Peoples' Thoughts On iTunes Movies/Tv Shows

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

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Lo all,

I did a bit of research last night after I decided to purchase season 5 of Lost in HD. I probably should have done the research first. :p

Anyway, from what I can gather the HD content is 720p which is fine, I knew that before I bought it but the bitrate is below 5MB/s which is less than DVD bitrate.

Now, is this a bit like .mp3's from iTunes: day-to-day it's perfectly fine unless you're an audiophile-uber-geek that has to have the biggest numbers and the best stats or do people consider it a serious issue?

After watching the first episode I did notice that the image seemed quite noisy but this could be because I'm not used to HD content on my MBP. SD content probably doesn't show the noise because of the low resolution.
To be honest, the noise didn't really bother me, Lost is quite dark and they must have needed to use a high ISO when shooting, to get an adequate frame-rate. However, I did notice the occasional bit of tearing which is a bit off-putting and I would have thought my MBP could have coped better with it.

The other thing I have to ask is about movies in iTunes, it seems you can only get HD movies through AppleTV which is ridiculous. I can see why they do it, because no-one would buy an ATV if they could get HD movies on their computer, it's still a pain though.

I would quite happily buy a Mac Mini to use as an HTPC but not if I can't get HD films through it. I would buy an Apple TV but the storage isn't big enough and I certainly don't want to have to buy both to do the same job... it seems this whole area is in limbo with Apple at the moment and there isn't a conclusive answer. :(

I wonder if they will do an iTunesPlus type thing, where people who have bought SD content will eventually be able to upgrade it all to the HD version for a small fee... However, £10 for films like Rock 'N Rolla seems a bit steep if you then have to add on a couple of quid at a later date to get it in HD.

Sorry for the mad ramblings, this has just been on my mind. So what do you guys think?

Panzer
 
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Yeah I get what you mean. I found out about the quality thing a while back and haven't bothered with it. I would rather buy the DVD or torrent the film/ TV series just because you get about the same quality. I think it's stupid that Apple don't allow HD movies to be downloaded to a Mac, I mean if I could I would just to have the better quality movie experience.

Great ramblings,

Jon
 
Despite my research last night, I managed to miss this little snippet from Mac rumors:

Macrumors said:
AppleInsider reports that Apple is developing an on-demand video service that would allow users to stream their purchased iTunes movies and TV shows from Apple's servers for playback on personal devices. The service, to be called "iTunes Replay", would eliminate the need for users to provide significant storage space for their libraries of purchased digital video.
Click to expand...
Read More

If this is true it might solve the issue of where to keep everything and having to have a computer with iTunes running to play the video content.

Panzer
 
Panzerbjorn said:
Despite my research last night, I managed to miss this little snippet from Mac rumors:


Read More

If this is true it might solve the issue of where to keep everything and having to have a computer with iTunes running to play the video content.

Panzer
Click to expand...


Wow, now that is interesting. I'm currently waiting to buy a Mac Mini until they refresh them. I'm hoping that if Apple allow you to download the HD movies and that also enable the new mini to run two monitors, then I will be having it as a desktop and a 'apple tv' for my tv as my tv sits on my desk in my bedroom. Sounds good to me.

Thanks for the heads up,

Jon
 
likwid said:
Note that stream does not equal download.
Click to expand...

Appreciated, but as long as you had a stable internet connection it would more or less be the same thing. On-demand streaming would be like having it on your computer without the storage issues.

As long as they didn't lose their records and everyone's purchase history got lost. :p

Panzer
 
Panzerbjorn said:
Appreciated, but as long as you had a stable internet connection it would more or less be the same thing. On-demand streaming would be like having it on your computer without the storage issues.

As long as they didn't lose their records and everyone's purchase history got lost. :p

Panzer
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Yeah, was pointing that out to the other guy. :)
 
I rent a lot of movies from the iTMS for my iPod Touch for when I am on nights - the quality is good and they have a good range to choose from I am impressed!

Have heard some dodgy things about the "HD" content though if it can be called that.

Rich
 
titchard said:
I rent a lot of movies from the iTMS for my iPod Touch for when I am on nights - the quality is good and they have a good range to choose from I am impressed!

Have heard some dodgy things about the "HD" content though if it can be called that.

Rich
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It is HD in so much as the resolution is 720p, but the bitrate is not spectacular.

I don't blame them, after all, the files would be HUGE and broadband providers would fall over and die in all honestly. It just that they're pushing HD, when it barely makes the cut in some cases (hence the moaning).

If you Google you can see some good side-by-side comparisons of Blu Ray, Apple TV and Broadcast HD services. If I recall correctly, it was as-good as broadcast HD, but waaaay behind Blu Ray (which is to be expected), but the screenshots were very interesting.

You should be working :mad::p;):D
 
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likwid said:
Yeah, was pointing that out to the other guy. :)
Click to expand...

Ah fair enough, sorry chap. :o

I did a little test with the old LOST last night. iTunes gives you the SD version when you buy the HD version so you can use it on iPhone/iPods etc, so I thought I'd try them both out.

Obviously when you play them in iTunes or Quicktime or what ever at 'Actual Size' you can see a physical difference. No surprise really because the resolution has changed. Anyway, at this size they both look pretty sharp because each is being displayed at it's native res.

However, when I changed to the 'fit to screen' mode at 1920x1200 on my 17" screen there's still not much in it. I'm sure that if I was watching it on a 42/50" screen there would be a huge difference but I don't currently own a TV so it's a bit of a moot point for me personally.

I just thought it was an interesting comparison.

As EVH says, if the HD content bit-rate was up to the level of Blu-Ray the file sizes would be enormous. I guess there's no perfect option at the minute but I'm starting to think that it's not worth worrying about/holding off for the situation to improve.

As with most things Apple, it seems that "buy it now and get the enjoyment/use out of it" is better than holding off for that "what if..." moment. I think the biggest drawback at the minute is the lack of HD movies on iTunes unless you have an ATV. I don't own a TV so just let me buy the HD movies! :p

Panzer
 
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All-You-Can-Eat Rental for around £15/Month would be definitely worth it. Anything else on the Movie/TV side is a DRM-filled rip-off :(
 
I'm undecided about a subscription model..

It would be amazing for those people who like to have the "next big thing", who grow out / get bored of older tracks. i.e. the Radio 1 scene.. if it's 6 months old it's not worth playing, and older tracks aren't so important to them *currently this is the most expensive option with the tier pricing*

By the same token, I could see it also being nice for the serial music fanatics (like me :p) who consider their library a vault for music.. grabbing all sorts of music, but aren't particularly interested in genre / "cool factor" or the age of a track *currently it depends on the age of the tracks, but generally this would be considered cheaper than the first example*

Then there's the whole "I bought it, now I must use it" feeling.. Apple could combat this with 1 month / 6 monthly / 12 monthly plans, but having paid for the service it could degenerate in to a "bah.. it's costing me nothing.. I may as well download The Spice Girls" mentality. A bit dangerous if you have bandwidth caps, but there you go (that's another downside; ISPs Vs. lack of Jo Public awareness of caps etc)

Let me reiterate; This would be great if Apple allow 1 monthly, unlimited plans whereby you could jump on iTunes, download all the albums from all your favorite artists and be done with it.. but they aren't realistically going to allow that as they will want to tie people in for long periods.

IMO, If they want to succeed they would do well to allow a staggered system. Something like the following..

  • £19.99 - 1 month - 10GB limit
  • £29.99 - 6 month - 25GB limit
  • £44.99 - 12 month - unlimited limit

This would be for music only, obviously the limits would double / triple if they want to incorporate videos / movies in to the rental plan.

Perhaps some people won't switch, but I'd be interested to see how many people would pay if it did go all-you-can-eat :)
 
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I originally meant for Movies - afterall a LoveFilm subscription, considering you can get Blu-Ray too, makes Apple's model cower in fear (if you work out how much it costs you per movie per month).

Strangely enough, I actually agree with what Steve Jobs says about Music in that you consume it differently. I MUST have all my music on my computer and iPod to be there when I want it, whereas Movies i'm fine with keeping them on DVD.

I think a music subscription service could work if it's fairly cheap, gives you an easy way to purchase the track/album (at a reduced price??) and is ENTIRELY unlimited. I would see it more as a music discovery service than anything else.
 
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