24-bit true color)
  • 57,344 (256×224) to 153,600 (640×240) colors on screen
  • Unlimited color lookup tables
  • 32 levels of transparency
  • All calculations are performed to 24 bit accuracy
• Texture mapping color mode:
  • Mode 4 - 4 bit CLUT (16 Colors)
  • Mode 8 - 8 bit CLUT (256 Colors)
  • Mode 15 - 15 bit direct (32768 Colors)
  • Mode 24 - 24 bit (16,777,216 Colors)
• Sprite engine
  • 1024×512 framebuffer, 8×8 and 16×16 sprite sizes, bitmap objects
  • Up to 4,000 sprites on screen (at 8×8 sprite size), scaling and rotation^[1][6]
  • 256x256 maximum sprite size
• Special Sprite Effects:
  • Rotation
  • Scaling up/down
  • Warping
  • Transparency
  • Fading
  • Priority
  • Vertical and horizontal line scroll

Sound processing unit (SPU)

16-Bit Sony SPU^[2]

• Supports ADPCM sources with up to 24 channels^[2]
• Sampling rate of up to 44.1 kHz^[2]
• 512 kB RAM^[2]
• PCM audio source
• Digital effects include:
• Pitch Modulation
• Envelope
• Looping
• Digital Reverb
• Load up to 512K of sampled waveforms
• Supports MIDI Instruments

I/O system and connectivity

CD-ROM drive

• (660MB maximum storage capacity, double speed CD-ROM drive)
• 2×, with a maximum data throughput of 300 kB/s(Double speed), 150 KB/sec. (Normal)
• XA Mode 2 compliant
• Audio CD play
• CD-DA (CD-Digital Audio)
• 128 kB buffer

Two control pads via connectors

• Expandable with multitap connector

Backup flash RAM support

• Two removable cards
• Each card has 128 KB flash memory
• OS support for File Save, Retrieve and Remove

Video and audio connectivity

• AV Multi Out (Composite video, S-Video, RGBS)
• RCA Composite video and Stereo out (SCPH-100x to 3xxx only)
• RFU (SCPH-112X) DC Out (SCPH-100x to 3xxx only)
• S-Video Out (SCPH-1000 only)

Serial and parallel ports

• Serial I/O (used for PlayStation Link Cable SCPH-100x to 900x only)
• Parallel I/O (N/A) SCPH-100x to 750x only)

See also

• PlayStation 2 technical specifications
• PlayStation 3 technical specifications
• PlayStation 4 technical specifications

References

1. "Sony's PlayStation Debuts in Japan!". Electronic Gaming Monthly (65). Sendai Publishing. December 1994. p. 70.
2. "Inside the PlayStation". Next Generation. Imagine Media (6): 51. June 1995.
3. "Tech Specs: Sony PlayStation". Next Generation. Imagine Media (12): 40. December 1995.
4. Karl Hodge. "Hall of Fame: Sony PlayStation, the games console that changed everything".
5. "Sony PlayStation". GamePro (62). IDG. September 1994. p. 20.
6. https://archive.org/stream/nextgen-issue-001/Next_Generation_Issue_001_January_1995#page/n47/mode/2up/