Apple TV Unboxing and Hands on Video with Streaming and Netflix

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It is completely different here. The original ATV used OSX as the base, so adding USB drivers was as simple as loading the USB drivers for 10.4 and enabling them. There are no iOS USB Drivers to allow you to read from other sources, AFAIK, so it will be so much harder for #2 to work.

#1 is the only option at this point.

I'm not sure about that (as I'm not sure about the following either...) As I understand things, iOS is a layer built on top of OS X. If so, the new TV should have the same chunks of OS X in there as the other iDevices.

I continue to suspect that the hacker solution will be most likely, but I would certainly love to see Apple normalize that USB port instead.

 

[bobr1952]

Thanks for the reply.

I had already seen that website before, and I was trying to go a much cheaper route. I guess I was hoping for something like PlayStation 3 Component AV Cable that sells for $20 on amazon. I don't think this would work on the Apple TV and I can't find anything else similar to this that is sold for the purpose of converting the signal properly.

Did you look at the story behind this on that site? Basically there is no cable since you need a DAC in addition to the cable.

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/hdmi-to-5rca-component.html

 

[3282868]

Yes, with the right software & hardware you can also rip BD and HD-DVD movies and render a version playable on TV. However, to be clear, the BD or HD-DVD source is 1920 x 1080, which is beyond what the new TV can playback. So you have to down-convert such 1080HD video to a format that can play on TV (720p30fps MAX).

Mac OS X, Quicktime, iMovie, iTunes can all work with full 1080 content, and it will play back in iTunes just fine. But the iDevices- including this new TV- are limited to 720p30fps (1280 X 720) at best.

So, as I said, SD quality video like DVD, old VHS, SD Camcorder footage, etc are all able to be played back in a full & rich way on TV hardware. Anything you have that is above 1280 x 720 (BD, HD-DVD, 1080Camcorder footage, etc) all has to be down converted.

The original question was will it look just as good as the DVD. Yes, it will look just as good as the DVD. If we adapt the question to: will it look just as good as the 1080i/p source; no, it cannot look as good because it's not a cross-conversion but a down-conversion. That said, HD sourced content will look very good- better than DVD- even at TV's 720p level, but I share the above to be complete, rather than implying that better-than-720p content sources like BD quality will also play and look just as good as the original version on disc. It won't because it can't.

Exactly, which is why I emphasized any format for conversion. Aside from the hardware on the new ATV being an issue with 1080P playback, streaming 1080P would be almost impossible unless there is a T1 or such dedicated connection. ITMS only supports 720P as 1080P is roughly twice the picture (1million pixels 720P versus 2 million pixels for 1080P), and data/streaming 1080P is a major issue for most due to internet speed capabilities.

Personally, I'll stick with my Blu-Ray DVD player and use the ATV for everything else. 720P might be good, but 1080P with 7.1/7.2 digital surround sound still kicks anything the ITMS offers.

 

[vladzaharia]

I'm not sure about that (as I'm not sure about the following either...) As I understand things, iOS is a layer built on top of OS X. If so, the new TV should have the same chunks of OS X in there as the other iDevices.

I continue to suspect that the hacker solution will be most likely, but I would certainly love to see Apple normalize that USB port instead.

Yes, chunks. However, the old aTV was literally OSX with the Apple TV software on top of it. Hardware was also standard, so USB drivers would have to be exactly the same. However, iOS only has bits and pieces of OSX, and the hardware is completely different.