Apple TV 720p vs 1080p model

[Johnner1999]

I currently have an Apple TV (720p model - small black cube) and was going to buy the latest model at 1080p.... I know the diference between 720 and 1080, but does the 1080p model produce better video (meaning does the content bought or rented from apple via itunes really look better?)

 

[paulrbeers]

I currently have an Apple TV (720p model - small black cube) and was going to buy the latest model at 1080p.... I know the diference between 720 and 1080, but does the 1080p model produce better video (meaning does the content bought or rented from apple via itunes really look better?)

If you have a 1080p television and 1080p content then it will look marginally better. It will be noticeable on bigger sets. Anything below 42" is virtually pointless.

 

[BruiserB]

And you can probably sell your ATV2 for 2-3 times the price of a new ATV3. Look on eBay. The older version can be jailbroken and many want that. It didn't matter to me, so I sold my 3 old ones for twice what it cost me to get 3 new ones.

 

[alent1234]

1080p is just the resolution, itunes encoded stuff is still very low bit rate
blu ray is around 30 or 40 mbps. itunes is around 10 if not less

 

[Pyromonkey83]

1080p is just the resolution, itunes encoded stuff is still very low bit rate
blu ray is around 30 or 40 mbps. itunes is around 10 if not less

Less... iTunes 1080p content is more like 4-6 mbps with a few (very rare) anomalies at 8mbps for the video content. To be absolutely fair though, 99.9% of people could not even begin to tell the difference between 10mbps and 40mbps (at 1080p) under a 100" screen, even with a side by side comparison. The difference between 6-10mbps can start to get noticeable with graining and small artifacts, but I would still be surprised if anyone other than the most intense videophiles would care, if they even noticed at all.

To the OP, 720p vs 1080p is a very small difference to the average person, but if jailbreaking is not important to you, I would definitely recommend you sell off the ATV2 and grab yourself a new ATV3 and pocket the $100+ as a present. You probably won't be able to tell a whole lot of difference, but its always nice to be future proofed!

 

[BJMRamage]

Can you spot the difference in video quality of a show on ABC/FOX compared to CBS/NBC?

I know ABC is (or used to be) 720...NBC/CBS is 1080.

I can spot the dfference.
but you'd also need to be sure the stuff you download and watch is in 1080...like in iTunes you can opt for 720 or 1080.