You might want to hold your horses if you’re thinking of picking up a PSP-3000. According to PSPFanboy, the new model’s brighter, crisper screen has been achieved at the cost of a nasty issue whereby ghostly horizontal lines mar areas of high contrast.
Both Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) have told PSPFanboy they have "no plans" to rectify this problem.
"PSP-3000 has a new LCD device with vastly improved picture quality, achieving a more natural and vivid picture than older models," a Sony Japan spokesperson commented. "By improving LCD response time to reduce ghosting, the horizontal-line phenomenon becomes more visible. Since this is caused by hardware characteristics, there is no plan to fix it with system software update."
Sony America’s rep was a little more forthcoming on the details. "On some occasions, scan lines may appear on scenes where brightness changes drastically, due to the hardware features of the new LCD device on PSP-3000."
"Installed with this new LCD device, PSP-3000 offers more natural and vibrant colors on its screen, but the scan lines have come out to be more visible as a result of improving response time to alleviate the afterimages on PSP-3000. Since this is due to hardware specification, there are no plans for a system software update concerning this issue."
We’re not entirely sure how many consumers find the scanlines problem bothersome, mind. The PSP-3000 has put in a titanic performance at Japanese retail thus far, with over 140,000 sold in its first four days on the market.