Blu-Ray (Why is Apple so late?)

[rhett7660]

I have little doubt that Apple will soon support BluRay, maybe even at WWDC, but really, how much demand is there for these things? It isn't as if they are flying off the shelves at Best Buy. BluRay will never sell like the DVD players and recorders because optical drives are on the slippery slope headed toward being the next floppy.

In the next few years, all drives will be SSD and data will be transferred via the network. Optical drives just lasted longer than floppies because their capacity far outpaced the capabilities of the network and our old internal hard drives. That won't be true for very much longer.

We can watch HD without problem. As for burning BluRay HD DVDs, most of us won't ever burn more than a handful. Personally, I never expect to drop a BluRay into my Mac Pro.
__________________

While I agree,, you might want to check out some of the forums that deal with home theater.

avscience.com
hometheaterforum.com
thedigitalbits.com

And see if you still think this way. Also, a lot of people are already burning HD content to there hard drives and storing them on their media servers. Then playing them back via HTPC in the living room.

If blu-ray doesn't take off by Christmas or 4Q then I think you may have a pretty valid point.

 

[runplaysleeprun]

Do you know when the WWDC is? When is the next semi major event? The one where we'll get the new updates for the iPods etc?.

In a week I think.

 

[zblaxberg]

I have to be honest I've never met anyone that I know (most of them are mac fans) that really want blue-ray discs. Personally I have astigmatism so no matter how nice the quality is I see things blurry so I guess thats my take. I'd recommend checking ebay though for a blue ray external drive, I bet you could find some nice deals.

 

[HD Shooter]

No No No No

How many people out there bought HD camcorders? How long have we been able to shoot in HD in a CONSUMER camera. SO what are we supposed to do with all of this beautiful image quality?

Transcode ( as in Poop on ) the hig res to SD? Forget it!!! If apple doesn't announce an apple solution to burning BR disks I am buying a PC and slowly moving to PC with ADOBE software.

It is a matter of principle. As a pro I am insulted that apple has waited this long and the longer they wait to implement the more I feel they are pushing us to conform to thier business model.

I can't get itunes here. I am in the UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS, we fly a US flag and I can't get a flippin itunes account!

As a CONTENT CREATOR I am left with third party options. Not my fav but that is all I can do. I can't even allow myself to offer HD delivery to someone elses apple TV! I could care less about watching movies on my computer really.

I want to show the amazing images we make in the resolution we shoot in. COME ON APPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AndyClarke]

I have to be honest I've never met anyone that I know (most of them are mac fans) that really want blue-ray discs. Personally I have astigmatism so no matter how nice the quality is I see things blurry so I guess thats my take. I'd recommend checking ebay though for a blue ray external drive, I bet you could find some nice deals.

I have two LG BE06 External BluRay Burners that I was given. I am selling one on Ebay right now. CLICK HERE. I use it to burn bluray movies from my HD camera and also to backup iTunes and important files to rw bluray disk. It works great and is very fast. I can also use bootcamp to rip any HD movie and then watch on my macbook pro so I do not have to rely on having my disk with me.

I am also hoping for bluray playback at somepoint but thats not the reason I got one in the first place.

 

[Lyra]

I want to show the amazing images we make in the resolution we shoot in. COME ON APPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hear ya!!!

It's quite ridicules that Apple doesn't grasp the concept of PROFESSIONALS wanting to use the full extend of the HD media that's available. We're pretty happy with Aperture for our RAW Camera shoots, but still... when it comes to HD cameras, we'd like to make HD quality discs to be PLAYED on Blu-Ray machines.

Aaarrghh...

Considering how cheaply you can get an HD video Camera these days, one can't help but wonder if pushing the time for a solid method of saving your HD content on a medium isn't going to make people confused. I mean people are completely lost when it comes to compression, codex and certain codings. So, why wait so long and let the 3rd party environment confuse people with alternatives cause Apple can't make Blu-Ray part of the core setup?

 

[Digital Skunk]

True professionals like the ones I work with, don't wait for the computer company to give the tools they need, they go and get them themselves and stop whining about it!

Seriously though, why all the fuss, it's not like we can use BR with the OLD DVD Studio Pro software that we have. We'd have to compress all the files ourselves and burn it in Toast. Just grab the drive yourselves and install it or sit it on top of your tower.

 

[Lyra]

Guys I need your help on this one.

I'm thinking about buying a Blu-Ray player but I don't have a Flat screen, so I'm thinking about buying AverMedia AverTV Box STB9 1080i External Hybrid TV Tuner with FREE VGA to DVI Adapter. See here :
http://www.mediaatlantic.com/product.php/45701/0/

This device can transform my Apple Screen into a TV.

Now, I've read something a bit confusing, the BR Player I've found has this sentence plastered on it : "RGB output ability ---YES--- RGB output ability for use with computer monitors"

This is the player :
http://www.sony.co.uk/support/ShowE...ternalLinkType=manual#pageType=TechnicalSpecs

What does that mean? Does it mean I can directly plug the screen into the player or vica versa? I mean would I just need a DVI to RGB plug? I'm confused on this part. And if it does, is it enough? Cause if it is then I'm doing this combo.

I don't want to buy a New TV and a Player. I'm trying to save money and space.

Any thoughts and ideas?

Thank you

 

[Lyra]

Seriously though, why all the fuss, it's not like we can use BR with the OLD DVD Studio Pro software that we have. We'd have to compress all the files ourselves and burn it in Toast. Just grab the drive yourselves and install it or sit it on top of your tower.

Hey Skunk?

Not all Pros work in the same workflow.

But thanks for the link, they've got a bunch of neat stuff.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Hey Skunk?

Not all Pros work in the same workflow.

But thanks for the link, they've got a bunch of neat stuff.

Yeah, personally, no one has asked me to distribute to BluRay yet, so I haven't had a need for one. The paper doesn't output to BR either just the web. If I had to grab one of these drives, I know that I couldn't shell out the cash right away.

 

[Lyra]

Yeah, personally, no one has asked me to distribute to BluRay yet, so I haven't had a need for one. The paper doesn't output to BR either just the web. If I had to grab one of these drives, I know that I couldn't shell out the cash right away.

Yeah it's not cheap, but I work for a private company doing what they call archiving events. So, our customers are high class and they want the best. Someone had to mention Blu-Ray and now everyone wants Blu-Ray. We work on Macs, but the rest of the process is taken care of in a different facility (like effects and voice overs).

Anyway, as for my poor solution, does anyone know if my combination would work?

The Sony Blu-Ray player and Apple Monitor? Or should I just buy the box?

 

[Muff Bandit]

sort of reminds me of nintendo not doing hd. its all about money. they want to see how much money they can make before introducing bluray, then when sales decline they will dish out blu ray like no bodies bussiness.

 

[HD Shooter]

Whos whining?

I love how people must insist that any bonafide complaints about their "precious" is whining

I am not whining nor is the OP. As a matter of fact I believe the OP has carefully crafted this argument very specifically to not incur the fanboy "whining" comment. but I digress

Why can Roxio give us Toast 9 for $99 and we have no apple solution. Yes yes the HDCP thing but that is for watching copy protected content.

I do have a different workflow than the pros you work with and I am sure a completely different bus model. Before I offer a service I must make sure it's rock solid. Just like MacDonalds. Reliable systems are key. THAT is why I am waiting for a MAC solution. Yes I am a rather hard core fanboy myself and that is why this is so aggravating.

I have Toast 9 and haven't even installed it. I am waiting for the next big event to hear weather we are going to be force fed more DL garbage as a delivery method.

I think Apple should be embarrassed at this point because they are so far behind on this. I know many pros in my business who feel the same way.

I bought one MacPro (2008) instead of 2 full systems because I am waiting for the BR OPTION for both hardware and software. No one does it like apple and thats the bottom line.

 

[gkarris]

The Sony Blu-Ray player and Apple Monitor? Or should I just buy the box?

Apple Monitors don't have DHCP so you can't play Blu-ray discs with it...

 

[foidulus]

I'm not sure if Apple will ever include it in OS X - their view is possibly that the iTunes store should be your content provider and adding a whole load of additional restrictions to the operating system for what may be a short lived format is a waste of resources.

Now if they could actually get some movies on iTunes, it would be great....

I REALLY want to stop buying DVDs, because all I do is rip them then put them in a box. I haven't even bought a single movie off of iTunes because they simply don't have anything I want. And charging the same as a DVD without the extras is a bit lame.

Plus, I would like the ability to hear them in their native language(mostly anime). Apple has added support for multiple languages into iTunes, but I don't think any of the titles on iTunes are available with both Japanese/English audio tracks......

 

[bolibic]

Yes Apple is some years late.

Why?
Let me know if I'm wrong.

• Apple was supposed to be the edge platform for image and audio editing. With this lack of support of new techonologies, It's clear to assume that's not true now.
• Getting more in the subject. The h264 decoding systems available for Mac are not as good as the one you can find in Windows. Wanna compare quicktime with cyberlink hardware accelerated decoder?
• Why the Apple TV uses hardware acceleration for h264 decoding and our macs don't?

And yes, this post smells a bit to rant

 

[AnalyzeThis]

Apple was a way ahead of the game with HD-DVD.

That's the thing that made me write this thread. I mean, Apple being so upfront at the beginning of the HD wars, saying they are firm supporters of Blu-Ray and yet, to this very day, they've not even hinted on any Blu-Ray compatible machines from Apple.
:/

Many folks quote Apple as a supporter of BD, but the facts actually suggest - they were great supporters of HD-DVD (they actually were a member of HD-DVD group as well). For Example, Apple introduced ages ago ability to encode with AVC (Compressor) and to make HD-DVD movies (DVD Studio) on HD-DVD or DVD media. Not to mention Apple DVD Player will play HD-DVD content from DVD media. This work was done before Apple entered movie business. We might not even have that at all, if Apple would know their movie plans in the future. There was absolutely nothing done for BD. (AVC was introduced in BD later on).

What is a real policy for BD at Apple? Who knows, but it looks more like a denial it is even exist. Also, it seems to be on collision course with Apple TV and iTunes.

About performance: my mac-mini plays my HD-DVD content (720P -> 1080P) better than my big Windows XP PC rig with 8800GT and PowerDVD. It even beats PowerDVD with regular DVDs, and equal with NVidia MPEG-2 decoder for WMP.

Will see, may be Mac OS X 10.6 if BD is still around...

 

[scottharwell]

Best Buy is selling a $280 LaCie Blu Ray drive online right now. Hook that up with one of your Mac Pro's SATA ports and you can be burning. Like everyone else has said before though, those $20 discs will burn you, especially if a few of them end up as coasters during a bad write.

 

[bolibic]

About performance: my mac-mini plays my HD-DVD content (720P -> 1080P) better than my big Windows XP PC rig with 8800GT and PowerDVD. It even beats PowerDVD with regular DVDs, and equal with NVidia MPEG-2 decoder for WMP.

Will see, may be Mac OS X 10.6 if BD is still around...

You have to tell us how you play 1080p content, because my macbook pro dies trying to play 1080p. 720 plays ok.

Also I tried in a crappy pc with one core on windows, and with software players the same result (even 720p some times was sluggish). But, you activate the hardware acceleration for the nvidia inside and... it flies. (Is still a bit a pain in the ... the amount of codecs and connections between codecs).