AP disses Apple TV

Hi There,

Did you know that you can now download HD instructional cooking content for the Apple TV at:

http://www.rouxbe.com/videorecipes/downloads

Just released from Rouxbe. Step-by-step cooking videos that focus on the food and learning how to prepare it - instead of celebrity chefs.

Joe

First, I must say, I love my apple TV.

My videos look fantastic on my HDTV.

Of course these videos are converted from my original dvds to 852x480 resolution, so they look about as good as dvds, and I dont have to dig through my shelf to pick out a movie as they are all streamed off my mac.

The problem with Apple Store movies is they offer them at 640x360 or less. It made me want to throw up when I bought my first movie the day I got the apple TV. The image just looked horrible (enemy of the state). I would of put it on eBay had I not already converted some movies to play on my appletv, those look great.

If you have an HD USB tuner, you can record your content and convert that in VisualHUB and it will play in 720p on your apple TV.

The problem with apple TV is not the unit, but the fact that Apple wants everything to work with the video iPod, they have to stop this video ipod nonsense and release 720p movies. I will rebuy all the movies I own that I dont buy on hd-dvd from the apple store, and re buy every tv show if they offer them in HDTV format.

Someone asked how big would the hd files be, a tv show with commercials cut out with a bitrate of 2200 is around 800-1.09 gigs in size.

To those criticizing the 40gb hard drive, have you heard of streaming?

If you have 2TB in your mac, you can stream 2tb to your apple tv, its a no brainier and theres no lag (802.11g network)

Getting the iTunes store to have HD content would be great, of course. I just don't get why the only place that seems to be brought up is as a negative point about the AppleTV. Sure, the AppleTV is just begging for some 720p, but iTunes Store and AppleTV are distinct entities. I should know: I have an AppleTV with 0 content purchased from iTunes.

I just think the message should be: "Hey Apple, we want HD on iTunes!" instead of "Hey Apple, I hate your AppleTV (because of the content on iTunes)!". The former makes it clear what we want, the latter is confusing. It's not like HD content would be the exlcusive domain of the AppleTV (although an AppleTV would arguably be the best way to enjoy it).

The Xbox 360 appears to be no better at playing downloaded 720p content than the AppleTV, but Xbox Live seems to be better than iTunes at supplying it. Therefore: this is about software, not hardware.

"The video resolution was awful - very low quality. I decided right then and there that this product isn't for me." - Drupa

Drupa, check the previous comments - the problem appears to be with the demo video content and not actual video content purchased through iTunes. Though I shared your reaction when I saw the demos too. See MooLooney's comment just before yours.

Drupa's reaction is understandable - and I really can't fathom why Apple would allow such a shoddy demo in its stores. Someone with some clout needs to call Apple and find out what the problem is.

"I don't think it matters whether it's the content or the player that is at fault, if the final output is bad, then AppleTV isn't worth buying." - JeffDM

Jeff, the good "final output" is contingent on good content. The videos they're using for the Apple Store demos reflect the "garbage in, garbage out" dilemma. Actual owners of AppleTVs (like MooLooney) indicate that the hardware itself (as well as video content from iTunes) is actually very good.

I don't think it matters whether it's the content or the player that is at fault, if the final output is bad, then AppleTV isn't worth buying. It doesn't even matter who to blame, because Apple's at both ends of that, they sold the content and they sold the player. It's up to Apple to make sure that they work well together and have good playback quality. Given how limited the AppleTV is in playing non-iTunes content, using an alternate provider is pretty much out of the question. Video podcasts are interesting, but that alone doesn't justify an AppleTV.

As it is, in my experience, an iTunes download is only a little better than analog satellite digitized by an EyeTV.

I have connected both an AppleTV and XBox 360 to a Samsung DLPTV (56" 1080p).

The XBox Marketplace definitely has a much better catalog of HD content.

Trying to watch existing videos, TV shows, movies from iTunes via my AppleTV is painful. The "cassette" analogy is accurate. The solution would be to offer actual HD content via iTunes.

Apple deserves criticism because they released a product that is targeted for HD televisions but they do not offer HD content via their store.

Hopefully, this is changing soon. If the XBox Marketplace can have TV shows, movies, etc., in both 480p and 720p, I hope iTunes can start to match that.

I looked in at the local Apple Store to see the Apple TV. I too was appalled by the (lack of) quality of the movies that are on there. I was watching a few minutes of 'The Incredibles', which you'd think Apple would have no problem getting the rights to and it was basically unwatchable. There was so many blocky artifacts, especially in anything moving quickly.
The only light in the tunnel is that they wouldn't have put an HDMI connector in there if all that was going to be available was the current selection. It seems odd that the launched the hardware before the content, but you have to assume that there's at least 720p content coming on the iTunes Store. After all, how long has it been now since Jobs' 'Year Of HD'...???

Hardware vs. Software...

I agree that ITS needs some HD content (for bragging rights, if nothing else).

BUT, Apple's ace-in-the-hole is that nobody is offering downloadable HD content. Only the Xbox, which DRM'd and proprietary to the point of being ridiculous. The point with the AppleTV is that if and when somebody offers HD contnent, you *COULD* play it on your AppleTV.

So, basically, whenver downloadable HD content hits the internet the AppleTV will suddenly go from "crap" to "awesome" for some of you, despite no physical change to the AppleTV unit itself. That's the confusing bit about this review: it's an "experience" review, not a "product" review.

I've seen apple tv in action at the apple retail stores...it sucks. iPod video to TV (HD and SD) sucks. video iPod=little video on the go ala iTunes...that works for me. Apple TV showcases a very substandard definition quality that only gets worse when plugged into an HD TV.

I went to an Apple store and also saw the pixellated content coming from the Apple TV, but I asked someone there to show me some HD content and he did. It looked very good, even streaming from a MacBook Pro.