iPad 3 to Pave Way for 1080p iTunes Content and a New Apple TV?

[Buckeyestar]

Unfortunately, I think Apple sees the iTunes Store competing against Blu-ray and video on demand (PPV), not Netflix or the like.

One thing I hope they launch with the new iPad is iCloud for Movies. Surely it's coming.

I want one or the other. An iTunes streaming subscription with more movie content than Netflix would be fantastic. Barring that, I want movies in iCloud so I can finally switch my movie collection to digital.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Then there is something seriously messed up with your system, because they aren't even close.

I know many people who have had Blu-ray players with their output settings set to 480i. I think some units ship like that by default. Stuff like that baffles the heck out of me. I see it all the time. Same thing with HD Cable boxes. People tell me they don't see a difference, then I come over and rewire everything and set it up right and they are like "wow!"

 

[Rodimus Prime]

About time Apple started offering 1080p. Now I expect Apple to require you to go out and buy a new Apple TV to be able to play the higher content.

 

[profets]

The current Apple TV already supports 1080p playback, with a software update Apple should be able to allow 1080p output on the current Apple TV.

Also the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad and iPad 2 are able to play 1080p. Apple is probably just waiting to charge us again for the devices that officially support 1080p since every A4 or newer device doesn't have any problems with it. Kinda sad but true.

The 4S and iPad 2 with the A5 seem to be able to fly through 1080p, but can the A4 based devices actually handle it?

I've used XBMC on my Apple TV and it can process 1080p files, but does seem to tax the A4 cpu in the process. And I'm sure the bitrate will make a difference as well.

 

[Can't Stop]

That only shows what you get when you're used to a 9.6" screen for watching video.

Even on a cheap little 32" 720p screen I have, DVD blows apple HD out of the water.

That is technically impossible.

 

[50548]

Hell yeah! As long as it is not a compressed-as-hell stream! Hell, I would tolerate 720p if I didn't see any artifact!

Kids play room, prepare to have an Apple TV 2!

Hell, I said hell a lot, didn't I?

The ONLY thing that is missing in this equation is the possibility to buy lossless iTMS songs, the only reason why I still buy CDs...PLEASE, APPLE!

 

[kellygeorge]

A 1080p AppleTV that I can jailbreak so I can load up XBMC (and get my SlingPlayer going on there too, replacing my SlingCatcher) and aTV Flash so I can stream content directly from my Time Capsule (without the need for a "middleman.")

All for $99, SWEET!!!

I have an appletv, but needed another one to use with a projector. I actually opted for the WDTV LIVE since I knew I wanted to stream from a networked drive and play non itunes content. It plays everything (1080p) and does a ton of webservices as well. Even as an apple fanboy, I'm quite pleased with it.

 

[pika2000]

I'm already surprised that Apple didn't update the Apple TV with the A5. I guess they really want to wait till the A6.

 

[50548]

I'll stick with my Blu-rays thank you. Been finding so many great deals lately. Picked up about 20 of my favorites over the past few months in the $5-$10 range. Also nice to have shelf of physical discs to look at when browsing for a film.

Blu-Ray is a stillborn technology, a stopgap between DVD media and full streaming/downloads - the only reason people are buying such players is because there are no more DVD players on sale...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

1080p ≠ good, actually. Blu Ray is 1080p, but it is compressed enough that the quality is still not so good. I found my DVD player with a 1080p upscaler higher quality than Blu Ray with the exception of the colors not being as good.

Right. BD is so compressed an avg movie "only" requires 25GB+ to store all those bits. Of course a 9GB upscaled DVD is going to look just as good. :roll eyes:

(I think somebody doesn't understand what upscaling is, and is not, unless they find the imitation blueberry bits in their cereal as good as actual blueberries.)

Blu-Ray is a stillborn technology, a stopgap between DVD media and full streaming/downloads - the only reason people are buying such players is because there are no more DVD players on sale...

And b/c DVDs look horrible on 55"+ screens.

 

[bagelche]

Since when does apple care about quality?

Their so-called HD video from itunes is 4Mbps. An old-fashioned DVD is 10Mbps, 2.5 times the data. If you actually take a moment to view the video on something bigger than a iPad, DVD is far, far superior in terms of picture quality to apple's HD.

Right, what differentiates Apple from all other PC/consumer product manufacturers is Apple's utter lack of interest in quality.

DVDs are MPEG-2 video, Apples iTunes video is MPEG-4 which, bit for bit, has a higher quality compression algorithm.

 

[Oracle1729]

Barring that, I want movies in iCloud so I can finally switch my movie collection to digital.

Wow, you're still using Beta or VHS?

Do you even know what digital means?

 

[charlituna]

Makes perfect sense, but I can see them charging a $1 premium or something like that for 1080P versus 720P.

Of course they will. But for all we know the base price for tv will go down 50 cents to a dollar so it won't be that horrible. Movies would be more like a $5 premium. Of course they won't like to the Plus thing like they did with music when it went up in quality.

Frankly I think the next event will be the iPad 3, the Apple TV 3 and new content. It won't be full Blu-ray quality because those files would be huge. Perhaps something around a quarter of the bit rate. But that's still better than the alternatives currently in the store. And of course it won't be every title all at once. And probably only movies right now.

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I hope I don't have to pay more to rent movies in 1080p on my AppleTV.

of course you will. The studios would never allow such content without a 'fair' (to them) price

What is worse is actually having it only available to rent on the Apple TV and not even a rental on anything else. Just stuck with the SD and 720p files.

 

[Buckeyestar]

Wow, you're still using Beta or VHS?

Do you even know what digital means?

I meant switching away from physical media.

 

[kellygeorge]

While our devices may be able to capture and soon playback 1080p, many of us are lacking the bandwidth to stream 1080p thanks to the greedy ISPs that not only would throttle such bandwidth, but charge you additionally for exceeding any data caps. Right now many of us are lucky if we can get through a Netflix or Hulu session without seeing a buffering interruption at 720p."

I see your point, but it really doesnt take that much to stream 1080p. VUDU movie service will stream 1080p with Dolby Digital Plus, and only requires about 9 mbit/sec. Most DSLs and Cables have options that exceed that.
Personally I have 30 mbit Time Warner cable, and I know Im well over the minimum, but the 1080p streaming looks and sounds absolutely amazing.

ps. I live in KC MO, and I can't wait to give my money to Google.

 

[Can't Stop]

The ONLY thing that is missing in this equation is the possibility to buy lossless iTMS songs, the only reason why I still buy CDs...PLEASE, APPLE!

Cds these days aren't what they were too.

 

[Oracle1729]

Right, what differentiates Apple from all other PC/consumer product manufacturers is Apple's utter lack of interest in quality.

Good, so we agree. No, your sarcasm didn't go over my head, I just think the words are the least stupid thing you've typed all week.

DVDs are MPEG-2 video, Apples iTunes video is MPEG-4 which, bit for bit, has a higher quality compression algorithm.

They both use DCT algorithms and while MPEG-4 trades processor cycles for space, it's not orders of magnitude difference. Blu Ray gives you 40Mbps, so are you going to sit there and think MPG-4 can give you 10 times less bits for the same quality?

Rather than talking numbers, why don't you actually compare apple's fake HD, DVD, and blu ray on a 50"+ 1080p screen? A lot of people actually have done that.

The sound stream on blu ray alone is larger than apple's entire stream, and it's worth every bit; at least assuming you're not using the ear phones that came with your iPhone....or are you going to say you think apple cares about quality there?

 

[Can't Stop]

Of course they will. But for all we know the base price for tv will go down 50 cents to a dollar so it won't be that horrible. Movies would be more like a $5 premium. Of course they won't like to the Plus thing like they did with music when it went up in quality.

Frankly I think the next event will be the iPad 3, the Apple TV 3 and new content. It won't be full Blu-ray quality because those files would be huge. Perhaps something around a quarter of the bit rate. But that's still better than the alternatives currently in the store. And of course it won't be every title all at once. And probably only movies right now.

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of course you will. The studios would never allow such content without a 'fair' (to them) price

What is worse is actually having it only available to rent on the Apple TV and not even a rental on anything else. Just stuck with the SD and 720p files.

I'm more worried about content quality than file bitrate and resolution.

 

[Mr. Gates]

I don't get the whole Apple TV thing.

Seems like Apple isn't even sure what they are doing with it.

But an iPad 3 with an HDMI port should be able to act as one. Why not?

 

[Aidoneus]

To everyone complaining that the network infrastructure isn't there to stream 1080p content, an uncompressed Blu-Ray rip only comes in around 25-30GB. Not that big of a deal.

 

[Oracle1729]

I meant switching away from physical media.

Oh, so you mean like broadcast TV from 10 years ago? There was no physical media involved there. Oh yeah, that was analog.

How do you come off equating digital = no physical media, analog = physical media. I mean what sort of fundamental misunderstanding of techonlogy do you have?

 

[Can't Stop]

Rather than talking numbers, why don't you actually compare apple's fake HD, DVD, and blu ray on a 50"+ 1080p screen? A lot of people actually have done that.

The sound stream on blu ray alone is larger than apple's entire stream, and it's worth every bit; at least assuming you're not using the ear phones that came with your iPhone....or are you going to say you think apple cares about quality there?

Yeah and if you move back extra few feet picture just looks the same. That's not the point.

 

[kellygeorge]

Blu-Ray is a stillborn technology, a stopgap between DVD media and full streaming/downloads - the only reason people are buying such players is because there are no more DVD players on sale...

I agree that Bluray is an in-between, but its going to be a while before a streaming option can match the overall quality of a bluray. Video content deliverers only care about the picture, and forget all about the Full, uncompressed, multi-channel Dolby HD audio that blurays provide. If you have a theater room with a projector and full surround sound system, the difference between a Netflix or Apple HD video and a bluray is quite apparent.
Currently the only streaming option that comes close is VUDU HDX. (http://supports.vudu.com/questions/209/What+is+HDX?)

 

[DeepIn2U]

Apple will be left behind if it does not start offering unlimited streaming movies for a flat monthly subscription. It's already getting killed by Amazon, Netflix, LoveFilm, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, 4OD etc

That's odd. Netflix is close to or already filed for bankruptcy. I doubt the others are doing very well (beyond Amazon/Hulu). BBC iPlayer ... thought that was free and news only?

I don't think the subscription service model is ideal to the content creators, providers, and artists; maybe so for those consuming the content.

 

[zin]

I really hope they don't do their classic "spec bump" thing, whereby in this case the lowest video quality (SD) is phased out in favour of 720p becoming the new base standard and 1080p becoming the new HD.

My connection can't handle 720p, never mind 1080p, during renting.