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Apple TV Shipments Pushed to March

cbud said:
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.
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Progressive... that would be what the "p" in "720p" stands for.

Progressive Main Profile refers to 720p... that is, 1280 x 720 in progressive frames as opposed to interlaced frames. Apple I believe chose 24 progressive fps but the format can support up to 720p/63 at 50Mbps. "Main Profile" is the mainstream consumer profile for broadcast and storage applications. It allows interlaced frame coding (e.g. 480i, 1080i) but doesn't feature flexible macroblock coding and is limited to 8-bit depth. It is a 4:2:0 chroma compression format, and doesn't support 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 chroma compression.
 
Stella said:
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.
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The reason the Apple TV is not for you is because you have invested a lot of money in your current setup. A year ago I looked at the "Media Center", but said no way because A) Windows sucks B) can't play what my iPod plays. I'd rather wait for content to arrive from Apple then grab a Media Center computer now that will blow you know what in a year.

Avatar74 said:
Progressive... that would be what the "p" in "720p" stands for.

Progressive Main Profile refers to 720p... that is, 1280 x 720 in progressive frames as opposed to interlaced frames. Apple I believe chose 24 progressive fps but the format can support up to 720p/63 at 50Mbps. "Main Profile" is the mainstream consumer profile for broadcast and storage applications. It allows interlaced frame coding (e.g. 480i, 1080i) but doesn't feature flexible macroblock coding and is limited to 8-bit depth. It is a 4:2:0 chroma compression format, and doesn't support 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 chroma compression.
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I thought it had to do with the complexity of the codec, like Baseline Low Complexity h.264.

So is this 'Main Profile' that the encoders use the same that Apple TV will use?
 
cbud said:
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.
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Believe me I am just messing around for fun at the moment... :)
 
cbud said:
I thought it had to do with the complexity of the codec, like Baseline Low Complexity h.264.
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No. Low Complexity and High Complexity are referring to the encoding algorithm. Progressive refers to the frame type regardless of whether or not the file is CAVLC (variable length coding) or CABAC (binary arithmetic coding).

So is this 'Main Profile' that the encoders use the same that Apple TV will use?
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There are different levels of Baseline, Extended and Main Profile encoding that have different maximum bitrates, but in principle, the answer to your question is yes.

Main Profile simply refers to the fact that the file is encoded primarily for broadcast/storage, as opposed to mobile (Baseline Profile of which the low-complexity version is supported by AppleTV presumably for interoperability with the current iPod-compatible H.264).

High Profile is for optical media (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray) and is not supported by AppleTV. There's no need to, as the purpose of AppleTV is to replace optical removable storage-based media with internet-distributed, nonlinear drive-stored media.

However, as I mentioned before, Main Profile supports various resolutions, various frame rates, interlaced and progressive frames, and bitstreams of various bandwidth... 20Mbps, 50Mbps, as high as 240Mbps (in probably High 4:4:4 Profile, not supported by AppleTV).
 
stew278 said:
I'm in agreement ... this just keeps looking like a waste of $300. That much to stream (limited) content to HD TV? It's just not that compelling.
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I'm convinced there's a cable-killer subscription plan waiting to be announced. Sports. Award shows. The works.
 
For those that don't think the :apple: TV will do 5.1 keep in mind it has an optical digital out built in.This tells me 5.1 will be playable because that's what the optical digital output was designed for.
 
caccamolle said:
TV navigation for music is totally useless in my view. Obviously there will be no need for it. From a music standpoint, ATV adds nothing compared to the A/X, at least in terms of practicality.
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"Obviously" there will be no need for it?

This is definitely not an "obvious" statement. Have you ever used a video interface for your audio? I think that if you were to honestly compare the A/X interface to the ATV interface (in a scenario where the computer is further away than the TV), you'd quickly realize the difference between walking to your computer to use a mouse/keyboard to select different songs and pointing a remote at your entertainment center and using a large-font interface to select different songs.

I used to do testing for a set-top HD-based mp3 player (it was later repositioned away from home use and towards restaurants, due to high price) because I knew that the product would make listening to music a better experience. Likewise, when I put an mp3 disc in my dvd player, I turn on the TV so I can navigate through that interface, rather than the small LCD screen below the TV.
 
Wow, this thread is hilarious. To paraphrase to anti Apple-TV people:

"I don't think it's useful for me, and since everyone is just like me, this thing will flop."

Get over yourselves.

The AppleTV is just a device to get your iTunes into your living room. That's all it is. Many people have a use for this. Deal with it. I see these Roku soundbridges for sale in stores and they are also quite expensive. Yet, they are selling, and only do unprotected music, and have a tiny interface. It seems to me that if there is a market for these, there is a market for something that plays the rest of your iTunes content with a nice big, easy to navigate interface.
 
hayesk said:
Wow, this thread is hilarious. To paraphrase to anti Apple-TV people:

"I don't think it's useful for me, and since everyone is just like me, this thing will flop."

Get over yourselves.

The AppleTV is just a device to get your iTunes into your living room. That's all it is. Many people have a use for this. Deal with it. I see these Roku soundbridges for sale in stores and they are also quite expensive. Yet, they are selling, and only do unprotected music, and have a tiny interface. It seems to me that if there is a market for these, there is a market for something that plays the rest of your iTunes content with a nice big, easy to navigate interface.
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Exactly! It's an iPod without any screen. Apple even sells it in the iPod section of their store... why would people expect it to play any other formats than the other iPods? If it did, they would then have complaints that some of the videos worked on the AppleTV but not the iPod.
 
Back on Topic

/at Macworld.com said:
Apple TV shipments delayed?
Several sources indicate that shipping date for Apple's multimedia device has slipped.

Apple's new £199 living-room solution for streaming iTunes content (music, podcasts, TV shows, movies and image libraries) to a television set was originally expected to ship this month.

The shipping date now appears to have been delayed until the end of the month, or even March, according to multiple sources.

Macworld has been told not to expect review units of the product until next month. A report on ThinkSecret confirms the news.

ThinkSecret also claims that Apple may ship Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard along with iLife '07 and iWork '07 next month, but Apple has made no such announcement.
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I suppose they really are delayed then.
 
Was it even a worldwide date?

And all I remember is that it will ship in Febuary, and so far, nothing (besides ThinkSecret :rolleyes: ) has really ever said anything different. Where's the news?
 
Hopefully it will arrive on time. I'm looking forward to making my bigscreen a monitor. Is that even possible?
 
It doesn't make a direct connection mirroring your computer. It's a stand alone device that feeds off of your iTunes library, not become a wireless port that turns your set into a monitor. If that was the case there would be no issue with codec support since it would not be a player in itself but just a link to your computer's software, which plays all codecs through third-party plugins. Think of the ATV as an iPod that sort of plays the role of DVD player, but without the removable media.

If you want to mirror your computer to your television set, get the appropriate cable hookup, but it will take some calibration to get it to work for some systems.
 
Padriac said:
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.
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When listening to music I don't want visual distractions. All I want is the music and my imagination. I'm probably in the minority these day, but my Television only goes on when I want to watch something specific.

I'm not anti Apple TV, its just not for me in its current form. I already have a Neuston device which streams video from my Mac - I was hoping the Apple TV would do everything the ageing Neuston does, whilst offering additional codecs and a better navigation menu. I'm therefore disappointed it does neither.
 
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