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dpicardi · Jan 24, 2007, 10:49 AM

Just curious if anyone has heard whether or not Apple will be upgrading their encoding of TV and Movie content to 720p once iTV is released?

Also will they allow people who have already downloaded content to "upgrade" their purchases to the newer format?

Thoughts? Rumors? Predictions?

CatOne · Jan 24, 2007, 10:55 AM

Dunno. I believe the iTV can upscale content tho'

TETENAL · Jan 24, 2007, 11:03 AM

No and no.

They won't upgrade their content since iPods are not capable to play higher resolution movies.

dpicardi · Jan 24, 2007, 11:43 AM

I appreciate the responses thus far. However, if they have no plans to update their content, why have iTV support 720p? it's not about just iPods anymore. iTV is a whole new marketplace - a potential Blue-ray/HD-DVD substitute perhaps?

Any more opinions?

cybergoober · Jan 24, 2007, 12:06 PM

They support 720p because because TV is strictly for HDTVs, and TV is most likely upscaling.

Are you suggesting Apple offer two versions of each video/movie on the iTunes Store? One for iPod/iPhone, and another for TV since the iPod/iPhone aren't capable of playing back 720p?

dpicardi · Jan 24, 2007, 12:40 PM

Ok, first off, how did you get that cool apple logo to appear in iTV

Originally Posted by cybergoober

They support 720p because because TV is strictly for HDTVs, and TV is most likely upscaling.

Are you suggesting Apple offer two versions of each video/movie on the iTunes Store? One for iPod/iPhone, and another for TV since the iPod/iPhone aren't capable of playing back 720p?

Second, i guess the jury is out. Until we see playback quality through iTV on our HD screen we won't know if the compression technology is too aggressive and needs to be updated. I'm just having a hard time believing that the same file which produces lovely images on my 3 inch ipod screen will be lovely on my 42 inch plasma.

Anyone running on their HDTV a movie downloaded from iTunes through their powerbook care to comment? Would this be an accurate/valid test?

cybergoober · Jan 24, 2007, 01:19 PM

Shift+Option+K = 

dpicardi · Jan 24, 2007, 01:22 PM

...sweet.

Art Vandelay · Jan 24, 2007, 01:39 PM

It's tv btw.

Also, when you aren't able to type out tv, the accepted alternative is Apple TV.

Source: apple.com

zerostar · Jan 24, 2007, 04:06 PM

Is there a free movies/video we can download to test this? I have a 46" 720p set and can dump the video to my TiVo and see how it looks, I am sure "like crap" will be the answer though.

Originally Posted by dpicardi

Ok, first off, how did you get that cool apple logo to appear in iTV

Second, i guess the jury is out. Until we see playback quality through iTV on our HD screen we won't know if the compression technology is too aggressive and needs to be updated. I'm just having a hard time believing that the same file which produces lovely images on my 3 inch ipod screen will be lovely on my 42 inch plasma.

Anyone running on their HDTV a movie downloaded from iTunes through their powerbook care to comment? Would this be an accurate/valid test?

JKT · Jan 24, 2007, 04:32 PM

One thing to realise is that there is more than just the iTS as a means of getting video content onto your Mac for playback through Apple TV (and outside the US, the iTS doesn't have ANY video content, a few Pixar cartoons notwithstanding). I'm fairly certain that EyeTV will eventually offer an 720p export option as a "click this button" feature (just as they have a button for the iPod).

Will Apple upgrade the content on the iTS? Perhaps, but I suspect that they'll wait until broadband is a) fast enough and b) widespread enough for the majority of users and c) cheap enough for Apple to be able to transfer a few GB+ of content in just a few minutes first. This is likely the real hold up for iTS at present, IMO. Many (most?) people simply aren't or won't be willing to wait all night and half a day to download a film just to get it at a higher resolution.

dpicardi · Jan 24, 2007, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

It's tv btw.

Also, when you aren't able to type out tv, the accepted alternative is Apple TV.

Source: apple.com

Ah...Steve Jobs called it iTV not once but twice during his keynote the other week. If it's good enough for Steve it's good enough for me.

now that I know how to make the apple sign however, I might just call it by new and improved name.

mduell · Jan 24, 2007, 05:40 PM

They're still pushing 128kbps AAC for music and you think they're going to go from SD to HD for movies? No way.

Art Vandelay · Jan 24, 2007, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by dpicardi

Ah...Steve Jobs called it iTV not once but twice during his keynote the other week. If it's good enough for Steve it's good enough for me.

now that I know how to make the apple sign however, I might just call it by new and improved name.

Actually, I was correcting the previous post that had TV instead of the correct tv.

The thing is that it's not good enough for Steve to call it iTV. Those were mistakes by Steve when he called it iTV. Steve acknowledged that he was likely to make the mistake of calling it iTV since that was its codename and Apple chose a production name very similar to the codename.

mitchell_pgh · Jan 26, 2007, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by dpicardi

I appreciate the responses thus far. However, if they have no plans to update their content, why have iTV support 720p? it's not about just iPods anymore. iTV is a whole new marketplace - a potential Blue-ray/HD-DVD substitute perhaps?

Any more opinions?

The iPod can play lossless audio, but Apple does not sell lossless audio. I don't think they are going to offer 720p movies for a while.

The tv isn't trying to be a Blu-ray/HD DVD substitute as it doesn't do 1080p (or many other things). It's a stop gap for all the other media boxes that you can buy for the living room... granted, rather cool at that.