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Apple Announces Apple TV Take 2 + Price Drop

overcast said:
Why do you people continue to act like the UK isn't the ripoff country of the world? I mean seriously, EVERYTHING is overpriced. Get over it already.
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It's not overpriced, it's a different economy. People tend to earn more in the UK too, but you don't hear people complaining about that.
 
The Euro-price HAS to be an error. Think about it:

Mac Pro
US-Price: starts at $2799
Euro-price: starts at 2499e

MacBook Air:
US: $1799
Euro: 1699e

Pod touch:
USA: $299
EU: 289e
 
Hawkeye44 said:
That being said, AppleTV doing dolby has yet to be seen... I'm sure of what I just said, I have a G5 with a optical sound system that is totally apple supported, dvd player does support dolby already. Go figure.…
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Thank you muchly! Now we just need someone with an AppleTV to:

1) do the software update
2) rent an HD movie with DD5.1
3) examine the movie sound format, and
4) confirm that it is truly DD 5.1 when played.

Who ever you are scoot now and report back as soon as possible 😉
 
Intarweb said:
No ***** sherlock. Nobody cares about 720p, unless you're trying to defend a piss poor movie deliver service 😉
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Actually, many of us have LCD flat panels that are either 720p native, or they're some weird "in-between" resolution -- my Sharp Aquos has 768 scanlines, for example. Looks great displaying 1080i content and 720p from OTA antenna. When I download HD movie and game trailers on my PS3, I typically download them in 720p, because the quality difference between 720p and 1080i/p on my display isn't so great (but the difference between 480i/p and 720p is pretty obvious).

I should also note that 1080p isn't a broadcast standard -- it was only ever meant for pre-recorded media (i.e., next-generation high def DVD discs).

There are many cases where 1080i looks inferior to 720p -- this is why ESPN and the Fox TV network only broadcast in 720p. 1080i looks bad for scenes with lots of motion in them -- action movies, car races, athletic events, etc.

Personally, if I am going to be downloading HD content online as a movie rental, I would prefer progressive over interlaced, so 1080i is a no-go for downloaded content. That leaves 720p and 1080p. And the bitrate for 1080p is double that of 1080i for the same frame rate; considering how 1080i has a higher bitrate than 720p, imagine how much longer it would take to download a 1080p movie versus a 720p movie? There are significant costs associated with serving up lots of rich high-def media, and they have to do with bandwidth. So 720p is a good compromise, and is still considered high definition.
 
Small White Car said:
Boy, somebody ought to call ABC and Fox! I bet they had no idea they weren't actually broadcasting HD.
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Yeah, no kidding. And ESPN, and a ton of HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies, and video games... the notion that 720p isn't as good as 1080i is basically erroneous. The two are withing a few percent of each other in terms of #of pixels on screen at any given moment. Essentially imperceptible, with the exception that fast-motion content (like sports) generally displays a bit better in 720p, and static content like the nightly news generally looks a bit better in 1080i.

Now, 1080p content is in a different league, but 720p/1080i are basically equivalent, all else equal. On a 1080p native display, you could also make an argument that 1080i content might display better than 720p content if you believe that scaling is typically harder than deinterlacing, but it's a stretch.

-Sean
 
overcast said:
720p is part of the HD spec. So, you're wrong.
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If you go into a high-street TV shop in the UK, a 'Full HD' sticker means it's 1080p (ie the current basic standard of HD technology). I think many people will feel cheated to buy a new AppleTV and find it doesn't meet the current standard.
 
For an extra $130 you get a 500gb hard drive in your Airport Extreme.

For an extra $100 you get a 160gb hd instead of a 40gb one in your ATV.

The ATV got more attractive, but still not sure why content prices are less attractive than renting DVDs from Redbox machines ($1/night) or subscribing to Netflix.
 
bmb012 said:
*sigh* Seriously, you have a MONTH to press play. If don't have the time within a 24 hour period to watch a 2 hour movie, I don't think those extra 6 hours are going to make or break the deal.
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My wife and I typically take 2 nights to get through a 2-hour movie (we only have about an hour after the kids go to bed, we've clean up the kitchen, etc. before she's asleep). 30 or 36 hours would make a big difference for us.

-SEan
 
Neuro said:
If you go into a high-street TV shop in the UK, a 'Full HD' sticker means it's 1080p (ie the current basic standard of HD technology). I think many people will feel cheated to buy a new AppleTV and find it doesn't meet the current standard.
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1080p is not the "current basic standard" of HD. 720p remains the most widely used format. It is the best broadcast standard, the only viable streaming standard, the most prodigious content format, and the most popular television set standard. All but the highest-end HDTV units are limited to 720p/1080i, even today. The price of 1080p has fallen dramatically, but the only 1080p content is on physical media, where it will remain for the foreseeable future.

gkarris said:
Nope, my BD and HD DVD's I watch in 1080i beat the 720p content downloaded from XBLive hands down...
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That's likely because your discs are scaled down from 1080p and your downloaded content is scaled up from compressed 720p sources. The comparison is faulty because of both of those factors. It's also unimaginable to find 1080i superior for fast-action scenes on account of the interlacing.
 
beaster said:
My wife and I typically take 2 nights to get through a 2-hour movie (we only have about an hour after the kids go to bed, we've clean up the kitchen, etc. before she's asleep). 30 or 36 hours would make a big difference for us.

-SEan
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You could stay up an hour later the first night and then go to be an hour later the next night instead. Or upgrade your wife to one with a longer battery life. 😛
 
Evangelion said:
I have listened to my mp3/AAC-collection through a pair of Genelecs (same company that propably made the speakers that were used to _record_ your favourite music), and they sounded just fine.
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i have genelec speakers too at my editing station. you shouldn't use those "used to _record_ your favourite music" though to listen to music at home since they are linear in the way they reproduce the sound. but then again genelec also makes home systems don't they...



Evangelion said:
External HD for all my media, and that HD gets continuosly backed up to another separate HD.I believe the feature is called "Time Machine" or something like that....
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I think I saw that feature when I tested the Leopard Beta...



Evangelion said:
Hard-drive. What makes you think that CD's are 100%
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Nothing is 100% safe of course but I have a few early CDs from 1982 & 1983 which still work fine



Evangelion said:
How do you plan to save your CD's if your house burns down? I need to grab hold of one external hard-drive and I'm all set, you can carry maybe dozen or so CD's with you at best.
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That is the one good point you're making. Then again when my house burns down I will probably worry about other things first...



Funny how we ended up here... all I asked or was AirTunes on the AppleTV (and every AirPort branded Product from Apple that doesn't have it yet 🙂 )
 
LionMage said:
Actually, many of us have LCD flat panels that are either 720p native, or they're some weird "in-between" resolution -- my Sharp Aquos has 768 scanlines, for example. Looks great displaying 1080i content and 720p from OTA antenna. When I download HD movie and game trailers on my PS3, I typically download them in 720p, because the quality difference between 720p and 1080i/p on my display isn't so great (but the difference between 480i/p and 720p is pretty obvious).

I should also note that 1080p isn't a broadcast standard -- it was only ever meant for pre-recorded media (i.e., next-generation high def DVD discs).

There are many cases where 1080i looks inferior to 720p -- this is why ESPN and the Fox TV network only broadcast in 720p. 1080i looks bad for scenes with lots of motion in them -- action movies, car races, athletic events, etc.

Personally, if I am going to be downloading HD content online as a movie rental, I would prefer progressive over interlaced, so 1080i is a no-go for downloaded content. That leaves 720p and 1080p. And the bitrate for 1080p is double that of 1080i for the same frame rate; considering how 1080i has a higher bitrate than 720p, imagine how much longer it would take to download a 1080p movie versus a 720p movie? There are significant costs associated with serving up lots of rich high-def media, and they have to do with bandwidth. So 720p is a good compromise, and is still considered high definition.
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You realize that unless you have some old CRT based display, 1080i is deinterlaced to 1080P on 1080P tvs. Assuming the 1080i signal is at 60hz, and your tv doesn't have a garbage deinterlacer, it's the same thing.
 
nubero said:
i have genelec speakers too at my editing station. you shouldn't use those "used to _record_ your favourite music" though to listen to music at home since they are linear in the way they reproduce the sound. but then again genelec also makes home systems don't they...
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Yes they do, which is why I said that the same company made the speakers used to record the album. Some people do use Genelec-monitors as part of their HT-setup, and they seem to do a good job at it. But Genelec makes other products that are better suited for the task, while taking advantage of their knowledge in making hi-end monitors.

CEO of Sony has Genelecs in his office 😉.
 
I find it funny how people make apologies for the AppleTV not having support for 1080p. I think AppleTV is due for a hardware/software upgrade to support 1080p. I am trying to convince myself that an AppleTV is a useful gadget but I can't convince myself. Believe me, I like Apple, but for high quality video I think it is better to watch 1080p from a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I wonder whether Apple is delaying adding HD-DVD or Blu-Ray support to their SuperDrive in order to push online video down our throats and against our best interest. Believe me, I understand that 1080p video means longer download times, bigger files, but still, the way it goes it won't be long before it becomes easy to download 1080p content from the internet and would be good to have AppleTV be able to display this on your TV.

Conclusion: Apple needs to update the AppleTV hardware to support 1080p.

My 2 cents
 
I can only say thanks to Apple for delivering this great update. I thought they would bring a new model, but Apple showed respect to all of us that went and bought the AppleTV, despite its limitations. The things I love in this new update are:
  • Dolby Digital!!!! YES!!!!!
  • HD 720p! That's really great! I know people are complaining for the lack of 1080p but I think that 720p is great too.
  • Movie Rentals look cool. The prices are ok. I hope they bring them in Europe too...Now I have to use Gift Cards to fill my US iTunes Account...
  • The new interface looks great. I watched the guided tour and it's really a big improvement over the previous one.

I also hope that Apple will offer HD movies for purchase and not only for rental.

Handbrake and Visual Hub developers please start working on an update that will offer Dolby Digital support.
 
Evangelion said:
Yes they do, which is why I said that the same company made the speakers used to record the album. Some people do use Genelec-monitors as part of their HT-setup, and they seem to do a good job at it. But Genelec makes other products that are better suited for the task, while taking advantage of their knowledge in making hi-end monitors.

CEO of Sony has Genelecs in his office 😉.
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And the CEO of Bose Switzerland has Dynaudio in his home 🙂
No kidding... Steve Jobs is probably the only CEO that has his own products in his home... That's wh I like him... recently though I wonder: Would he really want a glossy Screen on his mac??

well... ;-)

EDIT:
these you should take a look at since you seem to like good stuff:
http://www.dynaudiousa.com/products/audience/52se/aud52se.htm
 
bmb012 said:
*sigh* Seriously, you have a MONTH to press play. If don't have the time within a 24 hour period to watch a 2 hour movie, I don't think those extra 6 hours are going to make or break the deal.
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Get home from work 6pm, cook a meal, sit down to watch a movie at 8pm, press play. Suddenly there is a power cut [ insert any other unforseen event here ], so you plan to watch it the following evening after work.

24 hour limit means you cannot.

30 hour limit means you can.
 
Huracan said:
Conclusion: Apple needs to update the AppleTV hardware to support 1080p.
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I would agree with your conclusion if everyone had fiber running to their router. But since they don't, 720p makes the most sense from a content-delivery perspective.

Also, on a personal note, I don't want to buy an HD-DVD player or a BD player.
 
Intarweb said:
720p or 1080p/i?

Calling 720p and touting as HD is a bit of a stretch these days. If it ain't 1080p/i it ain't HD.
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Oh give me a break. Only the most pickey HD fanatics (aka AVSforum types) can even tell the difference between 720 and 1080 on < 100" screens.

This has gotten to the point where audio has been for 20 years as vinyl types rant about how unacceptable CD quality is.

The point of diminishing returns has arrived folks, and its name is 720p... anything more is dandy, but it is essentially conspicuous consumption.
 
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