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mr. penguin wrote:

AAPL Shareholder wrote:

mr. penguin wrote:

on vidipod you can chose widescreen or full

Those videos have already been cropped for fullscreen. That data is permanently gone. Playing them at a widescreen aspect ratio would only make them look worse. They'd be squished.

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And on a side note. Apple's horrible compression is enough to keep me from downloading BSG on iTunes. Those episodes are all blurry, bleh.

Quite honestly, Apple's "large" movie trailers look 10 times better  then the content they sell on iTunes.

have you played with a vidipod? while full screen is definately better until they get the widescreen ipods out in january or whenever, it's still a decent experience.

I agree.  I expected the video experience to be poor on an iPod, but I went and tried one and it is not too bad.  People complaining about resolution and quality of the videos need to understand a few key points:  Apple has optimized these videos for faster downloads and playback on an iPod, not for viewing on a computer screen or watching on TV (you can't even burn them).  Additionally, this entire concept right now is basically a pilot project, or a proof-of-concept for bigger and better things to come.  If Apple can demonstrate proof of concept, and show that people are willing to pay to download content, then the can justify the investment in the next steps, which will hopefully include HD, more choices and more playback/burn options, better playback and organization software (iTV anyone?).  These things are costly to develop and implement and Apple is just scratching the surface of the top of the iceburg right now.

meh. the scifi channel needs to offer more than 2 shows.

Freezer mac wrote:

meh. the scifi channel needs to offer more than 2 shows.

More like more then one.

indeed. i was able to catch up on the 2nd season of Lost because my friend had downloaded the episodes from the iTVS. we sat on her couch about 5 feet away and it was like watching regular TV. a bit fuzzy at times, but not bad.

Avari wrote:

Viewing the itunes videos full screen on a 17 inch monitor wasn't all that bad. You simply have to back up a foot or two. For 2 bucks a pop and the fact they where intended to work first and formost with the ipod, what did you expect?

I do agree, scifi needs to add more shows.

I doubt they could go much higher then bucks. If you were to take a few DVD season box sets, break them up, you'd find that you're paying around 2 bucks per episode.

And I don't know about the whole "first and foremost with the iPod" thing. With computer playback, TV out on the iPod, the onset of Front Row, and remote controlled iMacs, it looks like Apple clearly wants people to watch video content on a large display as well.

And hey, the iPod is not Apple's front running media player. The iPodMini and now iPodNano are what people gobble up.

If Apple is weighting their video content to the iPod, they're ignoring the fact that the majority of their customers will be capable of desktop / laptop playback... not iPod playback.

Considerations for iTMS market

* Resolution of lowest supported device [320 x 240] (This allows it to be playable on all supported devices without having to provide multiple file sizes and or formats.)

* Resolution of average television broadcast [320 x 240] (Standard television is typically 320 x 240 stretched onto a 640 x 480 screen. So, sorry, your stretching issue on high resolution displays exists outside of HDTV signals and DVD anyway.)

* Delivery considerations (Internet delivery requires bandwidth and while MPEG-4 scales better than other things, higher resolution still equals larger file size.)

ConnertheCat wrote:

AAPL Shareholder wrote:

Avari wrote:

Viewing the itunes videos full screen on a 17 inch monitor wasn't all that bad. You simply have to back up a foot or two. For 2 bucks a pop and the fact they where intended to work first and formost with the ipod, what did you expect?

I do agree, scifi needs to add more shows.

I doubt they could go much higher then bucks. If you were to take a few DVD season box sets, break them up, you'd find that you're paying around 2 bucks per episode.

And I don't know about the whole "first and foremost with the iPod" thing. With computer playback, TV out on the iPod, the onset of Front Row, and remote controlled iMacs, it looks like Apple clearly wants people to watch video content on a large display as well.

And hey, the iPod is not Apple's front running media player. The iPodMini and now iPodNano are what people gobble up.

If Apple is weighting their video content to the iPod, they're ignoring the fact that the majority of their customers will be capable of desktop / laptop playback... not iPod playback.

When you buy a DVD set, you aren't paying for bandwidth…

Apple is probably spending less then $2 per GB transferred. Possibly significantly less since I'm basing that cheesy estimate on costs for small enterprises. 

And although you aren't paying for bandwidth by selling a box set, let look at what you do need to pay for.

You have to pay a firm to do package design for the case and interactive design / authoring for the content. Then there is press (typically a high-end 4 color job), manufacturing, and shipping. And that's not including the production of any special features that may need to be added.

AAPL Shareholder wrote:

Apple is probably spending less then $2 per GB transferred. Possibly significantly less since I'm basing that cheesy estimate on costs for small enterprises.

Yes but what you also have to consider as far as band width is concerned is that Apple, even if $2 a GB all they're spending, you have to know they don't want to spend any more money than they absolutely have to and that if they did offer shows in larger resolutions, people would be bitching about how long it takes to download a show and might even be less willing to buy them because of it. Apple has most certainly considered that.

When the coolness wear off after a few show, how many have the energy and eyesight to enjoy hrs of video entertainment on a 2in screen!

Ya, but Battle Star Galactica looks nice on big screen... gameboy Tetris doesn't.

mrreet2001 wrote:

misskim wrote:

iloveillustrator wrote:

I demand Subtitle (or closed caption) :'(

I send feedback to Apple twice. Hope they listen.

P.S. I am hearing impaired, don't forget! There are 26 millions hearing loss in North America.

Count me in as one of them, and I'd like to be able to enjoy the shows they offer now. So glad to see that this is taking off though! Good for Apple, and I hope they continue to improve on it.

Did you complain that iTunes's songs didn't include the lyrics????

No, but now that you mention it, I'll suggest it I can enjoy hearing music for the sake of it without lyrics although having them around does add to it. With TV shows, I'm lost without CC and I think that this is something that would be relatively simple to include.

pcguy wrote:

When the coolness wear off after a few show, how many have the energy and eyesight to enjoy hrs of video entertainment on a 2in screen!

How is it that so many people overlook the fact that the iPod now has video out?