In my experience, many folks who claim Blu-Ray loyalty usually have PS3's. I have a PS3, but honestly only use it for gaming. ALL of the movies I watch/buy are from iTunes because it is so darn convenient. (My Mac is hooked up to my 40" HD Sony LCD) The quality really is pretty good, and not enough for my to really care about staying loyal to Blu-Ray. Sony is bleeding money with each PS3 sold so I'm not optimistic about the future of Blu-Ray, but iTunes is here to stay.
I can bite. The people that say " ALL of the movies I watch/buy are from iTunes because it is so darn convenient." are only blind Apple fanboys who don't own a proper entertainment system.
That was fun.
What's Sony got to do with it? Some of us just like movies and don't feel iTunes is adequate. I love Apple and all it's incarnations, but think there online content is lame except for the music. Now if they offered a subscription based movie rental system, that would be a different story.
Blu-ray looks amazing so it's hard to back peddle to digital download. That's all.
When they attempt to sell digital downloads for a premium over physical and warehoused product.
I'm sorry but they will never attain the level of dominance with video that the music store shares at this ridiculous pricing.
I suspect the pricing isn't up to apple, that it's probably the studios insisting on these prices.
And I wouldn't think they'd sell much SD content at their pricing...and yet they do.
I don't think it's going to overtake physical HD media any time soon, but I'll bet Apple has the majority of the HD download pie, much like they do with SD video downloads.
I'm not defending Apple's pricing or offerings, I'm just saying that they have suffered the same disadvantages with SD download versus DVD and it hasn't seemed to hurt them much.
I suspect the pricing isn't up to apple, that it's probably the studios insisting on these prices.
And I wouldn't think they'd sell much SD content at their pricing...and yet they do.
I don't think it's going to overtake physical HD media any time soon, but I'll bet Apple has the majority of the HD download pie, much like they do with SD video downloads.
I'm not defending Apple's pricing or offerings, I'm just saying that they have suffered the same disadvantages with SD download versus DVD and it hasn't seemed to hurt them much.
Yeah I shouldn't be hard on Apple because variable pricing is more important for video purchases than audio. Movies that are popular will generally start out high and work themselves down to a comfortable range.
Apple simply needs to negotiate in the hopes of having a wide range of pricing for good movies worth a download.
When they attempt to sell digital downloads for a premium over physical and warehoused product.
I'm sorry but they will never attain the level of dominance with video that the music store shares at this ridiculous pricing.
There is no way i'm EVER paying $19.99 for a HD movie download. Let's go back to the drawing board and negotiate some realistic pricing.
Hmmm lets see.
720p video at 5Mbps
No extras and basic surround audio.
No subtitles
More difficult space shifting
$11.99-13.99 tops per movie.
Yeah, at 5Mbps they might as well have just distributed it in 480p format. Seriously... a Blu-Ray disc has 10x that bandwidth, with correspondingly better video and sound. If you're watching one of these movies no wonder people don't see the benefits of "HD". "I know... I'll buy a super-expensive TV then intentionally buy blurry 'HD' content for it!" No thanks.
If I may say, with the low bitrates Apple uses for encoding, their "HD" content is no better than an upconverted DVD; it would be foolish to drop $20 on a file that's not only highly compressed, but forever-locked to your iTunes account.
What do you mean that they only have basic surround audio? DD5.1 seems ample but maybe I haven't been following developments closely enough?
Dolby Digital doesn't work from a computer. There's a known bug in iTunes that stops it from working; it wasn't fixed in iTunes 8.1 yet Apple still advertise DD5.1 as working on a computer
I can bite. The people that say " ALL of the movies I watch/buy are from iTunes because it is so darn convenient." are only blind Apple fanboys who don't own a proper entertainment system.
That was fun.
.
Glad it was fun since you're so wrong.
I use my AppleTV for spur of the moment rentals - when its late, or cold or rainy weather. I've used it when I'm sick as a dog and I download a whole season of a show because I'm feeling so miserable and the shows help me forget how miserable I am.
The music capability is underrated too. Hooked up to my stereo - shuffling the music - I can listen all day while I work at home.
There are those that pooh pooh it, but I wouldn't trade it.
When they attempt to sell digital downloads for a premium over physical and warehoused product.
I'm sorry but they will never attain the level of dominance with video that the music store shares at this ridiculous pricing.
There is no way i'm EVER paying $19.99 for a HD movie download. Let's go back to the drawing board and negotiate some realistic pricing.
But is there a need for dominance? People that have DVD players or Blu-ray players can buy their movies. People with Appletv can buy their movies. Everyone is happy, right? I have 1.5 Mbps and no need to pay for anything else faster so I don't download, but I am glad people can do their download.
As with TV shows, each HD copy also comes with a standard-definition version of the movie that can be transferred to an iPhone or iPod, neither of which yet supports HD.
Someone please put me in my place if I'm missing something obvious, but how exactly can a device with a resolution of 480×320 display a video of 1280x720 pixels (let alone 1920x1080)? Are we talking about output?
Someone please put me in my place if I'm missing something obvious, but how exactly can a device with a resolution of 480×320 display a video of 1280x720 pixels (let alone 1920x1080)? Are we talking about output?
The issue is that you still need two versions of every video because the iPod/iPhone won't play an HD file at all, regardless of image quality. It's annoying and eats up space.
Yeah I shouldn't be hard on Apple because variable pricing is more important for video purchases than audio. Movies that are popular will generally start out high and work themselves down to a comfortable range.
Apple simply needs to negotiate in the hopes of having a wide range of pricing for good movies worth a download.
I've never understood the stance against variable pricing. It's not like all the software in the Apple store is the same price. Their computers are variable priced too.
Someone please put me in my place if I'm missing something obvious, but how exactly can a device with a resolution of 480×320 display a video of 1280x720 pixels (let alone 1920x1080)? Are we talking about output?
They can't... even if the resolution was sufficient, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between hd and dvd on that small of a screen.
Its a spec useful only for whose who want to brag to the ignorant.
When given its well-known Take 2 firmware upgrade in early 2008, the device was at the time the only location for any non-podcast HD content from Apple until TV shows were made available in September.
Am I the only one having trouble following this sentence?
Can someone explain.....
Previously, the AppleTV was the only place to get HD movies from iTunes Store, save for some HD podcasts. This option appeared with version 2.0 of the software known as Take2.
Yeah, at 5Mbps they might as well have just distributed it in 480p format. Seriously... a Blu-Ray disc has 10x that bandwidth, with correspondingly better video and sound. If you're watching one of these movies no wonder people don't see the benefits of "HD". "I know... I'll buy a super-expensive TV then intentionally buy blurry 'HD' content for it!" No thanks.
I think the logic is true for some of our Aussie HD channels - One (sport) is over compressed and would look better if they just dropped the resolution. I've never seen people complain about "blur" though - they complain about compression artifacts, pixelation, etc. So perhaps just trolling?
Anyway, movie rental compression is much better than dynamic on-the-fly compression of TV broadcast signals. The Apple HD is certainly better & clearer than DVD ... and certainly NOT as clear as BluRay.
They can't... even if the [iPhone screen] resolution was sufficient, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between hd and dvd on that small of a screen.
[720p]'s a spec useful only for whose who want to brag to the ignorant.
Yep. Not only that, but a bigger file size takes up more disk space, and uses more power to read that* and to decode it for a screen that can't display it anyway.
I think Apple's strategy of supplying a standard def copy for use on the iPhone or iPod is a great idea - even though I often abort the download of that copy since I don't use it.
(ps.
* The same issue happens for people using Apple Lossless codec for their music - it takes up much more space on their iPod, and instead of powering up the hard disk every 7 songs it has to power up every song... much more draining on the battery. Similarly, 256Kbps AAC reduces the battery life of the iPod. )
I use my AppleTV for spur of the moment rentals - when its late, or cold or rainy weather. I've used it when I'm sick as a dog and I download a whole season of a show because I'm feeling so miserable and the shows help me forget how miserable I am.
The music capability is underrated too. Hooked up to my stereo - shuffling the music - I can listen all day while I work at home.
There are those that pooh pooh it, but I wouldn't trade it.
I think it's a great system. I actually love having my Mac Mini hooked up to my TV. I actually wish Mac Minis came with every home. It's the perfect all in one. I have it hooked up to my 52 inch Sony XBR4. It's just after watching things on Bluray I've been totally blown away by the quality. I don't knock people that like the iTunes store, but I think they just need to realize to some of us the quality isn't good enough. If Apple could somehow work something out with the studio pricing then that may change. Like I said a subscription style could be tempting.
Once the quality gets better I'll try it out. I just wanted to point out that not every Bluray fan is a Sony shill. It's just some of us are video enthusiasts and really prefer the quality.
I have a new Mac Mini and have discovered that you CAN NOT play DRM-protected HD content from the iTunes store. I bought an itunes HD copy of a Smallville episode and discovered this problem. You will get an error message saying that your display is not HDCP-compliant and will not play.
I am connected to a non-Apple DVI monitor that is not HDCP compliant. However, from what I understand to be HDCP compliant you must have an HDMI connection - and this is something that Mac Mini (nor any other Mac except AppleTV) supports!!
It is interesting that they make such a big push for HD content and not be able to play HD content on their newest systems.
I thought they dealt with that issue. I checked the Apple discussions forum and it looks to be a major problem still. Lame. I'd buy up more refurbed Mini's but mine doesn't play HD to well. The SD video plays fine though. So I guess the minis are stuck in a rut on HD. Damn. I hope they resolve this. I'd love to get a newer model.
I have a new Mac Mini and have discovered that you CAN NOT play DRM-protected HD content from the iTunes store.
There's no problem with the Mac Mini and outputting HD video, as long as you have an HDCP compliant display. Your Mac told you this and yet you still think it's the Mini that's at fault?
Quote:
Originally Posted by EPad1000
I bought an itunes HD copy of a Smallville episode and discovered this problem. You will get an error message saying that your display is not HDCP-compliant and will not play.
You should only get that error message if your display is not HDCP compliant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EPad1000
However, from what I understand to be HDCP compliant you must have an HDMI connection
No, that's not correct. HDCP can work over DVI and DisplayPort as well as HDMI. Your Mac Mini is HDCP compliant but your monitor isn't so you can't play HD content on that monitor.
Comments
In my experience, many folks who claim Blu-Ray loyalty usually have PS3's. I have a PS3, but honestly only use it for gaming. ALL of the movies I watch/buy are from iTunes because it is so darn convenient. (My Mac is hooked up to my 40" HD Sony LCD) The quality really is pretty good, and not enough for my to really care about staying loyal to Blu-Ray. Sony is bleeding money with each PS3 sold so I'm not optimistic about the future of Blu-Ray, but iTunes is here to stay.
I can bite. The people that say " ALL of the movies I watch/buy are from iTunes because it is so darn convenient." are only blind Apple fanboys who don't own a proper entertainment system.
That was fun.
What's Sony got to do with it? Some of us just like movies and don't feel iTunes is adequate. I love Apple and all it's incarnations, but think there online content is lame except for the music. Now if they offered a subscription based movie rental system, that would be a different story.
Blu-ray looks amazing so it's hard to back peddle to digital download. That's all.
When they attempt to sell digital downloads for a premium over physical and warehoused product.
I'm sorry but they will never attain the level of dominance with video that the music store shares at this ridiculous pricing.
I suspect the pricing isn't up to apple, that it's probably the studios insisting on these prices.
And I wouldn't think they'd sell much SD content at their pricing...and yet they do.
I don't think it's going to overtake physical HD media any time soon, but I'll bet Apple has the majority of the HD download pie, much like they do with SD video downloads.
I'm not defending Apple's pricing or offerings, I'm just saying that they have suffered the same disadvantages with SD download versus DVD and it hasn't seemed to hurt them much.
I suspect the pricing isn't up to apple, that it's probably the studios insisting on these prices.
And I wouldn't think they'd sell much SD content at their pricing...and yet they do.
I don't think it's going to overtake physical HD media any time soon, but I'll bet Apple has the majority of the HD download pie, much like they do with SD video downloads.
I'm not defending Apple's pricing or offerings, I'm just saying that they have suffered the same disadvantages with SD download versus DVD and it hasn't seemed to hurt them much.
Yeah I shouldn't be hard on Apple because variable pricing is more important for video purchases than audio. Movies that are popular will generally start out high and work themselves down to a comfortable range.
Apple simply needs to negotiate in the hopes of having a wide range of pricing for good movies worth a download.
When they attempt to sell digital downloads for a premium over physical and warehoused product.
I'm sorry but they will never attain the level of dominance with video that the music store shares at this ridiculous pricing.
There is no way i'm EVER paying $19.99 for a HD movie download. Let's go back to the drawing board and negotiate some realistic pricing.
Hmmm lets see.
720p video at 5Mbps
No extras and basic surround audio.
No subtitles
More difficult space shifting
$11.99-13.99 tops per movie.
Yeah, at 5Mbps they might as well have just distributed it in 480p format. Seriously... a Blu-Ray disc has 10x that bandwidth, with correspondingly better video and sound. If you're watching one of these movies no wonder people don't see the benefits of "HD". "I know... I'll buy a super-expensive TV then intentionally buy blurry 'HD' content for it!" No thanks.
What do you mean that they only have basic surround audio? DD5.1 seems ample but maybe I haven't been following developments closely enough?
Dolby Digital doesn't work from a computer. There's a known bug in iTunes that stops it from working; it wasn't fixed in iTunes 8.1 yet Apple still advertise DD5.1 as working on a computer
I can bite. The people that say " ALL of the movies I watch/buy are from iTunes because it is so darn convenient." are only blind Apple fanboys who don't own a proper entertainment system.
That was fun.
.
Glad it was fun since you're so wrong.
I use my AppleTV for spur of the moment rentals - when its late, or cold or rainy weather. I've used it when I'm sick as a dog and I download a whole season of a show because I'm feeling so miserable and the shows help me forget how miserable I am.
The music capability is underrated too. Hooked up to my stereo - shuffling the music - I can listen all day while I work at home.
There are those that pooh pooh it, but I wouldn't trade it.
When they attempt to sell digital downloads for a premium over physical and warehoused product.
I'm sorry but they will never attain the level of dominance with video that the music store shares at this ridiculous pricing.
There is no way i'm EVER paying $19.99 for a HD movie download. Let's go back to the drawing board and negotiate some realistic pricing.
But is there a need for dominance? People that have DVD players or Blu-ray players can buy their movies. People with Appletv can buy their movies. Everyone is happy, right? I have 1.5 Mbps and no need to pay for anything else faster so I don't download, but I am glad people can do their download.
As with TV shows, each HD copy also comes with a standard-definition version of the movie that can be transferred to an iPhone or iPod, neither of which yet supports HD.
Someone please put me in my place if I'm missing something obvious, but how exactly can a device with a resolution of 480×320 display a video of 1280x720 pixels (let alone 1920x1080)? Are we talking about output?
Someone please put me in my place if I'm missing something obvious, but how exactly can a device with a resolution of 480×320 display a video of 1280x720 pixels (let alone 1920x1080)? Are we talking about output?
The issue is that you still need two versions of every video because the iPod/iPhone won't play an HD file at all, regardless of image quality. It's annoying and eats up space.
Yeah I shouldn't be hard on Apple because variable pricing is more important for video purchases than audio. Movies that are popular will generally start out high and work themselves down to a comfortable range.
Apple simply needs to negotiate in the hopes of having a wide range of pricing for good movies worth a download.
I've never understood the stance against variable pricing. It's not like all the software in the Apple store is the same price. Their computers are variable priced too.
There is no way i'm EVER paying $19.99 for a HD movie download. Let's go back to the drawing board and negotiate some realistic pricing.
$11.99-13.99 tops per movie.
very true. this "HD Ready" offer is more expensive than BR at amazon or deepdiscount and is definitely targeted towards idiots and blind fanboys.
Someone please put me in my place if I'm missing something obvious, but how exactly can a device with a resolution of 480×320 display a video of 1280x720 pixels (let alone 1920x1080)? Are we talking about output?
They can't... even if the resolution was sufficient, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between hd and dvd on that small of a screen.
Its a spec useful only for whose who want to brag to the ignorant.
When given its well-known Take 2 firmware upgrade in early 2008, the device was at the time the only location for any non-podcast HD content from Apple until TV shows were made available in September.
Am I the only one having trouble following this sentence?
Can someone explain.....
Previously, the AppleTV was the only place to get HD movies from iTunes Store, save for some HD podcasts. This option appeared with version 2.0 of the software known as Take2.
Yeah, at 5Mbps they might as well have just distributed it in 480p format. Seriously... a Blu-Ray disc has 10x that bandwidth, with correspondingly better video and sound. If you're watching one of these movies no wonder people don't see the benefits of "HD". "I know... I'll buy a super-expensive TV then intentionally buy blurry 'HD' content for it!" No thanks.
I think the logic is true for some of our Aussie HD channels - One (sport) is over compressed and would look better if they just dropped the resolution. I've never seen people complain about "blur" though - they complain about compression artifacts, pixelation, etc. So perhaps just trolling?
Anyway, movie rental compression is much better than dynamic on-the-fly compression of TV broadcast signals. The Apple HD is certainly better & clearer than DVD ... and certainly NOT as clear as BluRay.
They can't... even if the [iPhone screen] resolution was sufficient, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between hd and dvd on that small of a screen.
[720p]'s a spec useful only for whose who want to brag to the ignorant.
Yep. Not only that, but a bigger file size takes up more disk space, and uses more power to read that* and to decode it for a screen that can't display it anyway.
I think Apple's strategy of supplying a standard def copy for use on the iPhone or iPod is a great idea - even though I often abort the download of that copy since I don't use it.
(ps.
* The same issue happens for people using Apple Lossless codec for their music - it takes up much more space on their iPod, and instead of powering up the hard disk every 7 songs it has to power up every song... much more draining on the battery. Similarly, 256Kbps AAC reduces the battery life of the iPod. )
Glad it was fun since you're so wrong.
I use my AppleTV for spur of the moment rentals - when its late, or cold or rainy weather. I've used it when I'm sick as a dog and I download a whole season of a show because I'm feeling so miserable and the shows help me forget how miserable I am.
The music capability is underrated too. Hooked up to my stereo - shuffling the music - I can listen all day while I work at home.
There are those that pooh pooh it, but I wouldn't trade it.
I think it's a great system. I actually love having my Mac Mini hooked up to my TV. I actually wish Mac Minis came with every home. It's the perfect all in one. I have it hooked up to my 52 inch Sony XBR4. It's just after watching things on Bluray I've been totally blown away by the quality. I don't knock people that like the iTunes store, but I think they just need to realize to some of us the quality isn't good enough. If Apple could somehow work something out with the studio pricing then that may change. Like I said a subscription style could be tempting.
Once the quality gets better I'll try it out. I just wanted to point out that not every Bluray fan is a Sony shill. It's just some of us are video enthusiasts and really prefer the quality.
I have a new Mac Mini and have discovered that you CAN NOT play DRM-protected HD content from the iTunes store. I bought an itunes HD copy of a Smallville episode and discovered this problem. You will get an error message saying that your display is not HDCP-compliant and will not play.
I am connected to a non-Apple DVI monitor that is not HDCP compliant. However, from what I understand to be HDCP compliant you must have an HDMI connection - and this is something that Mac Mini (nor any other Mac except AppleTV) supports!!
It is interesting that they make such a big push for HD content and not be able to play HD content on their newest systems.
Anyone else have this problem?
The only option is Apple TV I guess.
Beware new (early 2009) Mac Mini users-
I have a new Mac Mini and have discovered that you CAN NOT play DRM-protected HD content from the iTunes store.
There's no problem with the Mac Mini and outputting HD video, as long as you have an HDCP compliant display. Your Mac told you this and yet you still think it's the Mini that's at fault?
I bought an itunes HD copy of a Smallville episode and discovered this problem. You will get an error message saying that your display is not HDCP-compliant and will not play.
You should only get that error message if your display is not HDCP compliant.
However, from what I understand to be HDCP compliant you must have an HDMI connection
No, that's not correct. HDCP can work over DVI and DisplayPort as well as HDMI. Your Mac Mini is HDCP compliant but your monitor isn't so you can't play HD content on that monitor.