Here is what PowerVR can decode:
http://www.imgtec.com/factsheets/powervr/POWERVR_VXD_Video_Decoder_IP_Core_Family.pdf
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New Apple TV DOES Handle 1080P
- Thread starter newagemac
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Here is what PowerVR can decode:
http://www.imgtec.com/factsheets/powervr/POWERVR_VXD_Video_Decoder_IP_Core_Family.pdf
Yes, I hit it during playback but it isn't necessarily file information. It could just be reporting back out what the ATV2 says it is which is a 720p device. Playing the same file from the Mac Mini/Plex and doing an info the TV shows 1080p.
I am having much better luck with playing video over ethernet rather than wirelessN, videos that struggle on WirelessN play perfect over ethernet.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p It's the max for 720p as speced by the ATSC HD standards. Basically, I take it to mean that if the display can handle it, it gives you excellent detail in fast motion or camera pans, reducing judder (jumps) common at slower fps speeds. The long-term justification for it has always been pitched as best for fast-moving sports.
I shoot a lot of sports, and have been looking at 60fps video cameras.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I wonder how we could nail this down for sure??? Does an HDMI connected HDTV show whatever the source says it should show, or does it show whatever it's really getting? I would guess the latter, but your subjective evaluations that 1080p encodes look better than 720p encodes sure makes one wonder.
I suppose if there was a way to connect the HDMI cable to some kind of recorder, some of that video output from the
TV could be recorded, and then we could look at the Quicktime properties of that recording to see what's really coming out of the TV. I would think that would work since we're not pumping DRM'd content through HDMI. But I don't know for sure.Maybe somebody has an HDMI to mini-display port cable and the necessary stuff to try that? Or anything else that let's them record a little non-DRM'd video via HDMI?
One more time, THANK YOU for continuing to try all this stuff, and report.
Again, I don't have an (new version)
You don't have to do it anyone can, but if you did you could supply that video to someone who had one of the new Apple TVs. Furthermore, with the frame numbers you might be able to determine whether each frame is being displayed or whether it is being down sampled to a lower rate. With a properly designed set of test images you could even check for dropped frames (maybe a spinning wheel -- one quarter black and three quarters white -- where each frame advances by 1/4 turn).
I can't really help beyond this suggestion since my only internet connected device right now is my iPad 3G. I can't even use my newly purchased Apple TV since it requires an internet connection to complete the setup (it doesn't even allow you to stream from a computer unless you can connect to the iTunes Store to verify your Apple ID -- a limitation apparently caused by its new reliance on Home Sharing to connect between the computer/iTunes and the Apple TV).
Various 720p 60fps videos play perfectly, though i can't be sure since my TV doesn't have the info. They do look butter smooth though.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
If they are being passed at 720p60fps, "butter smooth" is what they should look like. Do any of them have a lot of fast action, such as the camera moving rapidly left & right (like shooting a Tennis or Basketball game from half court sidelines)?
I don't know for certain, but this is where I found the A9 reference:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/apples-a4-is-an-arm-based-system-on-a-chip-a-la-tegra-2/
Guys,
Thanks for the effort in looking into this.
I have a good feeling that ATV 2 might indeed be the HTPC I am looking for. Sorry MacMini.
I just hope they also find a way to hack it for support for external storage without a Mac on at all times.
1080p is great because I want to transcode everything at that resolution, even if ATV doesn't play it now, maybe down the road they will. Just don't want to transcode at 720p and repeat it later at 1080p. That is a hassle.
Thanks for the effort in looking into this.
I have a good feeling that ATV 2 might indeed be the HTPC I am looking for. Sorry MacMini.
I just hope they also find a way to hack it for support for external storage without a Mac on at all times.
1080p is great because I want to transcode everything at that resolution, even if ATV doesn't play it now, maybe down the road they will. Just don't want to transcode at 720p and repeat it later at 1080p. That is a hassle.
Nope, the A4 has a Cortex a8 with the SGX535 as the graphics core. Not sure what they use for video since the the SGX535 only handles the graphics and the PowerVR VXD handles the video.
Guys,
Thanks for the effort in looking into this.
I have a good feeling that ATV 2 might indeed be the HTPC I am looking for. Sorry MacMini.
I just hope they also find a way to hack it for support for external storage without a Mac on at all times.
1080p is great because I want to transcode everything at that resolution, even if ATV doesn't play it now, maybe down the road they will. Just don't want to transcode at 720p and repeat it later at 1080p. That is a hassle.
You can encode everything to 1080P right now and the aTV will down scale it to 720P
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
That's not confirmed yet. The guys over in the Handbrake forums are doing a lot of experimenting searching for the limits along these lines. There are limits, but they don't know them yet.
It does appear favorable that things are going to work in that direction: encode video at 1080p if you like, and this
TV will be able to dynamically down-convert it to 720p and push it to your HDTV. Personally, I consider that a much more favorable OPTION to being forced to live within the published specs, which, in my case, would mean encoding a 1080p file for the long-term archives AND a 720p copy for TV, OR having to go with one of the alternatives to TV so that the one master render could be used. In general, it looks like a pretty good spec of 1080p encoding is going to be compatible with the new
TV. I would guess the Handbrake crew will have some solidly definitive info on this soon.However, it is funny that they keep referring back to this thread, as people here are figuring some things out faster than they are. Either way, we all win as definitive info matures thorough collective efforts of all involved. I- for one- certainly appreciate everyone testing and posting results. It's great to learn that there is more to this little box than immediately meets the eye (and published specs).
That's not confirmed yet. The guys over in the Handbrake forums are doing a lot of experimenting searching for the limits along these lines. There are limits, but they don't know them yet.
It does appear favorable that things are going to work in that direction: encode video at 1080p if you like, and this
In general, it looks like a pretty good spec of 1080p encoding is going to be compatible with the new
However, it is funny that they keep referring back to this thread, as people here are figuring some things out faster than they are. Either way, we all win as definitive info matures thorough collective efforts of all involved. I certainly appreciate everyone testing and posting results.
Yep! It's gonna be great if I can encode all my Blu-Rays to M4V 1080P and keep the HD Audio for future proofing for a new Apple TV and for the current Apple TV
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Absolutely. It should also help with your massive storage server project too: one master copy to feed your Apple TV, instead of two copies of the same video (or 3 if you are also still wanting to archive the entire discs).
Yeah I'd like it if someone got it to the point where you can stream media to ATV. I have all of my DVDs and BD/HD rips on a NAS in an MKV container. I pretty much left the rips as is and did not re-encode them, so I'm hoping something will come out to let me view them on ATV. I would really want one of these for the bedroom as I have HTPCs in my main viewing areas already.
All Fox, ABC, and related networks' HD content is 720p60. And other networks.
Plus, many digicams that double as HD video camcorders have 720p60.
And TVs are generally 60Hz. You may have also seen the late trend of multiples of 60 in LCD TVs. 120Hz, 240Hz models. They will generally accept 24 or 30Hz input, but the output is usually 24, 60, 120, 240.
Great News!
Could someone test which levels are supported (3.1, 4.1, 5.1)? And is it possible to change the level without complete reencoding?
And one question more, what exactely is the difference between 4.0 and 4.1? I only know, that higher levels support higher resolution and more bitrate...
Could someone test which levels are supported (3.1, 4.1, 5.1)? And is it possible to change the level without complete reencoding?
And one question more, what exactely is the difference between 4.0 and 4.1? I only know, that higher levels support higher resolution and more bitrate...
It does appear favorable that things are going to work in that direction: encode video at 1080p if you like, and this
But, but, but... What about HD audio? I doubt the ATV will be able to extract the core 5.1 audio from that.
Also, 1080p24 has no equivalent in 720p. My TV has no mode for 720p24. I've always bought gear that can display movies as intended, so it looks like the ATV is not for me in that respect. I hate judder.
I hear you about not having to archive stuff in two formats. But isn't the ATV about enjoying content? What's to enjoy if you have to jump through all these hoops to make it work? Decoding 1080p, scaling it to 720p and then having my display scale it back up to 1080p (native panel resolution) is just silly. This is 2010, I'm done with crap like that.
I have all my Blu-rays ripped as untouched ISO's so I'd have to redo everything anyway, lose all the menus in the process, be worried about subtitle support etc. It's just not worth the hassle. The whole point about internet bandwidth and streaming is also moot as Apple doesn't offer anything to stream in my country. Shame, as my connection can sustain 20 Mbit.
So I bit the bullet and bought an HDI Dune yesterday. It plays absolutely everything, Blu-rays play as if you popped in the disc, full menus, HD audio bitstreaming, 24/30/50/60 Hz, deep colour etc. I may still buy the ATV to do AirPlay, but the Airport Express is cheaper.
So, nice device when you live in the US. For my needs, the Dune is a better choice right now. We'll see how this hobby evolves.
To really stress test the ATV2 you could try the "killa sample" that people have used to test XBMC installs. A quick Google should find the file.
Basically it's a high bitrate MKV file (would need to be converted (or maybe remuxed?) to Apple safe files) taken from BBC Planet Earth. It's a shot of thousands of birds flying as the camera zooms out. The specs are 1080p, 33.1 Mbps 5.1 profile 16 ref frames video sequence.
Each one of those dots is a bird. It's certainly a breathtaking scene on Blu-Ray.
Very demanding sample but some XBMC Live install's a ION hardware can run it smoothly.
Basically it's a high bitrate MKV file (would need to be converted (or maybe remuxed?) to Apple safe files) taken from BBC Planet Earth. It's a shot of thousands of birds flying as the camera zooms out. The specs are 1080p, 33.1 Mbps 5.1 profile 16 ref frames video sequence.
Each one of those dots is a bird. It's certainly a breathtaking scene on Blu-Ray.
Very demanding sample but some XBMC Live install's a ION hardware can run it smoothly.
I don't know what 1080p video people are playing i have yet to manage to get any 1080p to play back smoothly, far too many dropped frames. Out of the box 1080p is rather poor.
Check the h.264 profile used to encode it. The standard in low powered devices is Profile 3.1 (or Main Profile). The higher profiles are more computationally intensive to decode but produce better picture quality at the same bit rate. If you have media that isn't playing smoothly, consider re-encoding it in a lower profile at a higher bit rate.