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blobofsalad

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2013
1
0
Hi everyone, my first post here.

I know that you can change preferences for HD movies between 720 and 1080p in iTunes settings, and mine is set to 1080p. When I am about to download a movie I can see on the movie page that it says "Available in 720p and 1080p, downloading 1080p", and then it displays the size in GB of the 1080p file.

HOWEVER, my concern is that when attempting to download a movie in 1080p with a device with a sub-1080p resolution (which includes every macbook except the Retina I believe) iTunes will automatically decide for you that the movie is larger than your screen and so it will download the 720p version. I have verified this by checking the resolution of the finished download, and also the size of the movie is ~1-2 GB (depends on the movie) smaller than the labeled 1080p size on iTunes store.

I borrowed a 1080p monitor and tried again, and I was able to get a full 1080 download. I am positive that my settings are right, and that the movie in question is available in both resolutions. (I have tested this with many movies actually).

So, yes it's true that my MBA screen resolution cannot handle 1080p movies, but my iPad can and so can my Apple TV so I don't think this arbitrary restriction is warranted. Anyone know of a way around this? I will not be buying movies from the iTunes store anymore if they are forced to 720p instead of 1080p resolution because of my Macbook Air. You pay the same amount of money for either resolution but one is significantly better and I am not able to download it (not trying to discuss whether 1080 is actually better than 720, with my TV setup it is).

Worth mentioning: The above issues have been with RENTED movies only, I have not tried downloading a full length movie because I'm not about to spend $15 instead of $4 just to have this issue again.

Try this yourselves!!! Many of you have probably had this same problem for ages but not even realized it. This should make you angry! Would also be interested if the problem persists for purchased movies, if anyone has tested this.
 

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
4,230
325
Worth mentioning: The above issues have been with RENTED movies only, I have not tried downloading a full length movie because I'm not about to spend $15 instead of $4 just to have this issue again.

I'm pretty sure that when you buy an HD version, you get access to all resolutions: 1080p/720p/SD

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3209

Apple Support said:
Mac system requirements for HD 1080p1 content:

Mac OS X 10.5 or later
iTunes 10.6 or later
2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor
At least 2 GB of RAM
A display that supports HDCP with a screen resolution of 1280 x 800 or higher.

...

Depending on your computer's hardware configurations, you may be unable to purchase, rent, or playback content in 1080p

It sound's like that's exactly what's happening. You don't meet the minimum requirements and iTunes is downloading the 720p version instead.
 
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