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Apple TV Shipping Tuesday, March 20th?

davidwes said:
I am sorry but I don't understand the quicktime export to apple tv. What is the source data? Can I put in a dvd and export to Apple tv? Otherwise, if its already a digital file, shouldn't itunes be able to read it and therefore it would play on the apple tv?
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Can be various things: Content you've created using iMovie, Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro and now want to convert for playback to AppleTV. Also can mean content that's been ripped from a DVD into another format... of course Apple can't state this in the specs, but that is exactly what it can do.

Don't ask me how I know. :D
 
davidwes said:
I am sorry but I don't understand the quicktime export to apple tv. What is the source data? Can I put in a dvd and export to Apple tv? Otherwise, if its already a digital file, shouldn't itunes be able to read it and therefore it would play on the apple tv?
Click to expand...

You need to rip the dvd with something like Mac the Ripper. You can't put a DVD and have quicktime convert it to appletv. But you need quicktime pro in order to export it out to appletv.
 
Avatar74 said:
Also can mean content that's been ripped from a DVD into another format... of course Apple can't state this in the specs, but that is exactly what it can do.
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If its already ripped shouldn't iTunes be able to play it and therefore AppleTV would be?
 
MacinJosh and Avatar74,

for all intensive purposes, you both are right... just arguing the same side of the coin so to speak. I see you both are very passionate about the subject of dvd resolution, but in the interest of our general readers, would it be possible to move this geek debate into a new thread?

thanks, spicy :)
 
davidwes said:
If its already ripped shouldn't iTunes be able to play it and therefore AppleTV would be?
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Not necessarily... plus there might be optimization factors that will encourage one to transcode... e.g. ripping it in a format less efficient than H.264.

But again, I think the bigger purpose is for content that has been created using
Apple Pro applications... as they're pretty much the target market for Quicktime Pro.
 
chris.niziolek said:
If the HD was bigger, then I would certainly buy one. Im waiting until the HD gets bigger, or the price goes down, or until I get a TV.
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You stream to this from you computer, why does it need a bigger HD? Your computer is or has the HD already?? That's what I plan on doing, getting a 500gb external HD and storing that in my office rather then in the HT room.
 
Avatar74 said:
This is a bogus argument. You are essentially stating (in your "EDIT" comment) that 854x480 is an imaginary figure (an "area of 854 pixels"). The screen resolution of a display, and the resolution of the digital input signal are two different things. You have clearly confused the two, as I'll demonstrate below.

In an anamorphic DVD, the resolution of the input signal is always 720x480. Whether displayed on a 4:3 TV or displayed on a 16:9 TV, the input signal is STILL 720x480. When the pixel ratio is modified, the pixel count does not change. What is displayed is, excluding upconverting playback systems (let's assume a Widescreen EDTV for the moment), 720x480.
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I agree so far. The signal doesn't change and stays at 720x480, yes.

Avatar74 said:
The presence or absence of matte bars do not change the effective resolution of the input signal, mind you. The resolution NEVER becomes 854x480... what you're reading in the paragraph you quoted is the stated resolution of some computer monitors which is dependent on the output signal of the video card. But note they are careful to differentiate between the resolution of the monitor and the "window" within which 720x480 NTSC video can be displayed.

In the two links you provided, the first doesn't even mention 854x480 once. The second only mentions it in the aforementioned paragraph, here (emphasis mine):





I'll repeat myself for clarity...

The pixel count does not change.

The pixel aspect ratio does.

Before you go trying to correct people who have professionally authored DVD's, who also hold membership in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, I suggest you do some further reading that isn't limited to misinterpreting googled information scrabbled together by laypeople on the internet.
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I don't think you actually understand what I'm trying to say. Say you have a widescreen plasma TV that has a native resolution of 854x480. You have a DVD player hooked up by HDMI for example. The DVD feeds an anamorphic signal of 720x480 to the TV. How will the TV display it? If it displays it pixel for pixel, what is the result? 720x480 on the TV. How will that look? You will have black bars on either side and the picture appears to be squished. How would the TV have to display it to have the proper aspect ratio? 854x480.

I hear you on the pixel aspect ratio. The pixel aspect ratio on the anamorphic DVD and TV are different. Thats why you stretch the image on the TV to 854 to get the correct aspect ratio. If the widescreen TV had the same 720x480 resolution with the same pixel aspect ratio as the DVD, then there would be no need for stretching as the image is of the correct aspect ratio.

If you bothered to do a bit more research on the point that I'm making, you'll notice that the paragraph I quoted is not the only place on the internet that is talking about 854x480.

If you still disagree with what I'm saying, I can't just take your word for it. Give me some concrete evidence to prove what I'm saying is wrong.

Joshua.
 
BLACK MAC said:
You need to rip the dvd with something like Mac the Ripper. You can't put a DVD and have quicktime convert it to appletv. But you need quicktime pro in order to export it out to appletv.
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All that's doing is making the avi or mov into an mpg so that iTunes can play it. Has nothing to do with iTV, it's iTunes that can't play anything but mpg. Get DIvx Doctor for free to do same.
 
dante@sisna.com said:
I agree -- the HDD is ONLY A BUFFER.
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I liken the AppleTV to that of an iPod.

Everybody wants a bigger HD in their iPod so they can hold more stuff, why would that trouble you? And what do you mean as a buffer? If I turn off my computer, will AppleTV still be able to work? I hope so!
 
spicyapple said:
MacinJosh and Avatar74,

for all intensive purposes, you both are right... just arguing the same side of the coin so to speak. I see you both are very passionate about the subject of dvd resolution, but in the interest of our general readers, would it be possible to move this geek debate into a new thread?

thanks, spicy :)
Click to expand...

You are also right.

Joshua.
 
spicyapple said:
I liken the AppleTV to that of an iPod.

Everybody wants a bigger HD in their iPod so they can hold more stuff, why would that trouble you? And what do you mean as a buffer? If I turn off my computer, will AppleTV still be able to work? I hope so!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, in this age of energy conservation, I think AppleTV works on the assumption that you always have your main computer on. I doubt your expected to plan in advance what you want to watch when your main computer is on, transfer it to the hard drive, and then watch it when the main computer is switched off.

I agree with the bemused reaction to people wanting/demanding more HD space. As far as I can tell, its only meant to be a safety net for if the signal drops momentarily for some reason.

Anyway, I'm getting bored waiting for new Apple stuff. Given that I'm excited about a product which I have no need for and thus will never buy is pretty indicative of the desperately dry state of Apple releases at the moment.

Does anyone know when the last Mac-related release was?!
 
I believe the last update was the enhancement of the Macbook line. Other than that there were no changes to anything else. Whatever, I still enjoy my rev A macbook.

All of the bellyaching about larger HD space on the ATV is tiresome. Movies ripped in HandBrake or downloaded from iTunes all occupy under 2GB of space, hardly the whopping video file to consume all of your precious 40GB buffer drive.

The actual capacity is limited by how much space you can hook up to your computer. If one had a PC with several terabytes on tap, well then your ATV has all the capacity it needs.
 
Half Glass said:
I sent a 1280x720 H.264 mov that I recorded and encoded from Migila's TV Mini HD and chose the Export to :apple: TV function for giggles (and to see what res and data rate they used).

The output file was 960x540. That is 1/2 1080i's resolution, not HD in anyone's book.
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That's probably because your file was higher than 24FPS. Also, HD in everyone's book includes 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 720i and 480p. That's the supported resolutions. Your file is above the lowest HD spec.
 
iDave said:
Actually a combo router/aTV makes some sense. Since your TV is usually next to where your cable comes in the house, it's a logical place for your router (if you have cable internet). Add a few TV ports to the back of the router, a hard disk, a few more guts and voila! Then I'd also make it a PVR, if it was up to me. :)
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:apple: TV has a USB plug so an external HD or array is practical. It has 802.11 presumably a/b/g/n so only software would be needed to do PVR. But Apple is positioning iTunes as a PVR alternative. The playlist format and the 10 most recent unviewed videos format are examples.

The main repository of your content is intended to be your primary computer. Your internet connection goes to that and/or a wireless roiuter. Your TV content via cable or satellite goes through that box and to the TV. Does :apple: TV even deal with that incoming content at all or do you need EyeTV for that?

Rocketman
 
It's redundant for me 'cause I am directly connected to a 40" Samsung LN-S4095 1920x1080 HDTV which affords me a superior set of services including video from two EyeTV HD tuners.
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I have the exact same HDTV connected to Cox Cable (here in San Diego) with a digital/HD DVR.

Where does "redundancy" fit into the equation? My iMac houses my music, photos and quite a few movies and TV shows I've dl'd via iTunes. :apple: TV seems to be a perfect way to get all of this stuff from the iMac to the Samsung. Here is an example. We had some friends over this weekend for a barbecue and, more specifically, to show off my new grandson. :D We had a collection of labor, delivery and new baby pictures which everyone wanted to see. So.....we all huddled around my iMac. How nice would it have been to have watched it on the Samsung in the living room! It also would have been nice to be able to play my music on the Bose sound systems attached to the Samsung when everybody was hanging out.

Am I missing something here?
 
Just out of interest, if iTunes were to start selling HD (720p) movies in H.264, what would the average size of the file be?

I know no one knows for sure, but I'd like to here some (reasoned) guestimations. :)

Is it gonna be the case that only people with a Mac Pro will be able to have a significant digital move library? Or will the advent of the 1TB hard drive (which I think might make an appearance in the next iMac...is it out yet?) mean we can all join in?
 
FleurDuMal said:
Just out of interest, if iTunes were to start selling HD (720p) movies in H.264, what would the average size of the file be? I know no one knows for sure, but I'd like to here some (reasoned) guestimations. :)
Click to expand...

appletv.png

A typical 1hour 40 minute movie should be about 3.5GB.
 
FleurDuMal said:
Just out of interest, if iTunes were to start selling HD (720p) movies in H.264, what would the average size of the file be?

I know no one knows for sure, but I'd like to here some (reasoned) guestimations. :)

Is it gonna be the case that only people with a Mac Pro will be able to have a significant digital move library? Or will the advent of the 1TB hard drive (which I think might make an appearance in the next iMac...is it out yet?) mean we can all join in?
Click to expand...

It all depends at which bit-rate they decide to encode so it is hard to provide anything but a very wide ballpark at the moment. As a guideline DVD rip of a 90 min movie converted to H.264 @ 2000 Kbs takes up approx. 1.5GB. Given that a standard DVD is approx. 300,000 (720*404) pixels and the 720p "HD" movies would occupy 3 times that many pixels for 1280*720 Then for the same bit-rate I would expect files of around 5 GB. Since the current movies are not for sale in the UK I can't tell what bit-rate Apple currently use, but I suspect it is considerably lower than 2000, so the files might well by smaller than indicated by my napkin calculations.
 
macinfojunkie said:
I can't tell what bit-rate Apple currently use, but I suspect it is considerably lower than 2000, so the files might well by smaller than indicated by my napkin calculations.
Click to expand...
Apple 720P movies (Export to AppleTV) will have a bitrate of approximately 5000 kbps. (small k, to denote kilobits)
 
spicyapple said:
View attachment 70464

A typical 1hour 40 minute movie should be about 3.5GB.
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I've done a couple Blu-Ray rips, and I find that you are about right. I have to dip the bitrate considerably on longer movies though, because of issues with the 4GB boundary within Quicktime and iTunes. Right now, QT will not create a streamable movie larger than 4GB, and iTunes doesn't stream any movie larger than 4GB...
 
skinnylegs said:
:apple: TV seems to be a perfect way to get all of this stuff from the iMac to the Samsung. ( ...) Am I missing something here?
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Bingo! That's exactly what the :apple:TV is supposed to do. It's not supposed to replace your media centre, it's supposed to extend it by making the content accessible from the living room.

If, like me, you don't have a pre-existing media library, then you're probably better off doing what I did: buy a Mac Mini and plug it directly into your HDTV which (as noted upthread) adds PVR functionality if you have a TV tuner. The custom build option for a 120GB HDD is more than enough to get you started, and Iomega and LaCie offer external drives which stack with same styling as the Mini if you want to expand.

Cheers!

Jim
 
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