lol if there was any stolen IP, MPEG would have sued Google already. Everything is open source so it would be a piece of cake for them to prove.
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Apple TV 4K Reviews: Expensive But With Cheaper 4K Movies, Some Limitations Like 1080p YouTube
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lol if there was any stolen IP, MPEG would have sued Google already. Everything is open source so it would be a piece of cake for them to prove.
This is only $200 and it does everything an HTTPC does. I spent a yr burning my BR collection - over 2,000 movies and TV Shows, stored on a 16TB external HD and I use Plex Server on my Computer with the Plex App on my ATV and it runs perfectly fine.
The new iOS11 App has radically changed and improved Homeshare as well and is now better than Plex. So with HomeShare, Vudu and iTunes on the same box I have access to my entire library of 4,000 movies on one device, through a slick, consistent interface, without needing to switch or do anything other than maybe making sure my iTunes is running on my computer.
I think the biggest limitation that should be discussed is that apple is NOT allowing the download of 4K movies, they can only be streamed from apple to devices that support 4K.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207949
This is the relevant copy:
As a developer I'm running the High Sierra GM candidate on a 5K imac, and all of the 4K movies in iTunes only download as 1080P for me.
Most people have metered internet, Personally with Xfinity I get 1TB of bandwidth a month, and use roughly half of that between gaming, normal web browsing and other streaming (netflix, amazon, etc.) I'm assuming that an average 4K movie would represent somewhere between 10GB and 20GB of bandwidth per movie. That's going to add up quick!
I'm assuming this was the deal Apple struck with Studios...drop the price and we'll prevent downloads which will curb pirating and you'll regain those profits.
I'd love for someone to chime in and tell me I'm wrong or missing something, however I fear that's not going to be the case.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207949
This is the relevant copy:
"You can download a local copy of an HD movie, and you might be able to download HDR and Dolby Vision versions, but you can't download a 4K version."
As a developer I'm running the High Sierra GM candidate on a 5K imac, and all of the 4K movies in iTunes only download as 1080P for me.
Most people have metered internet, Personally with Xfinity I get 1TB of bandwidth a month, and use roughly half of that between gaming, normal web browsing and other streaming (netflix, amazon, etc.) I'm assuming that an average 4K movie would represent somewhere between 10GB and 20GB of bandwidth per movie. That's going to add up quick!
I'm assuming this was the deal Apple struck with Studios...drop the price and we'll prevent downloads which will curb pirating and you'll regain those profits.
I'd love for someone to chime in and tell me I'm wrong or missing something, however I fear that's not going to be the case.
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My question is why is content that i store in iTunes, my ripped DVD, Blu Ray Movie and tv library still treated like a 2nd class citizen? Why can't this content integrate if i choose too and why won't it appear in the tv app, after all its in iTunes. This has been a problem going back to the original, get rip of the "Computer" Section
HDR is key and Atmos is fantastic. 4K isn't doing much unless you're hitting 90" or larger screen.
Um why would I not just do what I am doing which is route my Apple TV to my Pioneer Receiver and let it handle the distribution,
Semi-related: I've never fully understood this so hopefully someone can explain it to me. Why can I not stream 1080p/2k/4k in Safari on my Mac, yet I can download an mp4 (H.264) version from YouTube in any of those resolutions? If they have those versions readily available, why am I not allowed to stream them?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
There's no money in such content. Each time you read someone posting "...but who is the most profitable..." recognize that that is by design. You don't become the first trillion dollar company by supporting stuff that doesn't put more, more & more money in your corporate pocket.
For all such seemingly illogical whines & gripes we consumers have for stuff that seems to matter to us consumers, think about the money. It's the answer almost all of the time.
It was mentioned above, but the no 4K Youtube fiasco is mostly on Google. The Youtube apps on both my smart tvs can display 4k from Youtube just fine. It required an update to the apps themselves. HDR from Youtube must require some additional hardware decoding as there are very few devices and tvs that support 4K HDR from Youtube.
EDIT: Just remembered VP9 profile 1 gives the 4K playback and I think it's VP9 profile 2 that provides HDR playback. So hopefully after all the outcry Apple will patch in at the very least VP9 support.
EDIT: Just remembered VP9 profile 1 gives the 4K playback and I think it's VP9 profile 2 that provides HDR playback. So hopefully after all the outcry Apple will patch in at the very least VP9 support.
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I would say the Apple TV 4k has two big problems, which for me are deal breakers until they are fixed:
1) It adds fake HDR to everything, and it cannot be disabled. So wrong on so many levels.
2) It upscales everything for you. There is no option to passthrough native resolution and let your display upscale.
It also has a lousy upscaler:
1) Reviews of the native upscaler say that it adds tons of sharpening and possibly DNR. Even if I liked the ATV upscaler, both sharpening and DNR should be independently configurable from upscaling. Personally, I want both turned off.
1) It adds fake HDR to everything, and it cannot be disabled. So wrong on so many levels.
2) It upscales everything for you. There is no option to passthrough native resolution and let your display upscale.
It also has a lousy upscaler:
1) Reviews of the native upscaler say that it adds tons of sharpening and possibly DNR. Even if I liked the ATV upscaler, both sharpening and DNR should be independently configurable from upscaling. Personally, I want both turned off.
As an sw engineer for connected devices, the update you saw most likely is due to the TV vendor providing support for VP9. So, developers have to update their code to leverage that feature. Most of the time, you do not have direct access to the GPU from client side code.
For example, you can see here that Samsung Smart TVs supports VP9 in 2016+:
http://developer.samsung.com/tv/develop/specifications/web-engine-specification
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00049184/
That chart is 2013 and doesn’t appear to take into account the differences between standard and HDR screens. HDR colors will be noticed outside of the sweet spots indicated in that chart.
H.265 is the latest *industry standard*. It's unlikely Apple will support Google's VP9. I think that's good. We don't need another Flash wannabe from taking hold.
I've had little experience with other TV dongles like Chromecast or FireTV, but I do have a friend with a Roku, and I'm not sure if it's the Roku or his TV, but the quality pales in comparison to my AppleTV 4.
I don't see AppleTV as a competitor to low-end media sticks, I think it's more comparable to a X-Box or Playstation. I have tons on game apps installed on ours, not to mention some other cool apps, and 2 (wireless!) game controllers as well. I love the decent (I know, not super high end, but good enough) gaming it provides in addition to all the media options from iTunes, Netflix, YouTube, etc. plus my own media server.
AppleTV is the simplest, good quality, most cost effective, single device entertainment center for the living room in existence. Can Apple improve it? Absolutely, if they'll start taking it seriously. AppleTV may be the "best" device out there, by a slim margin, but it's not Insanely Great yet.
I've had little experience with other TV dongles like Chromecast or FireTV, but I do have a friend with a Roku, and I'm not sure if it's the Roku or his TV, but the quality pales in comparison to my AppleTV 4.
I don't see AppleTV as a competitor to low-end media sticks, I think it's more comparable to a X-Box or Playstation. I have tons on game apps installed on ours, not to mention some other cool apps, and 2 (wireless!) game controllers as well. I love the decent (I know, not super high end, but good enough) gaming it provides in addition to all the media options from iTunes, Netflix, YouTube, etc. plus my own media server.
AppleTV is the simplest, good quality, most cost effective, single device entertainment center for the living room in existence. Can Apple improve it? Absolutely, if they'll start taking it seriously. AppleTV may be the "best" device out there, by a slim margin, but it's not Insanely Great yet.
You'll be happy woth the new iOS11 update. The homeshare is glorious now it's all integrated and has the nice Tvos Interface. Really awesome
Can you elaborate as to why you are comparing VP9 to flash? IIRC Flash wasn’t open source.
I agree but if the competitors drop their prices on the movies, the compelling reason to get an Apple TV goes away.
You can do it on the nVidia Shield. I have one. It supports Atmos too. And you can stream games on it (from nVidia or from your PC). Apart from the cheaper 4k titles, it's much, much better than this new Apple TV, and it has been around for a while.
Is Apple really that cheap to not include free open source VP9 hardware decoder for YouTube 4K? Even $25 Rock64 SBC has it.
https://www.pine64.org/?product=rock64-media-board-computer
https://www.pine64.org/?product=rock64-media-board-computer
Apple TV, it does 1/10 of what a Roku does at only double the price!
There are all sorts of misconceptions scattered in this.
- Flash was closed source. VP9 is open source.
- Very very few people will classify an Apple TV as a competitor to the Xbox/PS consoles. They aren't even targeting the same demographic.
- Cost effective might be a little naive to say. There are other devices out there that can do more for streaming such as the Roku, Nvidia Shield, etc.
- Even if Apple took it seriously, their primary competitor despite whatever you say is going to be the Roku. See this 2016 graphic for one of many sources that support this: https://www.comscore.com/var/comsco...vices-in-Household-Market-Share_reference.png
You can check if you're playing in 4K by enabling the 'stats for nerds' option. You'll see the current streaming resolution displayed there.
Apple can't even get their cables correct these days. Their new iOS devices continue to support Lightning cables whilst their new Mac lineups support USB-C. Meanwhile, their new iPhone 8 and X supports fast-charging but they don't include the fast-charging cable in the box nor the charger, so you'll have to buy a USB-C charger AND buy a USB-C to Lightning cable separately.
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I agree with this. The lack of Dolby Atmos support is being made to seem like a bigger problem than it is at the moment. There's barely any Atmos content out there and of those that do have Atmos equipment, many are running equipment such as soundbars or TV's that emulate Dolby Atmos effects rather than equipment capable of delivering true Atmos.
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