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mitchell_pgh · Oct 6, 2003, 10:30 AM

I haven't seen anything about it since Panther was showcased...

No numbers (other then 6GB down to 250MB), no samples... nothing...

I know it's not DivX for OS X, but I would love to be know more...

scottiB · Oct 6, 2003, 11:41 AM

The QuickTime State of the Union Address has a bit more info (scrub to the 55:00 mark or so--with Pixlet beginning around 1:00:00).

Half HD (roughly 940x520) will yield a thoughput about 3.5MB/sec (approx. DV throughput)--though the compression ratio wasn't mentioned (anywhere from 20-40:1 looks best, according to the QT dude).

Liquidity X · Oct 6, 2003, 11:50 AM

I think i read its 25:1 but will only be a decoder, not an encoder, so makes me thing a itunes style movie store is in the near future.

JLFanboy · Oct 6, 2003, 06:11 PM

How can it only be a decoder? How would anyone ever create content that could be decoded if it didn't encode as well?

mitchell_pgh · Oct 6, 2003, 06:31 PM

Originally posted by scottiB:
The QuickTime State of the Union Address has a bit more info (scrub to the 55:00 mark or so--with Pixlet beginning around 1:00:00).

Half HD (roughly 940x520) will yield a thoughput about 3.5MB/sec (approx. DV throughput)--though the compression ratio wasn't mentioned (anywhere from 20-40:1 looks best, according to the QT dude).

Interesting stuff... (side note: that presenter was horrible, knowledgeable, but horrible...)

I could see an iTunes Music Store like video download application, but it would take some work. Apple wouldn't make enough off of the movies to justify the large downloads... They make a dime or so per song download where they would only make a few dollars on a file 500X larger...

But money is money... and the format is proprietary...

I only wish that DivX could deliver higher quality. I can't stand downloading a show only to see total crap. I wonder what size the T3 file using pixlet was?

mitchell_pgh · Oct 6, 2003, 06:32 PM

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
How can it only be a decoder? How would anyone ever create content that could be decoded if it didn't encode as well?

I guess he is saying that Panther will only have the decoder and not the encoder...

The encoder will probably be a Final Cut Pro addon or something...

Xeo · Oct 6, 2003, 07:15 PM

Originally posted by Liquidity X:
I think i read its 25:1 but will only be a decoder, not an encoder, so makes me thing a itunes style movie store is in the near future.

It's my understanding that Pixlet is not a medium to transfer and store video in. It's a high quality format to use in cutting together video until you output it to some other format (MPEG-2 for DVDs, MP4 for internet, whatever). It's not used for storage or distribution any more than DV is.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

michaelb · Oct 6, 2003, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I only wish that DivX could deliver higher quality. I can't stand downloading a show only to see total crap.

Ah, yes, it always amuses me when an IT reporter talks about the near DVD quality of DivX. (The 80MB Enterprise downloads l do each Wednesday aren't DVD quality !)

But it's really the bit rate that determines quality. Apple's (Sorenson codec) hi-res movie trailers are often better than DVD quality, eg, the very high quality Matrix previews, but they are large downloads for the 2 minutes they last.

DivX is primarily (for now) used as a bootleg format so lower bit rates are used. Also the source (NTSC television) is hardly studio quality so it's hardly fair blaming the codec here.

michaelb · Oct 6, 2003, 11:05 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
It's my understanding that Pixlet is not a medium to transfer and store video in. It's a high quality format to use in cutting together video until you output it to some other format (MPEG-2 for DVDs, MP4 for internet, whatever). It's not used for storage or distribution any more than DV is.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

That's my understanding too.

Also, I don't really get why it is a selling point of Panther (the OS) as opposed to QuickTime / FCP?

Oh well, any excuse to trot out Finding Nemo on stage!

redJag · Oct 6, 2003, 11:35 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I only wish that DivX could deliver higher quality. I can't stand downloading a show only to see total crap. I wonder what size the T3 file using pixlet was?

DivX *can* deliver near DVD quality video, it's just that no one uses it for that. It excels at giving decent quality in a small file, and that's what P2P people want right now. Ever noticed people that use P2P have 96Kbps MP3s? Think they've ever heard of OGG or AAC? Heh But if you've ever encoded your own stuff with DivX, you know it definitely *can* deliver.

addiecool · Oct 7, 2003, 12:07 AM

i have tried working with pixlet. if you have quicktime pro then you can encode video in pixlet format. Panther has both an encoder and decoder built in.

The quality of the encoded video was almost at par with my DV video and looked great with a smaller file size

Truepop · Oct 8, 2003, 12:59 PM

Where is pixlet in 10.3 Retail? There is no mention of it in the new website.

addiecool · Oct 8, 2003, 01:21 PM

http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatu...essionals.html

see the quictime section

addiecool · Oct 8, 2003, 01:22 PM

Originally posted by addiecool:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatu...essionals.html

see the quicktime section

Truepop · Oct 8, 2003, 03:07 PM

Thanks

nickm · Oct 8, 2003, 04:52 PM

[quote] Also, I don't really get why it is a selling point of Panther (the OS) as opposed to QuickTime / FCP?[\quote]

Yeah, I don't get it either, but perhaps Pixlet requires panther somehow? In any case, they have to get the feature count up above $1/feature!

sanity assassin · Oct 8, 2003, 06:15 PM

Pixlet is a codec, so by its very name it will be able to compress, and decompress data streams. There's still quite a bit of mystery surrounding it, and only when I get my hands on it will I be able to see how it performs, but here's a few thoughts on the topic.

For me the term 'studio-grade', and 20-12:1 compressiom is just Apple marketing talk meaning that it's geared more for the professional, than consumer. one thing to note about it, is that it supports 48-but colour which in a production environment will let compositors, and editors to do good colour-correction work with it. Pixar wants it because of its scaleability, and support for 2K, it should also be good for HD work, and standard definition due to being scaleable, but we'll need to see how 3rd party video board manufacturers support it.

jfinete · Oct 8, 2003, 06:16 PM

My guess is that Pixlet requires QuickTime 6.4, which may only be available for Panther.

Apple has described Pixlet as a "production" codec for high definition video, similar to the DV codec for standard definition. Apple has given no suggestion that Pixlet is a suitable distribution codec.

If Apple does do a video iTMS (and that's a big if), it'll use MPEG4.

sanity assassin · Oct 8, 2003, 06:17 PM

Originally posted by jfinete:
My guess is that Pixlet requires QuickTime 6.4, which may only be available for Panther.

Apple has described Pixlet as a "production" codec for high definition video, similar to the DV codec for standard definition. Apple has given no suggestion that Pixlet is a suitable distribution codec.

If Apple does do a video iTMS (and that's a big if), it'll use MPEG4.

True, I doubt we'll be seeing pixlet encoded movies on Kazaa.