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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.

It is encoded in 3.1 using handbrake even tried ajusting some of the advanced setting, nothing seemed to mae the video play smoothly
 
The Handbrake team have also noticed stuttering via wifi. One tried a wide variety of encodes but the stuttering remained consistent, which makes little sense if the hardware is too weak (less complicated encodes should do better than more complicated encodes). His working guess is that the wifi just can't keep up, so he was planning to try some wired connections with the same videos and report. He hasn't reported on that yet.

I can post from experience with the old one that wifi can be the culprit for some stuttering, even on lessor videos (like 720p and SD encodes). As a result, I've used a long-term wired setup which has always performed well. Those testing 1080p encodes and seeing some stuttering issues, might want to temporarily hook up the cat5e cable, test the exact same videos, and see if that makes any difference. My somewhat-educated guess is that it will make a difference (though small conciliation for those who cannot- or choose to not- have a permanent wired connection).
 
Yeah for the best experience streaming 1080p you are going to need to be on ethernet on both ends. Even the PS3 drops frames streaming 1080p over wifi N. Wifi N on just one of the devices is usually pretty reliable if you have a good connection though. A Wifi G connection on either device is definitely not going to work well. You need a direct ethernet connection on both devices to ensure a good experience streaming 1080p and preferably gigabit.

In other words, streaming 1080p is a "bag of hurt" :D and not practical for most people which is why Apple decided on 720p. I wired up my home with gigabit ethernet connections to every room when I had it built but people like me are in a very small minority.
 
In other words, streaming 1080p is a "bag of hurt" :D and not practical for most people which is why Apple decided on 720p. I wired up my home with gigabit ethernet connections to every room when I had it built but people like me are in a very small minority.


I have both my basement computer and family room ATV on a gigabit ethernet connection. It works perfectly together.

Same computer and bedroom ATV which is 5 Ghz WiFi, and it works OK with 720p.

With different computer that is WiFi only (2 Ghz) and bedroom ATV, the streaming slow down. It is a long wait to start program and it stuttered once in an hour with a 720p signal.

I have to figure a way to get wired on the second floor.

BTW
I am using a Dual Band Airport Extreme
 
I have both my basement computer and family room ATV on a gigabit ethernet connection. It works perfectly together.

Same computer and bedroom ATV which is 5 Ghz WiFi, and it works OK with 720p.

With different computer that is WiFi only (2 Ghz) and bedroom ATV, the streaming slow down. It is a long wait to start program and it stuttered once in an hour with a 720p signal.

I have to figure a way to get wired on the second floor.

BTW
I am using a Dual Band Airport Extreme

This is the same thing with my experience. I am not surprised at all. Except I did all my testing with a PS3 and 1080p content. I came to the realization that streaming HD content was definitely going to require an ethernet connection for me to be at all satisfied. It will work on Wifi but the experience can be frustrating. Forget about trying it with G speeds. For N, you need at least one of the devices on ethernet and the wireless one must have a strong connection.
 
In other words, streaming 1080p is a "bag of hurt" :D and not practical for most people which is why Apple decided on 720p. I wired up my home with gigabit ethernet connections to every room when I had it built but people like me are in a very small minority.

I see the "big grin" so I'm hoping that's not a shot to try to restart the debate about 720p vs. 1080p again (been done over and over in other threads). I can say that I have a LOT of experience with this particular issue using the old :apple:TV, and the result was the same with 720p content too: some stuttering over wifi, not stuttering when wired. I have a pretty robust setup, so if Apple wanted to build for the "masses", they probably shouldn't embrace 720p either, as it too seems to be able to push beyond the limits of wifi in some cases. Clearly, neither camp seems to want that though.

There is little doubt that a wired setup is going to be better (I even chose the wired keyboard option for the new iMac i7 Quad for this reason). The thing I would like to know is whether guys- like BlackMangoTree- reporting 1080p content stuttering are trying to stream via wifi. And, if so, could they make a temporary wired connection and try the exact same video again to see if it stutters.

Both here and at the Handbrake forums, there's some people reporting good results playing 1080p files on :apple:TV, though some report stuttering and some don't. It seems lots of people are trying to chase down if this is:
  • a wifi problem?
  • an encoding problem (too intense for Apple TV)?
  • an AppleTV weakness (it just can't do it at a reliable level)?
The first one is easy to rule out with some wired testing. Lots of people seem to be working on the second one (indeed, the cousin of this thread over at handbrake involves a search for the perfect, works-with-about-everything encoding parameters for 1080p video). Only Apple probably knows the 3rd one with absolute certainty.
 
Supposedly, the A4 is a rebranded Cortex A9, which can do 1080p. Not sure about framerate, though. A9 specs on NVidia board:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra_250.html

facepalm8wky.jpg
 
Are you on wifi or ethernet?

I have tried both wireless N and ethernet no difference.

After lots of tests i have found the Apple TV just can't do 1080 well, even the quicktime HD trailers i have tried and they drop frames.

I can't see how wifi could make is stutter. Even when the movie have fully loaded onto the Apple Tv it still drops frames.

Apple Tv just can't 1080p at this stage.
 
I have tried both wireless N and ethernet no difference.

After lots of tests i have found the Apple TV just can't do 1080 well, even the quicktime HD trailers i have tried and they drop frames.

I can't see how wifi could make is stutter. Even when the movie have fully loaded onto the Apple Tv it still drops frames.

Apple Tv just can't 1080p at this stage.

That's not good.
I was so pumped yesterday. :(
 
The WiFi in the Apple TV may be the problem. Since it's based upon the same chip set as in the iPad and the WiFi in the iPad has been shown (by some -- your results may vary) to be rather slow. Those who are having problems with WiFi should check the link rate that is reported by their basestation (to the Apple TV). If it's anything like the iPad the link rate may be down in the teens which is an order of magnitude below what a really good 802.11n system should deliver.

If you must use wireless you may have better luck using a dedicated wireless basestation to establish an extended network from which you can run wired Ethernet to the Apple TV. This is usually the best setup for the TV/living room anyway since you'll likely have additional internet connected devices in that same location. My preferred setup used a Ethernet switch to connect my Apple TV, Playstation 3, SlingBox, and a PowerPC Mac mini to an AirPort Express which provided the wireless link to my AirPort Extreme and cable modem (which were located in another part of the house).
 
Me too.

Others are claiming some success with 1080p. So my hopes are not entirely in the dumper. But that does seem bad. Now if someone can just post something saying it's working flawlessly for them.

BlackMangoTree, is there 1+ particular 1080p trailer that is problematic for you? Maybe if you identify a particular one or two, someone else who thinks its working well for them could try that trailer(s) and see what happens?

wifi can make it stutter for the same reasons that some are so quick to claim "720p is good enough": bandwidth. If your home wifi bandwidth gets tight, or the receiving machine didn't quite get what it needed, or other devices in your home are "online" (and thus taking a share of wifi at the same time), etc, they could eat up some home bandwidth and slow down your signal flows. Wired rules out stuff like wifi interference, the types of materials in your home's construction, etc. If it's still happening with wired, either:
  • it just can't do 1080p (or at least some 1080p)
  • the encodes are too intense (which is pretty much the first one)
  • something cramping your signal flow at your house (router?)
The only one that would be great news for everyone else is the third one. The second one could turn into something good (the Handbrake guys are working through that one). The first one is the dreaded one for everyone.

I've seen posts by others saying it's working for them. So at least there's still some hope.
 
wifi interference, the types of materials in your home's construction, etc. If it's still happening with wired, either:
  • it just can't do 1080p (or at least some 1080p)
  • the encodes are too intense (which is pretty much the first one)
  • something cramping your signal flow at your house (router?)
The only one that would be great news for everyone else is the third one. The second one could turn into something good (the Handbrake guys are working through that one). The first one is the dreaded one for everyone.

I've seen posts by others saying it's working for them. So at least there's still some hope.
The AppleTV buffers content, even local stuff. So even if your network is bogged down, it will just pause and wait.
 
I can't see how ethernet or wifi will produce different results. WirelessN is more than fast enough to load the full movie onto the Apple Tv in no time at all and from my tests wirelessN and ethernet to the Apple Tv are about the same speed.

Id love to get 1080p playing smoothly, i have tried many files encoded in may ways and no luck at all. Too many dropped frames.
 
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...

I have 720p 4.1 high profile working......better to let it buffer for a few minutes.

Also 5.0 main profile standard def seems to work fine.

Interestingly, loaded a 720p 4.1 high profile last night.....
Switched to iTunes music playlist for a couple songs...
Came back to the AppleTv 20 hours later, woke it up, reconnected with my iTunes, selected the same movie......

The whole movie is still loaded in that 8GB memory/buffer!!!!!

Tested fast forwarding thru the whole movie....it's all there, no reloading :)

Going to test my canon T2i footage later
 
The 1080p Harry Potter trailer that people claim plays fine doesn't for me you can clearly see frames being dropped. The trailer is fully loaded onto the Apple TV.
 
It'll play 'em ... BUT will mix them down to Dolby Pro Logic 2.

Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: sort of

Great! i encode all my DVDs using Nero recode to Mpeg4, h264 with 5.1 AAC.

anyone else have success playing nero recode videos?? Sorry for all the questions, but i don't want to end up buying a device that won't work. My PS3 does a great job of streaming these types of videos from my PC. Only reason i would go for the ATV is if it can do this at a lower price.
 
The 1080p Harry Potter trailer that people claim plays fine doesn't for me you can clearly see frames being dropped. The trailer is fully loaded onto the Apple TV.

A guy using the name LowLight, posted this over at the Handbrake forums:

"I just tried downloading the 1080P Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows trailer from the Quicktime website. I dropped it into itunes and streamed it to the ATV2 where it played within seconds and without any hitches. It obviously downgraded the resolution to 720P but I was impressed with how fast it loaded up. Of note, I'm using 80211-N. When someone hacks into this thing and allows it to display in 1080P, the real tests will start"

So, could someone else be the tiebreaker here? Maybe a couple of people?
 
The 1080p Harry Potter trailer that people claim plays fine doesn't for me you can clearly see frames being dropped. The trailer is fully loaded onto the Apple TV.

do you have a n-router? if it is dropping frames, you're wireless connection is probably not optimal. try adjusting your router position to get a better signal.
 
do you have a n-router? if it is dropping frames, you're wireless connection is probably not optimal. try adjusting your router position to get a better signal.

The AppleTV buffers, even locally streamed content. The network will NOT affect playback quality. It will affect how quickly the stream starts.
 
do you have a n-router? if it is dropping frames, you're wireless connection is probably not optimal. try adjusting your router position to get a better signal.

N or ethernet makes no difference,the network speed makes zero difference. i am playing the movie back from the HDD, the video is fully loaded onto the Apple TV
 
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