Youtube apps- iPad 2 vs Xoom- what's up here?

[manman]

So I know that a xoom forum is probably the place to ask this if I want anyone to stick up for the xoom here, but I'm wondering if this has something to do with apples implementation of it's youtube app or something.... Anyone who has both a xoom and iPad 2, I'd like to hear what their experience is too.

I just picked up the wifi xoom today to do a comparison and see if it could top my iPad 2. I know the strengths and weaknesses of both on paper, but the xoom's one 'strength' I was really hoping to come through was it's higher rez display. So far I've been let down... That's been the case in a few areas, but the one thing I wanted to ask about was youtube.

I was watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1IpPpB3iWI to see what some higher quality youtube videos looked like. On the iPad it's crystal clear, very nice at full screen. On the xoom... it's a blurry pixelated mess... it looks terrible! And the 'HQ' toggle is turned on. if I turn it off it gets even worse. I can't imagine this is just the slightly higher resolution of the xoom screen, it wouldnt' make THAT much of a difference... is there some way to change the resolution on the xoom and it just comes set low out of the box or something?? Otherwise I just don't get it.

I've looked at several videos, websites etc on this thing, and the iPad's display is just looking much better to me. Really not what I expected.

 

[Durious]

Zoom has higher resolution but they use a less advanced screen with a duller image... iPad ips panel ftw!

Although I wouldn't think it'd be blurry just less vibrant maybe a wireless issue!

 

[slopokdave]

Your eyes are not deceiving you. My xoom's video quality was not up to par either.

I did prefer it's YouTube app layout and navigation better, though.

 

[MasonH]

So you went out and bought one just to compare with your iPad...? Good for you. I guess that's the way to do it.

Sounds like you have something messed up however as I have not noticed much difference watching videos with either one... especially on YouTube (even the "HD" versions).

I would expect Apple to have the marginally better screen but the edge bleeding issue sort of negates it at the moment

If you did go out and buy one... how's the edge bleed? Similar?

 

[manman]

you know, now that I think about it, it's possible that it could be a wireless issue...because another thing that disappointed me about the xoom is that it kept dropping my wireless! It also doesn't find my hotspot through mywi at all (yes, I know some people are ethically against using it- i'm not trying to get into that argument here).

I don't know though, because that hexagon animation that shows when the xoom starts up also looks really blurry and poor quality, and that's local media... It looked really nice in the videos I saw- I was totally surprised when I saw it in person. Maybe I just got a deffective xoom that accidentally got made with a 640x480 display

So you went out and bought one just to compare with your iPad...? Good for you. I guess that's the way to do it.

Sounds like you have something messed up however as I have not noticed much difference watching videos with either one... especially on YouTube (even the "HD" versions).

I would expect Apple to have the marginally better screen but the edge bleeding issue sort of negates it at the moment

If you did go out and buy one... how's the edge bleed? Similar?

Yeah- I did. I knew I could sell (or return in the case of xoom) the one I didn't end up going with without too much skin off my nose so I think it's worth it to go for a comparison of how each device really fits my everyday needs rather than just going based of reviews or people arguing with eachother trying to back up the device /they/ chose, haha.

Interesting thing I just noticed- if I go via the actual link I posted, I get the high quality video on the xoom as well. But if I try to view that video from within the youtube APP, I get a low quality version (HQ on), or an even lower quality crappy version (HQ off)...

As far as edge bleeding, I guess i'm lucky, my iPad doesn't suffer from it too much. I don't really notice it. Same with the xoom. I feel like I get deeper black's on the iPad, but that might be a trick on my eyes due to the overall more 'vivid' look of the iPad, not sure.

 

[synagence]

Are you testing both apps using the same data connections?

I personally now use m.youtube.com on iOS devices due to better video quality ... the YouTube app is much more agressive at giving a lower bitrate stream than the site.

Try the test again on the site for both devices and you might see a closer comparison ... if its still poor on the Xoom then its just their implementation (it might be using flash on xoom?) whereas iOS uses the h.264 stream.

 

[Fliesen]

Are you testing both apps using the same data connections?

I personally now use m.youtube.com on iOS devices due to better video quality ... the YouTube app is much more agressive at giving a lower bitrate stream than the site..

however, m.youtube.com will give you a worse picutre than the native app when on a WiFi network.

 

[Blakjack]

however, m.youtube.com will give you a worse picutre than the native app when on a WiFi network.

yea my Youtube app quality at home makes it the best choice to watch youtube videos at the house or pretty much on any wifi network.

 

[Deliverator007]

The other thing that you might try with the Xoom is to use the full desktop web site, if you have installed the mobile Flash app. I don't know if the image quality will be any better.

 

[OSMac]

Flash vs html5 mp4 ?

 

[barkomatic]

I've read on a Xoom forum that somehow a few people accidentally got the phone version of youtube installed on their Xoom--which displayed video at a lower resolution.

I think they performed a factory reset and that fixed it. Not sure if this is your issue or not though.

When I tested the Xoom the youtube app seemed to play full HD quality youtube videos. That was over wifi.

 

[chris975d]

you know, now that I think about it, it's possible that it could be a wireless issue...because another thing that disappointed me about the xoom is that it kept dropping my wireless! It also doesn't find my hotspot through mywi at all (yes, I know some people are ethically against using it- i'm not trying to get into that argument here).

I'm not sure how the Xoom (specifically) works, but I do know that by default, most (if not all) Android phones won't/can't tether through a wifi adhoc connection, which I believe is what mywi uses on the iPhone. I have several Android handsets (along with also owning a Nook Color tablet for a brief period...it runs Android OS), and none of them could connect to my iPhone through mywi without installing a hack to make them work. This is on various handsets running Eclair, Froyo, and Gingerbread variants of Android OS.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I've read on a Xoom forum that somehow a few people accidentally got the phone version of youtube installed on their Xoom--which displayed video at a lower resolution.

I think they performed a factory reset and that fixed it. Not sure if this is your issue or not though.

When I tested the Xoom the youtube app seemed to play full HD quality youtube videos. That was over wifi.

What you mention above describes very close what the OP is noticing on his Xoom. What he describes is similar to zooming a low res video.


For peace of mind, just try downloading and playing a regular video on both devices to compare quality. I wouldn't consider comparing YouTube videos an accurate way to test for hardware quality in this case. The problem you are experimenting sound more like a software problem, unless the hardware implemented is absolutely terrible. I don't believe this is the case with the Xoom; it's supposed to be at par with the iPad.

 

[manman]

Yeah, you guys were right. I found out through more poking around that the marketplace YouTube app is meant for phones, so that's why the quality difference. I DID notice however that when playing high quality videos directly from the YouTube site that while quality was now similar (a little clearer on iPad maybe because of xoom's higher res?) the xoom's playback would frequently freeze and skip forward. it would happen fairly quickly- didn't make video unwatchable, but still not a great experience. I don't know if that's hardware or not, but for the practical every day uses I want a tablet for, xoom is not holding it's own as well as I had expected it would. Maybe down the line when they get more apps and software updates.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Yeah, you guys were right. I found out through more poking around that the marketplace YouTube app is meant for phones, so that's why the quality difference. I DID notice however that when playing high quality videos directly from the YouTube site that while quality was now similar (a little clearer on iPad maybe because of xoom's higher res?) the xoom's playback would frequently freeze and skip forward. it would happen fairly quickly- didn't make video unwatchable, but still not a great experience. I don't know if that's hardware or not, but for the practical every day uses I want a tablet for, xoom is not holding it's own as well as I had expected it would. Maybe down the line when they get more apps and software updates.

Who knows... maybe a few firmwares later it will be perfect. The problem is that all these vendors have a terrible history of supporting their devices, which means proactively release firmware updates, O.S. Updates, etc. They usually sell-and-forget.

I had 4 pocket PCs in a 4-year period, and only once, an update was released.
My HTC phone in almost two years has only got one update, and not even to the latest version. is far behind, and I can forget about expecting any updates ever again.

 

[rz22g]

Xoom HD not up to par

Its been my experience so far that the Xoom is just not up to par in the HD video category. I do not have an iPad 2 but had my friend watch the same video from Youtube and it was crisp, clear and smooth. On the Xoom using full site view the video quality looked good but playback was not smooth at all. I also loaded it on the YouTube App and again quality was good but playback was bad. To be fair I downloaded the video and placed it directly on the Xoom. Better playback performance but still paused and had less than smooth playback.

For $600 I cannot see waiting around to see if something like this is improved with firmware or OS updates. Luckily Amazon has is very good with returns.

 

[bossxii]

Yeah, you guys were right. I found out through more poking around that the marketplace YouTube app is meant for phones, so that's why the quality difference. I DID notice however that when playing high quality videos directly from the YouTube site that while quality was now similar (a little clearer on iPad maybe because of xoom's higher res?) the xoom's playback would frequently freeze and skip forward. it would happen fairly quickly- didn't make video unwatchable, but still not a great experience. I don't know if that's hardware or not, but for the practical every day uses I want a tablet for, xoom is not holding it's own as well as I had expected it would. Maybe down the line when they get more apps and software updates.

It really comes down to the iPads IPS display for me. I actually love some of the Honeycomb features but a tablet is all about the screen. That's what your looking at and dealing with so it should not be a WXGA LCD screen as Moto chose on the Xoom. I've had both the iPad 2 and the Xoom now for 3 weeks, the Xoom unfortunately will not be a keeper due to the poor quality screen. I am probably just spoiled by IPS screens but it just looked way to dull and muted to keep it. There will be a flood of Honeycomb tablets and with better screens. It's a great start, but lots of work to do.