Ipad 2 and 1080p

[avon75]

I see the new iPad does 1080p output, why ?

• The screen is 768 pixels
• iTunes HD content is still 720p
• The video formats it can play back are still up to 720p

What's the point ? Is it for photos ????

I was really hoping the new version with a faster processor could handle 1080p content because the current iPad can't playback 720p HD files generated by get_iplayer / Get iplayer Automator (even though the ATV2 can).

 

[matrix07]

I would imagine 3rd party apps could play 1080p content (MKV?) seeing graphic will be 8X faster.

 

[ovrlrd]

The 1st gen iPad could play 1080p too, it's a software limitation, not a hardware one.

I think the only reason Apple limits support for 1080p playback using their own apps is the lack of 1080p iTunes content. If they had 1080p iTunes they would do a firmware update to add support. Also remember that the display is not 1080p resolution (not even close) so it's not like the hardware needs to be capable of full 1080p playback, but just be able to handle 1080p files and output them at the iPad's resolution. The lack of a 1080p display might also be why Apple doesn't support it.

Third party apps can still handle 1080p.

Example: http://blog.gsmarena.com/iphone-4-now-plays-1080p-videos-easily-does-some-xviddivx-magic-too/

 

[thedon1]

Yeah there's been talk of apps being able to output at 1080p.

There's videos on youtube of people running xbmc on jailbroken ipad 1's and playing large HD MKV files.

It may come down to what API's are availible to devs. If you can do 1080p out for video without it being in apples video player then there could be some great possibilities.

Imagine xbmc that can output full HD. Also, things like iplayer etc.

Mirror mode would cause black bars in the side so hopefully there is a solution to fill our tv screens!

 

[henrikrox]

Dunno what people are getting excited about.

It clearly says video will run in 720p. Which is more then fine anyways, a good bitrate 1080p takes to much space i think.

There is no point in having a 1080p file, when it gets scaled and run at 720p.

 

[henrikrox]

Yeah there's been talk of apps being able to output at 1080p.

There's videos on youtube of people running xbmc on jailbroken ipad 1's and playing large HD MKV files.

It may come down to what API's are availible to devs. If you can do 1080p out for video without it being in apples video player then there could be some great possibilities.

Imagine xbmc that can output full HD. Also, things like iplayer etc.

Mirror mode would cause black bars in the side so hopefully there is a solution to fill our tv screens!

Xbmc would look horrible with out some recoding.

Lets say one version of xbmc when you are running it on the ipad, to support the ipad display.

And one version when xbmc detects you have mirrored the ipad to the tv. And is now showing a 1080p/720p 16:9 menu interface on the TV screen.

Agree that would be slick, however 1080p videos on 64gb of space, you wont fit many videos. So ill be fine with 720p out.

Im pretty happy using mp4 tbh, i have pretty sick advanced coding tool, that let me do real nice encodes to about 2gb-2.5gb at 3500kbps-4000kbps at 720p. with two audio tracks. And thats more then enough for me, then i can put 20 movies on there, instead of 5

 

[ipodtoucher]

Definitely a good point. On their site they list the feature as VideoMirroring and with using the $39 add on you can mirror your screen on an HD TV but it shows that it's not full 1080p with the black bars on the screen. According to Engadget the HDMI output will be able to upscale the iPad mirroring to 1080p while you are limited to 720 for movies and such...

 

[thedon1]

Xbmc would look horrible with out some recoding.

Lets say one version of xbmc when you are running it on the ipad, to support the ipad display.

And one version when xbmc detects you have mirrored the ipad to the tv. And is now showing a 1080p/720p 16:9 menu interface on the TV screen.

Agree that would be slick, however 1080p videos on 64gb of space, you wont fit many videos. So ill be fine with 720p out.

Im pretty happy using mp4 tbh, i have pretty sick advanced coding tool, that let me do real nice encodes to about 2gb-2.5gb at 3500kbps-4000kbps at 720p. with two audio tracks. And thats more then enough for me, then i can put 20 movies on there, instead of 5

That sounds like a good idea on getting a 16:9 version of xbmc.

I agree that xbmc on ipad isn't the greatest looking but from the youtube videos i've seen, it seems very usable if not optimized. I think that if this HDMI out feature increases peoples demand for the app, there will be an ipad specific skin.

1080p files will be too huge for the on board storage but streaming from your computer would be the way to run them. I agree though, 720p should be more than enough for most.