yes
Yes and the difference is quite noticeable (compared to composite on the same tv).
Yes and the difference is quite noticeable (compared to composite on the same tv).
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itv(apple tv) only for widescreens?
- Thread starter ankushpatel
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Apple TV works with regular old standard def 4:3 TVs!
Check out item #2 on this site:
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts/Article/appleTV-2007-03-22-21-30
Check out item #2 on this site:
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts/Article/appleTV-2007-03-22-21-30
Apparently not, nor my recent post suggesting how they're sufficient to answer questions like that.
The AppleTV has no "TV ratio" setting, it always outputs in 16:9, so you'll get everything in anamorphic on your TV, just like me (36" 4:3). There's no letterboxing feature/setting, unfortunatly.
I find it sad that a simple firmware update could fix this problem. And I find it weird that they don't support 4:3 sets but do support 480i even though you need components or HDMI input on your TV to use it. Is there even such a thing as a widescreen TV with component inputs but that can't do 480p?
Just got my Apple TV today. The good news is that it works with 4:3 aspect ratio televisions. The bad news is that it scrunches everything because it's output is 16:9. It was very noticeable at 480i. However I switched to 576i (which I think must be for LCD screens) and the scrunching was reduced a lot. It isn't perfect, but everything looked a lot closer to normal compared to 480i. So if you've got a 4:3 give 576i a try and see what you think.
480 is for NTSC, 60Hz (America, Japan), 576 is for PAL, 50Hz (Europe and other places).
Yup, I have one.
The majority of widescreen sets sold from '97 to early '99ish would probably fall into that small category.
I'm not sure exactly when component inputs became available, but once DVDs hit the market in early '97, the vast majority (all?) of widescreens sets had component inputs. Just a couple years later, once the the 480p/720p/1080i sets arrived, and the widescreen/480i/component "combo" obviously disappeared.
Seems DVD players are the reason why many non-widescreen SDTV's also have component video input. When I bought a new TV several years ago I made sure it had component video support to use with my older DVD player, but decided 480i was enough (and cheaper) since that player was pre-progressive scan anyway. And progressive scan DVD was just gaining momentum, still too pricey to upgrade mine with a better TV for it.
I wonder how many people have less expensive progressive scan DVD players they bought after their older 480i SDTVs that only have S-Video input at best. They'd have more to immediately gain with a newer TV than me because I'm still using the older DVD player though now it would be relatively inexpensive to update.
Do you have a photo of what the image looks like when it is scrunched? I would like to see how bad it really morphs the image. Right now I have a Songa Wega that is about 6 years old but works perfect and even though I would like to buy a nice new TV don't have the budget right now but would like the
TV to watch some TV shows I have on iTunes. If anyone can post a sample here that would be great.
Apple TV Rocks with Standard Def TVs
I have an Apple TV and a three year old TV with component (and composite) inputs. I use the component input to my TV and the audio to my stereo.
During setup you specify 480i, 480p, 720p, etc. and I just chose 480i. I also tried 480p, it was worth a try, but it didn't work. I saw an image, two of them actually, sort of like a stereoscopic image. So progressive does not equal interlaced.
I don't want to get rid of my old tv until it dies and fill up the land fill unnecessarily and I don't want to hasten its departure. When it does die then I will upgrade.
Right now, I play music videos on it and I can play my whole iTunes library through my Stereo. I have also played purchased movies and though I didn't see a side by side comparison. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty compelling compared to the DVD. Looked great.
I've also seen the baseball game Red Sox vs. KC Royals with Dice K pitching. I saw a little vertical letter boxing, about an inch. But it still looked great, had no commercials and the local KC announcers ( a little bit biased ) but enjoyable. I only had to pay $2 for that game rather than $15-40 a month to subscribe to a network. This is going to be nice for the amount of sports I watch.
I know Apple is not wanting to get peoples hopes up who don't have component inputs on their SDTVs but it really is great for those of us who haven't been spoiled with HDTV quality yet.
Love my TV with SDTV.
I have an Apple TV and a three year old TV with component (and composite) inputs. I use the component input to my TV and the audio to my stereo.
During setup you specify 480i, 480p, 720p, etc. and I just chose 480i. I also tried 480p, it was worth a try, but it didn't work. I saw an image, two of them actually, sort of like a stereoscopic image. So progressive does not equal interlaced.
I don't want to get rid of my old tv until it dies and fill up the land fill unnecessarily and I don't want to hasten its departure. When it does die then I will upgrade.
Right now, I play music videos on it and I can play my whole iTunes library through my Stereo. I have also played purchased movies and though I didn't see a side by side comparison. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty compelling compared to the DVD. Looked great.
I've also seen the baseball game Red Sox vs. KC Royals with Dice K pitching. I saw a little vertical letter boxing, about an inch. But it still looked great, had no commercials and the local KC announcers ( a little bit biased ) but enjoyable. I only had to pay $2 for that game rather than $15-40 a month to subscribe to a network. This is going to be nice for the amount of sports I watch.
I know Apple is not wanting to get peoples hopes up who don't have component inputs on their SDTVs but it really is great for those of us who haven't been spoiled with HDTV quality yet.
Love my
TV with SDTV.Actually not all TVs do this. Mine doesn't. It's usually the job of the playback box to letterbox the content or not, depending on the playback box TV setting. However the
TV doesn't have such a setting. My DVD player has it, my Nintendo Wii has it, my Xbox 360 has it. But not the TV.There is a converter box coming soon, however while it seems to letterbox the content it will also force you to use S-Video instead of components. And then forget about 4:3 content, it will have a black border all around (letterboxing from the converter + pillarboxing from the
TV). It also seem to have a US$40 rebate until the release date, April 30.If your TV doesn't have a letterboxing/16:9 mode, don't plan on buying anything from the iTunes Store and simply use the
TV with your own encoded content, there is a solution.Since the
TV assumes a 16:9 screen, all you have to do is encode your movies with the wrong aspect ratio. If a movie is 720x400, encode to 720x300. It will look wrong on your computer or a widescreen TV, but it will display correctly from the TV to your 4:3 TV.Why Apple didn't add a simple "TV type" setting is beyond me. Even if the
TV supported old square TVs that wouldn't mean they'd have to do their marketing with a square TV. 
What the
TV outputs is actually anamorphic:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_format#Development
Actually not all TVs do this. Mine doesn't. It's usually the job of the playback box to letterbox the content or not, depending on the playback box TV setting. However the
There is a converter box coming soon, however while it seems to letterbox the content it will also force you to use S-Video instead of components. And then forget about 4:3 content, it will have a black border all around (letterboxing from the converter + pillarboxing from the
If your TV doesn't have a letterboxing/16:9 mode, don't plan on buying anything from the iTunes Store and simply use the
Since the
Why Apple didn't add a simple "TV type" setting is beyond me. Even if the
They will hopefully update the software to accomodate 4:3 sets. I have a front projector in 4:3. I use its 16:9 mode to squish the picture. But then there's the problem of watching Star Trek: Remastered on my XB360, the original parts has black all around it - sort of tacky...
Anyone know if there is an easy way to check if your 4:3 tv supports "widescreen" mode? I have an older Samsung that has component in but I couldn't find anything in the documentation about it. It does have a "zoom" mode but this just seems to stretch the picture vertically. Any ideas? Thanks!
There should be something for 16:9 in your menu. I have a older sony wega (about 7 or 8 years old) and when I go into the menu and then seutp I do have a control to switch to 16:9, so I think this would work with the Tv. (don't have mine yet, but might get one soon)
Tv. (don't have mine yet, but might get one soon)
I don't know what this guy did, or how he did it, but I've tested it myself and I can't make any 853x480 mode appear in that list.
Well, to tell you the truth the test was mostly for myself since my TV is 4:3 and doesn't have a 16:9/letterbox mode. I have to encode my DVDs and TV shows with the wrong aspect ratio so they show up correctly when played back through the
TV. edit: I went to Future Shop with my
TV (the guy who helped me didn't know what it was), and I tested to see if the "hidden video modes" would appear when connect via HDMI (what alakaboo wrote) and it's just not true. And yes the TV was in 480p just like he said.I don't know why alakaboo would start false rumors like that.