I'm curious and not trying to be snarky (has hell frozen over?). Just what are the advantages that BR brings to the home theater? I've been to Best Buy and Fry's in the past year and have spent time viewing BR movies on various TVs, and I honestly can't see a difference in quality between Br and conventional DVDs. Granted I'm an old fart and need glasses for reading but my farsightedness is still as good as any youngster's (according to a recent exam by my ophthalmologist), and I just can't see any marked difference.
What am I missing here that gets everyone in one corner or the other in an arena (especially when discussing BR vis-a-vis Apple/Steve Jobs)?
Blu-ray video quality depends a lot on the TV/Projector/Monitor you are using to view it.
Same with sound - you need a decent surround-sound system, properly set up and configured, to really experience the advantage in HD sound that Blu-ray provides.
I personally own a low-end 32" LCD HDTV, which, compared to what I had before is 1000% better in terms of picture quality. I also have a decent 5.1 surround home theater sound system (although not set up in a surround-sound configuration).
But I'm not going to get nearly as much out of the Blu-ray experience as someone with, say, a 52" OLED HDTV with a high-end 7.1 surround system.
I'm curious and not trying to be snarky (has hell frozen over?). Just what are the advantages that BR brings to the home theater? I've been to Best Buy and Fry's in the past year and have spent time viewing BR movies on various TVs, and I honestly can't see a difference in quality between Br and conventional DVDs. Granted I'm an old fart and need glasses for reading but my farsightedness is still as good as any youngster's (according to a recent exam by my ophthalmologist), and I just can't see any marked difference.
What am I missing here that gets everyone in one corner or the other in an arena (especially when discussing BR vis-a-vis Apple/Steve Jobs)?
i have a 42" LCD TV. my father in law has a 47" LED backlit LG TV.
I have a PS3 and he has a regular DVD player.
last month i bought the combo Pixar's Cars on Blu-Ray and DVD for my older son. on his TV all the colors look washed out and you can tell there is pixelation and kind of static. on my PS3 it looks almost photorealistic.
i even noticed the difference years ago when i first saw it in the store. watching a movie on blu-ray that was filmed with hi-def cameras is like looking outside the window
Sounds interesting, some features must be new... And can you get to, say, Hulu or Netflix without logging into "Xbox Live"? Can streaming from PCs work without a WMC PC? What about their online "Marketplace"? Is there anything there? What is the deal with the stupidity of buying "Microsoft Points"?
If M$ is sooo close to having a box that will really do everything, why don't they drop the crappy parts, improve the streaming, fix the complexity, and market the heck out of their cool toy, instead of saying they'll make a separate set-top box?
The Xbox now might have some features that are pushing it in the right direction... Still, the box I'm looking for needs to do BD, have unfettered Internet access, streaming from PCs in standard formats (particularly non-Windows PCs), gaming, run some "apps", and all with a simple nice UI controllable from the couch with an iPod/iPhone (and Android).
Some posters are saying PS3 can do it... I'll look into it. The last time I checked though, *nobody* has that kind of box, like I said before.
the PS3 GUI sucks, at least compared to the x-box. they are similar but the x-box is a lot easier to navigate
A bit off topic, but one thing I?ve been wanting for years is a standardized way for TVs to act as passthroughs for the IR sensor and now a camera. Not unlike PC monitors. It would be nice to a FaceTime camera on any number of TVs ? Apple seems to be dropping iSight to market the new term ? that could be used by the AppleTV or other media extender appliances or HTPCs as the user sees fit.
Woz, when he left Apple, started a company called Cloud 9.
His first product was Tyron -- A small device that attached to any remote and amplified the IR signal and beamed it in every direction. You did not need to point the remote at the TV, VCR, Stereo, etc.
His second product was an universal, programmable (and a lot more) remote called Core. Core was an Apple //c in a handheld device about the size of a remote.
It could learn from other remotes, be manually programmed (with its keys) or connected to a computer and programmed with a computer app. It even had an SDK.
The Core included the amplified, multi-directional IR signal of the Tyron. It also included an LCD display, clock, timers and a scripting language.
For example you could easily program the Core to Turn on your VCR, rewind the Tape, switch the channel and record for 30 minutes starting at 9:00 PM on Tuesday...
By the way, here's a quick tip. Unless you are a fifteen year old girl, putting little animated faces in your comments is a sure sign of loserdom. Same thing for emoticons or whatever they are called.
A picture is worth a thousand words ...... well, 800 anyway!
I already have Widows CE based boxes that could stream video from a Windows Media PC if they let it. It's called AT&T U-verse. I have to say I it's OK, but not great. Still better than the Comcast software/boxes we had before. AT7T allows music streaming but not Video streaming, likely to prevent it from being more useful and make you use their on-demend over your own video downloads. Also, the Win CE DRM is ridiculous. You can't even play your DVR recordings without the stream to get decrypt keys.
Still, when I read this I thought "Yeah, now you can have the Blue Screen of Death on your TV!".
Oh yeah, You can use an XBOX 360 as an AT&T U-verse set top box and have streaming features if you want to pay them to let you use it, plus the software and installation fee of $99+.
If the ATT U-verse box is a WinCE computer -- better they make it stream to AppleTV, iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches using AirPlay.
Erica Sadun has some apps in development that
1) let AirPlay iDevices stream to Mac app: AirPlayer.
Betcha 50 bucks that the remote for Microsoft TV (or whatever they will call it) will have a minimum of 50 buttons. (As compared to the Apple TV's 7 buttons.)
My five year old figured out how to use Apple TV in about 5 minutes..... enough said.
Sounds interesting, some features must be new... And can you get to, say, Hulu or Netflix without logging into "Xbox Live"? Can streaming from PCs work without a WMC PC? What about their online "Marketplace"? Is there anything there? What is the deal with the stupidity of buying "Microsoft Points"?
If M$ is sooo close to having a box that will really do everything, why don't they drop the crappy parts, improve the streaming, fix the complexity, and market the heck out of their cool toy, instead of saying they'll make a separate set-top box?
The Xbox now might have some features that are pushing it in the right direction... Still, the box I'm looking for needs to do BD, have unfettered Internet access, streaming from PCs in standard formats (particularly non-Windows PCs), gaming, run some "apps", and all with a simple nice UI controllable from the couch with an iPod/iPhone (and Android).
Some posters are saying PS3 can do it... I'll look into it. The last time I checked though, *nobody* has that kind of box, like I said before.
The problem with the PS3 is that it is kinda similar to Apple .mp4 based, but also FAT32 4gb file limit too.... The Sony Home Media center on the other hand can read just about anything, if Sony put that functionality into the PS3 then it would be a no brainer. I hate to spend yet another $100 an another box to achieve this, got too many boxes on top of the TV already.
My 4 year old can navigate around Windows Media Center with ease. He loves watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Netflix.
The world may or may not be getting warmer, but the kids are definitely getting smarter.... mine can fire up my win machine and get his Mickey Mouse game playing by himself, the only help he needs is scooting the chair up close. I'm useful for something...
The problem with the PS3 is that it is kinda similar to Apple .mp4 based, but also FAT32 4gb file limit too.... The Sony Home Media center on the other hand can read just about anything, if Sony put that functionality into the PS3 then it would be a no brainer. I hate to spend yet another $100 an another box to achieve this, got too many boxes on top of the TV already.
i can put a USB stick with a movie into my PS3 and play it and it will even upconvert it to HD quality. will the sony home media center do it?
Even if a very cool media center were available from multiple vendors, with very similar features, my guess is Apple would be the only one that paid any attention to design and GUI.
It's my understanding that Xbox has a noisy fan? If not, I stand corrected.
I want something small, sleek, black and silent next to my TV. Minimal cords. Easy to use. Full featured.
If Apple TV had the content of the satellite and cable operators at a serious discount to their crazy pricing, I'd be all over it.
In their standard configuration both PS3 and XBOX are noisy as hell. The newer slim ones may be a little better but certainly not the FAT ones. There are mods available which I am looking into, other than that I like my PS3 more than the xbox.
My five year old figured out how to use Apple TV in about 5 minutes..... enough said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzguru
My 4 year old can navigate around Windows Media Center with ease. He loves watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Netflix.
My 10-year-old grandson's 71-year-old grandfather can navigate the AppleTV with a 1-n button remote with full menus, images and text -- an iPhone or an iPad running the Free Remote app. He didn't have to learn anything -- it works the same way that everything on iDevices works: simple and intuitive! When the kids are not around he loves watching: "Debbie does"... er, ah, forget it!
Microsoft! Please give it up! Why are you adding one more product to your grave yard list? Save the money and actually put into something that you have right now which is sort of game changer - Think about expandingyour Kinect and try to make it main-stream and not just for XBOX 360. After a long time you might have something that is innovative!
i can put a USB stick with a movie into my PS3 and play it and it will even upconvert it to HD quality. will the sony home media center do it?
I haven't bought the Home Media Center (yet) I'm in research mode at the moment. What format is your stick drive and file type for the movie on it? I put a 500 gb hdd in my PS3 with the idea of adding movies to it, but i don't want to re encode stuff to .mp4 @ less than 4gb.
Windows Media Centre is not bad and neither is Xbox. MS have some experience in this area and their chances are better than Google's at least.
The problem is they are good. That's it. Not more. And when they try to put both functionalities of these together, no one can falter more than Microsoft. Well, other than Google that is..!
Comments
I'm curious and not trying to be snarky (has hell frozen over?). Just what are the advantages that BR brings to the home theater? I've been to Best Buy and Fry's in the past year and have spent time viewing BR movies on various TVs, and I honestly can't see a difference in quality between Br and conventional DVDs. Granted I'm an old fart and need glasses for reading but my farsightedness is still as good as any youngster's (according to a recent exam by my ophthalmologist), and I just can't see any marked difference.
What am I missing here that gets everyone in one corner or the other in an arena (especially when discussing BR vis-a-vis Apple/Steve Jobs)?
Blu-ray video quality depends a lot on the TV/Projector/Monitor you are using to view it.
Same with sound - you need a decent surround-sound system, properly set up and configured, to really experience the advantage in HD sound that Blu-ray provides.
I personally own a low-end 32" LCD HDTV, which, compared to what I had before is 1000% better in terms of picture quality. I also have a decent 5.1 surround home theater sound system (although not set up in a surround-sound configuration).
But I'm not going to get nearly as much out of the Blu-ray experience as someone with, say, a 52" OLED HDTV with a high-end 7.1 surround system.
I'm curious and not trying to be snarky (has hell frozen over?). Just what are the advantages that BR brings to the home theater? I've been to Best Buy and Fry's in the past year and have spent time viewing BR movies on various TVs, and I honestly can't see a difference in quality between Br and conventional DVDs. Granted I'm an old fart and need glasses for reading but my farsightedness is still as good as any youngster's (according to a recent exam by my ophthalmologist), and I just can't see any marked difference.
What am I missing here that gets everyone in one corner or the other in an arena (especially when discussing BR vis-a-vis Apple/Steve Jobs)?
i have a 42" LCD TV. my father in law has a 47" LED backlit LG TV.
I have a PS3 and he has a regular DVD player.
last month i bought the combo Pixar's Cars on Blu-Ray and DVD for my older son. on his TV all the colors look washed out and you can tell there is pixelation and kind of static. on my PS3 it looks almost photorealistic.
i even noticed the difference years ago when i first saw it in the store. watching a movie on blu-ray that was filmed with hi-def cameras is like looking outside the window
Sounds interesting, some features must be new... And can you get to, say, Hulu or Netflix without logging into "Xbox Live"? Can streaming from PCs work without a WMC PC? What about their online "Marketplace"? Is there anything there? What is the deal with the stupidity of buying "Microsoft Points"?
If M$ is sooo close to having a box that will really do everything, why don't they drop the crappy parts, improve the streaming, fix the complexity, and market the heck out of their cool toy, instead of saying they'll make a separate set-top box?
The Xbox now might have some features that are pushing it in the right direction... Still, the box I'm looking for needs to do BD, have unfettered Internet access, streaming from PCs in standard formats (particularly non-Windows PCs), gaming, run some "apps", and all with a simple nice UI controllable from the couch with an iPod/iPhone (and Android).
Some posters are saying PS3 can do it... I'll look into it. The last time I checked though, *nobody* has that kind of box, like I said before.
the PS3 GUI sucks, at least compared to the x-box. they are similar but the x-box is a lot easier to navigate
A bit off topic, but one thing I?ve been wanting for years is a standardized way for TVs to act as passthroughs for the IR sensor and now a camera. Not unlike PC monitors. It would be nice to a FaceTime camera on any number of TVs ? Apple seems to be dropping iSight to market the new term ? that could be used by the AppleTV or other media extender appliances or HTPCs as the user sees fit.
Woz, when he left Apple, started a company called Cloud 9.
His first product was Tyron -- A small device that attached to any remote and amplified the IR signal and beamed it in every direction. You did not need to point the remote at the TV, VCR, Stereo, etc.
His second product was an universal, programmable (and a lot more) remote called Core. Core was an Apple //c in a handheld device about the size of a remote.
It could learn from other remotes, be manually programmed (with its keys) or connected to a computer and programmed with a computer app. It even had an SDK.
The Core included the amplified, multi-directional IR signal of the Tyron. It also included an LCD display, clock, timers and a scripting language.
For example you could easily program the Core to Turn on your VCR, rewind the Tape, switch the channel and record for 30 minutes starting at 9:00 PM on Tuesday...
Quite advanced for its time.
AIR, the Core cost $99.
http://www.ktronicslc.com/core.html
As to a camera and FaceTime on the large screen -- be careful what you wish for!
See my post related to Kinect at:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...86#post1777386
.
By the way, here's a quick tip. Unless you are a fifteen year old girl, putting little animated faces in your comments is a sure sign of loserdom. Same thing for emoticons or whatever they are called.
A picture is worth a thousand words ...... well, 800 anyway!
I already have Widows CE based boxes that could stream video from a Windows Media PC if they let it. It's called AT&T U-verse. I have to say I it's OK, but not great. Still better than the Comcast software/boxes we had before. AT7T allows music streaming but not Video streaming, likely to prevent it from being more useful and make you use their on-demend over your own video downloads. Also, the Win CE DRM is ridiculous. You can't even play your DVR recordings without the stream to get decrypt keys.
Still, when I read this I thought "Yeah, now you can have the Blue Screen of Death on your TV!".
Oh yeah, You can use an XBOX 360 as an AT&T U-verse set top box and have streaming features if you want to pay them to let you use it, plus the software and installation fee of $99+.
If the ATT U-verse box is a WinCE computer -- better they make it stream to AppleTV, iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches using AirPlay.
Erica Sadun has some apps in development that
1) let AirPlay iDevices stream to Mac app: AirPlayer.
http://www.macworld.com/article/1564...airplayer.html
2) let a Mac (and Maybe a PC) stream to an AppleTV (or another Mac): AirFlick.
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/20/airfl...y-data-server/
I would like the U-verse box to be able to stream (different streams) to multiple iPads as well as the TV.
Betcha 50 bucks that the remote for Microsoft TV (or whatever they will call it) will have a minimum of 50 buttons. (As compared to the Apple TV's 7 buttons.)
My five year old figured out how to use Apple TV in about 5 minutes..... enough said.
My five year old figured out how to use Apple TV in about 5 minutes..... enough said.
My 4 year old can navigate around Windows Media Center with ease. He loves watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Netflix.
Sounds interesting, some features must be new... And can you get to, say, Hulu or Netflix without logging into "Xbox Live"? Can streaming from PCs work without a WMC PC? What about their online "Marketplace"? Is there anything there? What is the deal with the stupidity of buying "Microsoft Points"?
If M$ is sooo close to having a box that will really do everything, why don't they drop the crappy parts, improve the streaming, fix the complexity, and market the heck out of their cool toy, instead of saying they'll make a separate set-top box?
The Xbox now might have some features that are pushing it in the right direction... Still, the box I'm looking for needs to do BD, have unfettered Internet access, streaming from PCs in standard formats (particularly non-Windows PCs), gaming, run some "apps", and all with a simple nice UI controllable from the couch with an iPod/iPhone (and Android).
Some posters are saying PS3 can do it... I'll look into it. The last time I checked though, *nobody* has that kind of box, like I said before.
The problem with the PS3 is that it is kinda similar to Apple .mp4 based, but also FAT32 4gb file limit too.... The Sony Home Media center on the other hand can read just about anything, if Sony put that functionality into the PS3 then it would be a no brainer. I hate to spend yet another $100 an another box to achieve this, got too many boxes on top of the TV already.
My 4 year old can navigate around Windows Media Center with ease. He loves watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Netflix.
The world may or may not be getting warmer, but the kids are definitely getting smarter.... mine can fire up my win machine and get his Mickey Mouse game playing by himself, the only help he needs is scooting the chair up close. I'm useful for something...
The problem with the PS3 is that it is kinda similar to Apple .mp4 based, but also FAT32 4gb file limit too.... The Sony Home Media center on the other hand can read just about anything, if Sony put that functionality into the PS3 then it would be a no brainer. I hate to spend yet another $100 an another box to achieve this, got too many boxes on top of the TV already.
i can put a USB stick with a movie into my PS3 and play it and it will even upconvert it to HD quality. will the sony home media center do it?
Even if a very cool media center were available from multiple vendors, with very similar features, my guess is Apple would be the only one that paid any attention to design and GUI.
It's my understanding that Xbox has a noisy fan? If not, I stand corrected.
I want something small, sleek, black and silent next to my TV. Minimal cords. Easy to use. Full featured.
If Apple TV had the content of the satellite and cable operators at a serious discount to their crazy pricing, I'd be all over it.
In their standard configuration both PS3 and XBOX are noisy as hell. The newer slim ones may be a little better but certainly not the FAT ones. There are mods available which I am looking into, other than that I like my PS3 more than the xbox.
My five year old figured out how to use Apple TV in about 5 minutes..... enough said.
My 4 year old can navigate around Windows Media Center with ease. He loves watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Netflix.
My 10-year-old grandson's 71-year-old grandfather can navigate the AppleTV with a 1-n button remote with full menus, images and text -- an iPhone or an iPad running the Free Remote app. He didn't have to learn anything -- it works the same way that everything on iDevices works: simple and intuitive! When the kids are not around he loves watching: "Debbie does"... er, ah, forget it!
.
i can put a USB stick with a movie into my PS3 and play it and it will even upconvert it to HD quality. will the sony home media center do it?
I haven't bought the Home Media Center (yet) I'm in research mode at the moment. What format is your stick drive and file type for the movie on it? I put a 500 gb hdd in my PS3 with the idea of adding movies to it, but i don't want to re encode stuff to .mp4 @ less than 4gb.
I think M$ should try to bring back and modernize Microsoft Bob.
or
Windows Media Centre is not bad and neither is Xbox. MS have some experience in this area and their chances are better than Google's at least.
The problem is they are good. That's it. Not more. And when they try to put both functionalities of these together, no one can falter more than Microsoft. Well, other than Google that is..!
They already have their MSTV. It's called XBOX 360.
or
I ROFL for sometime. Grt comment!
I ROFL for sometime. Grt comment!
Oh my god.... I'll be happy never to see that thing again, but thanks for the memory!!