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Toast Blu-Ray Support on Mac
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japan now selling external Bluray RW drive for.....USD1000....
so, if MacPro have BTO option for this...
we got to pay around USD5000 for the fastest Mac, right?
its terrible...
i hope apple will release a nice external drive...though, insofar the only external optical drive from apple can trace back to the age of CD-Rom...
so, if MacPro have BTO option for this...
we got to pay around USD5000 for the fastest Mac, right?
its terrible...
i hope apple will release a nice external drive...though, insofar the only external optical drive from apple can trace back to the age of CD-Rom...
Thanks for the tips. Still, Lightscribe or Labelflash or equivalent would be a nice feature, especially in a notebook computer. If you're out and about with your notebook and you want to burn a disc, it'd be convenient to be able to just burn a few words on to the disc rather than bothering with printers, inks, labels, markers, etc.Greenjeens said:
Actually,
there is a shipping Blu-Ray Drive from Sony right now (in reality, it's in the Vaio, the retail version, while out in SKU, ships the 1st week of August), which has a standard 5.25 form-factor and is below $1000.
Apple COULD make use of that if Sony ships in quantity, and to other manufacturers early on...
there is a shipping Blu-Ray Drive from Sony right now (in reality, it's in the Vaio, the retail version, while out in SKU, ships the 1st week of August), which has a standard 5.25 form-factor and is below $1000.
Apple COULD make use of that if Sony ships in quantity, and to other manufacturers early on...
GFLPraxis said:
My understanding is, that is not 'quite' right:
Apple is firmly in the Blu-Ray camp (as Microsoft is firmly in HD-DVD).
While there is theoretical HD-DVD support in DVD Studio Pro (and DVD Player), this is ONLY for encoding and decoding mpeg-2 (or H.264). HD-DVD spec 'includes' those codes, but is designed for VC-1 (incidentally, a Microsoft-originated codec). Apple Software, at this time, cannot play VC-1 Video spec - regardless of the media.
It remains to be seen how Leopard changes that; since Apple IS in the Blu-Ray camp, but not HD DVD, I would argue they will probably not going to support VC-1 decoding, and certainly not encoding (why would they? They would have no hardware to burn it), while a Blu-Ray drive will certainly be supported by player and DVD Studio Pro; Blu-Ray does not use VC-1 (in fact, one could argue, currently they are behind the times as they still use mpeg-2, since the H. code, while written into Blu-Ray spec, is not efficient enough yet, and no Sony video release currently supports it, making for - at this time anyway - less efficient compression than HD-DVD).
cheers,
d
Apple is firmly in the Blu-Ray camp (as Microsoft is firmly in HD-DVD).
While there is theoretical HD-DVD support in DVD Studio Pro (and DVD Player), this is ONLY for encoding and decoding mpeg-2 (or H.264). HD-DVD spec 'includes' those codes, but is designed for VC-1 (incidentally, a Microsoft-originated codec). Apple Software, at this time, cannot play VC-1 Video spec - regardless of the media.
It remains to be seen how Leopard changes that; since Apple IS in the Blu-Ray camp, but not HD DVD, I would argue they will probably not going to support VC-1 decoding, and certainly not encoding (why would they? They would have no hardware to burn it), while a Blu-Ray drive will certainly be supported by player and DVD Studio Pro; Blu-Ray does not use VC-1 (in fact, one could argue, currently they are behind the times as they still use mpeg-2, since the H. code, while written into Blu-Ray spec, is not efficient enough yet, and no Sony video release currently supports it, making for - at this time anyway - less efficient compression than HD-DVD).
cheers,
d
Nermal said:
The problem with that is that without a real HDMI connector HD-DVD or Blue-Ray commercial disks will downsample the video due to the DRM restrictions. You have to have an actual HDMI connector on both ends and they have to support HDCP to get a fully digital, full resolution image on any monitor/HDTV.
--laurence
--laurence
irmongoose said:HDMI is a video/audio output standard that combines DVI video and optical out audio.
Sound familiar?
Yes, the MacBook Pro has both DVI out and optical audio out ports. Use a DVI to HDMI cable and a optical audio cable, and there is no need to have a dedicated HDMI output. In fact, as the MacBook Pro has a dual-link DVI port, it has the ability to power more than 1080p. Combine this with the included Apple Remote for Front Row, and you have yourself a (somewhat expensive) media center (with an unnecessary screen?).
irmongoose
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/215523/
Try this link for more info...discs will be $20 and the link has prices from $499-$1000 as I posted before this was announced
That's odd, my friend is using, well was, a 700Mhz G3 iBook with 640mb RAM and the same Plextor 716A FW drive which can burn at 16X
Same software, wonder what is going on with yours
Try this link for more info...discs will be $20 and the link has prices from $499-$1000 as I posted before this was announced
That's odd, my friend is using, well was, a 700Mhz G3 iBook with 640mb RAM and the same Plextor 716A FW drive which can burn at 16X
Same software, wonder what is going on with yours
Blank Blu-ray Media Are Only $50 - Blu-ray Is So Economical
I love new technology. And spending tons more for it is the best.
Even better, the blank media are only $50 each. How economical. I can buy one 25GB Blue-ray blank for $50 or two-hundred seventy eight 4.3 GB SL DVD-R blanks = 1194 GB of space or 1.2 Terrabytes for the same $50. Blu-ray wins hands down.stephenli said:
I love new technology. And spending tons more for it is the best.
I Make What Look Like HD DVDs From EyeTV2 HD Recordings On Plain Old SL DVDs
Call me old fashioned but I just don't see why I would want Blu-ray or HD-DVD until they are cost competitive with good old fashioned single layer 4.38 GB DVDs.
I guess I'm not as much of a purist as some here. I make DVDs off EyeTV digital HD broadcast recordings with Toast 7 and they look and sound very close to the original HD broadcasts on my 24" Dell 1920 x 1200 display. I cannot see much nor hear any difference.lhawkins said:
Call me old fashioned but I just don't see why I would want Blu-ray or HD-DVD until they are cost competitive with good old fashioned single layer 4.38 GB DVDs.
Bad idea.
Why announce the support of one standard now when there is another competing standard?
Why announce the support of one standard now when there is another competing standard?
Seems like a lot of hassle to avoid using a Sharpie...MikeT said:
[Edit: guess I'm not the only one thinking this way....]
There's two camps (HD-DVD and BluRay) trying to rally support. This tends to make even small announcements into huge press events.iMikeT said:
No movie studios have enabled this feature ("ICT" Image Constraint Token), nor have they stated that they intend to enable this feature in the future (although that is possible). All HD DVDs and Blu-Ray discs AND players currently available can send a full high definition image over analog component outputs as well as HDMI.lhawkins said:
Do some research.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/27/universal-wont-downsample-hd-dvd-content/
-Terry
Usually, I get pretty excited about new technologies and standards, but this just isn't doing it for me...
I've finally resigned myself to having a mirror set of hard drives for backup. Storing to removable media is too hard to organize, requires too many discs, and the optical discs don't have a life span long enough to make me comfortable. With the information density of BluRay I'm sure the recordables are going to have lousy longevity. I'll stick with live copies that I can keep testing the checksums on.
So, for me they're nothing more than a distribution method for high-def video and the fun has even been taken out of that by all the DRM shackles they've wrapped around it. I wonder how many people are really going to throw out their whole home entertainment system just to be able to play BR discs. If the recordable discs are $50, I'm sure discs with content will be at least that much-- and I can't back up this expensive, fragile data? I've got enough $12 DVDs I can't watch on my Mac because they've gotten scratched. Can't watch it on any computer I chose? Can't rip it to my iPod?
(come to think of it, $50 recordable media is probably all the DRM they need... Who's going to make an illegal copy when the blank media costs more than a DVD player?)
And doesn't the DRM phone home?!?
Nah. I'll wait. Hopefully by the time the media price has gotten low enough to make it worth it I'll have found myself with the equipment to actually view them and some Scandinavian kid will have cracked the encryption.
I've finally resigned myself to having a mirror set of hard drives for backup. Storing to removable media is too hard to organize, requires too many discs, and the optical discs don't have a life span long enough to make me comfortable. With the information density of BluRay I'm sure the recordables are going to have lousy longevity. I'll stick with live copies that I can keep testing the checksums on.
So, for me they're nothing more than a distribution method for high-def video and the fun has even been taken out of that by all the DRM shackles they've wrapped around it. I wonder how many people are really going to throw out their whole home entertainment system just to be able to play BR discs. If the recordable discs are $50, I'm sure discs with content will be at least that much-- and I can't back up this expensive, fragile data? I've got enough $12 DVDs I can't watch on my Mac because they've gotten scratched. Can't watch it on any computer I chose? Can't rip it to my iPod?
(come to think of it, $50 recordable media is probably all the DRM they need... Who's going to make an illegal copy when the blank media costs more than a DVD player?)
And doesn't the DRM phone home?!?
Nah. I'll wait. Hopefully by the time the media price has gotten low enough to make it worth it I'll have found myself with the equipment to actually view them and some Scandinavian kid will have cracked the encryption.
Multimedia said:
Just make sure your cable provider allows you to record from it. Make sure the signals are not encrypted.
I purchased EyeTV500 and after I figure out the only way to record HDTV was from over the air antenna. I returned it to Elgato after I found out I would have to spend good amount of money buying a really good outdoor antenna plus make holes in the wall and etc. to be able to connect it to my EyeTV and computer.
Thanks. Did the research and am now convinced that they'll wait until after we've drank the Kool-Aid to enable the ICT.TerryJ said:
Terk TV5 Amplified Low-Profile Antenna Works Like A Dream For Off-Air HD Recording
Nonsense. I record facing South from North tower off air signals with the Terk TV5 amplified low-profile antenna and it works like a dream. Don't need no stinkin' cable nor satellite. All the rabbit ears were useless. This portable indoor antenna, availble from Circuit City for $50, is in a class of its own. Just point it out the window and turn to tweak reception.gugy said:
Mac Rules said:
Correct. The operating system will support both formats, you then require a Blu-Ray drive for Blu-Ray support and/or HD-DVD drive for HD-DVD support. The ability to write as well as read will not be limited, it will depend on the hardware.
MikeT said:
Just replace your burner with a LightScribe unit and use the HP burning s/w.
....unless you have a laptop and dont wish to lug around an external burner?
Multimedia said:
Maybe where you live. I tried it in La Jolla, CA with Terk TV5 and I just was able to get couple channels and very choppy.
Sorry Multimedia. I even joined your yahoo group and I was very excite about the possibilities of the EyeTV500. I just turned out to be not the way you said.
It works maybe for you, but in some cases like mine require way more than what your are just saying.
I am just trying to make sure people are not going through the same hassle and disappointment I had.
so be aware!
irmongoose said:HDMI is a video/audio output standard that combines DVI video and optical out audio.
Sound familiar?
Yes, the MacBook Pro has both DVI out and optical audio out ports. Use a DVI to HDMI cable and a optical audio cable, and there is no need to have a dedicated HDMI output. In fact, as the MacBook Pro has a dual-link DVI port, it has the ability to power more than 1080p. Combine this with the included Apple Remote for Front Row, and you have yourself a (somewhat expensive) media center (with an unnecessary screen?
irmongoose
That would work--when I get a MBP (D2C). My current 'book has S video and 1/8" audio out, which was fine three years ago. I currently run component from my HD sat receiver to the plasma, optical to my HT system and HDMI from the HT to the plasma. I like Multimedia's idea of using an EyeTV DVR and a Mac Mini I have sitting in the play room. I've got DVR on my standard sets upstairs and it's quite addicting.
Multimedia--thanks for reminding me about the ElGato systems. My wife and I were just talking about upgrading the HD receiver to a DVR but for the same price I can own the EyeTV DVR and use my Mac Mini with it.
B