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Apple TV Upgrades: Xvid (And More) Support, 120GB HD

Digitalclips said:
Oh, just go and treat yourself to a nice HD TV that's what credit cards are for ;)
Click to expand...

I paid 3000$CAD for my 36" about 6 or 7 years ago, I'm not about to waste another 2000$CAD for a new one. I've checked around, and I'd rather spend 2000$CAD for a 37" Sharp (1080p) then 1700$CAD for a 37" Sharp (720p/1080i).

And no, I especially won't buy anything smaller since my 36" will give me a bigger picture even in widescreen, and a 32" Widescreen LCD will give me a smaller 4:3 picture.

As I said, it's a bit stupid since all it would take is a "TV ratio" setting in :apple:TV.

:p


FreeState said:
Guess they have not seen this page yet then:

"And yet there I was, with a 480i (that's "standard definition", what non-HD TVs have) option right in the Apple TV settings. See for yourself..."

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts/Article/appleTV-2007-03-22-21-30.html#up2-2007-03-22

You just have to have component input on your TV or Receiver and it works :)
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No, it doesn't. I have a 36" CRT 4:3 that has component inputs and it can even do 480p. However the Apple TV only outputs in 16:9, you cannot switch it to 4:3. So yes "it works" but that's full-screen anamorphic content. Not the way it's supposed to be shown.

Come on Apple, if it can output in 480i, where's the 4:3 vs 16:9 setting?! :confused: :(
 
So how do I get my Xvid videos into iTunes so I can synch them? Right now, I've installed the codecs and Quicktime is playing my AVI files perfectly. But when I try to add them to iTunes, they are just ignored.

Am I missing a step?
 
Yvan256 said:
No, it doesn't. I have a 36" CRT 4:3 that has component inputs and it can even do 480p. However the Apple TV only outputs in 16:9, you cannot switch it to 4:3. So yes "it works" but that's full-screen anamorphic content. Not the way it's supposed to be shown.
Click to expand...

According to rogueamoeba blog, he did not suffer from image distortion, but apparently not every TV behaves the same way. Some TVs automatically recognize the widescreen image and convert to 4:3 properly.
 
AaronICT said:
So how do I get my Xvid videos into iTunes so I can synch them? Right now, I've installed the codecs and Quicktime is playing my AVI files perfectly. But when I try to add them to iTunes, they are just ignored.

Am I missing a step?
Click to expand...
Yes. I've never done it myself, yet, but I believe you need to create something called a reference movie. It seems like it is basically a link to your AVI, but fools iTunes into thinking it is .mov file.
 
theBB said:
According to rogueamoeba blog, he did not suffer from image distortion, but apparently not every TV behaves the same way. Some TVs automatically recognize the widescreen image and convert to 4:3 properly.
Click to expand...

Also the first aftermarket connector has just appeared ($99 pre-order)

How it Works:
1. Connect your AppleTV to the converter.
2. Connect the S-Video output from the converter to the S-Video or Composite Video input on your TV.
3. Connect the power supply to the converter. The power supply is included.
4. Enjoy your AppleTV on an S-Video or regular TV.

http://www.svideo.com/appletv2tv.html
 
FreeState said:
Also the first aftermarket connector has just appeared ($99 pre-order) http://www.svideo.com/appletv2tv.html
Click to expand...

This device doesn't seem to fix the aspect ratio problem, which is the only problem I have.

This box better be able to fix the aspect ratio too, or they'll probably have a 99% return rate. :eek:

And if it does fix it, then it means I'll have to degrade my picture quality (from components to S-Video) in order to fix the aspect ratio. :(
 
Rocketman said:
Actually not true. It has 100BT Ethernet. It has 802.11 a/g/n wifi. USB is disabled.

Plenty can be done with ethernet and wifi.
Click to expand...
Agreed, but I'm not sure how, as the poster asked, you'd use it as a PVR. I figured you might be able to get a tuner to work via USB (disabled though it is, it obviously can be enabled), but I couldn't see any similarly inexpensive (US$100 or less) solution involving wireless or ethernet. If it had Firewire, it could have been used to record off cable boxes with what was likely just a software hack to enable something like iRecord.
 
Has anyone tried connecting a USB hub to the USB port. Then a intel version of os x, linux or something like that on an external hard drive. Then connect a keyboard, hold down option on the keyboard and see what happens?
 
trainguy77 said:
Has anyone tried connecting a USB hub to the USB port. Then a intel version of os x, linux or something like that on an external hard drive. Then connect a keyboard, hold down option on the keyboard and see what happens?
Click to expand...

The very fine hackers over @ SomethingAwful have already been there and done that, finding out that the option that works is apple+s but once logged into the prompt that there is no keyboard input being accepted... you can't type anything in-other-words. "Needs more com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard" is one of the more amusing posting from that site re: same... :p

Probably the best thing for anyone wanting to see quick progress on this hack-the-box effort (a work of hacking art, in progress) would be to establish a paypal beer/Jolt Cola fund for the SomethingAwful Gang to keep them hacking thru' the night... :D
 
So they got Firefox and iTunes running I see...

Once they get full USB working, just plug in your EyeTV Hybrid and fire up the EyeTV app. We'll see how well (or not) it plays HD.

Boom... DVR.
 
Adobe75 said:
So they got Firefox and iTunes running I see...

Once they get full USB working, just plug in your EyeTV Hybrid and fire up the EyeTV app. We'll see how well (or not) it plays HD.

Boom... DVR.
Click to expand...

With the rather under-powered cpu, relatively slow HD, etc. that's in it, it wouldn't be the ideal hardware to do usb capture on. However, if it's caching the stream now, it is "recording" (streams)... ;)

Edited to add: min. specs from Elgato Systems...

"720p or 1080i HD features require a Dual PowerPC G5 or an Intel Core Duo processor. Analog TV recorded via software encoder, quality depends on CPU performance."
 
jsw said:
Agreed, but I'm not sure how, as the poster asked, you'd use it as a PVR. I figured you might be able to get a tuner to work via USB (disabled though it is, it obviously can be enabled), but I couldn't see any similarly inexpensive (US$100 or less) solution involving wireless or ethernet. If it had Firewire, it could have been used to record off cable boxes with what was likely just a software hack to enable something like iRecord.
Click to expand...

Elgato is the DVR. Apple either supports 3rd parties or writes software to put them out of business properly :)

Apple presumes a third party encoder, which "makes it not their fault" that people ARE violating copyrights :(

Rocketman

Is "personal use" a violation???? (no!)

""
18 USC 107

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=17&sec=107

Section 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use


Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair
use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in
copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that
section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting,
teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In
determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case
is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether
such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit
educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in
relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or
value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding
of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the
above factors.
""

imacdaddy said:
This double confirms that there WILL be support for surround sound. http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/hdaudio.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Konradx said:
This actually makes me consider this product
Click to expand...

If 4 dozen HACKERS say that, why woldn't everyone? Seriously.

Rocketman
 
Rocketman said:
If hackers are replacing their XBMC and HTPC after one day, it at least does not suck and is underpriced. :)

Rocketman
Click to expand...


wow, if that is true , atv will really take off... now I'm considering it as I'm coming from this old bunch of techie's

hay can atv stream shout cast radio yet???? :)
 
Eidorian said:
I was honestly surprised how easy it was to hack AppleTV. They made it rather simple given it's an OSX installation and the hard drive is reachable.
Click to expand...

I'd have thought Apple would have loaded the OS in firmware to make it somewhat harder to hack. I'm left wondering if its (high hackability level) is a result of being a gen1 product, or if its because someone decided, "Oh, what the heck? It might be interesting to see what neat stuff those who like to tinker can come up with!"

$299 for the hardware, preloaded with a seemingly almost complete ver. of) OS X? Not a bad deal.
 
localoid said:
I'd have thought Apple would have loaded the OS in firmware to make it somewhat harder to hack. I'm left wondering if its (high hackability level) is a result of being a gen1 product, or if its because someone decided, "Oh, what the heck? It might be interesting to see what neat stuff those who like to tinker can come up with!"

$299 for the hardware, preloaded with a seemingly almost complete ver. of) OS X? Not a bad deal.
Click to expand...
Yeah I thought the firmware would be a mess and cripple the hardware. The drive was easily cloned as well just using standard OS X applications! :rolleyes:

http://www.bombich.com/ <3
 
skoorbevad said:
Dothan chips do not support hardware virtualization. So, never.
Click to expand...
Sorry, you're wrong. Parallels will simply use software virtualisation on a chip that doesn't support Intel VT-x. It will be a bit slower, but still work at close to native speeds. You don't need special hardware to do virtualisation. You do of course need a lot of memory!
 
Is there an program like Movie2iTunes for Windows?
and how will it handle 1080p movies in Mpeg4?
 
Yvan256 said:
This device doesn't seem to fix the aspect ratio problem, which is the only problem I have.

This box better be able to fix the aspect ratio too, or they'll probably have a 99% return rate. :eek:

And if it does fix it, then it means I'll have to degrade my picture quality (from components to S-Video) in order to fix the aspect ratio. :(
Click to expand...

If you are running on an old CRT NTSC or PAL TV at 4:3 S-Vid is more than adequate. Heck the composite input is good enough!

This whole 'How to get a 2007 HD product to work on my old 4:3 TV' reminds me of back when color came out and all the die hard Black and White TV users complained they could not read the text on the screen since the 'greys' were too close. :rolleyes:
 
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