The latest firmware for Sony's Playstation 3 has added powerful audio features. In addition to an updated interface, the firmware 2.30 adds DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio features for Blu-ray movies.

"We are extremely pleased that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is adding the full spectrum premium DTS-HD Master Audio codec into the PS3 so that more than 10 million owners of one of the best selling computer entertainment systems can have the best sounding, most efficient and flexible audio technology available system as well. DTS-HD Master Audio is fast becoming the must-have feature for high definition entertainment enthusiasts," said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS.

In late February, Sony announced two new BD-Live (Profile v2.0) ready Blu-ray players, priced at $400 and $500. The BDP-S350, which will ship sometime in the summer for $400, will feature 1080p24/60 output via HDMI, one Ethernet port and decoding of 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD.

The high-end BDP-S550, which will ship this fall, will cost $500 and will feature in addition to the slightly cheaper S350 1GB of persistent storage and decoding of DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as 7.1 analog outs. Both models have an external port for adding local storage and will support Bonus View for viewing picture-in-picture content.

The question was why anybody would buy the S350, which has basically the same features as a PS3. Now the question is why in the world anybody would buy the more expensive model, the S550, whose sole superior capabilities were the decoding of DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio, which are now available too on the Playstation 3 with the 2.30 firmware.

The previous firmware update, 2.20, added Blu-ray Disc (BD) Profile 2.0 capabilities, turning the game console into the world's first Blu-ray player to support the new format enhancements. Thanks to the BD-Live, PS3 owners are now be able to experience interactive features when playing enabled Blu-ray discs, such as downloadable video content, ringtones, games, and more. Besides BD-Live, the 2.20 update added other new features such as the ability to copy photo and music playlists from PS3 to PSP.