Apple TV Shipments Pushed to March

[page3]

Why would you want to play music through my TV?[/B]
You don't, you want to be able to play it through a nice receiver and speaker set.
Even a bottom of the barrel home theater/speaker set-up will sound better than your computer speakers. How do me and my friends cook in the kitchen while listening to a podcast from the living room if my computer is upstairs in my office? How do I play music at a party from my computer (even if its downstairs, it can't crank enough decibels)? etc. etc. etc. Centralized access to all your media is the name of the game. Even if you don't have a nice receiver/speaker set, having the option of playing music from your living room has several advantages "Hey, I got this great new CD. Want to hear it? Great, lets all go upstairs and huddle in my office" vs. just fire it up on your couch.

But the Apple TV doesn't have a display, so you'd need to switch on your TV, select what you want to play, then switch off your TV. If they were serious about music it would have a built-in display - like many competing products.

Sorry, but its no use for movies (lack of codec support, low res and lack of proper 5.1 sound), and no good for music (lack of navigation without TV being on). I'll pass on this...

 

[Rocketman]

Having read many messages here I began to wonder something quite simple. Why hasn't someone written an "Xtunes" or OtherTunes" app for Mac to manage formats not supported by Apple? You can install any app on a Mac and the many media formats are already read by, written by and ripped by many applications.

Who's to say iTunes is the only environment for media on the Mac?

Rocketman

 

[Digitalclips]

Well, if you see me as a Troll, then thats your problem!

Well, Junk, DOA, "Windows Media centre" is way better - so thats my opinion. Not trolling. But, it is a negative comment against Apple - but so what - aren't we allowed to comment negatively on Apple?

Windows media player is far more flexible, if you have an XBox you can do most of what what iTV does ( and more, i.e., play games etc ) - store the media locally on the XBox and off you go, in HD too. WMC supports a lot more media types, thus, its automatically more useful, IMO. As the above poster correctly pointed out, its not that much more than the cost of iTV - so better value for money, if you can afford it.

Maybe I should explained a little more why I thought iTV is junk. But summing up "if your outside of the states", iTV is of little value because of its strong tie-in to iTunes content sums this up fairly well ( thus, lack of TV shows and movies ).

OK, if I credit your post with being serious and not Trolling I would say this: As written many times in this thread, for many of us, the TV hold huge promise and potential. It is not Junk and will not be DOA. The product you mention are of little relevance to many of us since we don't have or want Windows boxes. That's why we read and write in a Mac forum. We shall just have to wait and see who is correct won't we.

 

[Stella]

OK, if I credit your post with being serious and not Trolling I would say this: As written many times in this thread, for many of us, the TV hold huge promise and potential. It is not Junk and will not be DOA. The product you mention are of little relevance to many of us since we don't have or want Windows boxes. That's why we read and write in a Mac forum. We shall just have to wait and see who is correct won't we.

I did say "In My opinion", thus "For my uses" it is DOA, I'll be voting with my money and not buy it.

Overall, I'm sure it will be a success....

Windows Media Centre - well, that runs on XBox - and plenty of Mac owners have one - so its not irrelevant.

 

[caccamolle]

Caccamolle
You either don't get it or you get it too well. If your TV and computer monitor are the same thing, then the Apple TV is completely pointless to you. Of course, just run front row on the mini. The Apple TV ONLY makes sense to people who who have a TV SEPARATE from their computer(s) (in their living room or wherever it is they want to watch stuff). Seriously, if you only have one "monitor" in your entire home then don't even waste your time on this thread... this product applies to you as much as horse feed applies to your car.

I'm not sure which product you are exactly referring to when you refer to the A/X (Armani Exchange?), but here is a typical Apple TV situation: your music is on your computer in your office upstairs. You are in your living room listening to Bob Dylan when you suddenly get the urge to listen to "Nevermind" by Nirvana. The Apple TV allows you to easily navigate from Dylan to that particular Nirvana album in a few seconds, all without having to move from the nice couch you are sitting on. If I had to get up to go to the computer, or even just the receiver to pop in the CD, to listen to this album than the Apple TV already wins. The Apple TV makes at least one electronics product completely useless: jukebox style CD players (you know, those 100-500 disc things). Using the TV to navigate my music collection seems perfect for me. I have no idea what you have against it... are you hoping for an AppleTV Shuffle or something?

If your argument is that everybody should have a computer hooked up in their living room, that's a separate issue (and I'll gladly do it if you give me the extra $300 and keep the content synchronized for me).
.

Again, I view the added value (well confort, really) that you refer to, non existant for me, especially, I say it again, in my case where keeping my 42" flat TV on for music is just pointless. This obviously has to do with personal preferences as well as situations (set-ups) where evidently we differ. I do see your point, not saying it ain't good, it just does not apply to me. Video is a complete different story since the A/X can't do that and I have really been dreaming of having a device like that for video. And here it comes !!!! ATV.

Tha A/X is what is commonly used to refer to the Airport Express.

 

[cbud]

Ever heard of an iPod?

first of all, thats illegal. and while it might work for movies, what about tv-shows? when i put in one of my futurama-dvd's in my dvd-player, i get a nice menu where i can select the episode i want to watch. how would handbrake handle that? what about special features and subtitles? how long does the encoding take?

you say that mac mini would be too inconvenient. i say that handbraking my dvd-collection is too inconvenient. and with mac mini you would get a lot more functionality.

MP4 files can go on an iPod that is why I encode to MP4. But yes, it is very inconvenient and takes forever.

Anyway, soon Apple will offer movies and 5 star TV shows in 720p. This will allow people who are not ready to buy 1080p TV sets and Blu-Ray drives to watch on demand HD on their TV sets. Surround sound and subtitles will make it into Apple's content, hopefully with Leopard. Apple has been trying to find a closed captioning fix for awhile.

I wonder how Apple is going to handle 720p movies and the iPod? Does the customer download twice? Pick only one resolution? Or will the iPod handle 720p? But I wouldn’t want my entire i pod drive to be filled by a few 720p movies? Hmm...

 

[Padriac]

So, let me get this straight. You theoretically have your nice 40" display with an Apple TV right below it. With the Apple TV you can use this nice 40" display to navigate your music but you guys are saying no: you want to do this with some 3" LCD screen on the Apple TV itself so you don't have to turn on your TV.

I don't get it.

1) How do you "navigate" on this small LCD display from 10 feet away?

2) What is so offensive about having your TV on to listen to music? People who use DVD players to play CDs do this all the time.

3) If it really bugs you, you can turn your TV back off.

4) Really, why does this bug you so much? You get the album art up on the screen which looks pretty snazzy.

5) What competing products are you specifically referring to and how much do they cost?

6) If navigating your music on a small LCD readout is really what you want, then Apple already makes a product for you: it's called the iPod Dock. It comes with an Apple remote and is pretty damn cheap.

7) Caccamolle: Oh, you meant Airport Express (I should have figured that out). I have one of those too, but it is such a PAIN for me to walk to another room, pick my playlist, send the stream to the proper speakers, and then walk back to the living room. You can't argue the A/X experience is superior in any way here. But if you have the computer sitting right there next to the receiver (why bother with the Airport express at all in that case?), then I guess its a bit silly to fire up the TV.

Okay, enough on the "TV as a display: good or bad" thing

8) [Not being sarcastic]. What are the competing products that you naysayers keep referring to? I'm unaware of any product that can receive 720p video wirelessly without lag (aka draft N), can detect the laptops of visitors for content, etc. for $300.

9) Stella, I'm sure you'll bring up the Xbox 360 here, which is an interesting case since its price is subsidized by Microsoft making it fairly cheap. However there are rather large negatives: wireless costs an extra $100, it's only wireless G, have to pay an extra $100 for a measly 20 GB hard drive, Windows Media Video ties, and it requires a media center computer to be tied to. Apple TV works with any computer that has iTunes, which is free. Therefore, while "superior", the Microsoft solution is also much more expensive and dare I say a bit more complicated for joe average. Have you even tried to stream 1080 content to an Xbox 360? Doesn't work too well. What's the point in supporting higher resolutions if you can't even functionally use them? In this sense, the 360 is MORE limited in it's functional resolutions than the Apple TV (unless you are on a wired network, but that almost surely shuts the door on the general populace using it). The Xbox 360 hard drive is much too small to depend on local storage for all these High def files and defeats the whole idea behind Media Center/AppleTV, so that option is a non-starter.

 

[Peace]

You don't need your TV to be on to listen to music.One can turn the TV on.Navigate to an album or a stream.Play it through the Toslink-out to your stereo then turn the TV off.
When you want to change to a different album or a playlist simply turn the TV back on and the Front Row is there.Besides most newer common wide screen HDTV's have built-in screensavers.

 

[Mgkwho]

bbbut Gizmodo says it's shipping on the 27th!

-=|Mgkwho

 

[MKT7@mac.com]

Here's my question

OK guys, here's my question.

Money isn't the biggest problem for me re: TV. Here's how I see it.

With Handbreak you can encode content at 720p, and keep your dolby digital surround sound tracks intact. The only thing is that TV can't do Surround sound. That is a software issue, and I'm sure will eventually be rectified, (if not via a software update, atleast in the next incarnation of TV) As long as my content is encoded with all the surrounds intact I'm fine.

I'm also fine with 720p, i don't think most people can even tell the difference, they are just having a wank with the numbers/stats etc.

I want to know, is there any way that through Handbreak or anything like that we can keep the chapters intact. If I want to watch Scene 23 in a movie, I don't want to manually fast forward it with the dinky lil mac controller?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Peace]

OK guys, here's my question.

Money isn't the biggest problem for me re: TV. Here's how I see it.

With Handbreak you can encode content at 720p, and keep your dolby digital surround sound tracks intact. The only thing is that TV can't do Surround sound. That is a software issue, and I'm sure will eventually be rectified, (if not via a software update, atleast in the next incarnation of TV) As long as my content is encoded with all the surrounds intact I'm fine.

I'm also fine with 720p, i don't think most people can even tell the difference, they are just having a wank with the numbers/stats etc.

I want to know, is there any way that through Handbreak or anything like that we can keep the chapters intact. If I want to watch Scene 23 in a movie, I don't want to manually fast forward it with the dinky lil mac controller?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I wasn't aware Handbrake can encode 720P video and Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Where do you see that in handbrake?

 

[cbud]

I wasn't aware Handbrake can encode 720P video and Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Where do you see that in handbrake?

Handbrake does not encode to 720p. No one knows the H.264 codec specifics Apple will use to encode this type of video until they sell one on iTunes.

Handbrake does not add chapters. Chapters are possible if the MP4 is wrapped in a .mov container. But, Apple can add chapters directly to MP4 but no one has implemented this into an encoder.

But the Apple TV doesn't have a display, so you'd need to switch on your TV, select what you want to play, then switch off your TV. If they were serious about music it would have a built-in display - like many competing products.

Sorry, but its no use for movies (lack of codec support, low res and lack of proper 5.1 sound), and no good for music (lack of navigation without TV being on). I'll pass on this...

As of now, I agree, it is not good for movies. But that will change. The Apple TV spec page says nothing about stereo, or 5.1. Perhaps when Apple releases 720p movies we will get 5.1 AAC and subtitles.

 

[curmi]

DivX

Reading posts here, I'm wondering if perhaps the US doesn't use DivX much, and that is why there are so many of you posting here that are not fazed by a lack of DivX in Apple TV?

Certainly in Australia DivX is the MP3 of the video world. DVD players these days also play DivX - so DivX is pretty much the de-facto standard here. I suspect it is the same in Europe. It is hard to find any media player or DVD player that plays H.264. In fact, most people have never heard of H.264 - certainly almost everyone who uses Windows.

So is the situation that DivX isn't used much in the US?

 

[killr_b]

Well, if you see me as a Troll, then thats your problem!

Well, Junk, DOA, "Windows Media centre" is way better - so thats my opinion. Not trolling. But, it is a negative comment against Apple - but so what - aren't we allowed to comment negatively on Apple?

Windows media player is far more flexible, if you have an XBox you can do most of what what iTV does ( and more, i.e., play games etc ) - store the media locally on the XBox and off you go, in HD too. WMC supports a lot more media types, thus, its automatically more useful, IMO. As the above poster correctly pointed out, its not that much more than the cost of iTV - so better value for money, if you can afford it.

Maybe I should explained a little more why I thought iTV is junk. But summing up "if your outside of the states", iTV is of little value because of its strong tie-in to iTunes content sums this up fairly well ( thus, lack of TV shows and movies ).

Five posts in one thread that all say "Windows is better…"
Not a troll huh?

So, it sucks to hear that in Canada you are guilty until proven innocent. Except with a tax you pay and don't even get to prove your innocence.

So even if some people on this board never pirated anything (ya, right), there obviously wasn't point to your virtue because your government treats you as a criminal anyway.

Don't get a Mac, get MAD! That's a bull**** tax.

Peace

 

[Digitalclips]

I wasn't aware Handbrake can encode 720P video and Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Where do you see that in handbrake?

Correct. As I earlier said I had used MPEG Streamclip 1.8 to do this not Handbrake perhaps I confused some folk. Snag is it cannot deal with commercial DVDs so FastDVD Copy is needed first and then MPEG Streamclip 1.8 (free app available at Version Tracker) can pick up the VOBs off your HD (no need to burn anything).

Stella; Five posts in one thread that all say "Windows is better…"
Not a troll huh?

You are quite right and his posts are always the same, I wish he would simply move to a PC forum where I am sure he would get appreciation and agreement. Oh wait, perhaps he doesn't want that! .

Reading posts here, I'm wondering if perhaps the US doesn't use DivX much, and that is why there are so many of you posting here that are not fazed by a lack of DivX in Apple TV?

Certainly in Australia DivX is the MP3 of the video world. DVD players these days also play DivX - so DivX is pretty much the de-facto standard here. I suspect it is the same in Europe. It is hard to find any media player or DVD player that plays H.264. In fact, most people have never heard of H.264 - certainly almost everyone who uses Windows.

So is the situation that DivX isn't used much in the US?

I am English but USA based; I admit as a Mac video guy (TV production and editing for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC amongst many others using Media 100 and FCPro HD, now work 100% HD) I have not come across DivX... here is what I found in Google, is this even close?

"DIVX - This was supposed to be a standard that would offer competition to DVD movies, and allow people to purchase Divx discs that would only be enabled for a couple of days of viewing, eliminating the hassle of returning videotapes or DVD movies after you rent them. Divx ultimately failed due to consumer disinterest. More recently, the Divx name has also served as a slang term for a form of video compression based on MPEG-4."

 

[Maccus Aurelius]

Caccamolle
Maccus Aurelius
How exactly are you getting CONTENT to that Klipsh system? This is exactly what the Apple TV is for! I too have a nice set of Klipsh speakers and part of the reason I'm getting the Apple TV is to be able to funnel all my music through these speakers rather than the crappy computer speakers. Like a videogame system or DVD player, the Apple TV will pump sound to your receiver and video to your TV.

Obviously, the Apple TV is meant for those who do NOT (for whatever reason) have dedicated "media" computers. The Apple TV is the low-cost, easy-to-use alternative. Some people don't want the extra cost (the mini route still costs twice as much as the Apple TV) or complication (keeping content synced between computers, etc.). Obviously Front Row exists for a reason, so Apple is happy to give you both options.

I agree with your points about the Apple TV potentially being seen as an "extension of the computer" and thus expected to be more robust. But my original point still holds: where is all this supposed content that is not compatible with iTunes/AppleTV? Only a microscopic sliver of the population will ever know or care about "DivX". I have no proof, but I'm going to venture a guess that most legal, downloadable video content on the internet is iPod compatible (controlling for WMV).

That's possible, but I still see this as being more of a Mac user's type of device. I predict that sales will not be very good for a very long time for this device, and it's basically going to be found next to macs more than anything else.

 

[Digitalclips]

That's possible, but I still see this as being more of a Mac user's type of device. I predict that sales will not be very good for a very long time for this device, and it's basically going to be found next to macs more than anything else.

Just like iPods, right?

 

[Padriac]

Curmi:

In the US at least, DVD players that support DivX are a niche at best. All this Media Center/Xbox/Apple TV stuff is hammering the nails in that coffin. In general, nobody really cares and the DVD players people are actually buying (sub $100 Sony/Samsung/Panasonic/no-name brand) don't usually support it it all.

h264 is fairly new so its no surprise that there aren't many products that support it yet. However, three fairly big products DO support it as standard: the iPod, the PSP, and the Playstation 3. Also, h264 is often referred to as AVC, and a great deal of high definition content (HD-DVD/Blu-ray) use it for encoding. I'd argue that the iPod, PSP, and PS3 are a much bigger deal than an army of chinese DVD players, and thus h264 is quickly becoming the most mainstream codec.

I'd say the situation in America is that DivX is primarily used to encode and distribute pirated content but in terms of mainstream penetration it is simply non-existant. A few do use it to "legitimately" encode content they own, but only a small fraction of us "nerds".

I maintain: I can't think of a single legal source of DivX files... it's a non-entity as far as the non-nerd, non-pirate population is concerned. How does one get DivX files without encoding them yourself (which you could do with h.264 anyway)? Nobody has offered me any real answers to this question, which only makes me think Apple may have been fine in completely ignoring DivX. However, maybe the situation is different in other countries, as you mentioned.

Digitalclips: would you care to do a quick step-by-step of your encoding workflow that will provide 720p surround content that is theoretically compatible with the Apple TV? I need to try this for myself.

 

[Stella]

No, In canada, the law states you are proven innocent until guilty.

Windows *is* better than somethings for Mac than others - hardly a revelation! The usefulness of Windows Media Centre v iTV -> WMC wins out, for me personally - but for you, that may not be the case.

Are you another person who is saying we can't speak out against Apple, even if it favours microsoft?

I'm not very sorry to all you Apple fan bois out there who don't have an open mind, that sometimes, Apple is not the solution to all problems, for everyone. Apple products generally are good, but some Apple products, stink ( imo ).

Windows Media Centre Software != Windows. Its a piece of software I'm talking about - not the windows 'media centre edition'.

p.s, If I was trolling, you'd know about it.

p.s.2 The reasons to why the iTV is not for me are perfectly valid ( better alternatives, lack of supported media formats, lack of downloadable iTunes content etc ), I'm glad the iTV is for you.

Five posts in one thread that all say "Windows is better…"
Not a troll huh?

So, it sucks to hear that in Canada you are guilty until proven innocent.

 

[Digitalclips]

Curmi:

Digitalclips: would you care to do a quick step-by-step of your encoding workflow that will provide 720p surround content that is theoretically compatible with the Apple TV? I need to try this for myself.

Sure happy to.
1. Use FastDVD Copy and set to 'save data on disk' as you have no need to burn and will quit once DVD is read. If you don't it zaps working TS folder on quit.
2. Open VOB in MPEG Stream-clip 1.8. Trial and error needed for first few in list until one is found that produces the dialog asking if you wish to use all related files. The first few are trailers and intros. It is very fast and you can scrub to check you have everything from start to credits. It may offer to repair time code, I always accept.
3. Once open in MPEG Stream-clip 1.8 you can use a default output for H.264 / 720p or play with endless options and qualities. Many other wide screen options can be tried. I am trying endless combinations!
4. Drag 720p to iTunes Library and then play. It shows up in shared Library on other Macs on my network and plays.

Caveat - I can bet iTunes will be updated for ATV and for all I know what I have here won't stream to it but the fact it shows up in other Mac's iTunes that are using the shared Library gives me hope. If you try 1080i as I did it loads into iTunes no problem and plays but didn't show up in other Macs via shared library which kind of fits with ATV expectation for me at least..

 

[curmi]

Curmi:
I maintain: I can't think of a single legal source of DivX files... it's a non-entity as far as the non-nerd, non-pirate population is concerned. How does one get DivX files without encoding them yourself (which you could do with h.264 anyway)? Nobody has offered me any real answers to this question, which only makes me think Apple may have been fine in completely ignoring DivX. However, maybe the situation is different in other countries, as you mentioned.

I think the point is that in Australia I can't think of any legal downloadable source of H.264 files either - as we don't have an iTunes video store. With your own files you are left with encoding with DivX (which people have been doing for some time), or H.264 (which people have started doing, but mainly only Mac people from my limited samplings of friends who encode stuff. )

So I guess we'll see how it goes. I love the idea of Apple TV - I just think the product itself is underdone. Another point I should raise is that anything I record in EyeTV has to be encoded to H.264 first before I could view it on Apple TV (EyeTV records in MPEG-2 transport stream format). And exported to iTunes. EyeTV makes this easy, but it is actually a very slow process. It just would have been nice to have had a few extra codecs - and then I wouldn't be having this conversation and instead I'd be waiting for my Apple TV order to arrive.

 

[Padriac]

Curmi: yeah, it would be nice if Apple could do something to make the transition from other codecs smoother. Like a transition period where DivX is supported or something. But I guess if they supported a codec at all they could never stop because people would complain.

Re: legal h264 content I humbly disagree. Two words: video podcasts. But yeah, it's really a grey area as far as "standards" and video codecs are concerned.

Digitalclips: Thanks! Is there something necessary about Fast DVD or could another program possibly be used for this step (Toast or Mac the Ripper or something). $100 is a bit much for experimenting.

 

[Digitalclips]

Curmi:

Digitalclips: Thanks! Is there something necessary about Fast DVD or could another program possibly be used for this step (Toast or Mac the Ripper or something). $100 is a bit much for experimenting.

It's possible, the first part is simply a matter of getting a TS folder on your hard drive from the DVD. Non protected DVDs can be done with many programs no doubt, protected DVDs I only know of FastDVD Copy on a Mac, but there must be more.

I think FastDVD Copy lets you do a few without purchase so you can at least try it.

Note: I only try this with DVDs I have purchased.

I think the point is that in Australia I can't think of any legal downloadable source of H.264 files either - as we don't have an iTunes video store. With your own files you are left with encoding with DivX (which people have been doing for some time), or H.264 (which people have started doing, but mainly only Mac people from my limited samplings of friends who encode stuff. )

So I guess we'll see how it goes. I love the idea of Apple TV - I just think the product itself is underdone. Another point I should raise is that anything I record in EyeTV has to be encoded to H.264 first before I could view it on Apple TV (EyeTV records in MPEG-2 transport stream format). And exported to iTunes. EyeTV makes this easy, but it is actually a very slow process. It just would have been nice to have had a few extra codecs - and then I wouldn't be having this conversation and instead I'd be waiting for my Apple TV order to arrive.

As I mentioned I am not familiar with DivX but if it is another MP4 format as is H.264 (as I undersand it) they are CODECs of the same family at least so maybe there is hope for some suppoprt? As others have mentioned I believe H.264 is part of the high def standards for Blu-Ray and HD DVD so not something to take lightly.

I can tell you as I make output from original HD source material with H.264 it is an amazing CODEC.

 

[in_my_head]

it's all about content

Good points, shame iTV only supports Apple media / content.

Had Apple supported other media types then iTV would have been far far more useful.

...the main issue for me is why do I need to an iTv if the content is so limited?..answer is I don't.....i think the fact that WMT got the 6 major studios to sign on with them is part of the general trend for studio's to want to protect their distribution model....much the same way music studios did vs Naptser....note thatr WMT will preserve the DVD sales part while appl only wants to allow for digital distribution and management....this will change ventually i hope...but obviously not just yet...so as soon as I have access to more content (all content!) within iTunes much on the same way i do now for music, i will be interested in iTv..just an 'observation'...inmihead...and Stella the 'Goddess of Beer?'....btw, that beer is known as the 'Budwieser of Europe'....hardly a 'Goddess'.....pat.....

 

[cbud]

Sure happy to.
1. Use FastDVD Copy and set to 'save data on disk' as you have no need to burn and will quit once DVD is read. If you don't it zaps working TS folder on quit.
2. Open VOB in MPEG Stream-clip 1.8. Trial and error needed for first few in list until one is found that produces the dialog asking if you wish to use all related files. The first few are trailers and intros. It is very fast and you can scrub to check you have everything from start to credits. It may offer to repair time code, I always accept.
3. Once open in MPEG Stream-clip 1.8 you can use a default output for H.264 / 720p or play with endless options and qualities. Many other wide screen options can be tried. I am trying endless combinations!
4. Drag 720p to iTunes Library and then play. It shows up in shared Library on other Macs on my network and plays.

Caveat - I can bet iTunes will be updated for ATV and for all I know what I have here won't stream to it but the fact it shows up in other Mac's iTunes that are using the shared Library gives me hope. If you try 1080i as I did it loads into iTunes no problem and plays but didn't show up in other Macs via shared library which kind of fits with ATV expectation for me at least..

I would be wary of converting your video this way until we know for sure what codec specifics Apple's 720p will have. All video encoders had to be updated back in September to encode Apple's h.264 480p. Apple's site says the Apple TV will play 720p h.264 Progressive Main Profile. Nobody knows what that "Progressive" part means. MPEG Stream-clip 1.8 can encode with the Main Profile, which plays fine in QuickTime/iTunes, but will not play on the iPod no matter what resolution is used.

For now, it is safe to say that what plays on the iPod will play on Apple TV. I would wait before encoding anything over 480p.