It seems like not all larger iTunes Store videos are actually worth their new dimensions. Reader Paul did some investigating on the newly resized videos (i.e. - ones that were 320 x 240 before the new store, and are now 640 x 480), as a few seemed suspiciously like bad upsamples, rather than truly re-encoded masterpieces of H264 quality.
Unfortunately, for this investigation Paul had to reveal he is an Anastacia fan, but that isn't important right now (just kiddin' with you Paul). Engadget has put together a good post with example screenshots (like the one above) of upsampled content that looks worse than its smaller predecessors. Some of the videos look great - like Paul's Anastacia examples, but others like Madonna's and Elton John's vids ultimately take the more jagged route.
The thing I'm wondering is: who does the encoding? Apple, or the studios? This page at Apple's site for music labels interested in getting onto the store offers software called iTunes Producer to allow them to do the encoding, which makes me suspect this video upsampling issue could be the fault of the labels mistakenly assigning the video encoding and re-encoding work to some rookie intern.
This is about all we know for now; Apple I'm sure is unavailable for comment, but check out Engadget's post for more screenshots and details of what's going on here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-30-2006 @ 1:13PM
Dry County said...
completely irrelevant to this video discussion ... but I must say that I'm appalled at that ridiculously intrusive ad.
I've said it before: I realize you need to make money and I'm all for it. Why the hell not. The blog here is a great source of news and info.
But users of intrusive ads that literally move over the content of the page risk losing a ton of meaningful viewers and support. So I'll say it once more:
GET RID OF THE STINKING MOVING ADS!!!
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9-30-2006 @ 1:30PM
archie4oz said...
I'd say its the studio/label... I've dealt with labels and they send pre-encoded content and album art, and it's not uncommon for a label to send a song encoded at the wrong bitrate or sending corrupted or incorrect album art...
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9-30-2006 @ 1:41PM
V. Mardian said...
Studios encode and upload using software called "iTunes Producer". Google that for more info.
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9-30-2006 @ 2:37PM
Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said...
Ads? What ads? Seriously, upgrade to Firefox and install AdBlock and FlashBlock and you'll never have to be annoyed by ads again.
I realise that sites like TUAW rely on ad revenues to make money, but until the day they make the ads low-key so they don't compete with the content for my attention, I'll use AdBlock.
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9-30-2006 @ 3:30PM
Dry County said...
Sir
I am Firefox, and have uninstalled AdBlock because it's filters were overzealous on way too many sites. Sure I could customize it but WHY???
I'm on a mac and things should "just work" right? Believe me, if you could have seen the ad you'd be right there with me voicing your concern.
Again -- I have absolutely nothing against making a buck, and I don't mind ads -- but come on! -- the ad that literally skits across the screen is so 1999 intrusive it makes me sick.
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9-30-2006 @ 3:45PM
Liam Parkinson said...
Well about the ads, im not willing to "upgrade" to firefox (personally i class it as a downgrade" for the sake of one website. I will always use safari as it loads alot quicker as a app and seems to load webpages abit quicker in my honest opinion. And before you start bashing me saying its proven firefox is quicker etc... thats on that one persons machine.... To my naked eye safari is snappier. And i don't find the adds all that intrusive. Being a graphic designer and currently study digital media im used to training my eyes to just focus on what i want them to. Its simple to not let the little things bother you :) Also in TUAW defence, they just post a code on there page, that ads dont come from TUAW they come for the provider.
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9-30-2006 @ 4:01PM
Colin said...
Try Pithhelmet http://www.culater.net/software/PithHelmet/PithHelmet.php.
And Sir,
Hahaha. What is the point of ads if they don't compete for your attention?
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9-30-2006 @ 4:02PM
David Chartier said...
For what it's worth guys, I apologize for the annoying ads. Thanks for letting us know, as we report these to the powers that be who can work their magic and take care of the issue. Please know that we don't pick and chose every ad that displays; we work with ad networks who funnel the ad content to our pages, so we honestly aren't *trying* to apply annoying stuff like that.
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9-30-2006 @ 8:44PM
Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said...
I don't care why YOU use safari, Liam. I really don't. It's okay, but I prefer the way Firefox works.
And Colin, what's the point of having content if it's got to compete for your attention with the ads?
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10-01-2006 @ 11:40AM
Dry County said...
David -- thanks so much for your quick response!
And before we get into a p**sing contest over what browser is better/faster/blocks more ads, I feel the need to claify my original complaint to those who might not know what the hell I'm talking about.
I'm using both Firefox 1.5.7 and the latest 2 beta. Occasionally, VERY occasionally there is an ad that literally moves across the screen, over the content of the stories, and stays there until you press "close".
Sometimes as well, the "close" button is so small (or over some similar-looking content) that it makes it even more annoying to close.
Thanks again, David!
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10-01-2006 @ 3:49PM
Matt said...
TUAW is a top Mac news site but some of the ads have driven me off within seconds (particularly the ZAP the mosquito one!). Much as I want to support TUAW and similar sites I've installed Pith Helmet. What a change... Browsing is now soooo much more peacefuland relaxing and my G5 imac isn't constantly revving up the fans to deal with all that Flash rubbish.
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10-01-2006 @ 5:12PM
Fra said...
This proves my theory, madonna is a robot.
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10-01-2006 @ 5:50PM
stormko said...
Speaking of video at the iTunes Store, I just downloaded my first TV show from iTunes--Battlestar Galactica--and the episodes are full-screen, instead of widescreen (which is how they are broadcasted on Sci-Fi Channel). I've noticed that the sample of "Lost" is also full-screen. Is there a reason why iTunes is not offering the shows in widescreen?
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10-01-2006 @ 10:12PM
jh said...
Apple has never offered the shows in widescreen, nor would the studios allow that. They want to make their money on the DVD sets, not the downloadable content. Typically, the dl content is just so you run out and buy the DVD set.
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