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anyone here who's complaining about the download times and such actually done an HD rental via AppleTV? just curious.

Last edited by LukeLucas (2008-02-23 6:33 am)

Go look for yourself, they have the file sizes listed on the preview page.
A few I looked at ranged from 1.07 to 2 gigs.

Well considering a 30 min ED DivX can be decent at 200-300 MB...

Mr. T wrote:

I hope that's for SD.

Keep in mind that H.264 can get the same fidelity as MPEG-4 at much much lower data rates.

Still 1-2 GB is pretty small for a HD movie.

-mark

UHD doesn't broadcast in 1080p  

6GB would be okay for 720p in h.264, I think.

Last edited by Mr. T (2008-02-24 1:12 am)

Well, the video files I exported are definitely 1080p. 29.97 FPS. And damn good looking. Too bad none of my displays or TV's is 1080. Though my 20" ACD is close enough. My computer is just a bit too slow to play it full speed while allowing other things to run.

so what exactly is the future of digital movie viewing? is it not in rentals? is it more in user-added/created files from film release DVDs, much like with Family Guy's Star Wars DVD?

i was REALLY disappointed when i was at Target the other day. i almost picked up a copy of American Gangster based sheerly on two reasons: i really want to see it, and the front label screamed about an included digital copy. the caveat? the copy, protected by M$'s lousy DRM, would not play on digital devices, including iPods, PSPs, and (get this) Zunes. i'll probably just end up renting it in HD (when available) instead of ponying up the cash for a full fledged DVD version.

i've spent a load of time this past weekend mucking about with the latest release of Handbrake (0.92) and it is brilliant. there's support now for full 5.1 surround, and chapter support since 0.91. here are the movies i ripped/encoded...

1) Moulin Rouge- i love this film no matter what anyone says. i thought it would be a good test of Handbrake/AppleTV given the very vibrant colors and loads of movement. thus far, the encode looks brilliant, near DVD quality and the sound is impeccable, full 5.1. final size: 2.78GB

2) Reign Over Me- there's not much in the way of "testing" per se as its a slower paced film, not very action filled, if i'm going to include big ballsy movies, i might as well try out something a bit more subdued. still looks and sounds great. final size: 2.66 GB

3) Return of the King- this was my big test. the DVD allows for use of a discreet "sixth" channel (i have no idea what exactly the correct name is, but a different light comes on my AV receiver when that sound option is turned on). there's tons of big, BIG fast action, quiet moments, lots of blacks and grays and such. i'm sounding like a broken record, but this, my big unscientific test (as i'm no expert, but know my way around) was the one i thought might let me down. cue broken record, it didn't. the transfer was magnificent, loud, and gorgeous, and even took into account that extra discreet 'sixth" channel (its like a magic bridge between the two rear speakers). final size: disc 1, 2.78 GB; disc 2, 2.95 GB.

here's the problem: HandBrake, for the uninitiated, can be QUITE overwhelming. even with the presets (including ones for AppleTV, iPod, iPhone), the sheer number of buttons and options can be enough to scare people away. there was a version called HandBrake Lite hanging around, but i'm not sure when it was last updated. HB is something i'm quite comfortable with on a limited scale, but i couldn't see someone like my parents or even many of my friends using.

on the other hand, El Gato's really cool toy, the Turbo.264, is potentially a perfect answer. i've used this in testing as well. its much easier than HandBrake with less options and bells and whistles, and much faster. the quality's not nearly as good, and the best sound you can hope for is stereo. but the simplicity is something i could see my parents and friends appreciating and getting the hang of. i still use mine, mainly for TV show encoding that i want quick (Torchwood!), but for feature films and TV on DVD, i'll blunder along with HandBrake for the best possible quality.

anywho. i suppose my final word, for now, and for what its worth, is that i'll continue purchasing rentals every now and then for the sheer immediacy factor (we really want to watch Michael Clayton, but don't want to buy the DVD nor do we want to wait on Netflix). for most everything else, i'll probably Netflix and rip/encode for AppleTV. we don't buy many DVDs as it is, and the ones we do purchase are usually only the ones that come with lots of added features (think LOTR and Harry Potter).

my (potentially final) $0.02.

Last edited by LukeLucas (2008-02-25 10:12 am)

Of particular interest (linked in article) is this -

http://tinyurl.com/3e488m

Apple TV HD rental is lower picture quality than STANDARD dvd.

resedit wrote:

Of particular interest (linked in article) is this -

http://tinyurl.com/3e488m

Apple TV HD rental is lower picture quality than STANDARD dvd.

i'm calling BS.

Sorry bit no again you can actually make out detail like the individual holes in the hub the cop car car that collided with the helicopter and is exploding. I cannot honestly say the same for that upscaled DVD. Looking at the DVD version, there's an amorphous blob in the same spot that could be a hole/holes, it could also be a blob of flame between the wheel and camera, or it could be a reflection of the fireball between the guy and the wheel. You just cannot tell on the DVD.

Also if you actually ready the second article, it said that Apple TV HD looked superior to DVD when it came to motion blur and compression.

What impressed us about the Apple TV HD rental was that the video, despite needing to be sent over the Internet rather than residing comfortably on a DVD or Blu-Ray Disc, exhibited little in the way of motion blur or compression artifacts—it looked as good as could be expected from 720p, which is to say comfortably better than DVD quality, but shy of the best a Blu-Ray Disc can offer on a top TV. The Apple TV video also contained a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio track, which the HD cable version did not, and its sound didn’t suffer from obvious compression issues like the cable version did.

Overall, the AppleTV HD looks better than DVD, but significantly worse than Blu-Ray.  Blu Ray rental services are a lot cheaper, and offer waaaaaay more than 100 HD movies (which is all Apple has, atm).  The instant gratification advantage of Apple TV is offset by the fact that you can rent a Blu-Ray disc a whole month before it has a chance of appearing on AppleTV.

If you have a fast enough connection (this alone, rules out the majority of the population) and if you don't care about quality, price, DRMs, or access to new releases, the AppleTV otherwise provides near-instant gratification.  Compared to VOD HD, AppleTV looks better, and is a bit more fair, too.

EDIT: Updated, and expanded.

Last edited by Mr. T (2008-02-26 1:03 pm)

The 24 hour thing is stupid too. It should be at least 3 days if not a week, and there should be no restriction on how long you have the file before you start to watch it.

That's entire idea behind RENTING it.  It's just like a rental from Blockbuster, you have to be done with it within a certain period of time (or did before the whole "no late fee" thing).  While everything is available on P2P, that isn't legal, and that's not about to change.