Where is that 720p it is only 1280x544 and has 24fps? And is that trailer from the Apple site?
If it is from Apple and is has true surround I'll take back the multi-channel audio comment but it still won't do minimum spec HD.
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Apple TV Details and Specs
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Where is that 720p it is only 1280x544 and has 24fps? And is that trailer from the Apple site?
If it is from Apple and is has true surround I'll take back the multi-channel audio comment but it still won't do minimum spec HD.
Yeah but it has a 160kbps limitation for the audio. Unless this is for each channel this will hardly suffice.
And the 24fps limitation doesn't make HD content very likely either.
Without multi-channel audio AND without HD content this looks worse than I thought.
I am with you Diatribe, it is not looking good for 5.1 AAC.
Ha! You seem to be the minority then. Actually, I think the Apple TV is fairly useful even with NO ITMS content so I'm glad non-Americans at least get the option. I'm purchasing the Apple TV for almost exactly the same reasons as you, so trust me: I get it. Enjoy it!
That's due to the proportions of the trailer. 720p is 1280x720, progressive. The trailer, downloadable from Apple's website (go to iTunes, movies, and then theatrical trailers, and look for Eragon somewhere on the front page), is 720p. It just doesn't use up all 720 of the pixels vertically because proportionally the trailer creators didn't want to use the HD proportions. Many theatrical movies do NOT use HD proportions, and pretty much no matter what HD format you use, will not take up all the vertical pixels.
The trailers have had 5.1 AAC for a long time. But based on the 160 kbs limit, I don't see the @TV supporting it. Maybe it is limited to 160 kbs per channel, but I doubt that, 160 kbs is the same limit for the iPod.
Yeah but it has a 160kbps limitation for the audio. Unless this is for each channel this will hardly suffice.
And the 24fps limitation doesn't make HD content very likely either.
Without multi-channel audio AND without HD content this looks worse than I thought.
Don't confuse source with output. Proper source for 720p in most case would be 24fps - it only gets converted in order to display on a tv properly. Either the Apple TV will do it or the Television will...
As for the audio, none of that really matters if the Apple TV is able to convert the stream to the proper format for a typical 5.1 stereo system. I don't think we know that yet... What we do know is the optical output is there - and it must be there for a reason...
Someone will have to do the math, but I believe 1280x544 would equate to a 720P movie in a 2.35:1 format (remember the black bars?).
Yeah, this is my worry. If it is per channel I guess it would work, who knows.
Anyway, does anyone know why it is only at 24fps and not at 60fps?
That's completely irrelevant, because there isn't a surround receiver/amp on the market that can decode AAC-LC. You need AC-3 or DTS. Encoding audio in AAC-LC and then having the
TV transcode to AC-3 or DTS on the fly is not only a waste of CPU cycles if also f**ks up the sound quality. The only alternative is having the TV do the decoding, but there's only a 2 channel analog output and even if it did have 6 channel output, the DAC's in my receiver are probably a lot better than the ones in the TV so that would still be suboptimal.Well that and only handling stereo sound. No DD/DTS support makes it quite a bit less interesting for film (and increasingly TV).
Does the Phillips have HDMI INPUTS? If so, just hook as much as you can to your Phillips and the rest directly to the TV.
If the Phillips just has HDMI output, then you can hook up your Apple TV to the either the Phillips or TV via component cable for video and use a separate optical cable going directly to the Phillips for the audio. Hope that makes sense. There are probably more useful forums for this stuff than this one: like the already mentioned AVS forums (they can be prickly... watch out).
Yeah, you're right. From the res it is HD, now if the
tv converts the 24fps to 60fps this might really work.Then there's only the kbps limitation for the audio. The eragon trailer for example doesn't show the kbps for the 5.1 AAC and besides how is the receiver gonna decode AAC-LC?
I'm using a mac mini, ripping my DVD's to a external hardrive, and using a lil program called DVD Assist that allows you to see your ts video folders thru front row,with 5.1 surround. I'd advise anybody interested in a mac HT setup to look there.
What percentage of people have purchased itunes movies? I guarantee you it is WAY less that any percentage of people that have divx/xvid. If 1 million or so movies have been sold, how many people have enough downloaded that they would require a "jukebox" for them? Assuming even 5 movies each, that's 200,000 potential buyers...
The AppleTV is a joke. It's clearly missing the most important features. I've outlined seven below.
1) GPS. This is an INDUSTRY STANDARD on media centers. What if you want to watch a movie, but you don't know WHERE you are? You have to go all the way into another room to get your GPS device? What a hassel. This is a deal breaker right here. You could get halfway through a movie, and then notice you've gotten lost in your living room. How will you find your way to your computer to buy new iTunes content? I don't know about this one though, you might be able to plug a GPS unit in the USB port. We'll have to wait and see.
2) Bluetooth. What if I have a movie or podcast on my RAZR and I want to synch it to AppleTV? Again, I have to find a computer, synch it to that first, and THEN find it on AppleTV? I can find a device that plays iTunes files on my TV and has bluetooth for HALF the $299 price.
3) .art support. Over 98% of the images on my hard drive are saved using the AOL .art format. That's how they came when I downloaded them, and that's the only format I believe in. What am I supposed to do, RECONVERT all these pictures just to play on AppleTV? Yeah right Apple, better luck next time.
4) No Power Brick. How does this make any sense? For $299 I should atleast get a powerbrick to go with my AppleTV. I have all this space behind my TV for such an item, and now I don't even get one. What am I supposed to put there? Another AppleTV? Now I have to buy TWO? This is unreasonable.
5) 3840x2160 resolution. This is really a no brainer. This is a NEXT GEN device, isn't it? Why won't it support resolutions that aren't popular yet? What if I want to watch a movie in 2160p? This is another example where I could just hook up my iPod to my TV instead of paying $299 for a fancy interface.
6) Halo 3. None of the specs on the site list "Halo 3" as a supported game. My Xbox360 will be able to play Halo 3, but my AppleTV won't. Clearly my Xbox360 is still a better iTunes extender because of this. I don't know if AppleTV will support Gears of War either. Maybe it's a hidden feature.
7) Widgets. For $299 I should be able to get widgets on my TV. Apple REALLY dropped the ball here. I can't imagine why anyone would buy an AppleTV when they could pay several hundred more for a Mac Mini and get pixelated HTML documents and widgets on their TV. Let's just hope it gets hacked so that I can put widgets on it. Otherwise, this device is garbage.
If Apple doesn't fix these seven issues by the time the already shipped items arrive in our homes, I'm going to definitely declare this device a complete flop.
1) GPS. This is an INDUSTRY STANDARD on media centers. What if you want to watch a movie, but you don't know WHERE you are? You have to go all the way into another room to get your GPS device? What a hassel. This is a deal breaker right here. You could get halfway through a movie, and then notice you've gotten lost in your living room. How will you find your way to your computer to buy new iTunes content? I don't know about this one though, you might be able to plug a GPS unit in the USB port. We'll have to wait and see.
2) Bluetooth. What if I have a movie or podcast on my RAZR and I want to synch it to AppleTV? Again, I have to find a computer, synch it to that first, and THEN find it on AppleTV? I can find a device that plays iTunes files on my TV and has bluetooth for HALF the $299 price.
3) .art support. Over 98% of the images on my hard drive are saved using the AOL .art format. That's how they came when I downloaded them, and that's the only format I believe in. What am I supposed to do, RECONVERT all these pictures just to play on AppleTV? Yeah right Apple, better luck next time.
4) No Power Brick. How does this make any sense? For $299 I should atleast get a powerbrick to go with my AppleTV. I have all this space behind my TV for such an item, and now I don't even get one. What am I supposed to put there? Another AppleTV? Now I have to buy TWO? This is unreasonable.
5) 3840x2160 resolution. This is really a no brainer. This is a NEXT GEN device, isn't it? Why won't it support resolutions that aren't popular yet? What if I want to watch a movie in 2160p? This is another example where I could just hook up my iPod to my TV instead of paying $299 for a fancy interface.
6) Halo 3. None of the specs on the site list "Halo 3" as a supported game. My Xbox360 will be able to play Halo 3, but my AppleTV won't. Clearly my Xbox360 is still a better iTunes extender because of this. I don't know if AppleTV will support Gears of War either. Maybe it's a hidden feature.
7) Widgets. For $299 I should be able to get widgets on my TV. Apple REALLY dropped the ball here. I can't imagine why anyone would buy an AppleTV when they could pay several hundred more for a Mac Mini and get pixelated HTML documents and widgets on their TV. Let's just hope it gets hacked so that I can put widgets on it. Otherwise, this device is garbage.
If Apple doesn't fix these seven issues by the time the already shipped items arrive in our homes, I'm going to definitely declare this device a complete flop.
That's completely irrelevant, because there isn't a surround receiver/amp on the market that can decode AAC-LC. You need AC-3 or DTS. Encoding audio in AAC-LC and then having the
Well, DAC is not it. I'm not counting out transcoding - there may be hardware on the board for that purpose....
I guess some people thought it worked by magic spells rather than via an OS in firmware.
Yeah, you're right. From the res it is HD, now if the
Then there's only the kbps limitation for the audio. The eragon trailer for example doesn't show the kbps for the 5.1 AAC and besides how is the receiver gonna decode AAC-LC?
It can't - that's the problem. But the Apple TV may convert it on the fly...
You mean together with the conversion of the 24fps? What kind of processor would you need to accomplish all that without degrading audio or video quality?
I'll believe it when I see it.
Personally , I'm just gonna hook it up when I get it and enjoy it.I have no desire to tear it apart and do diagnostic routines.
I believe it's an underclocked pentium m. ha. I'm sure the gpu is doing a lot of the decoding, etc.
Well, the GPU would handle the video and the audio would be handled by another chip, not necessarily the main CPU (which I believe actually does very little in the Apple TV)... Just my prediction though...
Well, if it has two dedicated chips, one for video, one for audio, it would very likely be able to handle it. However, the Eragon trailer might not be a good example of 720p video for the AppleTV, as its bit rate is actually ~6333 Kbps, which is significantly over 5Mbps.
Edit: Jimmdean - you beat me to it!
Well, I guess all we can do is wait and see.
It's just the lack of information regarding this makes me suspicious. If they can pull off 720p with 5.1 audio on the iTMS, they will have a winner.