The PlayStation 3 is getting 3D Blu-ray playback support in October, but a recent report indicates that the console’s 3D BD capability will be somewhat limited. Specifically, the BD-J application environment will reportedly not be supported during Stereoscopic Output Mode. Therefore, to ensure smooth playback on the PS3, 3D BD titles will allegedly have to be authored to work around that hurdle, using the less refined HDMV instead of BD-J if needed.

According to the note, written by The Digital Bits collaborator Jeff Kleist based on discussions with developers, this probably stems from the chip design of the Cell BE processor, where the main CPU core takes “care of the 1080p video decode while the 8 smaller ones have plenty of bandwidth to handle lossless audio and BD-Java.” However, “when you introduce the load of a second 1080p stream to the mix, something has to go and it looks like it’s going to be BD-Java.”

Even if that is the case, it is possible that the PS3 could acquire the capability for simultaneous 3D and BD-J in the future, thanks to an optimization in its programming, but “as it stands it’s not looking good,” says the post.

Source: HomeTechTell