As promised by Sony late last month, the PlayStation Store revamp is now here. PlayStation 3 users who check for a network update will find that firmware version 2.30 is available.

For gamers, the most immediately appreciable improvement in the new software is support for the redesigned PlayStation Store, which drops its web browser foundation in favor of a locally viewable but still online required version. The result of this change is much quicker browsing speeds, which are now more comparable to Xbox Live Marketplace rather than a slow website. A video walkthrough of the new store is available on the official PlayStation Blog.

Early PS3 owners who installed the update reported that the store would occasionally fail to load images, instead displaying only a “missing image” placeholder. Some have been able to fix the problem by clearing the PS3 web browser cache, though various loading errors on the store could be due to the PlayStation Network’s heavy strain from the masses of updates.

The PlayStation Store accessible via the PC and PSP also sport a new look, though the changes appear to be cosmetic and do not behave the same as the PlayStation 3 version.

For high-definition movie enthusiasts, the 2.30 firmware also brings with it the much anticipated DTS-HD Master Audio support for the console’s Blu-ray Disc playback feature. Like PCM and Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA can deliver audio presentation that is bit-for-bit identical to the original studio master.

“PS3 was designed to enable delivery of new and improved technologies like DTS-HD Master Audio,” said Teiji Yutaka, SVP of Software Platform Development at SCE. “So we are delighted to be able to offer this capability to PS3 users.”

The 2.30 firmware update is now available from the PlayStation 3 update function, or as a direct download to PC from PlayStation Japan.