So I have a mp4 video I downloaded that is so pixilated it's hard to watch from anything less than across the room. It's 720p and 29Mbps. How come it doesn't look pristine with that bitrate?
Was it encoded from a source equal to the ones Apple use, ie 88-220Mbps direct from a studio? If the studio is sending Apple high quality source material then there isn't going to be a problem, if the source is crap then Apple would/should reject it. You say you downloaded a 720p 29Mbps file, well thats about the bitrate of most Blu-ray so whoever encoded it must be a little bit simple. The fact that it was encoded with a stupidly high bitrate and still looks like crap means the source was crap to start with.
This is a quote from the document Nermal linked:-
Quality is important to us at iTunes. We expect to receive the highest-quality assets available. Our product must meet or exceed the quality of the physical product already out in the marketplace.
Reading this I can tell you Apples 1080p content is nowhere near the quality of products already out in the marketplace.
Maybe Apple should monitor quality and reject anything that is not pristine, maybe not. I still think the problem would be solved by allowing the viewing of a small sample before downloading. You don't like it...don't download it.
No maybe about it if Apple is encoding the files themselves then they must be aware of the quality of both the input and output files.
----------
you're still ignoring the fact that with modern encoding techniques, bitrate is the not "be all and end all". there may well be something a-miss with the specific example you posted, but to say that it is definitely just bitrate is foolish.
I'm not ignoring any facts, I been encoding video for years, and yes I've already said bitrate isn't the be all and end all of obtaining good quality, however it is one of the most important factors. OK, by your reasoning, if bitrate isn't important than why are Blu-Rays not encoded at 4-5Mbps like Apples content? Because the higher bitrates, ie 20-30Mbps seen on Blu-ray give them better quality.
what was the outcome of the complaint you made?
Haven't hear from Apple yet, will post back once I hear from them.