Macbook/ATV/Plasma 1080i/photo resolution ?'s

[japyke]

Hi everyone,
newbie ?/situation.
I have a macbook with lots of high resolution photos which I'd like to show on an older 1080i plasma with component video connectors. (The HDMI port is burned out). The resolution I'm striving for is 1080i which my camera will export directly via HDMI (I've seen this on friends HDTV's with HDMI port).
I read on wikipedia that HDcamera photos may be downgraded in ATV.
First question: Is there any linkage between the 1280x800 screen on my macbook and the images that will be loaded onto the ATV? Does the Synching compress high resolution/high MB photos onto the ATV, and does the ATV expand the photos back up in resolution based upon the HDTV?
Second question: If I successfully sync high resolution photos on macbook to an ATV do I choose what resolution I want the ATV to send to the TV?
Third question: Is 1080i any better than 720p with static photos as opposed to video?
Summary question: If I pony up and get a ATV will I be able to see 720p photos on my "HD" TV (read not 1080p). Do you think they'd compare to an 1080i HDMI output direct from the camera to a 1080i TV with an HDMI port?

I feel like I've asked the same question 5 times! So I'm just going to throw it out there. FYI I did search the forum but got bogged down. Apologies for a repeat question if applicable.

Thanks.

 

[kolax]

1. Any photo above the resolution of 1024x768 is effectively "High Definition". The screen resolution on your Mac does not affect the size or resolution of the photo. The pictures aren't tampered with during syncing. But remember, HD 1080 resolution is 2.07 megapixels. Anything above that, and it will be scaled to the 1920x1080 resolution on your TV.

2. You can configure if you want your Apple TV to be either 720p (1280x720) or 1080p/i (1920x1080) in the settings.

3. 1080 is much better than 720 for viewing photos too - but you may only notice the greater level of detail if you are closer to your TV. It is all related to how far from your TV you are.

Viewing photos on your TV at 720p will downscale them (it won't actually alter the photo resolution) to be about 1 megapixel. But they will still look great. From your last question I'd assume that you have a 720p TV and a 1080i TV. It depends upon your TV size and how far you are from your TV to determine how much difference you'll see compared to 720p to 1080p/i.

And you won't notice any difference between component and HDMI if your TV is any good.

 

[japyke]

Hi
Thanks Kilamite for responding to my questions.

Have the ATV hooked up now. With respect to handling photos the whole HD/resolution/scaling issue, while important, is pretty much dealt with by the ATV and the photos look great at the 1080i setting.

However, There's definately a learning curve with the ATV which I'm on.

Like the syncing/streaming issue. The ATV seems to have a mind of its own and the syncing seems to happen but when, how much, and why I'm not exactly sure of. I'm at the point where I've got content on the ATV (photos only at this point, I don't even have the audio cords hooked up). I've got my whole iphoto library on the ATV as well as my albums and it works independently of my computer so that's good. Next I've got to figure out how to get my partner/housemate and her Mac up and running.

General question: Is there any way to shut this thing down? Is there any reason to? How much electricity does it use when it just sits there with its green light on?

I know this thing will be upgraded and eventually I could run out of memory, but for $230 this "ipod for TV" seems to be a pretty good value and definately meets my needs for now.

Thanks again.

 

[kolax]

Like the syncing/streaming issue. The ATV seems to have a mind of its own and the syncing seems to happen but when, how much, and why I'm not exactly sure of. I'm at the point where I've got content on the ATV (photos only at this point, I don't even have the audio cords hooked up). I've got my whole iphoto library on the ATV as well as my albums and it works independently of my computer so that's good. Next I've got to figure out how to get my partner/housemate and her Mac up and running.

No problem. You choose what you want to sync to the Apple TV - just go to the Apple TV tab in iTunes, and flick through the TV Shows, Movies, Photo tabs and try to understand what each does. It'll make sense soon.

As for setting up your partner's Mac, turn on the Apple TV, go to Settings --> Computers --> Add Shared iTunes Library. Then anything that is on your partner's Mac will be able to be accessed on the Apple TV.

Note that if she has any TV Shows, it'll be under the TV Shows, then her TV Shows, not "My TV Shows". Same applies to Movies, Music etc.

General question: Is there any way to shut this thing down? Is there any reason to? How much electricity does it use when it just sits there with its green light on?

You hold the play button for 5 seconds to "turn it off". Although it doesn't really turn it off, just a half standby mode. Also, the hard drive tends to keep spinning as long as it is plugged in.

And it doesn't go into standby itself, which is another really annoying thing. I'm sure Apple will address this in a software update in the future.

I'm not sure how much power it uses (green light? Sure it isn't white?) when in standby or on - but I have all my stuff, TV, Home Cinema, Apple TV etc etc going into a big power brick, and when no one is using any of it, it just gets turned off at the wall.

Leaving anything in standby mode, like TV's, still drain a fair bit of power. Best thing is to flick it off at the wall.