Good points. I would say that 4k doesn't require fully uncompressed streams to look good (that would be over 12Gbps!! and uncompressed is never streamed to consumers), but rather it does require about 4x (or more) bitrate of an HD stream for the same codec. Blu-Ray discs would stream about 30Mbps with H.264, so with UHD having 4x resolution (+ more colour information), it would need about 120Mbps to show all of that 4k resolution with the same compression quality. H.265 might cut that in half - so 60Mbps to get that 4k video improvement over BR. Now, clearly 1080p streaming services have much lower bitrates - you could argue about 8-10Mbps H.264 is "pretty good" - so with H.265 4k could provide a pretty good stream at maybe 16-20Mbps. That is higher than the US average broadband rate though.
One other point on the TV's - not only are the settings of the TV's set to unnaturally bright and saturated colours, but to push 4k TV's now, the stores use much better content (much less uncompressed) for 4k, vs. what they show on HD steams (poor quality stream from cable). It is all about the upsell.
:???: Uncompressed? What video content could you possibly be talking about that isn't compressed?
I thought I had read somewhere that the A8 (or A8X) had h.265 decoding in hardware -- I surfed, but can't find a link.
We know that the iPhone 6-series can en/decode H.265 for FaceTime to another iPhone 6-series device when one is on a cellular connection, but I don't think we ever found out if it's done in SW, is part of the A8 HW, or a discreet chip. I never even saw a single test that compared the file sizes or power usage for using H.264 v H.265 for FaceTime.
PS: Just because the iPhone 6-series could do it for FaceTime last year doesn't mean that it could have done it for 2160p content. Are we even sure the 720p FaceTime camera doesn't drastically down-convert video for better realtime transmission?
You know it's really offensive when people do this, as if people that don't have children don't understand because they: 1) haven't procreated, and 2) forgot their own childhood completely.
It's a great way to claim some superiority, but when one wants to be argumentative, I suppose it's within easy reach.
We know that the iPhone 6-series can en/decode H.265 for FaceTime to another iPhone 6-series device when one is on a cellular connection, but I don't think we ever found out if it's done in SW, is part of the A8 HW, or a discreet chip.
:???: Uncompressed? What video content could you possibly be talking about that isn't compressed?
That's a good question. Probably just an intellectual discussion. Uncompressed HD (let alone 4K) is only used during video production, maybe archival mastering. But from that point on, distribution requires (lossy) compression.
You know it's really offensive when people do this, as if people that don't have children don't understand because they: 1) haven't procreated, and 2) forgot their own childhood completely.
It's a great way to claim some superiority, but when one wants to be argumentative, I suppose it's within easy reach.
A better challenge would be to ask to see your published papers on child psychology with regards to studies of consumer behavior with respect to specs marketing. Or equivalent studies.
You know it's really offensive when people do this, as if people that don't have children don't understand because they: 1) haven't procreated, and 2) forgot their own childhood completely.
It's a great way to claim some superiority, but when one wants to be argumentative, I suppose it's within easy reach.
That's funny, because I find it offensive to read pontificatory crap from people who take a position of superior knowledge over people who live the life.
The funny thing is the A8 is perfectly capable of playing 4k video. Makes me wonder why Apple choose to not support 4k on the ATV
You can't use terms like "perfectly capable" when talking about codecs which can be a variety of bitrates. This is like when people claimed that TB1 could play 4K just fine but Apple won't enable it. Yeah, at 30Hz. What profile can reasonably be streamed with Apple's A8 chip? Would it be a comparable profile quality (per pixel quality) that iTunes Store uses now for 1080p?
I have a Fire TV, and I like it a lot. The main reason I bought one is for the Plex App. Since the new Apple TV will have Plex, I have no use for the Fire TV. The new Fire TV I'm sure is nice with 4k, but there just isn't enough content out there right now. I have a 4k TV and the only content I'm able to see is the 4k blu ray's I have and the Directv 4k channel.
The Plex client on Fire TV is just terrible. One of the great disappointments of my move to Fire TV. Am very much looking forward to the new Apple TV.
That certainly makes sense and would be my first guess, but we don't have any confirmation.
Well we know it is not on a discrete chip or it would have been discovered by iFixit and software encode/decode in realtime would be too slow, especially for FaceTime, which needs to be near instantaneous. I really don't think there is any other possibility to SOC.
Say what you will but for the kids a 50 dollar tablet is great. If they smash it, no rushing to AppleStore and coming out with a sizable bill. 'Fixing' cracked glass on an iPad costs more than that!
iPhone 6S, 6S+, more high end Android hand sets than I want to count and all recent Panasonic mid to high end cameras, Go Pro Hero, etc.
What does that have to do with anything? AirPlay doesn't support 4K as far as I know. If you need 4K now then there are plenty of alternatives, just not the Apple TV.
Every media play has it pros and cons. No matter how often people shout on here 4K is not going to magically appear in a month on the ATV.
Am looking forward to the App Store which is the real breakthrough for Apple TV. I really like my Fire TV players but they may very well take a secondary position to the ATV which has not recently been the case.
Of all the media players, other than Apple TV, the Fire TV is providing something to the space. The rest are underwhelming, to say the least.
Comments
:???: Uncompressed? What video content could you possibly be talking about that isn't compressed?
We know that the iPhone 6-series can en/decode H.265 for FaceTime to another iPhone 6-series device when one is on a cellular connection, but I don't think we ever found out if it's done in SW, is part of the A8 HW, or a discreet chip. I never even saw a single test that compared the file sizes or power usage for using H.264 v H.265 for FaceTime.
PS: Just because the iPhone 6-series could do it for FaceTime last year doesn't mean that it could have done it for 2160p content. Are we even sure the 720p FaceTime camera doesn't drastically down-convert video for better realtime transmission?
for Kids under 7 a Kindle will be okay. But so would a happy meal from McDonalds.
Where do I subscribe to your newsletter...
And a sure fire way to have a house full of tears.
Trust me. Even little kids know the difference between a POS Kindle and the iPad.
How many children do you have?
How many children do you have?
You know it's really offensive when people do this, as if people that don't have children don't understand because they: 1) haven't procreated, and 2) forgot their own childhood completely.
It's a great way to claim some superiority, but when one wants to be argumentative, I suppose it's within easy reach.
We know that the iPhone 6-series can en/decode H.265 for FaceTime to another iPhone 6-series device when one is on a cellular connection, but I don't think we ever found out if it's done in SW, is part of the A8 HW, or a discreet chip.
Anandtech believes it is on the SOC.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8554/the-iphone-6-review/2
That certainly makes sense and would be my first guess, but we don't have any confirmation.
That's a good question. Probably just an intellectual discussion. Uncompressed HD (let alone 4K) is only used during video production, maybe archival mastering. But from that point on, distribution requires (lossy) compression.
A better challenge would be to ask to see your published papers on child psychology with regards to studies of consumer behavior with respect to specs marketing. Or equivalent studies.
You know it's really offensive when people do this, as if people that don't have children don't understand because they: 1) haven't procreated, and 2) forgot their own childhood completely.
It's a great way to claim some superiority, but when one wants to be argumentative, I suppose it's within easy reach.
That's funny, because I find it offensive to read pontificatory crap from people who take a position of superior knowledge over people who live the life.
Why does it matter?
Because I asked you before in another thread where you were spouting your theories on education and you declined to answer.
Content?
Content?
iPhone 6S, 6S+, more high end Android hand sets than I want to count and all recent Panasonic mid to high end cameras, Go Pro Hero, etc.
Do you have kids?
Yes.
You can't use terms like "perfectly capable" when talking about codecs which can be a variety of bitrates. This is like when people claimed that TB1 could play 4K just fine but Apple won't enable it. Yeah, at 30Hz. What profile can reasonably be streamed with Apple's A8 chip? Would it be a comparable profile quality (per pixel quality) that iTunes Store uses now for 1080p?
The Plex client on Fire TV is just terrible. One of the great disappointments of my move to Fire TV. Am very much looking forward to the new Apple TV.
That certainly makes sense and would be my first guess, but we don't have any confirmation.
Well we know it is not on a discrete chip or it would have been discovered by iFixit and software encode/decode in realtime would be too slow, especially for FaceTime, which needs to be near instantaneous. I really don't think there is any other possibility to SOC.
What does that have to do with anything? AirPlay doesn't support 4K as far as I know. If you need 4K now then there are plenty of alternatives, just not the Apple TV.
Every media play has it pros and cons. No matter how often people shout on here 4K is not going to magically appear in a month on the ATV.
Am looking forward to the App Store which is the real breakthrough for Apple TV. I really like my Fire TV players but they may very well take a secondary position to the ATV which has not recently been the case.
Of all the media players, other than Apple TV, the Fire TV is providing something to the space. The rest are underwhelming, to say the least.
do you have grand kids?
So you don't have kids. Thanks for clearing that up.