Apple TV supports 720p (HD!)
I don't know if everyone here knows this, but I was under the impression Apple was on crack and opted not to include HD capabilities in their Apple TV device. Turns out I was wrong. Apple should milk this capability a bit more so people like me don't think it's limited to 640x480 ghettovision resolutions.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/new...n-export-mode/
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/new...n-export-mode/
Comments
The fact that it is capable of outputting the higher res gives one some cause for hope, but at the moment there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between what Atv can do and what the whole rest of the infrastructure seems to be set up to actually do.
If Apple starts offering movie downloads at 720p and keeps the cost reasonable, the iTMS/Atv combo would be a great way to get and watch movies, and could really go places.
It would be nice if your downloads could be burned to DVD, but the studios seem pretty dug in about that and Atv makes that not as much as a problem, albeit at additional cost. Well, a hefty additional cost, but it beats watching movies on your computer.
The sticking point being that Apple isn't offering any 720p downloads in the iTMS.
The fact that it is capable of outputting the higher res gives one some cause for hope, but at the moment there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between what Atv can do and what the whole rest of the infrastructure seems to be set up to actually do.
If Apple starts offering movie downloads at 720p and keeps the cost reasonable, the iTMS/Atv combo would be a great way to get and watch movies, and could really go places.
It would be nice if your downloads could be burned to DVD, but the studios seem pretty dug in about that and Atv makes that not as much as a problem, albeit at additional cost. Well, a hefty additional cost, but it beats watching movies on your computer.
This is a very valid point, although for iTMS to offer full high def 720p resolution downloads would be a massive undertaking. The additional storage and bandwidth requirements for both Apple and us, the consumer would be very significant.
For me at least it all hangs on what the end result looks like. I tend to 'backup' my DVDs to a NAS drive to use with Frontrow anyway, so these should look just fine on my TV. If the iTMS movie downloads are just as good, I'll be happy... for now!
This is a very valid point, although for iTMS to offer full high def 720p resolution downloads would be a massive undertaking. The additional storage and bandwidth requirements for both Apple and us, the consumer would be very significant.
For me at least it all hangs on what the end result looks like. I tend to 'backup' my DVDs to a NAS drive to use with Frontrow anyway, so these should look just fine on my TV. If the iTMS movie downloads are just as good, I'll be happy... for now!
No it wouldn't, it would require about 2.5x-3x as much space/bandwidth. It's only a problem for people with dial-up, but how many of those would download even a 480p movie?
Does AppleTV do true up-scaling?
To 720p, yes. To 1080p, I have no idea, but I doubt it. But just about every 1080p can handle this anyway.
Does AppleTV do true up-scaling?
As opposed to fake upscaling?
To 720p, yes. To 1080p, I have no idea, but I doubt it. But just about every 1080p can handle this anyway.
Yep - 720p only.
http://www.barefeats.com/appletv.html
Look for HDMI and the three part component video in widescreen edition.
Regarding the upscaling, I have ripped several DVD's to my hard drive with HandBrake and am amazed at how good they look through my new Apple TV. Watching the same movie on my 20" imac looks acceptable, but on my plasma, they look damn near DVD quality. Whatever Apple is doing, it works!
Are referencing the files somehow or are they imported into iTunes?
No it wouldn't, it would require about 2.5x-3x as much space/bandwidth. It's only a problem for people with dial-up, but how many of those would download even a 480p movie?
3x my Bandwith is about 9 Mbps, and my current Bandwith makes me wait about an hour and a half to two hours for an iTunes quality Movie. So if Apple were to offer HD Downloads say... tomorrow for example, it would take me about 6 hours for the download which would be slowed down if I was doing anything else online. Then there is the space requirements......
Sebastian
Regarding the upscaling, I have ripped several DVD's to my hard drive with HandBrake and am amazed at how good they look through my new Apple TV. Watching the same movie on my 20" imac looks acceptable, but on my plasma, they look damn near DVD quality. Whatever Apple is doing, it works!
It sounds like it isn't working if DVDs you ripped to your HDD only look near DVD quality on your plasma.
Sebastian
As opposed to fake upscaling?
As opposed to simply blowing up a 480 image.
In the year or two it takes Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players to get down to reasonable pricing, Apple will feel some pressure to release a 1080p model.
To me, the crucial missing element in the whole Apple TV ecology is the "Rip" part (a la iPod + iTunes). If I could rip my DVDs 1:1 to my Mac, and the Apple TV could play them back with high-quality upscaling to 1080p, I'd have bought one. As it is, I'm not transcoding all of my DVDs to MPEG4.
Now if only this:
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Ente...s/EVA8000.aspx
...had Apple software on it.
As opposed to simply blowing up a 480 image.
Oh, so real upscaling, as opposed to real upscaling. Dandy!
As opposed to simply blowing up a 480 image.
I'm confused, all upscaling does is blow up a small image to become a larger image. There are different algorithms to do it with varying levels of quality, but in the end, they all fake a larger image.
3x my Bandwith is about 9 Mbps, and my current Bandwith makes me wait about an hour and a half to two hours for an iTunes quality Movie. So if Apple were to offer HD Downloads say... tomorrow for example, it would take me about 6 hours for the download which would be slowed down if I was doing anything else online. Then there is the space requirements......
What is the bitrate used on iTunes movies? The newer TV shows I have are around 1.5Mbps.
I'm confused, all upscaling does is blow up a small image to become a larger image. There are different algorithms to do it with varying levels of quality, but in the end, they all fake a larger image.
No upscaling matches the output to be that of the display. So if a device (say a standard DVD player) is used on a 720p display, the display will do the scaling (just like changing your resolution on a lcd to something other than the native). If the device you are using does the upscaling correctly then the output signal is matched to that of the resolution of the display resulting in a much cleaner image.
To compare try changing the resolution of your computer (assuming it's on an lcd) to match that of the movie you are playing rather than just making the movie fullscreen on the native res.
Cheers.
Nick.