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Apple Announces Release of HD Movie Sales and Rentals via iTunes

bacaramac said:
That is crap, Apple should come up with a way around two files in iTunes.
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They have, all HD content is listed as HD-SD. One entry in itunes represents both files. When you sync to an SD compatible device the D version is used, when you play on your computer or sync to the Apple TV the HD version is used. I made a Video tutorial on doing this with your own video files.

http://bit.ly/HDSD
 
Another good move forward along with bigger hard drives on the Macs, but the Achilles heal of the movie store is the "bag of hurt" level of DRM. Until we get similar import/export rights to what we have on the music side, it won't take off the way it should. There isn't a whole lot of reason to buy a digital movie over physical media right there is on the music side.
 
Saladinos said:
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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Or the fact that going from high resolution Blu-Ray, down to "HD" download rips is going backwards in the quality department.
 
raybo said:
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
Click to expand...

It will look like 1280x720, scaled proportionately to those resolutions.
 
iOrlando said:
why would i even want to own them? Watch them once and im through with it...why own....
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What if it's your favorite movie? I'm sure you'd want to see it multiple times. But for most movies, I'd still like to just rent them.

As for HD quality, probably 720. the AppleTV still only truly supports 720, and 1080P movies would take forever and a day to download.

As for price, that's fairly expensive. While DVDs & Blu-Ray have the cost of making the discs & distribution, they also have all the extra special features & are of higher quality. Plus, I've noticed that movies & TV shows often cut some scenes out that were in the originals. Example: in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, they don't the punk on the bus scene, which is arguably the best scene in the whole movie. While there may be costs of bandwidth, they can't be more than their physical counterparts.
 
overcast said:
Resolution is not a measure of picture quality.
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It's one of the measures. I bet that if you put a 720P ITMS-movie next to the DVD-version, the ITMS-version will look better.

In fact, there is a comparison available:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ar...-tv-20-vs-blu-ray-dvd-hd-cable-the-comparison

A quote:

"What impressed us about the Apple TV HD rental was that the video, despite needing to be sent over the Internet rather than residing comfortably on a DVD or Blu-Ray Disc, exhibited little in the way of motion blur or compression artifacts—it looked as good as could be expected from 720p, which is to say comfortably better than DVD quality, but shy of the best a Blu-Ray Disc can offer on a top TV."

So let me repeat: How exactly is DVD "better quality" than what 720P from ITMS is?
 
bigtriece said:
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.
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I'm a MacBook Air user. HD resolution at that screen size isn't all that critical. I have some SD movies and they work just fine.

I have an HDTV and a full-range 5.1 channel surround system, and AppleTV, for watching HD movies from iTunes. So no, it doesn't bother me much.

In retrospect, I don't think the MacBook Air was a wise purchase, but I don't think that buying a new computer every couple years just to "keep up" with the ridiculous pace of technology is financially sensible in the first place. I make enough money... I could buy a new laptop every month if I wanted. But what purpose would that serve? Movies aren't a really good reason to do so.

I don't mean to go on a tangent, but there are a lot of young people on these forums, and I think there's a general tendency to look down upon those who don't constantly upgrade, or who set their sights lower than the "latest and greatest" (the constant ridiculing of 720p, etc.)... and it's unsettling. It's this kind of attitude that got us where we are economically in the first place... the Christmas morning mentality of having a new toy every five minutes to fill that gaping hole in one's self-image.

I can afford the toys... I just am old enough to realize their value is fleeting. I know that sounds strange since I did buy the MacBook Air, but I acknowledge it was a financial mistake.... but not because it doesn't have enough gadgets or features. But because spending $2000 on a rapidly depreciating asset isn't really sensible... but I guess saying that here is anathema.
 
So how would you play these on your HDTV?

I've tried to download HD TV shows onto my video iPod and get an iTunes message that my iPod doesn't support the format.

Can't transfer them to the PS3 because of DRM...
 
GeekLawyer said:
This does raise a question for me. You made me think of it.

I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for AppleTV? I hope not. But with HD rentals (and purchases) coming to iTunes, maybe Apple is signaling that the Mini is just as well for the living room.
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I think Apple TV will still be around for those who won't buy a Mac but do want to use iTunes for their movies (although if you are that against Apple, you will probably go with an Xbox 360 and Microsoft's online viewing option -- I have no idea how well it works, since I don't have a 360). But Apple is now acknowledging that there are many minis hooked up to TVs as well, so they might as well push that solution, too (it doesn't hurt that a mini costs much more than the Apple TV, either; if you are going to cannibalize sales, you might as well do it with something even more expensive :D ).
 
dukebound85 said:
sadly i agree with you

still i want my bluray and osx
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As do I, but we'll have to wait at least until Intel's Nehalem is in all Mac platforms, as that processor/board combo has the on-chip capability for BD playback.

The one good thing this could do is force Sony to offer HD content for purchase on their online store, as right now HD is rental only. I'd also love to see the prices come down to that $15-20 level on all HD content, regardless of delivery method.

This won't replace BD rentals from Netflix for me, but a decent option for those with a BD player.
 
GeekLawyer said:
This does raise a question for me. You made me think of it.

I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for AppleTV? I hope not. But with HD rentals (and purchases) coming to iTunes, maybe Apple is signaling that the Mini is just as well for the living room.
Click to expand...

I might agree with this, if the Mini had a HDMI port. Right now, it just isn't easy to hookup out-of-the-box. If anything, I think this announcement signals that Apple is committed to doing something in this space... I would be very surprised if the AppleTV doesn't see a significant update by the end of the year.
 
BenRoethig said:
Another good move forward along with bigger hard drives on the Macs, but the Achilles heal of the movie store is the "bag of hurt" level of DRM. Until we get similar import/export rights to what we have on the music side, it won't take off the way it should. There isn't a whole lot of reason to buy a digital movie over physical media right there is on the music side.
Click to expand...

Agree, but that DRM is on all platforms now, Apple, MS and Sony's online stores all have different types of DRM. And Blu-Ray also has DRM too. The movie industry has learned from the mistakes of the music industry, so I'm not sure you'll see that anytime soon.

The best we can hope for is the current administration loosens the grip of Bush's DMCA and legalizes fair-use again, where if we purchased a locked copy, we can also have a unlocked copy for personal use. Which wouldn't legalize free distribution (piracy) BTW.
 
jmpage2 said:
It just goes further to show you that they don't care about the quality of these "HD" movies.

Remember, "W", which is a lengthy movie, clocked in around 3GB and they call it HD.

While DVD uses the very inefficient MPG-2 codec, it's still worth noting that a DVD with Digital Dolby has double the footprint of these new "HD" movie downloads.
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Considering that W. comes on a 50GB DL Blu-ray you can pretty much figure out which one is going to offer a far superior picture and audio experience.
 
What about the UK

All I want to know is when do we get the HD films to buy in the UK?

Got Apple TV, and loads of films already, QoS on pre-order - but can't see the option to get HD version.

Seems to have 5.1 Sound - but I WANT HD!!!
 
ZeebUK said:
All I want to know is when do we get the HD films to buy in the UK?

Got Apple TV, and loads of films already, QoS on pre-order - but can't see the option to get HD version.

Seems to have 5.1 Sound - but I WANT HD!!!
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We'll only get stiffed on the price anyway. I'll buy the BluRay.
 
ZeebUK said:
All I want to know is when do we get the HD films to buy in the UK?

Got Apple TV, and loads of films already, QoS on pre-order - but can't see the option to get HD version.

Seems to have 5.1 Sound - but I WANT HD!!!
Click to expand...

While we're at it, when will we get *any* TV/Movie content in Ireland? I wouldn't (necessarily) buy, but I have a two-hour commute each way. Would be nice if once in a while I could rent a movie in work and watch on my iPhone on the way home.
 
Undecided said:
From their close up screenshots, it's clear that iTunes HD is better than HD cable and DVD, and close to, but not quite as good as, blu ray.
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I look at the same pictures, and Apple TV seems far worse than Blu-ray to me.

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ar...-tv-20-vs-blu-ray-dvd-hd-cable-the-comparison

Apple TV seems OK, but so much detail has been "smoothed" out that it's a false perception.

Look at the detail on the Capitol on that page. Blu-ray shows the stone blocks, and you can see the ribbing on the ridge at the top of the portico. The foreground gate has detail in the arch.

Apple TV doesn't show the blocks, the portico ridge is a simple unadorned line, and the arch of the gate is plain.

So, while Apple TV doesn't have obvious compression artifacts, the detail is missing.

Good application of perceptual psychology....

Note that the page says:

While the Blu-Ray version was the clear winner of the bunch, we were surprised by how well the Apple TV fared in comparison to the other formats we tested. Its weakest performance was in the straight shot-for-shot resolution test, where we looked at how all four devices displayed a scene with fine details.
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So, I'll be happy with my BD player....


Avatar74 said:
I don't mean to go on a tangent, but there are a lot of young people on these forums, and I think there's a general tendency to look down upon those who don't constantly upgrade, or who set their sights lower than the "latest and greatest" (the constant ridiculing of 720p, etc.)... and it's unsettling. It's this kind of attitude that got us where we are economically in the first place... the Christmas morning mentality of having a new toy every five minutes to fill that gaping hole in one's self-image.
Click to expand...

Somehow, I can't equate the desire for 1080p content for my 1080p video system with conspicuous consumption and economic collapse. Especially when the Apple 720p version is $20 + bandwidth + storage + backup storage, and $20 is about the average price for a BD movie.
 
AidenShaw said:
I look at the same pictures, and Apple TV seems far worse than Blu-ray to me.
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I noticed all of the things you pointed out as well. I've had mine for little over a year now and while many recent dvd releases look pretty good, they're all lacking in audio quality as compared to a blu-ray disc with Dolby DTS-MA.

And while I say new releases of SD discs "look pretty good," I mean precisely that. Blu-ray releases of the same film are noticeably sharper.

After a while you get used to seeing the pores on the actors' faces, each individual bead of sweat or fleck of stubble. You start to miss it when you watch a SD disc, even if it's a good transfer.
 
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