This article will show the main steps needed to watch videos on your PSP with the least amount of effort.

Requirements:

PSP (PSP Fat, PSP Slim, PSP 3000 or any other model) with at least firmware version 3.10 or higher. If you purchased a PSP within the last 2 years, most likely you will have a newer firmware version. You can check your version on the PSP in “System Settings” on the left side in the PSP XMB (PSP menu)

PSP Memorystick, with enough room for your videos, 1GB recommended for movies (they usually end up around 500-700MB)

USB Cable or a Memorystick reader for your computer. The USB cable is one that usually comes with a digital camera or a cellphone, and has a USB connection on one end, and a mini-usb connection on the other end.

Computer with Windows 2000/Windows XP/Windows Vista or Windows 7

DVD drive (to be able to convert DVDs) or video files accessible on your computer (downloads, tv recordings etc)

Some recent version of DVD Catalyst (DVD Catalyst 3 or DVD Catalyst Free) installed on your computer.

Step 1: Start DVD Catalyst

On the left side, use the dropdowns to select “Sony” > Playstation P(PSP)

There are a number of different similarly named profiles, mainly for people who think that PSP is something different than PlayStation Portable.

Step 2: Add some content to convert.

For indication purposes, I just dragged some video file onto DVD Catalyst. Just drag and drop the video files you want to convert, or put a DVD in your computers DVD drive, and DVD Catalyst will find it.  Once you have some content added to convert, click on the Go button to start the process.

Depending on the amount of video files you have added, as well as the speed of your computer, it might take a while. The PSP video format is multi-core-capable, so if you have a computer with a Dual Core (or more) it will be used to the fullest for faster conversions.

Once the conversion is complete, DVD Catalyst will open the folder where it stored the video files it created. Do not close this window, because we need it to transfer the files. Move it to the side if needed.

Step 4: Transferring video files to the PSP

Connect your PSP to your computer with the USB cable, or take the memorystick out of the PSP, and put it into the card reader for it and connect it to your computer.

If a question box appears, select “View files” or something like that.

If nothing appears, open “My Computer” and click on the PSP memorystick drive that has appeared. Usually its something like drive E or F, but it differs per computer.

It should look similar to this. If your MemoryStick has not been used with the PSP, it might look a bit different. Make sure that you have a “VIDEO” folder. If not, rightclick next to another icon, and click on New > Folder and name it VIDEO

Now go back to the folder that DVD Catalyst opened after the conversion completed. If you did close it, it is by default located in “My Documents > My Video” (for windows XP) or the “Videos” folder (Windows Vista / Windows 7)

Move the 2 folders close to each other, then (left)click and hold the created video file, and drag it to the “VIDEO” folder on the memorystick.

Then let go of the mouse button, and the file should be transferred to the Memorystick / PSP

Once complete, wait a few seconds longer to make sure its completely transferred. Then (if you used a card reader) put the Memorystick in the PSP, and in the PSP menu go into Videos, and your video should be there.

Advanced: PSP HQ Profile

The PSP is quite picky in video files. They have to be of a certain screen size and a specific format, usually not compatible with non-Sony devices.

The default PSP profiles use a screen size of 480×272, which is the screen size of the actual PSP. Any video file created using the PSP format that has a screen size of 480×272 or anything less should play without problems.

The PSP HQ profiles use a screen size of 720×480, which is intended for TV-Out. This is where the pickyness of the PSP comes into play. Files that have this screen size will have to be 100% exact for 720×480. anything a little less will result in a non-working video file. If the screen size is anything bigger than 480×272 it will have to be 720×480. files with a screensize of 484×276 will not play, files of 720×440 will not play.

So, to ensure you end up with working files using the HQ profile, you will need to set the auto-cropping mode in the Global Settings (conversion tab) to either Full Screen Stretch (not recommended because it distorts the video) or Add black bars to fit resolution (which adds black padding to the video to make it the 720×480 screen resolution.)