Is anyone using Apple TV

[dublin00]

hummpty,

Thanks for providing the links.

Last weekend I went to an Apple store and got a full demo of Apple TV. It looks promising and for the price ($229), I am strongly considering it.

I am mostly interested in its HDTV capability. I have a high def TV but cable in my area does not offer HDTV. So I am thinking about renting high def movies from iTunes. Do you have any experience with high def?

Steve Q

Sorry to jump in, but my Wife and I have used an AppleTV with our 60" Sony SXRD for over a year. When the rental service came out in Febraury with the higher resolution rentals (and purchases too) we tried it immediately. A few comments:

1.) The SD quality of the rentals (purchases) shouldn't be under-estimated. For rentals, SD quality means 720x480p DVD quality, not some watered down VHS style thing like cable VOD. Also, everything (almost) is wide-screen. The result is that in most cases we've been very happy with SD rentals (especially the $2.99 price)!

2.) The HD quality is really really good. I have a hard time finding any difference with a 1080i version on cable even though the AppleTV version is only 720p. I wonder if the encode quality has something to do with it? I don't have any way to figure that out myself... Be prepared with a fast internet connection for these. I had to wait 15-minutes before I could start viewing a HD movie just because of the huge file size (could also be prime-time evening net usage related too).

-Tim

 

[jaysonc]

Steve,

Yes. They will be 720p. I agree with Tim you will find the 720p more than adequate in most cases.
Itunes uses H.264 video compression which is WAY better quality than MPEG-2 at the same data rate.

Every video is different, but you can expect to receive 24 fps progressive scan video at a resolution of 1280x720 from iTunes. Most iTunes video's today seem to be recorded at a 4 Mbps data rate. The AppleTV can support up to a 5 Mbps data rate at this resolution.

For reference in order of quality IMHO. However, take with a grain of salt. This stuff is complex:
Blue-ray HD is 1920x1080@24 fps. 40 Mbps H.264 or MPEG-2 video
ATSC (Over-the-Air HD) is 1920x1080@30 fps. 19 Mbps MPEG-2 video
Most Cable HD is 1920x1080. ~15 Mbps MPEG-2 video.
HD_DVD is 1920x1080@24 fps. 28 Mbps H.264 or MPEG-2 video
AppleTV is 1280x1080@24 fps. 4 Mps H.264 video
Dish Network HD is 1440x1080@24 fps. 9.10 Mbps MPEG-2 video
DirectTV HD is 1280x1080@24 fps. 8.25 Mbps MPEG-2 video

 

[SteveQ]

Jason,

Thanks for the info. I just learned that HD is now available from Comcast in our area. So my first step will be to upgrade to HD on Comcast.

After that I will revisit Apple TV. Still sounds good!

SteveQ