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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > Has the tv's hardware changed?

Has the tv's hardware changed?
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slugslugslug
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Jan 15, 2008, 03:25 PM
 
The new software features and price drop are pretty awesome, but are there any differences between the hardware Steve demo'd at Macworld and the models on the shelf now? Is the Dolby 5.1 support a software update?

He didn't seem to say anything about new hardware features, and the max output res is still 720p. But I thought Steve said something about new models shipping out soon...
     
mdc
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Jan 15, 2008, 03:31 PM
 
I don't think it is a new hardware change since the current one can do 5.1.
I have Perian installed on my AppleTV and I have a movie which I used to test my 5.1 speakers. 5.1 works on current hardware.

This is on the Apple Store page:
Apple will soon release a free software upgrade for all Apple TV owners that will deliver a new user interface and enable a variety of new features:

Movie rentals, both HD- and DVD-quality
TV show, music, and music video purchases
Photos from Flickr and .Mac web galleries
Direct access to over 125,000 podcasts
How to get the software upgrade

Your Apple TV will periodically check and automatically download the software upgrade and prompt you to install it. You can also check for a software upgrade by going into the Settings menu.
( Last edited by mdc; Jan 15, 2008 at 04:32 PM. )
     
ph0ust
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Jan 15, 2008, 04:54 PM
 
tuaw is saying that both the video and audio upgrades are coming via software update so that v1 owners get them. so i guess that means our v1 apple tvs are good to go?????

this is actually the best news (for me) coming out of the keynote. my apple tv is finally what i wanted it to be.

now we just need some software that lets us take our dvds and create a ripped version for our computers that maintains 100% of the audio/video quality. to my knowledge, there isn't any software that does this, is there? i don't want to lose any audio or video quality, i want a full duplicate for my computer to stream to my apple tv. anyone know of software that does this?
     
zerostar
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Jan 15, 2008, 05:03 PM
 
You HAVE to convert the DVD to MPEG4.... so there will be loss, but it should not be very significant really, have you tried visualhub on the go nuts setting? I use that and hardly ever see a problem.

The main problem with what you want is you would have to circumvent the DRM and that ain't legal here, so the fox way (putting a mp4 on the dvd) seems a good medium and would be awesome if it was 720P to boot!
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Jan 15, 2008, 05:25 PM
 
There is a note on the Apple site that says some HD movie rentals don't have 5.1 audio.

What crap.
     
jokell82
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Jan 15, 2008, 05:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
There is a note on the Apple site that says some HD movie rentals don't have 5.1 audio.

What crap.
Well if older movies that were filmed before the 5.1 standard are put up for download I wouldn't expect them to have 5.1.

Casablanca in HD has a Dolby Digital Plus 1.0 (mono) audio track.

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analogue SPRINKLES
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Jan 15, 2008, 06:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
Well if older movies that were filmed before the 5.1 standard are put up for download I wouldn't expect them to have 5.1.

Casablanca in HD has a Dolby Digital Plus 1.0 (mono) audio track.
Hopefully that is all it means but even old movie are upgraded to 5.1 for years.
     
ph0ust
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Jan 15, 2008, 07:04 PM
 
[rant] yea, this is what pisses me off though. why the hell can't i put all my movies on my computer with native quality! i can do it with my music. i don't care if i am even forced to drm it, i just want my movies, in all their natural dvd glory to get on my computer so i can have them all catalogued and streamed through my house via apple tv. what the hell! are we ever going to be able to do that?!?! [/rant]
     
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Jan 15, 2008, 07:09 PM
 
You can get what you want done with VERY minimal quality loss, unless you're talking about HDDVDs or BrDVDs. Its all about how much HDD space you have to throw at storing all these movie files. With Handbrake you can set quality levels to make it so that only videophiles can tell the difference. At least that's what I've seen with my untrained eyes. If you don't mind having 4GB+ movies, then you should be able to rip your stuff at very near DVD quality.

But I guess its all about exactly how much you can discern from the picture. Some people can see things I can't, thats for sure.
     
goMac
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Jan 15, 2008, 07:46 PM
 
There is a new AppleTV box being shown on the AppleTV page, not being shown in the store yet.
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jokell82
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Jan 15, 2008, 07:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by goMac View Post
There is a new AppleTV box being shown on the AppleTV page, not being shown in the store yet.
Where exactly? Because I'll cancel my order right now if they have some new hardware coming.

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Jan 15, 2008, 07:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by goMac View Post
There is a new AppleTV box being shown on the AppleTV page, not being shown in the store yet.
As far as I can tell, the specs are the same as the "old" version, so I don't think the hardware has changed.
     
goMac
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Jan 16, 2008, 12:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
Where exactly? Because I'll cancel my order right now if they have some new hardware coming.
The AppleTV site:


The Apple Store:
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selowitch
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Jan 16, 2008, 12:44 AM
 
I won't buy AppleTV until it has gigabit Ethernet.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Jan 16, 2008, 02:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by selowitch View Post
I won't buy AppleTV until it has gigabit Ethernet.
Why?
     
selowitch
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Jan 16, 2008, 05:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
Why?
File transfers and streaming over my home LAN will be much faster using a gigabit router and gigabit-enabled computers, which is significant because of the large size of video files.
     
jokell82
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Jan 16, 2008, 07:35 AM
 
Originally Posted by goMac View Post
The AppleTV site:


The Apple Store:
I can live without a new box.

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smitty825
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Jan 16, 2008, 09:38 AM
 
Originally Posted by selowitch View Post
I won't buy AppleTV until it has gigabit Ethernet.
Gigabit ethernet would be nice, too.

I'd prefer:
1) A faster processor so it can display 1080p content at 60 frames per second
2) A built-in DVD player, so I don't have need another DVD player sitting by my TV
3) A more open syncing protocol, so that non-iTunes programs can sync to it.
     
ph0ust
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Jan 16, 2008, 12:30 PM
 
it would be nice if apple would take some queues from others and open up the box a bit.... the apple tv could really be a lot more powerful if it wasn't such a closed system.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Jan 16, 2008, 12:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by selowitch View Post
File transfers and streaming over my home LAN will be much faster using a gigabit router and gigabit-enabled computers, which is significant because of the large size of video files.
How big you expecing these files to be? These movies will only take a very short while to transfer either way and you can watch them as they stream anyway.
     
imitchellg5
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Jan 16, 2008, 12:46 PM
 
Gigabit ethernet might save two seconds while transfering a movie.
     
goMac
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Jan 16, 2008, 12:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
I can live without a new box.
Well, my question is if the new box is paired with new hardware. Apple does a lot of silent revisions to fix issues with hardware. An Apple TV that runs cooler would be a welcome development.
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jokell82
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Jan 16, 2008, 01:35 PM
 
Originally Posted by goMac View Post
Well, my question is if the new box is paired with new hardware. Apple does a lot of silent revisions to fix issues with hardware. An Apple TV that runs cooler would be a welcome development.
Well if they did I'm probably getting the new Rev - it's shipping straight from China. I doubt they did change it, though.

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Jan 16, 2008, 01:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by ph0ust View Post
it would be nice if apple would take some queues from others and open up the box a bit.... the apple tv could really be a lot more powerful if it wasn't such a closed system.
You realize this is Apple, right?

And I looked at the Tech Specs, etc on the Apple site, and didn't see anything new. The fact that they are letting current AppleTV owners download a update to bring the functions to the older boxes seems to me to imply they haven't made any significant changes. If they had, they'd really want to push the new boxes, and the small number of current owners would be pushed to upgrade.

Just a thought.
     
jokell82
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Jan 16, 2008, 02:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by ph0ust View Post
it would be nice if apple would take some queues from others and open up the box a bit.... the apple tv could really be a lot more powerful if it wasn't such a closed system.
Awkward TV will open that box right up for you. First thing I plan to do when I get it.

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mdc
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Jan 16, 2008, 04:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by smitty825 View Post
Gigabit ethernet would be nice, too.

I'd prefer:
1) A faster processor so it can display 1080p content at 60 frames per second
2) A built-in DVD player, so I don't have need another DVD player sitting by my TV
3) A more open syncing protocol, so that non-iTunes programs can sync to it.
Something tells me that you're never getting an AppleTV.

@jokell82,
I was thinking about Awkward TV last night when I was watching the keynote. Something tells me that the new version of AppleTV's software will be locked down a lot more than it currently is.


The menu on the left seems to be the main menu for the AppleTV. From Steve's demos last night it doesn't seem to look like 10.5 Frontrow anymore; which makes me wonder if it has been rewritten from scratch, or if they have a new "theme" on it.
If it's a new theme then hopefully it's not secure like the previous software version.
If it's a whole new version of the software, I have a bad feeling it'll be locked down. I really hope it isn't because Perian and the plugin to view network shares are used 90% of the time on my AppleTV.
( Last edited by mdc; Jan 16, 2008 at 04:37 PM. )
     
jokell82
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Jan 16, 2008, 05:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by mdc View Post
Something tells me that you're never getting an AppleTV.

@jokell82,
I was thinking about Awkward TV last night when I was watching the keynote. Something tells me that the new version of AppleTV's software will be locked down a lot more than it currently is.


The menu on the left seems to be the main menu for the AppleTV. From Steve's demos last night it doesn't seem to look like 10.5 Frontrow anymore; which makes me wonder if it has been rewritten from scratch, or if they have a new "theme" on it.
If it's a new theme then hopefully it's not secure like the previous software version.
If it's a whole new version of the software, I have a bad feeling it'll be locked down. I really hope it isn't because Perian and the plugin to view network shares are used 90% of the time on my AppleTV.
If they do lock it down completely I'll be returning it. I've got quite a large catalog of TV shows in xvid format that I will be wanting to watch on the aTV.

I really hope it's just a new theme.

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goMac
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Jan 16, 2008, 06:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by AC Rempt View Post
You realize this is Apple, right?
Actually, evidence points to Apple potentially opening up Front Row. On the AppleTV they include all the files necessary to write plug ins for the AppleTV. That's a rarity for Apple. Even on more closed devices like the iPhone Apple strips out files that developers could use to write software.
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ph0ust
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Jan 16, 2008, 08:25 PM
 
what evidence are you referring to? don't get me wrong, if they do that it would be fabulous!
     
goMac
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Jan 16, 2008, 09:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by ph0ust View Post
what evidence are you referring to? don't get me wrong, if they do that it would be fabulous!
Just like I said, on the pre-MWSF AppleTV software there are developer files for developers to write AppleTV plugins. I don't know about the new software yet.
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jokell82
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Jan 17, 2008, 11:05 AM
 
Just got the AppleTV in (a day early) and it has the box shown in the store, not the one shown on the aTV page. I'll be bringing it home tonight and hacking the hell out of it.

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analogue SPRINKLES
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Jan 17, 2008, 12:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by smitty825 View Post
Gigabit ethernet would be nice, too.

I'd prefer:
1) A faster processor so it can display 1080p content at 60 frames per second
2) A built-in DVD player, so I don't have need another DVD player sitting by my TV
3) A more open syncing protocol, so that non-iTunes programs can sync to it.
Well I can promise you that you will never have one then. Apple isn't coming out with iTunes movie rentals only later to offer people a DVD player in the AppleTV.

As for 1080p at 60 frames, keep dreaming.
     
slugslugslug  (op)
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Jan 18, 2008, 12:34 AM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
As for 1080p at 60 frames, keep dreaming.
60 fps doesn't seem important, but I was kinda hoping they'd put some kind of 1080p-capable silicon in there this time around. Now I doubt there'll be any hardware revs to the thing for at least another six mos.

(I agree that they'll probably never put an optical drive in the tv.)
     
macmad
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Jan 18, 2008, 10:03 AM
 
How about 1080p at 24fps, surely the processor could handle that?
     
   
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