Standard def 4:3 TVs are supported by ATV!

This is from the article (my own words):

While your 4:3 TV might display the picture from Apple TV, it will look squashed if it doesn't simulate widecreen. Widescreen simulation squashes the picture so that you get the black bars on top and bottom. I did not see those bars in the article's picture.

Joshua.

MacinJosh said:

This is from the article (my own words):

While your 4:3 TV might display the picture from Apple TV, it will look squashed if it doesn't simulate widecreen. Widescreen simulation squashes the picture so that you get the black bars on top and bottom. I did not see those bars in the article's picture.

Joshua.

Click to expand...

You probably didn't see them because the menu has a black background and the bars on the top and bottom are black.

Thanks for the link, motulist. My old Panasonic television does in fact have component inputs, but I'm guessing that the picture will be distorted. I wonder if I'll be able to return it (an AppleTV) if I get one and it doesn't work...

iBookG4user said:

You probably didn't see them because the menu has a black background and the bars on the top and bottom are black.

Click to expand...

I don't think so because the part where it says TV resolution is already where the black bars would be.

Joshua.

Lyle said:

Thanks for the link, motulist. My old Panasonic television does in fact have component inputs, but I'm guessing that the picture will be distorted. I wonder if I'll be able to return it (an AppleTV) if I get one and it doesn't work...

Click to expand...

With a 10% restocking fee.

It works just fine. Movies I've brought over look wonderful, but podcasts seem to be hit and miss. DL.TV had bars added to the sides which I can't explain.

Lyle said:

Thanks for the link, motulist. My old Panasonic television does in fact have component inputs, but I'm guessing that the picture will be distorted. I wonder if I'll be able to return it (an AppleTV) if I get one and it doesn't work...

Click to expand...

give it a try, then call apple f u need to.

i might wait until futureshop carries them in canada. they have a 15 or 30 day no questions asked return policy, depending on the equipment. i'm guessing the apple tv might come under the 15 day policy.

regardless, i'll give a whirl and check it out. tried selling it to my wife: she missed grey's anatomy, but i recorded it to my g4....if i had an apple tv...i could just zip it over to the tv.

what an awesome possibility.

and yes, she still didn't buy it

jur1st said:

It works just fine. Movies I've brought over look wonderful, but podcasts seem to be hit and miss. DL.TV had bars added to the sides which I can't explain.

Click to expand...

The is because a Widescreen Set is still required. Just because it outputs 480i doesn't mean it is 4:3

480i but no letterboxing?

I find it extremely weird that TV only has components and HDMI outputs but yet supports 480i.

It wouldn't take much to simply add a setting for letterboxing in the next update. I can understand only wanting to support the newest TVs, however I don't see how a widescreen TV would only accept 480i.

And since they added 480i (wasn't listed anywhere before), why not add letterboxing too, along with full-screen support for 4:3 content on 4:3 screens (just like they add the pillarboxes to 4:3 content on 16:9 screens).

The AppleTV supports four resolutions:

• 720x480 (aka 480i or 480p,) this is a widescreen, 16:9 resolution, based on the North American NTSC standard (although when using high-def cables, the signaling is based on the newer ATSC standard.) It is available in both interlaced and progressive scan formats. When interlaced, it is considered 'standard definition', when progressive, it is considered 'enhanced definition'
• 720x576 (aka 576i or 576p,) this is a widescreen, 16:9 resolution, based on the European/Asian PAL standard. When interlaced, it is considered 'standard definition', when progressive, it is considered 'enhanced definition' (in Australia, the progressive mode is considered 'high definition')
• 1280x720 (aka 720p,) this is a widescreen, 16:9 resolution, and is apparently the 'preferred' resolution of the AppleTV. This is available in both American (60 Hz,) and European/Asian (50 Hz) formats. This is considered 'high definition', and is progressive scan only.
• 1920x1080 (aka 1080i,) this is a widescreen, 16:9 resolution. This is available in both American (60 Hz,) and European/Asian (50 Hz) formats. This is considered 'high definition'. This is the broadcast TV standard interlaced format, not the higher-end progressive scan format.

All four assume a 16:9 aspect ratio screen. Even 480i. Obviously, any native widescreen TV will be fine. As for 4:3 format... *MOST* current TVs with component input (and all I have seen with HDMI,) have a 'widescreen' setting that 'squishes' the incoming signal so that the TV itself letterboxes the signal. The oldest TV that I know of for a fact that supports this 'squished wide' mode was a Sony WEGA a friend bought in 2000. It may not have even had component inputs, though, I don't recall. (He has long since replaced it with a native widescreen flat panel.)

A low-end CRT "HD" TV my dad bought two years ago does it, as well. (The TV can accept 1080i input, but some quick testing shows that it is only capable of physically displaying at 480p resolution.)

So if you have a fairly recent 4:3 TV that has component inputs, you should be fine, you just need to find the 'widescreen' setting in your TV's menu system. (This might also be referred to as 'anamorphic' somewhere in the description.)

The big problem in handling 4:3 'natively' is that if you have a native widescreen TV (as Apple specifically says you should,) then assuming 480i is 4:3 would produce problems for wide screens. Better to just state you need a wide screen, and assume all resolutions are wide.

I has to be hard to read the onscreen type.

ehurtley said:

[...] As for 4:3 format... *MOST* current TVs with component input (and all I have seen with HDMI,) have a 'widescreen' setting that 'squishes' the incoming signal so that the TV itself letterboxes the signal. [...] So if you have a fairly recent 4:3 TV that has component inputs, you should be fine, you just need to find the 'widescreen' setting in your TV's menu system. (This might also be referred to as 'anamorphic' somewhere in the description.)

Click to expand...

The problem is, my TV has component inputs and can display 480p (and even accepts 1080i) but has no letterboxing mode. There's no auto-detection mode either. That's why I hope Apple will add that setting in the next update.