...so these "HD" movie downloads are made to be more download friendly since that's how they're supposed to be acquired, THAT'S DESPICABLE! Those bastards, how dare they take ISP limitations into account.
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Apple Announces Release of HD Movie Sales and Rentals via iTunes
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...so these "HD" movie downloads are made to be more download friendly since that's how they're supposed to be acquired, THAT'S DESPICABLE! Those bastards, how dare they take ISP limitations into account.
This is so lame!
Nobody is going to download an MP3 when CDs offer such better quality! I can get CDs cheaper at Wal-Mart too! Music downloads are dead in the water!
Oh wait...
Nobody is going to download an MP3 when CDs offer such better quality! I can get CDs cheaper at Wal-Mart too! Music downloads are dead in the water!
Oh wait...
I'd rather get 5.1 DD than HD. Myself, I'm perfectly fine with DVD and 5.1 DD. I had the HD add on for the 360 and while I enjoyed it at the time and though I'd never go back to DVD, I found myself doing just that.
I'm with a few of the other posters - I rather Apple get the movie library stocked better and work on the rental agreement stuff than push HD.
Only just HD, on a large screen or projector you need 1920x1080.
An what about the sound?
Bluray with high bitrate 1920x1080 AVC and lossless audio wins by a mile.
Um.... DVD is 720 × 576, this is 1280x720. How exactly is DVD "better quality"?
It might take some time, but at least you have a movies section in the Australian iTunes store, unlike many European countries.That just really pisses me off.
I won't download movies myself from the iTunes store, because I rather buy Blu-ray media, which I can share/trade/sell or give away when I like. Also, no hard disc or other computer hardware failure will ever block me from watching, especially since I can drop it in the PS3 (but at the cost of 180 watts) and I can convert any movie to iPod/iPhone format.
Of course it is all about choice, and I see a huge potential, but there are too many things I don't like; movie -> (mini) displayport -> non-certified HDCP monitor / TV being just one of them.
That just really pisses me off.
The Dutch store doesn't have any movies at all, except three Pixar shorts (wow...). It's great that Americans now get better quality, but it's really annoying to read about new features that I won't get (in the near) future.
$20 Bucks?
I can't think of a movie I would pay $20 for..... and I rarely find the movie I am looking for on iTunes to rent, but I always do at Blockbuster. Apple needs to offer everything Blockbuster and Netflix have for rent before it will ever have a chance at being serious about movies.
I can't think of a movie I would pay $20 for..... and I rarely find the movie I am looking for on iTunes to rent, but I always do at Blockbuster. Apple needs to offer everything Blockbuster and Netflix have for rent before it will ever have a chance at being serious about movies.
Seems to me everyone would agree on the following:
1. Blu-ray is better quality than the Apple downloads.
2. Getting blu-ray quality downloads is not feesable given current download rates etc. And this isnt going to change any time soon.
So, people have a choice (where availabe!).
1. Blu-ray is better quality than the Apple downloads.
2. Getting blu-ray quality downloads is not feesable given current download rates etc. And this isnt going to change any time soon.
So, people have a choice (where availabe!).
but thats the problem, from the way it reads it would have already been in the stores or available via net flix before you can get it through apple.
In response to all those saying "Bluray is Dead":
Do you think the industry will let this happen? For a new format to take over, it has to have the support of the movie industry and the hardware manufacturers. When they both finally committed to BR, they will have based their decisions on a predicted life of BR as a viable product - DVD probably had 10 years before BR take-up started to match what DVD sales had been 10 years earlier.
Just because an improved technology comes along, the industry isn't going to drop BR and adopt it for 2 reasons: 1) Amortising its existing commitment to BR and 2) If it drops BR now, no consumer is going to commit to a new format for fear of the industry dropping it within 12 months when another technology comes along, like it would have done with BR.
So, market forces stifle technological advance, but at least it gives us the benefits of consistent, established technology and competition.
All IMHO, of course.
Do you think the industry will let this happen? For a new format to take over, it has to have the support of the movie industry and the hardware manufacturers. When they both finally committed to BR, they will have based their decisions on a predicted life of BR as a viable product - DVD probably had 10 years before BR take-up started to match what DVD sales had been 10 years earlier.
Just because an improved technology comes along, the industry isn't going to drop BR and adopt it for 2 reasons: 1) Amortising its existing commitment to BR and 2) If it drops BR now, no consumer is going to commit to a new format for fear of the industry dropping it within 12 months when another technology comes along, like it would have done with BR.
So, market forces stifle technological advance, but at least it gives us the benefits of consistent, established technology and competition.
All IMHO, of course.
That's exactly what I'm NOT saying. I said that I managed to make a 1080 rip the same size as Apple's 720 rips without losing quality from direct-from-disk playback.
It looks better than what Apple offers, is what I'm saying.
When did I say it was a fad? If anything, I have consistently acknowledged the fact that Blu-ray will be around for YEARS more, until at least 2020, until downloads catch up, at which time Blu-ray will move to higher resolution content.
Yes they have to be authorized on your account, but at least this option is legal. Ripping a blueray disc isn't, as I'm sure you know.
I hope everyone realizes these encodes are done by the studios using much higher quality sources than what we have available to us. It's not like they are taking a Bluray disc and running it through Handbrake before sending the file to Apple. They are likely sourcing it from the exact same master as the Bluray. The reduced resolution, and the quality of the source, mean they can significantly lower the bitrate without impact quality nearly as much as when you do it yourself.
This is why myself and the majority of other Handbrake devs/mods recommend using lower CQ values when encoding a HD source versus a DVD -- the source is of higher quality (Bluray > DVD).
Personally, I think I'll use this option for a vast majority of the movies I buy from now on. It fits with how I use my media in my setup, and saves me a lot of time when compared to ripping/encoding/tagging myself. There will always be some movies I'll want to have in the highest possible quality (LOTR trilogy for example), but these HD downloads should be fine. There is nothing inherently wrong with 720p; it is the same resolution we currently get from most of the studios and service providers.
This is why myself and the majority of other Handbrake devs/mods recommend using lower CQ values when encoding a HD source versus a DVD -- the source is of higher quality (Bluray > DVD).
Personally, I think I'll use this option for a vast majority of the movies I buy from now on. It fits with how I use my media in my setup, and saves me a lot of time when compared to ripping/encoding/tagging myself. There will always be some movies I'll want to have in the highest possible quality (LOTR trilogy for example), but these HD downloads should be fine. There is nothing inherently wrong with 720p; it is the same resolution we currently get from most of the studios and service providers.
Apparently there are misinformed people who are not impressed by Blu-Ray b/c they think their upscaled DVD or Apple "HD" video is just as good. And the truth of the matter if you watch on a small screen (46" and under) and with an average audio setup (even if it is 5.1) Blu-Ray really is overkill. It's when you get to the bigger TVs, and especially Home Theaters with 92"+ projector screens and high-end audio systems that Blu-Ray's qualities sparkle.
I think you are correct that BD quality d/ls are not in the near future. The average BD movie is 15GB. That is a lot of bandwidth. Optical disks are not obsolete just yet.
Well said. I'm in the process of converting my DVD's and I'm even skipping some as I don't see myself ever watching them again! The Bluray rental doesn't work for me as my wife usually wants to go watch the rentals in bed and I don't have another Bluray player in the bedroom, but it's very easy to unplug 3 cables (my stereo doesn't have HDMI), take the Apple TV upstairs and plug in 2 cables and I'm done! I'll still buy my absolute favorite movies on Blu Ray, but otherwise I'm done with optical media as well.
1280x720 on a 1440x900 screen
Question from one who is severely uninformed:
I assume that 1280x720 shows natively with small black bars on a 1280x800 macbook.
What does it look like on a 1440x900 or 1680x1050 screen? Will it look just as good or better on the 1280x800 resolution screen?
Ray
Question from one who is severely uninformed:
I assume that 1280x720 shows natively with small black bars on a 1280x800 macbook.
What does it look like on a 1440x900 or 1680x1050 screen? Will it look just as good or better on the 1280x800 resolution screen?
Ray
The ripping itself isn't; having the rip is.
it's confusing, but there are ways to have a rip legally.
In response to all those saying "Bluray is Dead":
Do you think the industry will let this happen? For a new format to take over, it has to have the support of the movie industry and the hardware manufacturers. When they both finally committed to BR, they will have based their decisions on a predicted life of BR as a viable product - DVD probably had 10 years before BR take-up started to match what DVD sales had been 10 years earlier.
Just because an improved technology comes along, the industry isn't going to drop BR and adopt it for 2 reasons: 1) Amortising its existing commitment to BR and 2) If it drops BR now, no consumer is going to commit to a new format for fear of the industry dropping it within 12 months when another technology comes along, like it would have done with BR.
So, market forces stifle technological advance, but at least it gives us the benefits of consistent, established technology and competition.
All IMHO, of course.
It's much simpler than that: the studios made IT investments to prepare for Blu-Ray. They're not going to pull out before they've had a decent return, or whoever made the decision will seem less competent.
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It's about time on this one.
It's about time on this one.
Most Macs are not powerful enough to show HD
Well I bet the macbook/macbook air users are not happy about this since the macbook air doesn't have a dedicated graphics card, and therefore will not run the HD very smooth. Expect very jerky performance on any mac machines without graphics cards.
Well I bet the macbook/macbook air users are not happy about this since the macbook air doesn't have a dedicated graphics card, and therefore will not run the HD very smooth. Expect very jerky performance on any mac machines without graphics cards.