I'm really confused about the AppleTV. I went to the Apple Store in NYC a few days ago to see what the hype was about. I gotta tell you, I wasn't impressed. Let me explain:
The movies in my iTunes are in the 320x240 and 480x480 range - although my later additions are 720x368 (cropped DVD). But they are compressed for the iPod. Why would I want to stream this to a HD/Widescreen TV? I saw the demo movies and videos on display at the Appe Store, and they were HORRIBLE! The compression artifacts were obvious from a distance, and seemed like a total waste for the widescreen TVs these AppleTVs require. You would be better off buying the DVD.
@Keirmeister, exactly my sentiments! Why would anyone want to watch video that was cropped to be watched on a ipod video's 4" screen, want to watch that same video in HD on a 50" screen?
I, for example, haven't been paying anything for TV for a while (the cheapest digital cable here is $70+ a month) and i really only watch about 4 shows.
So instead of paying someone 60 - 80 a month for the very few shows i'm interested in, i just buy those seasons from the iTunes store (which costs less than 2 months of cable) and watch them on my TV. Up until a week ago (when i got my Apple TV) i had to plug in my (girlfriend's) laptop to the TV.
Now i can just turn the TV on, grab my apple remote and watch my shows. :) much less of a chore. (this sounds lazy, but it really was a bit of a chore to grab the ibook and power adapter and my iPod to use as an external disk with the current episode on it, and plug in the miniVGA adapter blah blah blah.)
And i'll tell you, at least in my area, the "highly compressed" iTunes version, played through the AppleTV connected through component video at 720P (instead of through a single RCA from the iBook) looks leaps and bounds better than the crap OTA broadcast quality around here.
Sure, it's no HD (not even DVD quality) but on my 52" HDTV it's totally watchable, and much better than crap-quality SD broadcast TV.
to sum up: it's convenient, it works, and looks fine. I even fancy myself as an AV snob, and have some high end AV equipment, but i'm not going to cover my eyes and plug my ears just because something isn't high def. (However - when the HD Apple TV is released, i'll be all over it.)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Keirmeister @ Mar 30th 2007 3:52PM
I'm really confused about the AppleTV. I went to the Apple Store in NYC a few days ago to see what the hype was about. I gotta tell you, I wasn't impressed. Let me explain:
The movies in my iTunes are in the 320x240 and 480x480 range - although my later additions are 720x368 (cropped DVD). But they are compressed for the iPod. Why would I want to stream this to a HD/Widescreen TV? I saw the demo movies and videos on display at the Appe Store, and they were HORRIBLE! The compression artifacts were obvious from a distance, and seemed like a total waste for the widescreen TVs these AppleTVs require. You would be better off buying the DVD.
What am I missing here?
KC @ Mar 30th 2007 4:46PM
@Keirmeister, exactly my sentiments! Why would anyone want to watch video that was cropped to be watched on a ipod video's 4" screen, want to watch that same video in HD on a 50" screen?
Jeff @ Mar 30th 2007 5:16PM
"convenience" is the concept you're missing.
I, for example, haven't been paying anything for TV for a while (the cheapest digital cable here is $70+ a month) and i really only watch about 4 shows.
So instead of paying someone 60 - 80 a month for the very few shows i'm interested in, i just buy those seasons from the iTunes store (which costs less than 2 months of cable) and watch them on my TV. Up until a week ago (when i got my Apple TV) i had to plug in my (girlfriend's) laptop to the TV.
Now i can just turn the TV on, grab my apple remote and watch my shows. :) much less of a chore. (this sounds lazy, but it really was a bit of a chore to grab the ibook and power adapter and my iPod to use as an external disk with the current episode on it, and plug in the miniVGA adapter blah blah blah.)
And i'll tell you, at least in my area, the "highly compressed" iTunes version, played through the AppleTV connected through component video at 720P (instead of through a single RCA from the iBook) looks leaps and bounds better than the crap OTA broadcast quality around here.
Sure, it's no HD (not even DVD quality) but on my 52" HDTV it's totally watchable, and much better than crap-quality SD broadcast TV.
to sum up: it's convenient, it works, and looks fine.
I even fancy myself as an AV snob, and have some high end AV equipment, but i'm not going to cover my eyes and plug my ears just because something isn't high def.
(However - when the HD Apple TV is released, i'll be all over it.)