Specs for rented HD and SD content?

[slate1]

I'm curious - and surely someone has done it - have any of the hackers taken a look at the download on the TV to determine bit-rate, etc.? I'm especially curious as to if SD movies and television shows purchased on the TV differ from those purchased via itunes.

The reason I ask is that I purchased a copy of Disney's "8 Below" a few weeks back prior to the update via iTunes. The video quality is what I would describe as "all right" but nowhere near the quality of the standard definition movies I've rented since the update.

 

[Cave Man]

Yes, scroll down the page for "dissection of an hd rental".

 

[Avatar74]

I'm curious - and surely someone has done it - have any of the hackers taken a look at the download on the TV to determine bit-rate, etc.? I'm especially curious as to if SD movies and television shows purchased on the TV differ from those purchased via itunes.

The reason I ask is that I purchased a copy of Disney's "8 Below" a few weeks back prior to the update via iTunes. The video quality is what I would describe as "all right" but nowhere near the quality of the standard definition movies I've rented since the update.

SD and HD movies rented on AppleTV are SD 480p (DV NTSC) and HD 720p (ATSC) as far as I know. The movies purchased on iTunes are just under SD resolution (640 wide if I'm not mistaken), so as to be compatible with iTunes, iPod, iPhone and AppleTV interchangeably.

 

[zedsdead]

SD and HD movies rented on AppleTV are SD 480p (DV NTSC) and HD 720p (ATSC) as far as I know. The movies purchased on iTunes are just under SD resolution (640 wide if I'm not mistaken), so as to be compatible with iTunes, iPod, iPhone and AppleTV interchangeably.

Rentals:
Apple TV HD - Main Progressive Profile at 1280xN at 4-5mps, 5.1 AC-3 Pass Through.
Apple TV SD - Main Progressive Profile at 720xN Anamorphic (creates 853xN files), likely 2.5 mps.
iTunes SD - iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN - Now Anamorphic (which creates 853xN files), 1.5 mps (maybe higher).

Purchases:
iTunes/Apple TV - iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN, 1.5 mps.

The purchase quality is simply ridiculous at this point. Apple is handicapping content for one reason: compatibility with the 5th generation iPod's. Sorry, but the iPhone, iPod Touch, Nano, Classic, Apple TV and all Macs can play the Anamorphic encodes at bit rates higher than 1.5. Time to move on, especially with purchased content.

For the record: I have purchased some movies on iTunes, and many TV Shows, and the quality is good enough for me not to have the DVD, but given that Apple has better encodes now and they are choosing not to use them will cause me not to buy anymore until the quality is increased.

 

[Avatar74]

Apple TV HD - Main Progressive Profile at 1280xN at 5mps.
Apple TV SD - Main Progressive Profile at 720xN Anamorphic (creates 853xN files), likely 2.5 mps.
iTunes SD - iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN - Now Anamorphic (which creates 853xN files), 1.5 mps (maybe higher).
iTunes Purchases - iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN, 1.5 mps.

Correct. The other thing I'd add is that the HD downloads have an AC-3 bitstream though I'm not sure if they use the DVD bitstream (448 Kbps, metadata inclusive) or theatrical equivalent (320 Kbps, no metadata)

 

[slate1]

Apple TV HD - Main Progressive Profile at 1280xN at 5mps, 5.1 AC-3 Pass Through.
Apple TV SD - Main Progressive Profile at 720xN Anamorphic (creates 853xN files), likely 2.5 mps.
iTunes SD - iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN - Now Anamorphic (which creates 853xN files), 1.5 mps (maybe higher).
iTunes Purchases - iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN, 1.5 mps. -

hmmmm - so let me understand then... if I have no interest in playing video on my 5th gen ipod (I don't) then I'd be better off purchasing my TV shows directly from the AppleTV rather than from iTunes and then sync'ing them.

Correct?

 

[slate1]

Yes, scroll down the page for "dissection of an hd rental".

Thanks, didn't see that obviously!

For those interested, the specs in that thread list the following for "Live Free and Die Hard" in HD:

1. 1280 x 534 resolution
2. 23.98 frames/second
3. File size is 3.98 gb
4. Total bit rate is 4025 kbits/s

 

[zedsdead]

hmmmm - so let me understand then... if I have no interest in playing video on my 5th gen ipod (I don't) then I'd be better off purchasing my TV shows directly from the AppleTV rather than from iTunes and then sync'ing them.

Correct?

No, any video purchased is at that spec.

 

[slate1]

No, any video purchased is at that spec.

I'm sorry, I misread your first post. The varying specs only apply to rentals, correct? Purchased content is all encoded at iPod/Basic Progressive Profile at 640xN, 1.5 mps

I agree then - that's ridiculous... they should at least give you the option of purchasing a higher level of encoding for use just on TV and desktop itunes.