I read somewhere that Apple would be incorporating Blu Ray compatibility into their machines in the near future? How likely is this and what are the chances considering Blu Ray's fast growth?
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Blu Ray Coming to Macs?
- Thread starter BossofMASS
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It's amazing that they have held out for so long, especially on the higher end MacPros, considering these are often the foundation for high end video editing suites....
MacDann
MacDann
Would this mean apple would have to introduce a HD screen? or would their current screens support this quality?
New screens would have to be added. You must have a HD capable screen to display HD. This is why I do not foresee HD technology being introduced into laptops. The price would be massive to add HD drive and screen, plus the screen itself wouldn't be large enough to enjoy the HD.
What do you mean, "HD capable" screen? If you mean that frigtarded DRM for HD video, then the answer is yes. If you mean because you think that the resolution is too low, then no; Apple already makes two standalone displays that are full HD, one desktop that has a full HD screen, and a laptop with the option for an HD screen.
So say yorue watching movie trailers on a MacBook and you select the HD trailer option, will the trailer actually be in HD or not because the MacBook does not have an HD screen?
It'll be in HD, just most of the QuickTime window will be cut off as you don't have enough pixels to show the whole image. I can view 720 on my iMac, but 1080 gets cut off.
OK... when a company, like Sony, says that something is HD, they are specifically referring most often to 1080p, or 1920*1080 pixels of resolution.
The 24" iMac: 1920*1200 pixels (better than 1080p)
The 17" Hi-Res MacBook Pro: 1920*1200 pixels (better than 1080p)
The 23" Apple Cinema Display: 1920*1200 pixels (better than 1080p)
The 30" Apple Cinema Display: 2560*1600 pixels (WAY better than 1080p)
Now, sometimes, a company will really only mean 720p for HD, and although that still looks freaking incredible compared to standard TV broadcasts, it is not really HD. 720p is 1280*720 pixels. And every single computer or display for a computer that Apple currently sells, beats this resolution.
My concern is this. I could go out, and get a BluRay burner for my laptop TOMORROW, and install it. You know what is holding me back? The $1000.00 price tag. That's right, the optical drive would cost almost as much as my entire laptop did. That is why BluRay isn't standard yet, at least IMO.
The 24" iMac: 1920*1200 pixels (better than 1080p)
The 17" Hi-Res MacBook Pro: 1920*1200 pixels (better than 1080p)
The 23" Apple Cinema Display: 1920*1200 pixels (better than 1080p)
The 30" Apple Cinema Display: 2560*1600 pixels (WAY better than 1080p)
Now, sometimes, a company will really only mean 720p for HD, and although that still looks freaking incredible compared to standard TV broadcasts, it is not really HD. 720p is 1280*720 pixels. And every single computer or display for a computer that Apple currently sells, beats this resolution.
My concern is this. I could go out, and get a BluRay burner for my laptop TOMORROW, and install it. You know what is holding me back? The $1000.00 price tag. That's right, the optical drive would cost almost as much as my entire laptop did. That is why BluRay isn't standard yet, at least IMO.
Eh? All current laptop screens by Apple can display 720p High-Definition. Even if the movie was 1080p, the size would be downscaled to fit the screen and the image would still be dazzling and that of 720p.
Screen wouldn't be large enough to enjoy HD?! What are you talking about? If you sat infront of your laptop and watched a 720p HD movie, the quality would be better than if you watched that same movie on your big HDTV and sat at the same distance because the laptop screen has a higher DPI.
But, as soon as you step back and go to the proper viewing distance for an HDTV panel (i.e. 10 feet), the quality would look the same as on the laptop.
And to finish off, the higher range of Toshiba laptops (even those with 15" screens and 1440x900 resolution) have/had HD-DVD drives in them to play HD movies.
1280x720, hence 720p. And 720p is High-Definition.
As others have said, all an 'HD Display' requires is resolution.
Anything aboev 720p is HD, hence any display with 720 lines of vertical lines or more is an HD screen.
Most Blu-Rays are 1080p, so in order to get the full effect you'd need to play it back on a device with 1080 vertical lines, but it's still HD at anything above 720.
As far as the merit of doing it? Yes, it's still probably too expensive at this point to have it as anything other than a BTO option, though realisitcally apple should have had it as an option of a BTO a long time ago. Esspecially in the MacPro and probably in the MBP as well.
Anything aboev 720p is HD, hence any display with 720 lines of vertical lines or more is an HD screen.
Most Blu-Rays are 1080p, so in order to get the full effect you'd need to play it back on a device with 1080 vertical lines, but it's still HD at anything above 720.
As far as the merit of doing it? Yes, it's still probably too expensive at this point to have it as anything other than a BTO option, though realisitcally apple should have had it as an option of a BTO a long time ago. Esspecially in the MacPro and probably in the MBP as well.
Late 08 mac pro
My prediction: blu ray drives in late 08 mac pros with redesigned cases to match the new ACDs with HDCP/HDMI etc...
My prediction: blu ray drives in late 08 mac pros with redesigned cases to match the new ACDs with HDCP/HDMI etc...
Yeah, it seems like it's been years since the ACDs have been updated... they need it, especially the 30".
That's not to say I wouldn't mind having one on my desk....
MacDan
Yeah, I don't know why they havent had it as a BTO option on at least the Mac Pro. The professionals out there that are making the discs need them! A Macbook Pro BTO option is needed for us pro's as well.
I mean, they cant use cost as an excuse. I mean, they put a BTO solid state drive on the Air for $1000. Thats insane! And they don't want to charge $1000 for a BTO blu ray drive?
I looked online, and the slot loading Panasonic slimline drive can be found for $850.
http://www.google.com/products?sour...5-47,GWYA:en&q=panasonic+slimline+bluray&um=1
So they cant use the excuse that they don't exist. Because...they do.
The MacBooks use 9.5mm optical drives instead of the 12mm optical drives that most of the rest of the industry uses. Hence the higher price. For example, a slot loading DVD-RW drive for the older macs was something like $80, and that is one that will work completely with OS X. You know how much a new DVD-RW drive costs for the MacBook? $150-180.
And I don't know why everyone is getting so giddy for Penryn, frankly, I want to see them get some new mobile graphics chips, that is what is needed, not a minor CPU update.
less than 3mm's costs us over twice the price. Was it really that important to shed 3mm's from the MBP so that the parts are astromical to buy?
Sigh...
Yeah, it seems like it's been years since the ACDs have been updated... they need it, especially the 30".
That's not to say I wouldn't mind having one on my desk....
MacDan
Just a simple refresh adding better connectivity would keep people interested.
Every friggin Apple made today can display HD content. I have a 720p television with a Blu-ray Disc player. 720p is about 1300x720. I don't think the cheapest MacBook isn't capable of this.
And I swear if I see another post or article about how downloads are going to kill Blu-ray (just saw one at Macworld), I think I'm gonna gag. It takes me 30 minutes to download a 5-minute HD podcast on a 3.0Mbps connection. Shoot, downloading SD movies is hardly making a dent in DVDs, so I don't get this whole downloads will kill BDs mumbo jumbo.
It's kinda like that solid gold RAM they use that costs about $400/GB.
I also like the ref on the $1000 SSD for the MacBook Air. If that isn't the craziest BTO option out there, I don't know what is. I'm all for the concept of using SSDs, but that's got to be the most worthless $1000 you could spend on a computer. The good news is I heard the prices should drop very quickly just as the capacity jumps up a lot.
It's kinda like that solid gold RAM they use that costs about $400/GB.
I also like the ref on the $1000 SSD for the MacBook Air. If that isn't the craziest BTO option out there, I don't know what is. I'm all for the concept of using SSDs, but that's got to be the most worthless $1000 you could spend on a computer. The good news is I heard the prices should drop very quickly just as the capacity jumps up a lot.
LOL @ solid gold RAM
How in the world do they come up with these prices...
As for ssd, why not if you have money to spend on it.
Forget 1080p!!
1920i & 1920p HDTV is out!! Then again, I am in Japan... Might take a few decades for the technology to reach state-side.. Though, I do think we need higher density displays, with a smaller, finer transistors!
I would be all for it if HDMI was an optional connector, or an extra connector, but don't make it the only connector. If Apple switches to HDMI only (or if anyone does) then you can kiss 30" displays good bye for a while, because HDMI lacks the cojones to drive a 30" display. Plus, HDMI cannot be converted to analog signals. Just keep DVI, it is an excellent standard, particularly for computer use.