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Goodbye Apple TV, Playstation 3 rules!
- Thread starter petvas
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Hey! I'm a girl and I love my PS3 and Wii! There are girl gamers out there you know!
I know a few girls who are NOT gamers and still this combo works .....
Apple TV - loaded with lots of 'chick flick' - very easy UI
WII - OMG I have seen girls who hate game consoles get into this - WII FIT and WII Sports seem to snag a lot of " non-gamers "
Heck even my wife who all but despises game consoles because the kids spend too much time on them enjoys Wii Fit & Sports.
My son brings friends over and we have a PS2 - XBox - Wii - Apple TV all on the same systems. The girls invariably see the WII and comment about what they like to play on it.
Perhaps it is more like if your 1080P set had a decent scaler in it, you would see that 720P isn't the crap you believe it to be. I know from my two 24" flat monitors that if the scaler is crap, so is the picture. My recent LG 1080P 24" monitor that cost in the $360 range that is connected to my MBP *BLURS* (to a fairly miserable extent that is EXTREMELY noticeable with text) any content that is less than its 1920x1200 native resolution. Even 540P doesn't look all that good on it. Everything has to be upscaled to native and that content's appearance is ENTIRELY dependent on the quality of the scaler. Thus, if I were to view 720P on this monitor, it would look noticeably inferior to 1080P. If however, I view 720P on a monitor that is 720P native, it will look as sharp as it possibly can.
Compare this to my $600 range 24" 'other' LG monitor I have connected to my PC for gaming and 2nd monitor usage. It has a MUCH better scaler in it and things like 1024x768 for gaming and even text look ALMOST as clear as they would on a native display (just a hint of softness/blurring). Putting 720P or 540P on it without pre-scaling it looks fine. It's just a tad softer than 1080P per resolution. Thus, it gives a clearer idea of what other resolutions actually look like.
When I say my PT-AX100U is one of the best 720P projectors out there, among other things, that means it has a high quality scaler in it. 540P has been rated as 'perfect' on it even though it's below the maximum resolution. 1080i and 1080P scale to maximum viewing resolution at 720P. Its scaler is excellent and so resolution isn't the factor that it is on other projectors or sets.
I'm betting your set's scaler is more like my cheap LG's scaler (i.e. crap) and that would explain why you think 720P from something like AppleTV is crap. You're getting an overly soft, blurry distorted version of the picture whereas Blu-Ray 1080P is at or very close to its native resolution and thus looks sharp. Yes, I'm about 95% certain this is the case or you wouldn't have made the comments you made.
This is a well-known issue with modern LCD and plasma displays. Unlike the multi-sync CRTs of the past, which could literally change their 'effective' native resolution to match the content (within the dot pitch and other constraints of the design) and thus would/could look sharp with everything, MOST LCD and Plasmas today ONLY look good at their native resolutions. You can easily test this by changing your computer display to something like 640x480 or 1024x768. It may not even display their aspect ratio correctly, let alone show proper scaling. And just because something like a DVD player claims to upscale, that doesn't mean its scaler is any good. Cheap scalers in players are often worse than the ones in the monitors or projectors! 720P converted to 1080P is no different. If the scaler isn't stellar, neither will be the converted picture.
I simply saying you cannot make a judgment on 720P content if your viewing source isn't optimal to display 720P. If the scaler makes a mess of the signal, it'll look poorer than it should.
I too have a PS3 and love it. The Medialink software is a dream, the free online rules and BluRay just f4ck1n rocks.
Well, I was not able to prove my fact for the girl factor. But I did my own comparisons at home. My APpletv versus the PS3 blue ray. I did this with three movies, Taledega Nights, I Robot, and Total Recall. The blue-rays I just got from Walmart, the taledega nights came with my ps3. On my appletv, I have the same movies, converted from mkv high def formats at 5 mbps.
First of all, I hate physical media. Having a bunch of blue rays around is nonsense. Also, if someone else in the household wants to watch the movie, they can't, because you are watching it. Secondly, what if it is stolen, or you lent it to someone? I hate physical stuff.
Secondly, the blue ray takes forever to load. I was sitting there waiting. Then, to even get to the movie I had to watch the fbi this and that, the menu screen.. jeez.. get to the movie already!
Finally, the movie does look good, don't get me wrong, excellent quality. The menu system is kind of dumb and ridiculous however... really dumb extras in these movies.
---------------
As for the appletv, took me 2-3 seconds to get to the movie, another 1-2 seconds for the movie to start. Yes rewinding/forwarding will not be as good as blueray. The movie started, no hiccups. No fbi screens, no physical media, no stupid menus.
Finally... drum roll?? The picture quality? I would say, based on my best judgement about 5-10% worse than blue ray in terms of brightness and sharpness. However, to me that is nothing to suffer in terms of waiting for the movie to start, physical media, and the price of 19.99 - 29.99 for blue ray.
Yep, I'll stick with Appletv!
Thanks for this forum though, it confirmed that I like my appletv over any other media player.
First of all, I hate physical media. Having a bunch of blue rays around is nonsense. Also, if someone else in the household wants to watch the movie, they can't, because you are watching it. Secondly, what if it is stolen, or you lent it to someone? I hate physical stuff.
Secondly, the blue ray takes forever to load. I was sitting there waiting. Then, to even get to the movie I had to watch the fbi this and that, the menu screen.. jeez.. get to the movie already!
Finally, the movie does look good, don't get me wrong, excellent quality. The menu system is kind of dumb and ridiculous however... really dumb extras in these movies.
---------------
As for the appletv, took me 2-3 seconds to get to the movie, another 1-2 seconds for the movie to start. Yes rewinding/forwarding will not be as good as blueray. The movie started, no hiccups. No fbi screens, no physical media, no stupid menus.
Finally... drum roll?? The picture quality? I would say, based on my best judgement about 5-10% worse than blue ray in terms of brightness and sharpness. However, to me that is nothing to suffer in terms of waiting for the movie to start, physical media, and the price of 19.99 - 29.99 for blue ray.
Yep, I'll stick with Appletv!
Thanks for this forum though, it confirmed that I like my appletv over any other media player.
Heh, this is a good thread. Fanboys attack!
I bought the PS3 at launch. Sold it less than 3 months later and haven't looked back. Blu-Ray looks great and a few games were nice but it wasn't for me. AppleTV is sleek, uses far less energy, and while the PQ isn't Blu-Ray it isn't crap either. Add in the integration with iTMS and AppleTV is tough to beat on the media center end of it. I hope they upgrade the hardware soon, I'd like Boxee to run a bit better, but overall the AppleTV is fantastic.
Blu-Ray is dead in my opinion. Not that the economy is helping things, but the move to downloadable content and streaming online content is inevitable. I think Jobs was right about that and I see no reason to invest a penny in Blu-Ray.
Heh, this is a good thread. Fanboys attack!
I bought the PS3 at launch. Sold it less than 3 months later and haven't looked back. Blu-Ray looks great and a few games were nice but it wasn't for me. AppleTV is sleek, uses far less energy, and while the PQ isn't Blu-Ray it isn't crap either. Add in the integration with iTMS and AppleTV is tough to beat on the media center end of it. I hope they upgrade the hardware soon, I'd like Boxee to run a bit better, but overall the AppleTV is fantastic.
Blu-Ray is dead in my opinion. Not that the economy is helping things, but the move to downloadable content and streaming online content is inevitable. I think Jobs was right about that and I see no reason to invest a penny in Blu-Ray.
Yeah man, and i wasted 10 dollars on the total recall blue ray and 16 dollars on that I robot blue ray just to confirm my suspicions on this forum. Yeah, I think blue ray is just a waste. Just wait 2 years, we have pink ray now! I spent so much money on VHS special edition this, special edition that, then laserdisc.. I was spending up to 100$ per movie at one point! Then, DVD... now they want me to spend 20-30 dollars of my hard earned cash on these discs which will be gone in a few years?
As I am ranting.. I also hate tipping! There are a lot of people out there who do not deserve my tip! you know who you are!
Mo
Out of curiosity, mohanman, what size screen are you comparing the two video formats with? I have a 1080p projector projecting on a 138" screen and I can definitely tell the difference between a Blu-Ray movie and an HD file downloaded off the internet.
I have both an AppleTV and a PS3 and love them both. When I want to watch a movie ripped from a DVD, I go with the AppleTV, but when I want the true cinema experience, I have to go with a Blu-Ray disc.
P-Worm
I have both an AppleTV and a PS3 and love them both. When I want to watch a movie ripped from a DVD, I go with the AppleTV, but when I want the true cinema experience, I have to go with a Blu-Ray disc.
P-Worm
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking your choice of an AppleTV over the PS3 because I have an AppleTV and love the product. Streaming content with the PS3 is a...how do I put it...chore.
You may be right about Blu-Ray not lasting in the long run, but I hope your wrong. I for one absolutely love Blu-Ray movies and I don't want an inferior format (digital downloads) to take over just because it is more convenient. Of course, that's how these things go sometimes.
P-Worm
Are you using HDMI for both the PS3 and ATV? From my experience there is nothing that can compare to Blu-Ray and you don't have to convert anything over to play the Blu-Ray.
Yep both are via HDMi. Conversion is one thing, but having it all organized in your itunes, having no physical discs, and waiting for the movie to start is another thing. Plus, to me, and I have good eyes, the conversion is about 10% less in sharpness/brightness compared to blueray. I'm just sick of newer formats, and their costs as well. Everything is sony propriety format.
Lastly, I forgot to mention, I hate the way that ps3 is not IR. Then I have to buy some stupid adapter to make it IR. But again, if I have a girl or my little cousins over to watch a movie, they wont know how to use a ps3. Simply clicking appletv on my remote takes them to all the movies with awesome album art, and instantly plays. No load ups, no confusing menus, no physical discs to mess around with, and no fbi warnings, or stupid menus, at about the same image quality with dolby digital.
I guess what I am trying to do is defend the notion that appletv is not as good as the PS3 in terms of movies.. but I totally disagree.
Mo
Alright, I'm a PS3 Newbie. Help me out guys.
I just got a flash drive, PNY Attache. I have a PS3 and quite a load of MP4 movies that I use for iTunes and Apple TV, ripped through Handbrake. In a perfect world I could upload my favorite movies onto my PS3 Harddrive. I just tried to copy over my Knocked Up.mp4 file, it's showing up on my computer as on the flash drive. When I pop it into the PS3 and click on the flash drive through the XMB I get nothing in there.
What can I do, I'm not opposed to going back through Handbrake and creating another file. If I go a little lower quality (most of my rips are 2GB or so) will the PS3 upconvert them?
I just got a flash drive, PNY Attache. I have a PS3 and quite a load of MP4 movies that I use for iTunes and Apple TV, ripped through Handbrake. In a perfect world I could upload my favorite movies onto my PS3 Harddrive. I just tried to copy over my Knocked Up.mp4 file, it's showing up on my computer as on the flash drive. When I pop it into the PS3 and click on the flash drive through the XMB I get nothing in there.
What can I do, I'm not opposed to going back through Handbrake and creating another file. If I go a little lower quality (most of my rips are 2GB or so) will the PS3 upconvert them?
Er, its *not* an inferior format. Both use h.264 with ac3 sound ( or dts as the case may be). Its just a matter of time before the bitrates/file sizes delivered over internet can compete with the full bu ray experience. Its a practical issue, not technical.
I for one had an Apple TV for over a year when I got a PS3 for Christmas. After searching for a good streaming software solution, I found medialink. Within minutes of installing it and streaming my first videos from my mac to my PS3, I had decided to ditch the Apple TV. The PS3 + Medialink is easier to use than the ATV and it plays virtually every format without the need to convert. Medialink completely synchs with iLife and also my folder structure. A perfect compliment to bittorrent as well.
Last weekend I wanted to watch Frost/Nixon before the Oscars and was bummed to find out it wasn't playing in theatres that weekend in my city. Downloaded off the web and streamed to my PS3, picture quality was amazing, better than ATV movie quality.
Sold my ATV for 86% of what I originally paid for it on craigslist!
Last weekend I wanted to watch Frost/Nixon before the Oscars and was bummed to find out it wasn't playing in theatres that weekend in my city. Downloaded off the web and streamed to my PS3, picture quality was amazing, better than ATV movie quality.
Sold my ATV for 86% of what I originally paid for it on craigslist!
So, you're saying you engaged in illegal download activities...no wonder you didn't like AppleTV. It doesn't support the typical pirate formats found on the torrent sites.
AppleTV was good, but my PS3 has been a MUCH better investment as far as a home theatre device. It does all my gaming, movies, and fulfills all my entertainment needs a sleek, and shiny box
Used an AppleTV for over a year extensively and finally gave up after PS3mediaserver came out. On the fly 720p .mkv transcoding (with my PS3 connected to Airport Express for 802.11n) is just perfect. Video artwork too. The descriptions and all were nice but i never cared for them really. Was just there for show. I actually watch my content now that i dont have to encode it PLUS i play music on it PLUS i watch blurays on it PLUS i play games on it PLUS i browse the net on it (Dinovo Mini says hi)
If you don't have kids or a girlfriend to worry about UI issues (and really the PS3 UI is gorgeous) then a PS3 is the ultimate media server. Renting/buying off iTunes? No thanks
If you don't have kids or a girlfriend to worry about UI issues (and really the PS3 UI is gorgeous) then a PS3 is the ultimate media server. Renting/buying off iTunes? No thanks
it does it fact have 11g but i have it wired to an Airport Express 11n in bridge mode. So with the Express in bridge mode on an 11n network and my PS3 internet connection set to ethernet i get 11n speeds as im not using the PS3's in built wifi at all which makes for amazingly fast wifi streaming
AppleTV was good, but my PS3 has been a MUCH better investment as far as a home theatre device. It does all my gaming, movies, and fulfills all my entertainment needs a sleek, and shiny box
The problem is that the PS3 handles media as an afterthought, while the Apple TV was made for the task, along with its sister products. The interface is elegant, streamlined, and made for controlling over a remote.
Plus you can control your Apple TV from your iPhone/iPod Touch and take your content with you on your phone when you're done, just by using the iTunes interface you're already familiar with.
an afterthought?
multiple codec support across pictures, music and movies is hardly an afterthought. consistent firmware upgrades (which heavily outweigh what apple have done with
tv) show that future media expansion is supported too. add bluray to the mix as well as fantastic upscaling on files and DVDs. Album artwork is supported with music and if you're that tied to iTunes MediaLink can stream your playlists over just like itunes does to tv. I could go on much longer. My tv is my afterthought......
multiple codec support across pictures, music and movies is hardly an afterthought. consistent firmware upgrades (which heavily outweigh what apple have done with
tv) show that future media expansion is supported too. add bluray to the mix as well as fantastic upscaling on files and DVDs. Album artwork is supported with music and if you're that tied to iTunes MediaLink can stream your playlists over just like itunes does to tv. I could go on much longer. My tv is my afterthought......I know... he probably touches himself at night.
Which can be remedied easily with a hack, and yet the ATV is still worthless because it can't play high bitrate content.
Me too. If Podcasts are available on the PSN store, it will be very nice.