There ain't nothin' like a good ol' firmware update to warm the cockles, any gamer will tell you that. And it doesn't matter how seemingly insignificant the improvements are either, once the progress bar reaches its climax and that blessed message of update confirmation appears on screen, well, there's no denying the satisfaction of being in possession of a videogame console in tiptop condition.

With that being said, Sony Playstation 3 owners turning on their machines today will be greeted by a message offering them the opportunity to download firmware version 1.81 for their next-generation machine.

It is just a minor update according to Eric Lempel, Playstation Network operations director, but it addresses RGB issues and should help improve players' overall gameplay experience. Whatever that means.

"Just a quick update: we'll be making available firmware upgrade 1.81 tomorrow which will fix a few small issues some of you have noticed," explained Lempel on Sony Computer Entertainment of America's (SCEA) official blog last night.

"Most notably is the RGB Full setting which a few of you wrote in about. In 1.80 we added an option to the XMB under settings allowing you to choose between RGB Full and Limited. Basically if you are connecting your PS3 to your TV using an HDMI cable, and if your TV supports RGB Full range, the picture quality may be improved when this option is set to Full.

"Some of you pointed out that the Full setting would sometimes revert back to Limited and 1.81 will address this issue. Please keep in mind that this setting is only effective when the PS3 is connected to a TV using an HDMI cable."

Wow, we're overcome with enthusiasm. Excuse us, we need to sit down.