Rumours about this have been widespread, first appearing on a gamespot article sometime back. Now Sony has issued the following statement on the pressing matter:
”The new CECH-3000 series PS3 requires HDMI only for BD movie output in HD, in compliance with AACS standards. PS3 continues to support component output for HD gaming and streaming content.”
Sony – according to a document nabbed by kotaku – was planning on releasing new PS3 models that could limit the HD viewing through HDMI cables only.
Whether the above statement confirms that is yet to be ascertained.
Source: PSU