The broadcast HD is so highly compressed it's of lower quality than the average upscaled DVD. anyone who thinks they are getting 1080p over the wire from CBS or PBS is dreaming or uninformed.
Some people just look for one simple number and they think that it means everything. 1080 is bigger than 720, so it must be better, right?
Wrong.
Apple will show everybody that numbers and specs and all that geek mumbo jumbo doesn't really mean anything - it is the User Experience. And at that, nobody in the world does it like Apple. Especially not the TV Companies.
Apple is poised to change the entire industry, from the ground up, disrupting all the existing paradigms, and all the whiners care about is one number. Pathetic.
I think 720 would be fine for what this device will do, but who really knows?
I don't think this will replace the AppleTV because that ship has sailed, but it may be a streaming only device and concept, thus the need to keep the data rates lower. This could very well replace your cable service as well. All on demand TV, game, app and cloud serving media network... oh, and throw in facetime on the TV!!!!
The AppleTV is just a fancy cable adaptor anyway. The storage part is becoming insignificant and sometimes actually gets in the way of what you want to do, which is to view content. You should be able to buy or rent content from one outlet and have it instantly show up on any device you have under your name without having to worry about storage or losing or transferring a file, or having the file become obsolete or incompatible.
Apple sells HD content in iTunes as 720p. Higher resolution 1080p is an alternative HD standard, but video experts note that the difference in resolution is not visible to users at a normal TV viewing distance unless the screen is larger than 55 inches.
Depending on what is meant by "normal TV viewing distance", this statement is just plain wrong. I sit seven feet from my 50" plasma; the difference between 720p and 1080i broadcasts is dramatic.
From 480p to 720p there is a 167% increase in pixel density.
From 720p to 1080p there is a 125% increase in pixel density.
The difference between the retina display an other leading smart phone screens is around a 21% increase in pixel density.
So the jump from "HD" to "Full HD" isn't as big as the jump from "SD" to "HD"... but it almost is. I suppose it depends on how you define "huge".
For me "huge" isn't 1080p though I can appreciate the quality. Huge to me is VHS to DVD. The only time I've been amazed since is when looking at specifically plasma TVs in HD.
There gets a point where where I'm just fine with a picture. 720p was that point. Maybe I'll get amazed in another 5 years when 4k comes out.
Why do people keep going on about 1080p just because it's a higher number? We're talking about video streaming here, which is limited by consumer bandwidth.
Because people claim streaming/downloads are a competitor to Blu-ray,a nd since I have poor bandwidth Blu-ray is my choice of product as I prefer the quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
If you can see the difference then you're too close to the TV.
I didn't realise you were my mother, I can sit as close, or far away from the TV as I choose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
This $99 720p streaming box will be a huge hit and help combat online piracy because it's the one type of service that can rival the convenience of P2P downloads. With P2P downloads, they are free but the download out of order so you can't stream it so you have to wait - that's no good if you decide to watch something right away. With the instant box, you pick, click it and watch it and Apple use high quality encoders so it's good 720p.
It won't combat online piracy, the reason most people pirate movies are because they don't want to pay for them, getting them to buy isn't going to fix it.
The resolution increase from DVD to 1080p is more drastic than from VHS to DVD.
That may be true in specs but it's not the way it affected me. The move from VHS to DVD struck me immediately because the picture went from blurry to sharp. When I initially saw a Spiderman on a 1080p screen in a Sony store 3 years ago I thought "That's pretty nice".
My point is that specs can say one thing while the experience is another. Some may have a different experience but I suspect I'm in the majority.
I wonder what will happen a year from now when people are complaining why the iTV doesn't support 3D.
And again another rumour thread goes wild on speculation and hearsay.
How about instead of all these experts in this thread going on about 720this or 1080 that, why don't we wait until we have some more solid proof?
And for those that are saying stupid crap like "thats it, unless they release it as 1080p im boycotting Apple products", my response is so long and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.
Lets wait until we get some more sources for these rumours before we jump to conclusions. Because so far it seems to just be Engadget's Apple link bait.
The only time the average viewer will even come across 1080p or 1080i material is if they buy a BluRay disc of a recent movie and have a very good player and the latest TV.
Or over the air like I do in the kitchen. I have the Viewsonic 23" full 1080 and the quality OTA is amazing. I like the picture quality maybe even better than my 52" Sony on cable.
If true, that means hulu plus, safari, netflix, pandora, tunein radio, and a few other cool apps will finally come to the apple tv without having to hack the device.
It's all rumor (and it's been going on for a long time). However, if it proves to be correct, and a new "iTV" device lacks 1080p output/playback it would be a failed product level mistake. I would be incredibly disappointed in Apple for building such a disaster, and it would definitely not make it to my 'to buy' list.
Comments
a smaller, cheaper device that uses network streaming rather than Apple TV's hard drive for local storage
Nooooooooooo!! What about outside the US where the internet still sucks?
We need to go the other way and have TBs of local storage so our iPod/Pad/Phone-only users can have local media/email for sync/streaming.
McD
The broadcast HD is so highly compressed it's of lower quality than the average upscaled DVD. anyone who thinks they are getting 1080p over the wire from CBS or PBS is dreaming or uninformed.
Some people just look for one simple number and they think that it means everything. 1080 is bigger than 720, so it must be better, right?
Wrong.
Apple will show everybody that numbers and specs and all that geek mumbo jumbo doesn't really mean anything - it is the User Experience. And at that, nobody in the world does it like Apple. Especially not the TV Companies.
Apple is poised to change the entire industry, from the ground up, disrupting all the existing paradigms, and all the whiners care about is one number. Pathetic.
I don't think this will replace the AppleTV because that ship has sailed, but it may be a streaming only device and concept, thus the need to keep the data rates lower. This could very well replace your cable service as well. All on demand TV, game, app and cloud serving media network... oh, and throw in facetime on the TV!!!!
The AppleTV is just a fancy cable adaptor anyway. The storage part is becoming insignificant and sometimes actually gets in the way of what you want to do, which is to view content. You should be able to buy or rent content from one outlet and have it instantly show up on any device you have under your name without having to worry about storage or losing or transferring a file, or having the file become obsolete or incompatible.
Sounds pretty cool.
Buy that Apple stock now!
That Wii-mote controller clone Apple filed for might come in handy running the iOS without touch.
I've been saying the same thing for ages
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._apple_tv.html
The difference between 720p and 1080p is just HUGE
No it isn't.
From 480p to 720p there is a 167% increase in pixel density.
From 720p to 1080p there is a 125% increase in pixel density.
The difference between the retina display an other leading smart phone screens is around a 21% increase in pixel density.
So the jump from "HD" to "Full HD" isn't as big as the jump from "SD" to "HD"... but it almost is. I suppose it depends on how you define "huge".
Too much iNames! This is getting very old. Apple TV sounds very nice.
This coming from iVlad?!
Apple sells HD content in iTunes as 720p. Higher resolution 1080p is an alternative HD standard, but video experts note that the difference in resolution is not visible to users at a normal TV viewing distance unless the screen is larger than 55 inches.
Depending on what is meant by "normal TV viewing distance", this statement is just plain wrong. I sit seven feet from my 50" plasma; the difference between 720p and 1080i broadcasts is dramatic.
Most consumers can't even tell the difference between 720p, 1080p and upscaled DVD ???????
Are you kidding ??? Just open your eyes ....
The difference between 720p and 1080p is just HUGE !!!!!!!!!!!!
Yup.
no 1080P
FAIL.
For that reason, I think that rumour is wrong.
From 480p to 720p there is a 167% increase in pixel density.
From 720p to 1080p there is a 125% increase in pixel density.
The difference between the retina display an other leading smart phone screens is around a 21% increase in pixel density.
So the jump from "HD" to "Full HD" isn't as big as the jump from "SD" to "HD"... but it almost is. I suppose it depends on how you define "huge".
For me "huge" isn't 1080p though I can appreciate the quality. Huge to me is VHS to DVD. The only time I've been amazed since is when looking at specifically plasma TVs in HD.
There gets a point where where I'm just fine with a picture. 720p was that point. Maybe I'll get amazed in another 5 years when 4k comes out.
For me "huge" isn't 1080p though I can appreciate the quality. Huge to me is VHS to DVD.
The resolution increase from DVD to 1080p is more drastic than from VHS to DVD.
Why do people keep going on about 1080p just because it's a higher number? We're talking about video streaming here, which is limited by consumer bandwidth.
Because people claim streaming/downloads are a competitor to Blu-ray,a nd since I have poor bandwidth Blu-ray is my choice of product as I prefer the quality.
If you can see the difference then you're too close to the TV.
I didn't realise you were my mother, I can sit as close, or far away from the TV as I choose.
This $99 720p streaming box will be a huge hit and help combat online piracy because it's the one type of service that can rival the convenience of P2P downloads. With P2P downloads, they are free but the download out of order so you can't stream it so you have to wait - that's no good if you decide to watch something right away. With the instant box, you pick, click it and watch it and Apple use high quality encoders so it's good 720p.
It won't combat online piracy, the reason most people pirate movies are because they don't want to pay for them, getting them to buy isn't going to fix it.
The resolution increase from DVD to 1080p is more drastic than from VHS to DVD.
That may be true in specs but it's not the way it affected me. The move from VHS to DVD struck me immediately because the picture went from blurry to sharp. When I initially saw a Spiderman on a 1080p screen in a Sony store 3 years ago I thought "That's pretty nice".
My point is that specs can say one thing while the experience is another. Some may have a different experience but I suspect I'm in the majority.
I wonder what will happen a year from now when people are complaining why the iTV doesn't support 3D.
You also need the new LED TV not the old cheep on sale LCD's
I have a friend who just purchased a Sony 55 3D for $ 3500.00
I'll be visiting him for all the Who Dat Saints games.
No networking issues here. And it is used daily for music and video.
Google for "apple tv network problem" and "apple tv sync problem" sometime.
Interestingly I spent way too much time last weekend trying to get mine to sync with iTunes again. Never did get it to work.
Anyway great that YOURS works, just saying that the networking needs improvement because problems aren't uncommon.
This coming from iVlad?!
I was wondering when someone was point to point that out.....
How about instead of all these experts in this thread going on about 720this or 1080 that, why don't we wait until we have some more solid proof?
And for those that are saying stupid crap like "thats it, unless they release it as 1080p im boycotting Apple products", my response is so long and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.
Lets wait until we get some more sources for these rumours before we jump to conclusions. Because so far it seems to just be Engadget's Apple link bait.
The only time the average viewer will even come across 1080p or 1080i material is if they buy a BluRay disc of a recent movie and have a very good player and the latest TV.
Or over the air like I do in the kitchen. I have the Viewsonic 23" full 1080 and the quality OTA is amazing. I like the picture quality maybe even better than my 52" Sony on cable.
That's a plus.