HD movies from camcorder to HDTV playback

I don't think that's possible as the HF200 records in AVCHD and iMovie would have converted the video to AIC. I think your customer has a couple of options.

1. Connect the Mac to the TV and watch that way.

2. See if the TV accepts SD (or Memory Stick) cards. If so, does it support common HD codecs/containers? If so, convert the iMovie project to a compatible file and play through the flash card.

3. She could buy an aTV. Once the iMovie project is "published", it should be accessible (sync/stream) to the aTV.

4. She could buy any number of media extenders (I've been looking at the Western Digital TV HD Live). She'd export her iMovie project to a compatible file onto an external HDD or flash drive. Connect that to the WD TVHD Live and play. The Live also supports network streaming, so she can leave her file on the Mac.

5. Get a BluRay player that supports AVCHD discs (BD-5 or BD-9). I suppose she has a Superdrive ... and she'd need to get Toast 10 with the HD plug-in (Toast 9 also does it). She'd burn her iMovie project (in HD) onto a DVD that would be playable with a BD player.

Of course, options 3, 4, and 5 cost money. Options 1 and 2 don't really cost anything, other than some cables and perhaps an extra flash card ... provided they have the right equipment.

OK,

It seems there are a bunch of different needs here, depending on if it's for your customer or her family (which I assume are in different houses, perhaps states).

So for you customer, I would suggest getting a BluRay player that supports AVCHD discs. She can burn both HD and SD material. HD material would be burned as BD-5 or BD-9 discs. SD material would be burned as DVDs. The BluRay player will play both of these discs.

The second option for her would be the aTV. She would just "publish" her iMovie projects (I think it's called Share) in the proper format/resolution. Her aTV would pick up the video from her Mac and she's good. Definately the easier of the two options.

Between the BD player and the aTV, it's probably a toss up as to which one to get. Really depends on how she'd use them. If she's a "buyer", then a BD player is probably best. If she's a "renter", then perhaps the aTV is for her.

As for her family members, I would guess that they all have computers. Instead of sending them DVDs in the mail, perhaps your customer could set up a website (MobileMe is very simple) using iWeb. She would be able to publish her videos onto her website and all of her family members would be able to watch them. iPhoto could serve photo albums onto the website as well. I've seen it done, it's pretty slick and simple.

Otherwise, if all of her family members have BD players, she could mail a bunch of BD-5/9's and/or DVDs. But depending on how many different households she'd be dealing with, it could get tedious.

Personally, I'd prefer the website option as she could update it incrementally and everyone would be up to date.

ft