This is my first post, but I do so hoping I can help a member or two who is having the same problem I've had for the past few months.
I bought an Apple TV a few months ago, and initially loved it. After a week or so of playing with its features, I set out to start backing up my DVD collection for use on Apple TV. I scanned this forum and decided that Nero Recode (which I already had) and Handbrake would be the 2 programs that I would try out.
I started with Nero Recode, I encoded a few movies and the results were LESS than impressive. I tried numerous different settings (some better than others) but was never satisfied. The main problem was "motion judder"; movement in a scene would appear very choppy at times.
I grew frustrated with Recode and swtiched to Handbrake. Unfortunately, the results were similar. No matter what settings I tried in either program, nothing seemed to work. I began to wonder if my Apple TV was defective, later I started to think perhaps the video card couldn't handle the bitrates I was encoding....... To be honest, i had a new theory every week as to why it wouldn't work. I eventually grew frustrated to the point where i stopped encoding movies all together and just used aTV's music and photo features. Of note, I also rented a movie and purchased a movie from aTV's iTunes store to see if they were any better........ they weren't.
Everything changed on Christmas. My brother got my parents an aTV. Although I was pretty anti-aTV at this point, I knew my parents' goal for an aTV was to have it show their photos on their TV, so I didn't say anything. I set it up for them, synced their music/ photos.
My sister, who had never seen an aTV before decided that we should rent a Christmas movie to watch, and rented it via the iTunes Store. She did all this while I was in the other room, because at that point I would have dissuaded her from wasting the money/time. When I came into the room, I was amazed to see a movie playing free of any "motion judder" and looking better than I'd ever been able to obtain. I sat with my family for that hour and racked my brain for explanations
It finally hit me; My TV is a Samsung LNT-4671F. It's an LCD that has 120 Hz. It's a feature that can be turned on/off in the settings, but I've always left it on. My parents have a Sony LCD without 120 Hz technology. I went home that night, switched off the 120 Hz and to my amazement, every movie I'd encoded to date played smother than ever. I've been encoding like a fiend ever since, with no problems.
So, the moral of the story is that 120 Hz and aTV don't play nice...... I should correct that, the "AutoMotion 120 Hz" on my Samsung TV doesn't work with aTV. I've heard the Sony 120 Hz is quite a bit different than Samsung's, so maybe there's no problems with Sony's. IF YOU HAVE A 120 HZ TV AND YOU HAVE MOTION JUDDER WHILE USING APPLE TV, TRY TURNING IT OFF BEFORE ANYTHING!
Oh, I will say as a side note: Nero Recode's encodes looked better than Handbrake's all along, and that the best results in Recode come when you turn BOTH "Weighted Prediction" and "CABAC" OFF. I couldn't be happier with the picture quality now. (I'm encoding at about 4 Mbps right now, but am going to try going lower and comparing the results)
Hope this helps
I bought an Apple TV a few months ago, and initially loved it. After a week or so of playing with its features, I set out to start backing up my DVD collection for use on Apple TV. I scanned this forum and decided that Nero Recode (which I already had) and Handbrake would be the 2 programs that I would try out.
I started with Nero Recode, I encoded a few movies and the results were LESS than impressive. I tried numerous different settings (some better than others) but was never satisfied. The main problem was "motion judder"; movement in a scene would appear very choppy at times.
I grew frustrated with Recode and swtiched to Handbrake. Unfortunately, the results were similar. No matter what settings I tried in either program, nothing seemed to work. I began to wonder if my Apple TV was defective, later I started to think perhaps the video card couldn't handle the bitrates I was encoding....... To be honest, i had a new theory every week as to why it wouldn't work. I eventually grew frustrated to the point where i stopped encoding movies all together and just used aTV's music and photo features. Of note, I also rented a movie and purchased a movie from aTV's iTunes store to see if they were any better........ they weren't.
Everything changed on Christmas. My brother got my parents an aTV. Although I was pretty anti-aTV at this point, I knew my parents' goal for an aTV was to have it show their photos on their TV, so I didn't say anything. I set it up for them, synced their music/ photos.
My sister, who had never seen an aTV before decided that we should rent a Christmas movie to watch, and rented it via the iTunes Store. She did all this while I was in the other room, because at that point I would have dissuaded her from wasting the money/time. When I came into the room, I was amazed to see a movie playing free of any "motion judder" and looking better than I'd ever been able to obtain. I sat with my family for that hour and racked my brain for explanations
It finally hit me; My TV is a Samsung LNT-4671F. It's an LCD that has 120 Hz. It's a feature that can be turned on/off in the settings, but I've always left it on. My parents have a Sony LCD without 120 Hz technology. I went home that night, switched off the 120 Hz and to my amazement, every movie I'd encoded to date played smother than ever. I've been encoding like a fiend ever since, with no problems.
So, the moral of the story is that 120 Hz and aTV don't play nice...... I should correct that, the "AutoMotion 120 Hz" on my Samsung TV doesn't work with aTV. I've heard the Sony 120 Hz is quite a bit different than Samsung's, so maybe there's no problems with Sony's. IF YOU HAVE A 120 HZ TV AND YOU HAVE MOTION JUDDER WHILE USING APPLE TV, TRY TURNING IT OFF BEFORE ANYTHING!
Oh, I will say as a side note: Nero Recode's encodes looked better than Handbrake's all along, and that the best results in Recode come when you turn BOTH "Weighted Prediction" and "CABAC" OFF. I couldn't be happier with the picture quality now. (I'm encoding at about 4 Mbps right now, but am going to try going lower and comparing the results)
Hope this helps
