Apple HD Downloads

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Robinson_A

Sadly, numbers are meaningless to the under 25 crowd. They don't care about mbps rates. They can see a difference between SD and HD and if Apple's 720p HD looks better than their SD they'll buy. Codecs are such now that you can compress quite a bit of info with less of the negative results you once encountered. (I deal with codecs and compression all day in my 9-5) Compression isn't the bad word it once was for this world and marketplace is going to be all about space and fitting your content into said space be it large or small. That's the honest truth and if Apple can make 720p HD 'look' like HD even at a slightly lower mbps then it will win.

I love Blu-ray and HD DVD and feel the picture is AMAZING and I'm not about to go without it, however, I can not turn a blind eye to the future and the fact that ultimately, when the dust settles the people who'll end up making the decision of what format stays or goes may not care about what benefits HD DVD and/or Blu-ray bring to the table.

Man, give that man a star! I remember WMV-HD and it could fit on a regular DVD and be read by one and I was blown away. It could actually do 1080p too(Stormchasers 720p and 1080p on one DVD)!!! As long as it looks better than DVD lets go! I too love Blu and HD and the pictures are truly FANTASTIC and Moose is right there, but you make a valid point about when the dust settles - Just like VHS was inferior to Beta - the people chose that. The Studios made the choice between Blu and HD-DVD, the studios are all together on downloads and if they are all together - that means the people will decide the success of downloads. Check my poll out and vote, I would like to get a gist of who would support downloads and what kinds.

[faberryman]

If your display is not 720p, then your display or video processor will have to convert the download to the native resolution of your display which, in most cases, is 1080i/1080p, adding another layer of video conversion. Query: doesn't Apple convert SDs from 480i to 720p and HD/BD from 1080i to 720p. Why not let your display or video processor handle the conversion from 480i to its native resolution in one step. Is 1080i really that much more bandwidth than 720p, which would eliminate video conversion altogether. Apple needs to upgrade the Apple TV to 1080i.

I guess downloading movies is okay for those tha t"gotta have it NOW." I think Netflix is a better proposition. Three movies, including HD and BD, out at a time for $16.99 a month, which is the cost of 4-6 downloads. If you watch a lot of movies, downloading movies isn't very economical. It is easier than running out to get a movie though. I've had cable for years and have never watched a pay for view movie.

By the way, isn't it great that you ONLY get stereo for SD with Apple downloads. Whoppee!

[prerich]

Originally Posted by faberryman

If your display is not 720p, then your display or video processor will have to convert the download to the native resolution of your display which, in most cases, is 1080i/1080p, adding another layer of video conversion. Query: doesn't Apple convert SDs from 480i to 720p and HD/BD from 1080i to 720p. Why not let your display or video processor handle the conversion from 480i to its native resolution in one step. Is 1080i really that much more bandwidth than 720p, which would eliminate video conversion altogether. Apple needs to upgrade the Apple TV to 1080i.

I guess downloading movies is okay for those tha t"gotta have it NOW." I think Netflix is a better proposition. Three movies, including HD and BD, out at a time for $16.99 a month, which is the cost of 4-6 downloads. If you watch a lot of movies, downloading movies isn't very economical. It is easier than running out to get a movie though. I've had cable for years and have never watched a pay for view movie.

By the way, isn't it great that you ONLY get stereo for SD with Apple downloads. Whoppee!

When downloads go directly to PC or a Mac the only limitation is the resolution of the source material. I was on the Blu-ray forum and I was suprised how many people didn't know that all PC monitors are progressive scan and 24fps means nothing. There are no interlaced signals in PC at all, so if my resolution is 1900x1080 that's just what it is (as long as my monitor is capable of it).They were shocked at what a good computer was capable. Some people thought that there were no "1080p" capable monitors - I gave a small list, its actually much bigger and most video cards (nvidia 8 series) are all capable of resolutions higher than HD (the note on the box that says 1080i is only if you hook it up to an HDTV-if you hook it up as a monitor you get past that limitation). Computer monitors deal with dot pitch, maximum resolution, and refresh rate. Thats why computer monitors look so much better than TV's and you can experiment more with them - Thats why computer people have been upconverting dvd for over 7 years! I have watched many pay per view movies on cable - I use it as a way to see if I want to buy it or not.

[faberryman]

I was thinking you would display the movie on your TV rather than your computer monitor.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by faberryman

I was thinking you would display the movie on your TV rather than your computer monitor.

My computer monitor is huge - 32 inches 1366x768 native. And my Projector's native resolution is 1280x720 (translated 720p) with a maximum resolution of 1920x1080. My next search will be for a monitor capable of qxga resolutions 2048x1536, and that's native - I will have to downscale 1080p man! I'm only at 720p now but when I make my upgrades I will exceed what most people have (and I've the connections to do it within year - my last two children are moving out at the begining of the month - freedom!!!!!!). I have no "TV" just monitors with sources.

[dushuai]

Some people thought that there were no "1080p" capable monitors - I gave a small list, its actually much bigger and most video cards (nvidia 8 series) are all capable of resolutions higher than HD (the note on the box that says 1080i is only if you hook it up to an HDTV-if you hook it up as a monitor you get past that limitation). Computer monitors deal with dot pitch, maximum resolution, and refresh rate. Thats why computer monitors look so much better than TV's and you can experiment more with them - Thats why computer people have been upconverting dvd for over 7 years! I have watched many pay per view movies on cable - I use it as a way to see if I want to buy it or not.