This simple improve made my PS3 really feel model new

This Black Friday, I made a decision to splurge and purchase my very first OLED TV. I had heard nice issues about OLEDs and was debating between a 4K OLED monitor and a 4K OLED TV. In the long run, my mates satisfied me that an OLED TV could be your best option to exchange my growing older Samsung monitor, so I went for it.

My important purpose for upgrading was gaming — enjoying on my Switch 2 and PS5, in addition to connecting my PC to take pleasure in a few of my favourite video games in 4K, like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle. Since organising the TV earlier this week, I have been blown away by how wonderful video games look on OLED — deep blacks, vibrant colours, and quick response occasions are unbelievable, particularly with the PS5 supporting 120Hz VRR.

Nonetheless, whereas gaming on the PS5, it occurred to me that I ought to take a look at one thing else on my new TV. Earlier this yr, I lastly got a PS3 for the first time after skipping it for an Xbox 360 again within the day. I loved it, however I had been enjoying it on a monitor, and whereas it seemed high quality, the image high quality wasn’t the sharpest. Naturally, I spotted that with my OLED TV, the PS3 may look higher than ever — and which may be an understatement. On this display screen, it looks like an entire new console.

OLED elevates the PS3 to a brand new degree

It brings outdated PS3 video games again to life with glorious distinction and vibrant colours

Clearly, the PS3’s picture high quality cannot compete with the PS5. However after I hooked it as much as my OLED TV, I nearly forgot I used to be enjoying on a console that is practically 20 years outdated.

The primary sport I attempted was Uncharted 2, and I used to be instantly impressed. OLED screens excel at distinction and deep blacks, which was clear throughout the sport’s intro sequence, the place you are hanging off a prepare on a snowy cliff and throughout the nighttime museum heist. These scenes often seem washed-out on older LCD TVs, however on an OLED, the blacks have been actually black, not the standard grayish tone I’ve seen earlier than on LCDs.

That alone makes outdated PS3 video games look extra detailed than they did on older TVs. Since OLED panels can absolutely flip off particular person pixels, shadows and darkish scenes abruptly acquire depth and readability that the PS3 has all the time technically been capable of output, however few TVs might show accurately till now.

On high of that, colours on the PS3 look much better on an OLED due to the panel’s extra vibrant and correct colour copy. I examined this with the PS3 model of The Final of Us, and whereas it clearly does not match the remake on PS5, the OLED display screen made the decade-old sport look surprisingly trendy. The improved colour accuracy makes the world and characters stand out in a approach I might by no means seen earlier than on older TVs with the PS3.

After all, any console, PC, or streaming system can profit from being related to an OLED TV. However utilizing the PS3 actually highlighted how spectacular it was for its time. Video games like The Final of Us and Uncharted 2 nonetheless look beautiful in 2025, although I am enjoying their unique PS3 variations, and it is sufficient to make the growing older console really feel surprisingly new once more. If you wish to play the most recent and biggest variations of those video games, the PS5 is clearly the way in which to go, however on an OLED show, the older variations come again to life in a approach I did not anticipate.

There are some limitations

Decision is what holds it again

The largest limitation of enjoying my PS3 on an OLED TV is, unsurprisingly, the decision. The PS3 wasn’t designed for 4K gaming, so it is exhausting to not discover that its picture is not as crisp as what you’d see on a PS5. PS3 video games have been constructed for 720p/1080p HD, not 4K UHD, and that distinction reveals on trendy screens. Nonetheless, the OLED’s vibrant colours and deep distinction assist compensate for the decrease decision.

One other downside is the dearth of HDR, which merely did not exist throughout the PS3 period. However even with out HDR, the pure distinction and brightness of an OLED panel nonetheless make the picture pop greater than it ever did on older LCD TVs.

General, when you’ve got an OLED TV or monitor and an outdated gaming console like a PS3 or Xbox 360, I extremely advocate making an attempt it once more on the newer panel expertise. Whereas older video games clearly will not look pretty much as good as trendy ones, viewing them with enhanced colours and distinction on an OLED makes them look far more detailed, and it is a enjoyable journey down reminiscence lane to revisit older video games you have not performed shortly. OLED screens and TVs are additionally changing into extra reasonably priced, so if you wish to swap to OLED with out spending a fortune, there are various choices accessible, together with budget-friendly choices like a 27-inch monitor, which you can find for beneath $600.