iPod Movie Rentals and iPods

[ftaok]

OK, after reading through Apple's webpages and tech specs, it looks like the SD Movie rentals are 720x480 anamorphic. Full DVD quality, which is a good thing.

Here's my question. The tech specs for iPods have a limit for the video resolution of 640x480.

What gives?

Also, there is a specific page on Apple that says that Movie rentals will be 640x480.

Now, is this a case where they had to rush to update the website and have some inconsistencies, or will iTunes re-encode the videos to work with the iPods?

Anyone rent an SD movie yet and try to get it onto an iPod?

ft


EDIT - I found the answer on another forum. aTV rentals will be 720p or SD-anamorphic. iTunes rental will be 640x480 (or less).

 

[RRutter]

OK, after reading through Apple's webpages and tech specs, it looks like the SD Movie rentals are 720x480 anamorphic. Full DVD quality, which is a good thing.

Here's my question. The tech specs for iPods have a limit for the video resolution of 640x480.

What gives?

Also, there is a specific page on Apple that says that Movie rentals will be 640x480.

Now, is this a case where they had to rush to update the website and have some inconsistencies, or will iTunes re-encode the videos to work with the iPods?

Anyone rent an SD movie yet and try to get it onto an iPod?

ft


EDIT - I found the answer on another forum. aTV rentals will be 720p or SD-anamorphic. iTunes rental will be 640x480 (or less).

I don't understand what you're saying...
Are you saying the Apple iTunes rentals DON'T work on your iPod?
Because they do.

 

[chillywilly]

After watching the keynote yesterday, I am under the impression that only the latest iPod models (classic, nano 3G and touch) support iTunes movie rental.

If I am correct in this, it seems pretty short sighted that they would exclude all iPod video 5G and 5.5G models from this feature.

Anyone try renting a movie on any of the 5G iPod models?

 

[Stampyhead]

After watching the keynote yesterday, I am under the impression that only the latest iPod models (classic, nano 3G and touch) support iTunes movie rental.

If I am correct in this, it seems pretty short sighted that they would exclude all iPod video 5G and 5.5G models from this feature.

Anyone try renting a movie on any of the 5G iPod models?

I just rented one today to put on my iPhone, but I'll try it on my 5.5 iPod as well later when I get home and see if it works.

 

[designboy]

I have tried it.

After watching the keynote yesterday, I am under the impression that only the latest iPod models (classic, nano 3G and touch) support iTunes movie rental.

If I am correct in this, it seems pretty short sighted that they would exclude all iPod video 5G and 5.5G models from this feature.

Anyone try renting a movie on any of the 5G iPod models?

When I try to copy the movie file to my black 5g iPod it does nothing. I get the green icon but it won't copy over.

 

[chillywilly]

Wow. Looks like it really does not work.

Did iTunes 7.6 update your iPod 5g with new firmware?

 

[ftaok]

I don't understand what you're saying...
Are you saying the Apple iTunes rentals DON'T work on your iPod?
Because they do.

No, my point was to try and figure out what the movie resolutions were. This is because of some confusing stuff that I was seeing on the website. Here's a summary.

HD Rentals are 1280x720p and are only available on the AppleTV

There are two different versions of the SD Rentals. SD rentals for the AppleTV are encoded at 720x480 anamorphic, just like most DVDs. I'll call these SD-high.

SD rentals for iTunes, and by extension, iPods, are encoded at 640x480 (or less for widescreen movies). These videos are lower quality than DVDs. I'll call these SD-low.

I had first posted the question because I did not realize that there were two different versions of the SD rentals. Therefore, I was wondering if they had updated the iPods to be able to watch 720x480 anamorphic files. If they did, it would allow someone to rip DVDs in full quality, rather than 640x360.

Alas, that is not the case, which is why I added the extra statement in my EDIT.

ft

 

[chillywilly]

ft, I hope I didn't hijack your thread with my issue of rentals and previous model iPods.

To add to what you are saying, it's one of those things that I've always wondered if there was one version of a movie that got played on iPods, Apple TV and iTunes. But from what you are saying, that is not the case.

Having multiple versions that support multiple resolutions on multiple devices can be confusing, even to the technically-minded user.

 

[chillywilly]

Found this table of details over on Engadget

iTunes rentals What works, What doesn't

They confirm that previous model iPods can't rent, but can still buy, movies.

 

[Stuipdboy1000]

Found this table of details over on Engadget

iTunes rentals What works, What doesn't

They confirm that previous model iPods can't rent, but can still buy, movies.

That kinda sucks. I wonder why?

 

[slimpaul]

That kinda sucks. I wonder why?

Because the previous gen iPods are not able to delete the file after 24h. I guessed that one

 

[chillywilly]

Because the previous gen iPods are not able to delete the file after 24h. I guessed that one

Really? The firmware on the previous gen models can't have a update to correct this? That seems really odd. Unless the new classic and nano models are running an OS that's so much different from the 5G models.

 

[peeaanuut]

I will have to watch the keynote again, but I thought I heard Steve say something quick about the iPods getting a firmware upgrade to handle rentals.

 

[esouthern]

Firmware Update is Needed and Appropriate

There is an online petition circulating to ask Apple to rectify this 5g incompatibility issue with a firmware update for older models at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ipodrent/petition.html.

If technological barriers and (speculative) DRM issues are truly not impediments to older video iPods utilizing the iTunes movie rental service - and, indeed, inspection of the purchased and rental videos show that files & codecs are exactly the same—then Apple has no reason to exclude their many current customers for using the service as it was intended.

 

[chillywilly]

I signed the petition on this one. Hopefully, they will at least consider it... unless it truly is a software/firmware limitation on the older iPods. If that's the case, that would be a loss to the millions of owners that have the iPod video 5G or 5.5G models.