XrossMediaBar

The XrossMediaBar (pronounced "cross-media bar" and officially abbreviated as XMB) is a graphical user interface developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The interface features icons that are spread horizontally across the screen. Navigation moves the icons, instead of a cursor. These icons are used as categories to organize the options available to the user. When an icon is selected on the horizontal bar, several more appear vertically, above and below it. They, in turn, are selectable by the up and down directions on a directional pad.

Originally used on the PSX (a PlayStation 2 with an integrated digital video recorder), the XMB is used as the default interface on both the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. Since 2006, it has also been used in high-end WEGA TVs,[1] the Bravia starting with the 3000 (only in S-series and above), the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV, HDTV set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, some Sony Ericsson phones and high-end AV receivers. The Sony Ericsson K850, W595, W760, W910 and Aino feature a version of the XMB as their entertainment menu. The XMB was also the menu system in the 2007 generation of Sony's Bravia TVs.[2][3]

The interface won the Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for "Outstanding Innovation and Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Best Use of Personal Media Display and Presentation Technology" in 2006.[5]

The XMB has been phased out starting with the PlayStation Vita, which adopted a new touch-based user interface called LiveArea. On February 20, 2013, the PlayStation 4 was announced, and a new, non-XMB, user interface was shown. Sony Bravia smart televisions continued to use it until 2014, when both an unnamed interface with Smart TV functionality and Android TV were phased in.

Examples on Sony devices

PlayStation Portable

From left to right, the categories are these: Settings, Extras, Photo, Music, Video, TV (Only available in countries that use the 1seg broadcasting service), Game, Network, and PlayStation Network. Once a category is selected, its options appear below the icon,[6] selectable by pressing the button (for European and North American version), or button (Asian versions only). Going back is possible by pressing the left directional button or the button (for European and North American version), or button (Asian versions only). Some items have an option menu that can be displayed by pressing the button. The XMB is capable of limited multitasking. This is accessed by pushing the "Home" button on the PSP-1000 and PSP-2000 and the "PS" button on the PSP-3000 and PSPgo while listening to music, looking at photos, etc. This feature can be used to watch a video, look at a photo, listen to music, and look at the current web page, all while browsing the XMB. However, what is in the background will be cancelled if any item is accessed on the XMB (except if viewing pictures while listening to music). The background color on the XMB changes color depending on the current month. On a PSP with firmware 2.00+, the background color can be changed or the background can be changed to a picture. On a PSP with firmware 3.70+, it is possible to listen to music and view photos simultaneously. On the PSP-2000, PSP-3000, and PSPgo models, there are a number of additional colors available for the XMB. On a PSP with at least system software 4.20, the background "waves" effect has changed, with two options under theme, then color.

Control

Generally, the XMB requires 8 different options on a controller. A 4-way directional pad (D-pad) is used to choose categories (using the left and right directions) as well as highlighting options or actions within these categories (using the up and down directions). Two additional buttons are required to select items which are highlighted, as well as to return to the previous "level" of menus (usually and ) although usually pressing the left directional button will bring the XMB back to the previous menu and using the Start button will start software. Another button is required to display an option menu on a certain item (usually ). Some items might not have an option menu. Additionally, is used to group files on the XMB.

The XMB can also be controlled with the BRAVIA TV remote control (on both BRAVIA TVs and PS3 Slim models) and with the PlayStation Move motion controller by waving the Move around left to right as well as up and down. The controls have been cited as being similar to the film Minority Report.[19]

External links

7 page article describing the XMB on IGN

References

Sony Wega | 体験！Xmb^
Sony's 'energy saving' TV Reg Hardware, March 31, 2008, retrieved 2008-03-31^
Sony releases nine new Bravia LCDs with XMB and Internet Video Link Engadget, 2007-06-07, retrieved 2024-04-11^

PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 version of the XrossMediaBar includes ten categories of options: Users, Settings, Photo, Music, Video, TV/Video Services, Game, Network, PlayStation Network, and Friends. The dynamic lines on the background are more condensed into a 'ribbon' rather than the PSP's large waves, unselected icons shrink slightly and every selectable background color has been made a shade darker. The PS3 includes the following particular abilities: to store various master and secondary user profiles; to manage and explore photos with Photo Gallery or an ordinary musical/non-musical slideshow; to rip audio CDs, rip iTunes AAC protected files, to copy tracks to an attached storage device; and to play music, movies and video files from the hard disk drive, from an optional USB mass storage or Flash card, or from an optical disc (Blu-ray Disc or DVD-Video). It also has compatibility for a USB keyboard and mouse and a full web browser supporting downloading of multiple file types. The Friends menu allows email with emoticons and attached picture features and video chat which requires an optional webcam (although the PlayStation Eye and the EyeToy are official webcams, most USB webcams will work). The PlayStation Network menu allows online shopping through the PlayStation Store.

Also, the PlayStation 3 adds the ability to multitask in ways such as listening to stored audio files while surfing the web or looking at pictures.[8] The PlayStation 3 XMB supports a variety of file formats (see PlayStation 3 System Software). The PS3 reserves 48 MB of RAM at all times for XMB functions.[9]

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and many other sources state that in-game XMB was the single most requested feature for the PS3 in 2007.[10][11] In-game XMB functionality was debuted before the launch of the PS3 by SCEI but was omitted due to technical reasons from the official launch. The feature was added to the PlayStation 3 on July 2, 2008 via system update 2.40.[12] However, roughly eleven hours after its release, download of the system update was disabled amidst isolated reports of problems reported by small groups of users since installing the update. Users who had not already downloaded the update were only able to download the previous version, 2.36.[13] On July 8, 2008, System Software version 2.41 was released for the PlayStation 3 which restored the in-game XMB functionality of version 2.40 and addressed the problems Sony had found in 2.40. All of these issues were addressed in the 2.40 system update.[12][14]

Examples on Sony devices

PlayStation Portable

Control

See also

External links

References

Themes for the PlayStation Portable

Themes for the PlayStation Portable

PlayStation 3

In-game XMB menu

In-game XMB menu

XMB color schemes

Themes

Developer

Bravia

XMB color schemes

Themes

Developer