Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple TV2 and Apple TV 1gen - Handbrake Issue

Paratel

Paratel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 26, 2005
318
0
Somewhere in the US
I don't know if this has been discussed but I have both the old :apple:TV and a new one. I encoded a few movies in Handbrake on the new AppleTV2 setting (2500 bitrate) and those movies would not play on my old :apple:TV. I had to re-encode to the regular :apple:TV setting.

Just thought I would pass that along for those who have mutiple :apple:TVs
 
R

rayward

macrumors 68000
Mar 13, 2007
1,697
88
Houston, TX
Paratel said:
I don't know if this has been discussed but I have both the old :apple:TV and a new one. I encoded a few movies in Handbrake on the new AppleTV2 setting (2500 bitrate) and those movies would not play on my old :apple:TV. I had to re-encode to the regular :apple:TV setting.

Just thought I would pass that along for those who have mutiple :apple:TVs
Click to expand...

ATV2 can play up to 30 fps, and the ATV2 preset defaults to 29.xxx fps. ATV1 can only play up to 25 fps. Otherwise, the capabilities of the two to play video is identical. YOur ATV1 may be tripping up on the frame rate of your movies if coded using the ATV2 preset.

I don't have an ATV2, but when setting up a job in HB, I click the ATV2 preset - to get the higher resolution settings without fiddling - and then change the frame rate to be "Same as Source". The resulting files play perfectly on my ATV1s.
 
B

bearcatrp

macrumors 68000
Sep 24, 2008
1,733
69
Boon Docks USA
Rayward, have you ever ripped the same movie in both setting to see how much difference there is? Am curious as I still use the 1st gen ATV. Also, what was the difference in size of the file, if you did compare?
 
R

rayward

macrumors 68000
Mar 13, 2007
1,697
88
Houston, TX
bearcatrp said:
Rayward, have you ever ripped the same movie in both setting to see how much difference there is? Am curious as I still use the 1st gen ATV. Also, what was the difference in size of the file, if you did compare?
Click to expand...

Sorry, never have. I only have ATV1s.
 
P

peterjcat

macrumors 6502
Jun 14, 2010
457
1
rayward said:
ATV2 can play up to 30 fps, and the ATV2 preset defaults to 29.xxx fps. ATV1 can only play up to 25 fps. Otherwise, the capabilities of the two to play video is identical. YOur ATV1 may be tripping up on the frame rate of your movies if coded using the ATV2 preset.

I don't have an ATV2, but when setting up a job in HB, I click the ATV2 preset - to get the higher resolution settings without fiddling - and then change the frame rate to be "Same as Source". The resulting files play perfectly on my ATV1s.
Click to expand...

There are other differences that you might run into if you try to encode high-bitrate 720p from Blu-rays or whatever. The ATV1 struggled with CABAC entropy coding and I think weighted b-frames as well. The ATV2 is much more capable at decoding the advanced features of H.264 and the Handbrake preset takes full advantage of that -- so not all files encoded using the ATV2 preset will work on the ATV1 regardless of framerate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom