[Heymbit]

I've been playing with different settings to encode files, and now I've got something set that I use to encode any file I have to paly on my iPod.
1500 Video Bitrate, MPEG-4 Video, 128 Audio Bitrate, 44.1 Sample Rate, AAC Audio.
Whenever I hook up my iPod to the TV to watch a movie like that, then insert the actual DVD (as I usually encode DVD rips), I can't tell the difference in quality. I even set it up so my friend would watch a sample from DVD and from iPod, he didn't know which was DVD or iPod, and he couldn't tell a difference in quality. I've seen other posts where people have similar settings but with 2200 Video Bitrate, saying it's lower than DVD Quality. So I'm curious, if I go out and get an apple tv, will I see less quality video then if I continue to hook up my iPod to the TV?

[krove]

Are you viewing this on a HDTV (720p or 1080i) or just a plain-old SDTV (480i)? HDTVs magnify artifacts very well unless the source video is of the same resolution or better. While the iTMS videos are pretty good, the artifacts stand out on Apple TV hooked up to a nice HDTV.

I hope the iTMS ups their default selling resolution or something. The problem is how do you sell videos that need to work on an iPod AND Apple TV without resorting to having multiple copies? Is this even possible without upgrading the iPod to support higher-res video? I don't think it is possible with current iPods.

[Heymbit]

HDTV, Samsung, 42"

[Cadaver]

For the heck of it, I bought Zoolander from the iTMS to watch on my AppleTV, which is connected to a Sony Wega 55" LCD RP HDTV @ 720p resolution via HDMI. Looked pretty good. Very close to a high-quality DVD via component interconnects.

[Heymbit]

Yup. I convert my vids to those standards. Who needs a DVD that can scratch when you have an mov file?

[opopopo]

New video iPod supports 640x480 resolution. Apple TV supports 1280x720 h.264 videos.
Apple tv features: Apple - Apple TV - Tech Specs