Apple TV 'Take 2' HD Image Quality
A few sites have posted their impressions and reviews of the Apple TV 'Take 2' update that was released just yesterday. Besides the new interface and computer-less design, the biggest new update to the Apple TV is the availability of High Definition iTunes rental content. This is an Apple TV-only feature at the moment, and only available in Rentals, not purchases. Anecdotal reports have ranged from good to great quality of the HD content. Gizmodo subjectively felt the HD quality was "better than DVD" but not "true" HD.
iLounge went a step further and made direct comparisons (with screenshots) between the Apple TV, Blu-Ray, DVD and HD Cable. The movie they chose was Live Free or Die Hard. Their results:
- Blu-Ray clear winner but surprised by how well Apple TV did
- Very little motion blur or artifacts in Apple TV
- "Because of its cleaner motion and audio, we felt that the Apple experience was better in both overall audio and video quality than the HD cable experience, and for most users, superior to renting a standard DVD as well."
Note that individual experiences may vary depending on the movie due to differences in source material and encoding. It's been said that the Apple TV HD movie previews don't necessarily reflect the quality of the actual HD movie rentals.
iLounge went a step further and made direct comparisons (with screenshots) between the Apple TV, Blu-Ray, DVD and HD Cable. The movie they chose was Live Free or Die Hard. Their results:
- Blu-Ray clear winner but surprised by how well Apple TV did
- Very little motion blur or artifacts in Apple TV
- "Because of its cleaner motion and audio, we felt that the Apple experience was better in both overall audio and video quality than the HD cable experience, and for most users, superior to renting a standard DVD as well."
Note that individual experiences may vary depending on the movie due to differences in source material and encoding. It's been said that the Apple TV HD movie previews don't necessarily reflect the quality of the actual HD movie rentals.
Top Rated Comments
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52 months ago
But it's still not powerful enough to play my downloaded 1080p mkv files, so screw it.
52 months ago
Apple HD rentals obviously aren't available here yet, but I've tried HD rentals through Xbox Live and was very impressed (apart from 24 hours not being long enough, IMO).
Has anyone tried both HD rental services, and could comment on the respective qualities?
Has anyone tried both HD rental services, and could comment on the respective qualities?
52 months ago
Gah.... I don't like it. I'm sure the movies still look very good, but I don't know if Apple's stock can take yet another, "Well, there's a catch..." in regards to Apple products.
52 months ago
But it's still not powerful enough to play my downloaded 1080p mkv files, so screw it.
way to keep it real man.
52 months ago
how long did it take to buffer/dl?
will i have to wait an hour so watch my rental?
will i have to wait an hour so watch my rental?
52 months ago
how long did it take to buffer/dl?
will i have to wait an hour so watch my rental?
That of course depends on your internet connection.
52 months ago
Nice that there is some good picture quality.
I got all happy-- thinking I might get one-- but from what mighty macrumors tells me the max Apple TV puts out is 720p?
That means I wait. I want 1080p.
I got all happy-- thinking I might get one-- but from what mighty macrumors tells me the max Apple TV puts out is 720p?
That means I wait. I want 1080p.
52 months ago
I have a 6Mbps DSL connection, and it took around 5 hours for me to download Die Hard in HD. It gave a notification that it was ready to play after about 3 1/2 hours of downloading. I went to sleep instead, and plan on watching it this weekend.
52 months ago
how long did it take to buffer/dl?
will i have to wait an hour so watch my rental?
As Markleshark said it depends on your internet connection (bandwidth) however you can start to view the rental as soon as enough of it has downloaded to keep ahead of playback (the AppleTV software will inform you when you can start to view). In other words you don't (necessarily) have to wait for the full download before you can start to watch. SD rentals startup relatively fast.
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