AppleTV - First Glance

OK, I recognize that this post may not be of interest to folks who don't like iTunes stuff, but will share this anyway for the rest of you. I've just hooked up the new AppleTV and had a chance to check out some of the videos, video podcasts, etc., through this amazingly simple little set-top box. Whoa. This is definitely a blast!

The AppleTV box itself is sleek, light and really easy to hook up. I used HDMI to a 50 inch plasma. It's so simple to sync up to iTunes that just about anyone who's downloaded music from iTunes could set this up with no problem. And that's the key here: iTunes. The thing that keeps the box simple, and also limits content, is that it will only work with content through iTunes. So any video, podcast, photo, slideshow, music, etc., must be imported into iTunes first, or acquired via iTunes, then sync'd with AppleTV through a computer (Mac or PC, wirelessly or via ethernet cable).

Those of you who don't like iTunes, may not enjoy AppleTV either. But for reaching a large, diverse and growing audience through video podcasting, the new AppleTV is going to be a real boon. And what I can report is that the DiveFilmHD Podcast Videos look pretty darn good on an 50 inch plasma--pretty amazing for their file sizes. Now I can get to work fine-tuning optimal encoding specs for HD playback compatible with the box. The original DiveFilm Podcast Videos hold up pretty well too--for 320x240 images blown up on a 50 inch plasma!

There are already a number of ways available out there to achieve playback of internet content on TVs and HDTVs. And, no doubt, there'll be many more to come. What AppleTV does is to keep it simple. For now it restricts content to only that which can be brought into iTunes, but it's also incredibly easy to hook up and use. And this ease-of-use aspect is what will likely increase the number of folks willing to take the step toward converging media.

Mary Lynn

Thanks for the review of the new Apple toy. It looks pretty cool, and seems to portend the next step in integrating computer, television, movies, and music.

the simple solution here is for itunes to start acceptig all media file types .. then they have a product on their hands !

Hi there Mary Lynne,

Thats all good news. I may well have a new HD Episode for you soon as I've been badgering away at a new version with dedicated sounds and great new imagery of the sick and twisted Technocean idea from last year. This one is, in my view, thus far streets ahead. Will still be a while in the making though.

Cheers,

Mark.

A few more products of similar vein were introduced at Cebit:

The Linksys KISS1600 is an upscaling DVD player which accepts all the popular codecs including DivX, WMV and Xvid files. It also accepts USB 2 connections for harddisks and other media. Looks to me to be the better machine.

The Netgear EVA8000 does all the AppleTV does without the hard drive and more. It can access Flickr photos, HD content from any linked harddrive/computer and even RSS feeds and internet radio.

Competition is good!

Hey Drew

you gadget guy you ..

I am lookign for a solution that will let me view HD vids from my pc on the tv .. and avi files divx etc ... basically stream what my pc has on it ..

and i also want to be able to watch tv on my pc wirelessly ... you seen any one gadget that can do that ?

slingbox will do the tv to pc .. anywhere remotely .. even on your pda ... but wont let me watch poc files on the tv ... those gadgets let me do the pc files on tv .. but not tv on the pc .. wirelessley ..

I am currently thinking that xbox might be the best solution .. ps is way too expensive .. and i like black finish .. xbox soon to come out in black and has a cheap wireless add on. (need to check it does exactly what i want .. but seems to ...)

.. any other ideas anyone ? drew ?

Competition is good!

I totally agree! It's what keeps the manufacturers responsive.

There's also a lot to be said for ease of use and getting folks who might not otherwise be inclined to give new tech a try. It can only increase our potential audience and ability to distribute content independently.

And Mark, definitely looking forward!

ML

I am currently thinking that xbox might be the best solution .. ps is way too expensive .. and i like black finish .. xbox soon to come out in black and has a cheap wireless add on. (need to check it does exactly what i want .. but seems to ...)

 

.. any other ideas anyone ? drew ?

Giles

Check out the Z500

It can play raw m2t files and HD wmv and more from a normal Data DVD disk or you can wireless network from you PC to it. Sit in your lounge room and surf the media files on your computer in the other room with it's remote control and menu interface.

My Apple TV arrived today. I sit here looking at it trying to decide which TV to set it up to.

Sure is pretty looking.

David Pogue, in the NY Times this week, reviewed Apple TV along with commentary on the Xbox and Netgrear offerings.

Apple TV Has Landed

Hooked up this last night. While waiting for my photos to synch with the machine I watched some movie trailers from iTunes. They looked better on TV than a commercial DVD. When I ran photos from iPhoto through the machine I saw things in them I had never noticed before.

I would have to say this is a great little toy so far.

I would have to say this is a great little toy so far.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun! Doing impromptu slide shows with all the different music and setting choices is definitely a blast. And I'm still surprised how good the H.264 'high def' vids and podcast vids look blown up on the big screen. Sync'd to one computer, streaming from several including a PC. It's a cool little toy!

For those interested, video specs for AppleTV compatible encodes are currently given as:

AppleTV:

Video formats supported: H.264: 640 by 480, 30 fps, LC version of Baseline Profile; 320 by 240, 30 fps, Baseline profile up to Level 1.3; 1280 by 720, 24 fps, Progressive Main Profile. MPEG-4: 640 by 480, 30 fps, Simple Profile

According to my tinkering tests and those of others doing the same, the new AppleTV default export setting in QuickTimePro will take 1920(1440)x1080i60 footage and give a 960x540 image size H.264 encode; if the source clip is 1920(1440)x1080i50 or 1920x1080 24p, the image size will come out 1280x720. It's a decent encode, but I'd prefer a slightly higher data rate for better quality, so will continue tinkering with settings.

ML

According to Version tracker there have been some problems as would be expected with any new hardware;

Here's the url for the rest of the below statements-Steve B)

Purchased videos not playing (cannot be authorized) Several users are reporting a serious problem where the Apple TV will not playback any media that is purchased from the iTunes Store. We noted this issue below (in the section "Some purchased videos not available for playback on Apple TV"), but it now appears to be more widespread than initially thought, and affecting all purchased media for some users.

Users experiencing this error generally experience an inability to synchronize or stream purchased media, sometimes accompanied by an error stating that the Apple TV could not contact the iTunes store to authorize. The same users can generally synchronize and/or stream all other non-DRM restricted media.

Interestingly, according Apple Knowledge Base document #304975 the Apple TV does not count as one of the 5 computers authorized to play your iTunes Store purchases. This precludes the possibility that users experiencing this problem do not have any authorizations left.

MacFixIt reader Steve Wilkison writes:

"I am unable to synch or stream any 'purchased' product. Anything I purchased through iTunes will not synch to or stream to the Apple TV. Any content from other sources works and plays as expected. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple tech support, two different technicians. They tried everything they could think of and I mean everything. Unplugging, resetting, direct hook up, etc., etc. iTunes says it is unable to synch the material to the Apple TV because it can not contact the iTunes Store for authorization and the Apple TV says it cannot play the material because it is not authorized to play that material."

Daniel Wollin adds:

"Nothing purchased through the iTunes store is playing on Apple TV, even after syncing, all free stuff is though."

This problem may be due to an issue with the authorization server on Apple's end, though we (and several readers) have not had problems authorizing and de-authorizing Macs.

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

Hmmm. Haven't had any problem here yet with any purchased media--Sundance indies, music vids, music, what-have-you. And giving it a pretty thorough work-out....

ML

Some folks have reportedly hacked Apple TV to run DivX and other formats. It requires some monkeying around to wrap the videos in a Quicktime wrapper, but it looks promising.

It's also unclear whether the processing power inside is enough to decode and output full HD...

It's also unclear whether the processing power inside is enough to decode and output full HD...

My guess is that there's not enough processing power to handle it. Still, if I encode H.264 at 1920x1080 yet limit the data rate to the same as, say, what is acceptable for a 1280x720 24p H.264 encode, why can't I just use the larger image size? And will this change soon for future models??

ML

It is my understanding that the Apple TV supports 720p HD. I think I read that in the manual. Is that not full HD?

Anyway as I mentioned free movie trailers that I downloaded from iTunes look better than any DVD I have ever played on my TV. I watched the iPod HD videos from this site. They played at 480. Looked great, though not quite as good as the above mentioned movie trailers.

I would not have thought so yesterday at this time but I have seen the future. DVDs are as doomed as LPs 8 tracks, and cassettes are. They will join CDs in that group in the foreseeable future. Just like Apple eliminated the floppy disk I expect the optical drive to go next.

It is my understanding that the Apple TV supports 720p HD. I think I read that in the manual. Is that not full HD?

Yes, 720p is a flavor of HD. What those of us who are shooting in 1920x1080 are dealing with when encoding for AppleTV is that the largest image size for HD video currently supported is 1280x720 (that's the image size that the 720p will have). So it is an image size reduction for us in that sense, albeit still resulting in a high def image size.

BTW, DiveFilmHD Episode 3, "Realm of the Sharks" by Shawn Heinrichs, is actually 960x540. If I had encoded using a 1080i50 or 1080 24p source, I could have bumped it up to 1280x720. The earlier DiveFilmHD podcasts are both 848x480 (480p) because I encoded them well before the release of AppleTV and wasn't yet sure about spec limitations. I'm still trying to keep 4 to 5 minute films under 200 MBs if possible. Hopefully we'll see even better (affordable) compressors in the near future so the file sizes can remain low with even better image quality--that's what I expect will happen.

It's an awesome-looking future!!

ML