1080 > iTunes > AppleTV > HDTV

[MrLatte23]

I make my home videos in HD(V), mostly 1920 (or 1440) X 1080. Do I need to downsize them all to 720 for an AppleTV to be able to play them?

I'm considering buying one to easily play home movies at home. Right now I play them directly from my Mac Pro via Blackmagic Intensity pro card with HDMI out. I'd like the family to have easy access to them but hope that I don't have to re-size all of them.

Thanks.

 

[mstrze]

I actually don't know the answer.

I have recorded some Flip HD videos which are in 1080P...pulled them in with iPhoto and then shared them with iTunes/AppleTV with iMovie. I assume it did some reformatting.

 

[mchalebk]

It's my understanding that the max HD that the AppleTV can handle is 720p at 24 Hz. So, if you're shooting at 30 Hz, you might need to downrez a bit more than to 720. Check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/675881/

 

[bjmrk]

I'm about 90% sure that Apple TV outputs at 1080P even though what you're watching is going to just be an upscaled 720P movie if you got if off of iTunes. It would make sense to me if you could watch your own 1080 stuff, but it might just be one of those silly things. If nothing else, I guess you can just try it out. Hope that helped.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I know this one for sure. TV can NOT display your 1080p or 1080i video content. A minimal incarnation of 720p is as good as it can do. However, doing the same thing (with HD Camcorder content), I have never found a good way to render content shot at 1080i and 1080p in 720p and not have a noticable stutter when it shows on the TV (especially when panning the camera). What works well is outputting to the default TV setting which yields a 960 x 540 render (half the "full HD" height and width), resulting in a picture that is better than DVD but much inferior to the original source.

Don't be fooled by the screen resolution setting options you can choose when initially setting up the TV. The 1080 options are for the UI- and maybe for still photos (I'm not sure), but it is definitely not pumping 1080i or 1080p video content to your HDTV at 1080i or 1080p (the hardware either can't do it, or Apple for some reason has it set up so that it can't).

And just in case you are wondering, it can't downconvert it to 720p on the fly either... you have to render it in a format that the TV can handle. Your 1080p or 1080i renders will go into iTunes and play there just fine. But they won't flow to the TV. As an owner of an TV and a 1080 camcorder, this is the biggest issue with it IMO (but I love it otherwise, and it will be great if it ever gets a hardware upgrade to resolve this one shortcoming).

So you can shoot 1080i or 1080p on the camcorder, edit and process the video in iMovie on the Mac, render it out as a 1080 HD video, import that into iTunes and be just one step away from your 1080-capable HDTV. But that step is currently the weak link in that it can't bridge the gap between 1080i or 1080p video in iTunes and the HDTV.

Many of us current owners (with 1080 camcorders) are in the same boat as you, hoping for a next-gen TV with 1080p hardware. We've been waiting a long time, and no one knows if it will arrive tomorrow, next year or never. Just keep the final version of your iMovie files so that you can re-render everything for a 1080 TV should it ever arrive.

 

[MrLatte23]

I know this one for sure. TV can NOT display your 1080p or 1080i video content.

Thanks. I'm considering getting one, but this is a slight bending point. Not sure if I want to go this route or a PS3 so I'll have a Blu Ray as well. But I'm wondering elsewhere about it's interface and ease of use.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Thanks. I'm considering getting one, but this is a slight bending point. Not sure if I want to go this route or a PS3 so I'll have a Blu Ray as well. But I'm wondering elsewhere about it's interface and ease of use.

That's the big tradeoff. IMO, nobody beats the TV's UI and ease-of-use. If Apple would just take that and bolt it on top of 1080p hardware, I'd be a very happy- and quick- buyer of ANOTHER TV.

Don't get me wrong, while 960x540 is far from 1920x1080, it still looks very good- better than DVD- via TV playback (just obviously not as good as pushing the full on 1080p content directly to the HDTV). You might want to do what some do and buy it- and live with its limitations for now- earmarking it as something to move to a lessor TV when the next-gen finally arrives (if it ever arrives).

And again, keep your iMovie files so that you are ready to re-render in 1080p (or go ahead and render in 1080p and archive those for future use).