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AppleTV Hits the Streets
Stories are starting to pop up all over the web about the AppleTV, which evidently means that Apple has set loose the hounds of marketing and the units are (or will be tomorrow) available in Apple stores. Still no word on whether or not it plays DivX files. That will be the key to me purchasing one.
"No wireless access to the iTunes Store. Less space than a TiVo. Lame."
While Apple generally produces high-quality hardware, we will have to see how AppleTV fares.
The real point is "about time!" Glad to see it available after being delayed several times.
I highly doubt it.
I got rid of my tv in '95 or so, when I realized that the internet is all that tv ever promised and more.
No more 'idiot box' (rah) in my house, that's for sure.
Pixie rank ? WTF ??
The question is. When will we get (non Disney) content?
I'd imagine MPAA member execs will be a little cautious about entering a partnership with Apple after seeing Jobs' enthusiasm about music DRM turn into an about-face when confronted with interoperability regulation in the EU,
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
you can convert a divx file to apple-tv friendly format with quicktime pro. you probably need the divx codec installed to do that. p.
Does this beat Tivo, is my question. I'm certain the interface is way way better than TiVo, but Apple loves its DRM. I'm just hoping it does what TiVo does eventually -- then I'll buy it. If it's just a glorified iTunes video player, then I don't really care much.
Currently hooked on AMP
DivX won't be supported. The thing will play specially encoded H.264 movies from iTunes with DRM bolted onto, end of story. There's no way Apple would have been able to secure the licensing to sell stuff on iTunes if they didn't.
I guess you won't be getting one, but think of how many hookers you can get for the same price. A lot more fun!
Me too. I hate it when I buy hardware with too many features.
I still haven't bought a DVD player, because all the models I've seen include subtitles. WTF? I'm not deaf, why should I pay extra for subtitles!
I respond to your sigs
Why?
I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't have some basic tivo functionality. You can't control a cable or satellite box, you can't tune in over-the-air broadcasts, analog or digital. All you can watch is iTunes content, most of which you have to *pay* for.
I would have snapped up an "HD iTivo" in a second but that's not what it is.
So when are they releasing the iRack?
mono's fine
I was set to buy one, but it is fro wode screen only. II can watch widescreen movies on my standard TV, why couldn't the include s-Video and two analog plugs for sound? or wuold ahve making 9" to a side just been too big?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Will the remote only have one button?
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
With such a well-connected machine, it seems like it should be easily capable of general web browsing, but I can't seem to find any mention of it - does anyone know if it has a browser, or is this a big "duh" that they intentionally left out?
I reread the article, and it does allow from component video. Excellent.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Personally I will be waiting for GoogleTV, where it streams 24/7 YouTube videos produced by amateurs.
Obviously with Google's advanced technology in search and category, these videos will be sorted into different categories, genre, rating etc.
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
black and white will do.
My laptop is nearly as big as my tv and has a much nicer screen, and my DVD player handles .avis and jpgs pretty well, and will be good if I ever get a better TV. But lots of people have nice TVs and not so convienent computers, this will be good for them.
For thoseof us who use our computers near-constantly there doesn't seem to be a point of making it easier to go from computer to TV, I don't think this box is for us. Now, if iTunes gets more movies and/or better pricing on movies and TV shows, then that may help.
Can this thing be used to construct a home movie library? i.e, get a terrabyte external harddrive, host the itunes library there, rip dvds into itunes, stream them to the appletv and watch it on my tv?
(or was this the whole divx discussion above about?)
thanks!
What operating system it runs?
After all these years Apple finally manages to release a product that even Sony can almost compete with. The IPTV tech behind it might be cool as all get out but to the average consumer it is going to look a lot like a broken Tivo.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2055708,00.as p
1) Steve Jobs reality distortion fields.
2) It looks really cool
3) iPod is a great marketing tool showing that Apple makes easy to use products.
4) Stand alone.
5) Steve Jobs field that distorts reality.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
For ~$50, you can get: an Xbox + softmod + XBMC, which is guaranteed to play pretty much everything you can throw at it.
i dont think they charge you for that "extra", its just included be cause there may be people that:
a) are foreign(non-US) and buy ntsc region dvd's
b) there are movies that are not in english
c) its easier to make a single software for all the world, not just the U.S (that sounds very selfish and bad excuse in my opinion)
I was considering this device this morning and wrote a little editorial in my personal blog about this - comparing it to an iPod with the AV Connection Kit. Feedback?
Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
The XBOX 360 makes a great Apple TV replacement for people who use PCs intead of Macs. It costs a little more, but it will play DVDs and cool games in addition to streaming your music, photos, downloaded shows, and TV (including live TV). Works properly with HDTV and all the DRM crap as well for those with digital cable. And it even comes in white!
If you are trying to save cash, you can also use your classic XBOX or third-party dedicated device. We call them "Media Center Extenders" here at the 'Soft.
6 buttons on the remote like usual but the 2 for the sound don't work :/
No, seriously, I can't wait 'til someone makes a Linux hack for it.
One feature they really ought to add, and it could be done all in software, would be the ability to stream video off network shares or NAS devices rather than relying solely on its internal HD.
It was a joke, you alabaster retard.
How the hell did this get moderated "insightful" instead of "funny"? No, really. That's bad even for the kind of moderation you tend to get around here.
Tivo records any program I want, even pay-per-view movies that are cheaper than iTunes movies. If I opt for premium channels I can record all the movies I want from HBO, Showtime, etc for a low monthly fee.
My DVD player allows me to play DVDs I rent from a local video store that rents DVDs cheaper than iTunes sells downloadable movies. All I have to do is wait for a DVD release, and I have half-off membership to rent the DVD for $1.25 instead of $2.50 for a new movie because I am a loyal customer and get the discount as a result.
I don't need to have an Internet connection to use the Tivo or DVD players. In the case of Tivo most of the programming is due to a low cost monthly fee, and I get the Tivo player/recorder for free if I sign up for a year contract.
I don't really use iTunes, so I wouldn't benefit from an AppleTV box. I think that iTunes is ruining the market and locking down what we can and cannot play on our own equipment. We no longer can buy a movie, and we no longer have control over how we can play it and on what device we can play it on. For example my Linux box and third party MP3 player cannot play iTunes files, nor can my Amiga box. Ironically that my G3 iMac runs Mac OS9, and does not have the latest iTunes software for it to use with the AppleTV had I bought one.
AppleTV is a nice idea, I suppose if one buys a lot of iTunes files. I except Microsoft to have a MSNTV in a year or two to compete with AppleTV. I'd suspect they use some sort of Windows CE type device at the $299 or $199 price range, or maybe offer a discount on an XBox 360 if the buying agrees to a one year contract with media subscriptions and get $200 in rebates from the XBox 386 sale.
The limitations of the AppleTV is that it cannot get my satellite programming, cannot play my DVDs (do they expect me to rip them into some format and violate that MPAA agreement?), cannot work with my Linux and Amiga boxes, and limits how many times I can play a file or how long I can play a file due to DRM that isn't present on my Tivo or DVD players.
My Tivo and DVD players allow me to play any media any time I want for as long as I want for how many times I want to play it. AppleTV does not, so I don't need AppleTV.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
So you only watch movies with English audio tracks huh? Or are you fluent in all the languages of the world? If not, fuck that's just pathetic!
The real question is does it support actual streaming TV? I just bought a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 and use it with Media Center, and planned on getting an Xbox 360 anyway which just so happens to be a Media Center Extender. Does Apple's new little toy stream TV over the network?
That is, if it supports Divx, then I will NOT purchase one.
If it does NOT support Divx, then I will buy one.
I'm selling empty cardboard boxes for $50, kills AppleTV in price up and down.
They don't play DivX or XviD, even don't play DVD. Soo... ground or express shipping?
This whole article is an embarrassment to SlashDot. The OP starts off by "wondering" if Apple TV will support DivX when the information on supported formats has been posted on the Apple TV web site for months.
Most of the responders seem to know nothing about the product. Asking embarrassingly stupid questions like "does it have a keyboard?", "When are they going to have non-Disney movies?" and telling us that you can only play DRM'ed video on it???
There is hardly a question posed here that would not be answered by a ten second trip to the Apple TV website and anyone following the product even the slightest bit would know the answer to them. Most of the "opinions" on the product here are ill-informed nonsense at best. On top of that, there is a lot of bitter, mean-spirited, childish banter that one would expect on kids sites like Digg or Gizmodo, not SlashDot. I am truly embarrassed to see this kind of junk here.
For those who want to know:
- doesn't support DivX
- a keyboard would make it a computer, not a set-top streamer
- non-Disney movies already available (have been for a while)
- *does* play non DRM'ed music and video (just like iPod)
I am not going to bother trying to refute every point made here or talk up the device, but for a cool techie site populated by intelligent IT people who are supposed to be in the know on stuff like this... this article and most of the related comments are a joke.
Apparently moderating Insightful instead of Funny is common, since Funny doesn't give a karma bonus anymore.
It's horribly horribly silly.
I respond to your sigs
OK. It's not hard to find a widescreen TV these days but my 4:3 still works. It's still good enough. How hard would it have been to just fit the stupid menus in 4:3 format as an option? Apple may be human-focused but it certainly isn't customer-focused.
How else would you be able to understand the aliens in star wars? Then again, this is /.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
H.264 is where it's at. It's a real standard, with much better compresion and video quality.
Please, everyone, stop using DivX and move to H.264.
No, DivX is not the mp3 of video. H.264 is.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
I'll give you HDMI as "newer" but component video? We're talking a 10 year old standard at least, here.
And if you're going to go into the HD aspects of the box, why not address the fact that it only goes up to 720p?
I have so far failed in attempts to integrate my computer with my TV. The AppleTV appliance looks interesting, but it tops out at 720P. My TV uses 1920x1080 pixels, and I want to drive them all.
... A blessing, because it gives the user control. For example, if you are having trouble streaming a particular video format (DivX?) to your living room, you can hope that a software upgrade, or a new piece of software can solve the problem. ... A curse, because it makes the box more difficult to integrate than dedicated-to-purpose machines like AppleTV. You can't just plug it in and start streaming audio/video/photos. It also makes for a much more expensive solution. More than twice as expensive!
Give Apple credit for doing a fine job on the feature set that they chose to deliver. The famous Walt Mossberg (Wall Street Journal) found it to be stable, elegant, and pleasant to use.
Here are some other possible solutions:
1. Dedicated media extenders
This class of products includes appliances like the Netgear EVA700 and the DLink DSM-520. I have an EVA700 and I have read reviews of all the other gadgets in this class. They suck. Here is a case where the professional reviews on sites such as CNet and Toms Hardware paint a pretty picture, but the reality is that the machines are horribly unstable. This is bad enough in a personal computer. In a living room appliance, it is fatal. Read the user reviews at Amazon.com for details.
2. Microsoft's XBox 360
I have heard good reports of this machine. Although it is a gaming console, Microsoft built in a respectable media extender capability, apparently. I have not tested it personally. I am waiting for a '360 that has digital output (DVI or HDMI), but this might not be interesting to other users.
3. Apple Mac Mini
This is a general purpose computer that is quiet enough for living room use. It also ships with a handheld remote control. It seems promising. The fact that it is a general purpose computer is both a blessing and a curse...
I am also concerned that the current Mac Mini might not have quite enough CPU power to decode high quality 1080I bitstreams. I would love to be able to stream 1080P too.
Nevertheless, this is my favorite alternative at the moment. I plan to obtain one of these soon.
GeexBox (http://geexbox.org/en/index.html) does everything I need and runs old/cheap hardware.
Some of us ARE, you insensitive clod!
(and yes, I am)
i am a soviet space shuttle
So we can buy TV series, legally download them, and watch on demand, possibly in hi-def, with no ads? Then that's a very nice piece of kit. ... so how soon until the marketing weasels figure out a way to make this cram ads down your throat like every other media channel in existence?
My AppleTV just departed Anchorage, Alaska via FedEx. It should hit my front porch on Friday. I'll have the whole weekend to hack. :)
Yeah... it's a marketing campaign that's generating all the stories. That's it.
While I did get an email from Apple about the AppleTV. I already knew it was shipping thanks to stories on all the Mac rumor websites that were [i]the result of readers reporting they had received notice their units were on the way.[/i]
If there's one thing that strikes of marketing, its actually releasing your product.
a 40G HD?
Sheesh, 20G drives no longer available?
Kinda a non-event for me considering the LG 500(something) plays everything I've thrown at it,
like burned DL, and RW that other players, not on computers, won't even read.
Top off with upsampling, dvd, divx playback.
Heck, before buying Dr. Who DVDs, I've got the episodes on RW and still be hard pressed to tell
the difference visually.
I'd love to have one (new toys...woo!), but that much money for so little drive space, limited expandability
even with USB. Meh.
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
Read the parent post, this is sarcasm. (Kinda hard to tell since the parent post got hidden by moderating it to 0) :)
I personally would never buy a DVD player WITHOUT subtitles, as I can't watch movies without them.
I respond to your sigs
Well, this is totally useless to Australians. iTunes does not sell movies through the Australian store, iTunes cannot play DVD's and copyright law in Australia forbids you from making a copy of any DVD onto your computer ( there are no fair use laws in Australia ). So.. Unless you want to watch music videos or pod casts on your TV, this device has no purpose in Australia. Good job Apple!
I don't need to test my programs.. I have an error correcting modem.
It occurs to me that the AppleTV is the opportunity for Steve Jobs to put his money where his mouth is with regards to DRM. .Mac subscription.
He has stated that the DRM in iTunes and its persistence is a response to strongarm tactics by the major record companies, and that he now believes it to be a negative thing.
Apple hardware is never open, and I will interested to see the restrictions the AppleTV places on my use of my content.
I believe that Apple's modern business model involves hardware support of software revenue streams.
Recently I realised that all the non-geeks I know who bought a Mac in an Apple Store were upsold a
Also, admiring the new "Cover Flow" feature in iTunes, I discovered that you need to register for an iTunes Music Store Account with your billing details to download album artwork for CD's you have ripped yourself. I resent this, but of course I relented, and now I am one click away from spending money at iTMS.
Steve Jobs has a lot of weight within the movie industry, with leverage he did not have in the initial music industry negotiations. He could back up his words on DRM and make the AppleTV a "must-have" accessory, even for those without a computer - much as the iPod was. I think that you would need to add PVR capabilities, maybe via a DVB tuner such as an Elgato plugged directly into the USB port on the back, and streaming support like FLV for GooTube et al. I can't imagine Real support, which is a shame while the BBC insist on that or WMV (which is even less likely).
More likely though is that he will launch a content distribution network that will set alarm bells ringing everywhere from cable TV operators to Blockbusters and Netflix and retailers like Barnes & Noble and Virgin, with enough "concessions to the film industry" to secure Apple's bottom line and close off their technology from imitators and hobbyists alike.
"There is nothing nice about Steve Jobs and nothing evil about Bill Gates." - Chuck Peddle
Welcome to Slashdot, you must be new here.
My other first post is car post.
If AppleTV has DVI and it runs Linux, then sign me up.
All this for $299? You could theoretically buy an Xbox 360 for the same price and watch video stored on your computer downloaded from the internet or DVDs, or play games. For $399 (not Mossberg's "50% more"), you can watch video stored on your computer, play DVDs, play games, download games and demos, and download episodes of shows and movies as well as trailers, etc. You don't even need to have a controller plugged in. The remote will do just fine.
For $300, you could also buy an old Xbox, "convert" it to something similar, and still have money for a Tivo. And I'm sure there's dozens of other options (that I'm not aware of) that work just as well for less.
I'm not a fan of useless combination of features but AppleTV is far, far away from being a killer app, as are most set-top boxes.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Where is the device that simply locates NFS/SMB/CIFS/etc shares on the network and play the media? Why do I have to have a local storage device, use that hideous UPnP crap, or be bolted to a Windows or Mac to run iTunes?
Come on, hackers... tear that AppleTV up and make it useful to EVERYONE, please!
--Chemguru
Slashdot has been infested by junk comments and immaturity for as long as I can remember. You just have to weed out the good ones. Unfortunately, this can take a while.
It supports 1280x720/24p or 960x540/30p H.264 at up to 5 Mb/s, (with 160 kbps AAC audio,) and 720x432/30p MPEG-4 at up to 3 Mb/s (with 160 kbps AAC audio.)
Per the Tech Specs page.
It doesn't even say "QuickTime" anywhere as a 'supported format'. (Which is correct, since QuickTime is a wrapper, not a codec.) It does not claim support for Sorensen, nor Cinepak, nor MPEG-2, nor MPEG-1, nor Motion-JPEG, nor any of the variety of other "QuickTime Supported" formats. If it truly does run a version of OS X down deep, then it is possible that it does quietly support those (minus MPEG-2, which requires a monetary license,) codecs. Definitely not Windows Media, RealVideo, or DivX, though; until someone figures out how to load third-party codecs onto it.
On the audio front, it supports AAC, MP3, AIFF, WAV, and Apple Lossless. No Windows Media or Ogg, again unless/until someone figures out how to load third-party codecs onto it.
And, yes, it outputs *ONLY* in a wide-screen 16:9 ratio. If your TV doesn't support 16:9 input, it'll look funny.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
I'm one of the biggest Apple fanboys you'll ever find and I'm writing this from my MacBook Pro. But there's no way I'd use this for my TV programming. TV shows are a disposable form of entertainment, IMO. I'm perfectly happy getting seasons of shows on DVD from Netflix. I absolutely do not want to buy copies of TV shows (with very, very few exceptions). I want volume and I want it cheap. For my new house, here is what I'm doing:
1. Verizon fiber optic internet: 10mbps for $40/mo
2. Media Center 2005 PC from Dell for $800 or so
3. $10/mo subscription to Akimbo, which has all the same stuff as Comcast On-Demand, but it comes in through your internet connection to your Media Center PC.
The shows then stream to my Xbox 360. $2.00 per TV show is way to expensive for something I'm likely going to watch only once.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
- non-Disney movies already available (have been for a while)
Yes, *sighs*, I think everyone on slashdot is aware that there's a small amount of non-disney *old* content available via ITMS.
What my question was asking was when a major video deal will be signed thats equivilant to the ITMS / audio content deal?
And, would Jobs' recent backflip on DRM affect the negotiations? I'd be surprised if MPAA execs are a little nervry about dealing with Apple, at the moment.
On top of that, there is a lot of bitter, mean-spirited, childish banter
Oh, get off your high horse & stop whining.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
- doesn't support DivX
- a keyboard would make it a computer, not a set-top streamer
- non-Disney movies already available (have been for a while)
- *does* play non DRM'ed music and video (just like iPod)
My additions:
- it *does* play H.264 and *only* H.264 video (protected and unprotected)
- it plays a myriad of audio formats (probably all the ones the iPods do) but, again, only 1 video format
- it has *no* video/audio inputs on the device, and cannot record *anything*, ever.
- it can connect to any copy if iTunes software running on a LAN and can either stream or be synchronized like an iPod using its built-in 40Gig HD
So, basically, this can be used for *four* purposes
1) Playing videos you have bought off the iTunes Store and downloaded off Quicktime trailers
2) Playing videos you have, for some reason, in H.264 format
3) Viewing Photos in most of the popular formats
4) Listening to supported audio files in most of the popular formats
It does *nothing* and I mean *nothing* else.
I, for one, will not be buying this. $1/song, $2/TV show, $10/movie all in awful fidelities and with a sub-par selection is absolutely ball-busting. Moreover, I can't loan any of this stuff to a friend or resell it when I'm done.
You buy your big-ass plasma TV and an AppleTV and you'll notice damn fast the difference between your HD Cable TV and the mess you downloaded off iTunes. Not to mention a 128kbit/s AAC iTunes song streaming to your stereo.
Apple's 'digital lifestyle' is cheap, highly limited crap with a high price tag. With the money I save from NOT buying into this vicious cycle of over-priced lock-in, lock-out, I'll buy myself a TiVo and a Netflix/Blockbuster account (which is now shipping HDDVD and BluRay). Larger selection, higher fidelity, more choices, choose to rent or choose to buy.
Latewire
By opening a Divx file into a registered version of Quicktime you can save a reference file of the movie that is loadable into iTunes and Front Row. Works with Xvid as well. I haven't tested this on an AppleTV but since it's the conduit for iTunes into your TV, I don't see why it wouldn't work.
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
Amusingly enough, Microsoft ALREADY made an MSNTV. Well, sort of.. they bought WebTV and renamed them as MSN TVs. They bombed more or less. A WebTV was pretty much a web browser with TV output.. the resolution on TVs is quite low so it's kinda clunky.
>2) Playing videos you have, for some reason, in H.264 format
You can use Handbrake http://handbrake.m0k.org/?page_id=2 to rip DVD into H.264. Free, easy, tri-platform. I think the handbrake guys are still working out the Apple TV details so it can be a one-click conversion.
Step 1 - Buy season of TV series on ITMS
Step 2 - watch every week.
Shows are automatically downloaded, and automatically synced to the AppleTV.
Why do you WANT a tuner. Shouldn't we all be yearning for a world where we can download whatever we want, anytime after release and not have to rely on two devices to agree on the exact time and length of content that will only appear briefly?
If you really must have a tuner, hook an Elgato recording device and use the eyeTV software to DVR and then transcode it to iTunes, where you'll automatically see it on your AppleTV. Since you can schedule from anywhere via the web it doesn't matter the software is not running right at your TV.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Compare the cost of your cable bill + netflix account + tivo service to that of just buying episodes of the shows and movies you watch. Maybe it doesn't work out well for you, but there are some people who would do very well with something like this.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
I have a 3:2 format projector, widescreen content works just fine with that using component (not composite).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Tivo already let you buy & rent movies from Amazon Unbox and have them sent straight to your Tivo and Tivo will happily stream your mp3 collection or view your photos (i wish they'd get Y! music unlimited integration - the one yahoo product that i'd love to see appear on my Tivo). True the AppleTV has hd output, but most downloaded video content is so far from hd quality that it hardly matters.
Not to mention the fact that Tivo is also a PVR.
Tivo records any program I want, even pay-per-view movies that are cheaper than iTunes movies. If I opt for premium channels I can record all the movies I want from HBO, Showtime, etc for a low monthly fee.
EyeTV on a Mac with an ElGato receiver records anything OTA for free, including HD signals.
If you aren't recording many shows, buying shows on iTunes is a huge savings over cable and at a better quality than a lot of cable stations deliver. I follow just a few different shows and I am saving a ton of money simply buying them on ITMS rather than paying a huge amount for a cable service I hardly ever use. You can record HBO, but to get what? Star Wars, again? When I look over the HBO schedule at a hote, I am invariable without any desire to watch the content there (much less fullscreen!)
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Ouch, someone slept on a big hard apple last night!
Lighten up and get that apple shaped world off your shoulders!
> Apple's 'digital lifestyle' is cheap, highly limited crap with a high
> price tag. With the money I save from NOT buying into this vicious
> cycle of over-priced lock-in, lock-out, I'll buy myself a TiVo and
> a Netflix/Blockbuster account (which is now shipping HDDVD and BluRay).
> Larger selection, higher fidelity, more choices, choose to rent or
> choose to buy.
You do realise not everyone in the world is an IT nerd/geek/(insert knowledgeable stereotype here) so you will probably understand why Apple keeps things so simple.
Apple is originally for those who prefer to click with one button, scroll through a limited list of options and at the same time offer complexity where it's needs for those that UNDERSTAND it.
If everything Apple sold had multiple buttons and options they would probably be called Sony or Microsoft.
I notice there is a USB port on the back of the unit. Does this allow for USB tethered external HDD's or flash memory? 40GB seems to be a rather paltry capacity in this day and age.
I think the reason why it doesn't support Divx is obvious. Apple wants to try and kill Divx as a de facto standard, if they possibly can. They would much rather have people using H.264 inside .mp4 container files, than Divx video inside .avi or .divx containers.
.divx or .avi into an .mp4 file without decompressing and recompressing it, thus avoiding loss. I'm not aware of any software tools that do this, though, and I might be misunderstanding ways in which Divx diverges from the standards.
.mp4 win this one, I'm not sure that they're going to; the installed base of divx-playing equipment may just be too big, and they may be forced to release an update to add support for it later.
.divx or Divx-containing .avis, which are just as much of a closed, single-vendor, proprietary format as MS Word's .doc is, and everyone loves to just shit all over that. The .mp4 container format is the video equivalent of ODF, and although I'm not going to buy one, I hope that the Apple TV is popular enough to get the script kiddies and release groups that push TV shows and movies out on bittorrent using it (because, lets face it, the main driver of Divx is "unauthorized" content, to put it politely).
It's my understanding though that at least in recent versions, Divx is essentially ISO-compliant MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP video, albeit in a nonstandard container. So it seems like it ought to be possible to 'recontainerize' a Divx
Although I would really like to see Apple and
I find it odd that so many Slashdotters seem in love with
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Nope I watch a lot of shows and I watch news channels as well that iTunes does not carry the news or Discovery channel, Science channel, History channel, etc programs either.
I have digital satellite which has a superior picture quality than cable can deliver. I only own one HDTV ready TV, so HDTV is not much of a use to me.
Like I said the iTunes DRM puts me off, and I discovered spyware in iTunes as well. I just do not want Apple crapware on my system, and the fact that it uses DRM and possibly has spyware because it phones home to Apple and my firewall picks it up. Besides I used to use Quicktime and it always crashed my system until I removed it and the system crashes went away. The same thing happened to me when I tried iTunes. Quicktime Alternative is a version of Quicktime that removes the spyware, so others have proven that Quicktime contains spyware. Since Quicktime is a part of iTunes, then iTunes has spyware as well.
Funny the same shows that HBO and Showtime are showing are available for download at iTunes, just not the complete list of movies because Apple didn't get the rights from some movie makers yet.
Plus my Tivo records local programs that iTunes does not even carry. Not to mention sports shows, news casts, special reports, and cable/satellite channels that don't sell their episodes on iTunes yet.
Keep your crapware if you are happy with it, it is cheaper for me to stay with what I got, and I also have more rights and freedom to media content than Apple would ever allow you to have. I mean if you want a lower price and don't mind giving up some of your rights and freedoms, then maybe you deserve to lose them anyway?
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
I recently got a used Xbox and put XBMC on it. I was astounded by the smoothness of it all. It streams video, DivX included, from the network, and it does it flawlessly. I know I'm not the target audience here, but this sounds like a less capable version of a six year old video game console that wasn't even intended to do what I do on it. It might have a lead on the interface/niceness front, but XBMC wins on the games, online gaming, and emulation.
You do realise not everyone in the world is an IT nerd/geek/(insert knowledgeable stereotype here) so you will probably understand why Apple keeps things so simple.
Part of the reason I own a Mac is because it's built for novice users to learn quickly, but it also has some real power under the hood.
AppleTV has the latter but not the former.
The AppleTV was designed by the makers of ElGato's EyeTV. Apple literally walked into ElGato and took their entire development team for it (it involved duct tape and tasers, from what I understand). The EyeTV had the ability to play tons of different formats including divx and VIDEO_TS. You could also browse the web (the real web, not special-formatted pages) and it was less than $200.
So all this really is is just a crippled version of a product Apple bought and killed. Don't tell me this was in an effort to make it easier to use. The video lock-in of this was specifically to point people towards Apple and keep people locked into Quicktime and iTunes.
The "hard apple" I'm sleeping on was the fact that I own an EyeTV and this immediately became unsupported when Apple "bought" the ElGato developers. I've been looking for a replacement ever since, and this AppleTV just doesn't measure up, even though it costs way more.
Latewire
It's called "Apple TV", and the very first item on the list of requirements is...
A TV.
WTF?!?! When I buy something that says it's a TV, it better damn well *BE* a TV. Likewise, I hope the iPhone is a telephone, and not a megaphone.
Touche!
And presumably that's H.264 only in QuickTime-compatible wrappers - .mov or .mp4, Main Profile only.
My video compression blog
My point wasn't about Apple TV specifically, the quote I was replying to was about Apple in general:
> Apple's 'digital lifestyle' is cheap, highly limited crap with a high
> price tag. With the money I save from NOT buying into this vicious
> cycle of over-priced lock-in, lock-out, I'll buy myself a TiVo and
> a Netflix/Blockbuster account (which is now shipping HDDVD and BluRay).
> Larger selection, higher fidelity, more choices, choose to rent or
> choose to buy.
Yes I own 3 Macs and the only turning point for me was the Unix kernel - Finally Apple introduces a command line capable OS!
I don't go for the simplicity but the power underneath and the fact it's no longer just something that looks good.
Besides, good luck finding decent support for a TiVo let alone someone who knows what one is in Australia!
Why do /. people or anyone care about Apple TV? Hauppauge has them beat. Just pick up a MediaMVP (wired or wireless). It even works with Mythtv and runs Linux.
The ONLY reason to use AppleTV is for iTunes movies that were downloaded.
\
With QuickTime Pro you can "Export to Apple TV" any content. It's slow, but it works. EyeTV also has the posibility of exporting to apple TV the shows that you record. I think that in short time we'll see a lot of software exporting things to this device.
... for half the cost you get a crazy additional amount of functionality.
Let's see. For "half the cost", I can buy a used device, take the time to modify it myself, and come up with a box that doesn't include a remote, support, or warranty; doesn't sync with or stream from iTunes; doesn't sync my photo library; doesn't have wireless; is about five hundred times larger; has 1/5th the capacity; and doesn't actually support playing back HD video .
Awesome.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
The AppleTV was designed by the makers of ElGato's EyeTV. Apple literally walked into ElGato and took their entire development team for it
Um. No.
So all this really is is just a crippled version of a product Apple bought and killed.
This turns out not to be the case.
The "hard apple" I'm sleeping on was the fact that I own an EyeTV and this immediately became unsupported when Apple "bought" the ElGato developers.
I dunno, Stimpy. I think maybe someone pushed the History Eraser button, because in my universe ElGato seems to be in business and providing support.
Funny story: I have this shiny new ElGato EyeTV Hybrid here, recording Lost from the local HD broadcast, and set to transcode it to H.264 and add it to iTunes. Once it hits iTunes, it also will be synced to the shiny little box upstairs. ElGato seems to be supporting their product.
You'll find the technical specs here.
or the DSM-320...
I use a D-Link DSM-320. Unlike the 520, it doesn't support HD output (just SD). It does stream movies, audio and stills.
I use it with MythTV, as a "media extender". It uses uPnP (standard) protocol, and it "just works". Can I use the Apple box the same way? I don't need a hard disk in the unit, all my media is stored on a NAS RAID device. Same with the Apple?
As far as I can see, the devices are not in the same market at all (and I don't really understand WHO would buy the Apple product, or WHY -- but that's probably just me).
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
The AppleTV was designed by the makers of ElGato's EyeTV
Whoa, where did you get that from? I know that Apple bought another German computer/video company that did DVD authoring software but I've heard nothing about Munich based ElGato making a similar move to Cupertino. In fact I'm pretty sure they didn't. In any case the EyeTV line of products is mainly about tuners which AppleTV quite prominently does not have. There was a disappointing little product that ElGato sold, called EyeHome, that was like an NTSC version of the AppleTV but it appeared to be just a repackaged box also sold by Hauppauge called MediaMVP. The interface software was bush league and the performance was not quite good enough even for NTSC.
Don't misunderstand, I think the EyeTV tuner products and software are fantastic. All those pining for PVR capability for the Mac should get an EyeTV product (they have tuners made for several markets besides the US) instead of or in addition to AppleTV. In my opinion AppleTV would be worthwhile if it included tight integration with EyeTV (e.g. no conversion process at all) but I can see Apple is playing the format lock out game like everyone else.
And the replies to your post aren't much better. For the really deep researchers, here's a link to the tech specs for AppleTV which I found after FORTY FIVE SECONDS of looking. Perhaps less. I wasn't timing it.
Among the shocking newses to report, Apple claims the little white brick will play: MPEG-4: Up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 720 by 432 pixels at 30 fps).
I don't know what all that AAC-LC part means, but it sure sounds to me like it will play non-DRM MPEG4 files. Anyone with a clue and a foam-free mouth care to clarify?
Better still, anyone want to tell us how we can stream video from Linux to this thing? Because $300 sounds pretty good to me. Hell, a SqueezeBox costs $250 and only plays music.
adéu,Mateu
"And we're happy here, but we live in fear, we've seen a lot of temples crumble..." - Concrete Blonde
word what jdray said re DivX
and what the right honorable Cdr. Taco said re the lame closedness and storage dinkiness
especially seeing's how anyone with an xbox360, Wii, or PS3 (so, let's see, like 17M folks so far) can get anything they play on their PC (anything in any format on their PC hard drive, anything in any format they play from da intaweb on their PC) on their TV - long's they've got the free Orb software on that PC.
hmm: free software that gets everything onto the TV; slick but crazy-limited hardware device that gets some of my PC content and none of my web content onto the TV
uh...
You'd be surprised what's not on the map in this country. - Mulder
Just remap it to change your Instant Messenger status to "Be Right Back".
Then every time you Pause for a Break....
29 mpg. YMMV.
I think this product may be the solution you are looking for. The Media Gate http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg35.htm/. This plays almost every popular format (including DivX) on your TV and it cheaper than the Apple TV.
As the owner of a video Ipod & a XBox360 I have to maintain 2 music & video libraries for the two devices. So it was either the Zune & the 360 or the IPod & AppleTV. Zune sucked. So here we are.
As far as Tivo etc, here in Australia we are probably never going to see anything like those services for at least another decade, so... meh.
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.
Doesn't support DivX?
So, it's like an iPod that doesn't play MP3s?
On the other hand, it'll make a nice looking paperweight.
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
I cannot believe they didnt make a low end itunes , remote controled version for appletv
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Which makes me wonder why the hell anybody would want one. It doesn't play DVDs, it doesn't play DVDs, it doesn't offer any significant online service, and requires a computer to stream / cache from. What is the point of this thing? Who is insane enough to buy one of these just to be able to watch iTMS purchased movies on their TV. If you're going to fork out $300 + the price of a computer, I can think of much better ways to do it. An XBox 360 for example is more than capable of doing everything the iTV does AND it plays games, videos, DVDs. Or go a bit higher and you have the PS3 which does Blu-Ray and higher again Tivo Series 3 which is a PVR.
I simply see no point in this device.
If the AppleTV allows you to install QuickTime plugins, you should be all set for video format support between Perian and Flip4Mac.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
It appears to be such a waste of money. A better option would be to buy a Creative zen vision w or archos 604 pmp.both cost the same as the apple tv(around 300$).Besides being a pmp both can do everything an apple tv can do.they support the popular divx and xvid formats.archos also supports h264 optionally. If i am not wrong video ipod also has tv out function.Then why this seperate device?
$100 Media Extender Anyone, Anyone?
I understand why a person that has a considerable investment in iTunes content would want one of these devices, but beyond that or a new market is something this is not.
What scares me is that Media Extenders have been around for 4 or 5 years, cost about $100, and do everything this product does and more. Also considering a lot of the Media Extenders are UPnP and various other forms, they are not MS Media Center exclusive and I know people that use them with their *nix servers all the time.
So if you can buy a Media Extender that can watch live TV from your computers, watch recorded content, watch DVDs, watch downloaded content, listen to all your music, watch early forms of IPTV, why on earth you would you buy this product instead and lock yourself into iTunes or iTunes only converted content?
Want to play DIVX, WMV, just buy a Media Extender, even hooking it up to a freaking Windows Media Center computer or Vista will allow you to do all of this, and Vista Media Center Extenders natively support HD video out of the box, in a TRUE HD resolution, something Apple isn't even offering or planning to.
Media Extenders are silent, wireless or wired and can access every storage device, computer or computer based Tuner in your house.
As some have suggested, you would be smarter to spend the money on an XBox 360 which also gives you all these features and you can play a game on it once in a while as well. Again in real HD.
Why is it everyone has seen Media Extenders at Circuit City and Best Buy for years and years now, and when Apple tries to create their 'very closed' version of one, they are seen as doing something new?
How is their marketing team always smarter than the people buying this stuff?
- it *does* play H.264 and *only* H.264 video (protected and unprotected)
- it plays a myriad of audio formats (probably all the ones the iPods do) but, again, only 1 video format
According to the specs[apple.com], it plays two video formats:
Get a computer TV tuner (usually in the $100-$150 range, in my limited experience) and Media Center (which most new computers have, and which I think you need in order to stream to the XBox360 anyhow) and your computer IS your PVR. No monthly subscription, either... and it's a lot easier to upgrade the hard drive. Yes, it's Microsoft stuff, and I believe it may apply DRM to the recorded files so they can't be copied to other computers (no idea what format or protection TiVo uses internally) but you can copy them to PFS-compatible portable devices at least. I suspect there are utilities to remove any DRM that might exist, too. In any case, unless you're looking to upload episodes to other people, rather than just using it the way most people use a TiVo (record TV that you aren't there to watch and/or want to keep for later, skip commercials and rewind while watching, and so forth) it's quite capable. I've had some slight problems with getting the guide data to work correctly at my university, but it's manually editable anyhow (and data from the zip code of the city itself is pretty close).
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
... have movies available through itunes. You can get "T2", "Once upon a Time in the West", "Breakfast at Tiffany"; but also "Tomb Raider" . Also some independent movie makers, Shorts international ... they should introduce selection by studio, though.
Perhaps not as glamorous, another newcomer to this market - Mvix - has a range of devices that play DivX/XviD/MPG/WMV/etc (no H264). and use PATA HDD of any available size. MX-760HD is the latest and the most capable one, but also the most expensive. They have upgradeable firmware, which is also available in source code under GPL (no word yet on whether it needs binary only modules though).
Well, Buffalo Technology offers this media player/DVD player, which has a download utility for Linux, though I have never tested it. Newegg has it for $230. I guess my complaint would be about the lack of support for some formats and the fact that firmware upgrades have gone about dead. It might not be bad if it had an HDMI or DVI output, but the components handle 1080i fairly well.
Just a quick example of a device that should work with Linux.
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
"Funny story: I have this shiny new ElGato EyeTV Hybrid here,"
Sorry, Typo: I meant the "EyeHome," not EyeTV. I own an EyeTV too.
Latewire
Netflix $15/Mo * 12 Mo = 180/Yr
Cable $40/Mo * 12 = 480/Yr (I get some crazy package deal with cable and internet so I'm not sure if suddenly my internet bill will go up, worth considering.)
No Tivo
Total = 660/Year
Shows I watch regularly: Lost, Heroes, random junk
iTunes store: Lost = 34.99/Season
Heroes = 42.99/Season
Total = 78/Year
Leaving me with $582 to buy my iTV and random junk...
The OP has an interesting point. On the other hand it'd make it mighty hard for me to watch sports, CNN and other live programming only found on cable.
I like my Hauppauge Media MVP with mvpmc running on it. I just got it working this weekend, so I have not played with it much, but it will play video's from any machine on my network, and I can telnet to it and customize it. Being a control freak, I do like customizing things- like the remote control, the network shares it sees, splash screens. Now I just need to get Carnegie Mellon's ESM peer to peer broadcast/viewer working on it, and my life will be complete. So, has anyone compared these two devices- the Happauge Media MVP w/ mvpmc and the Apple TV? How long until we hack the Apple TV so I can take control? Paul
Cancelled cable, purchased an OTA tuner and what i don't get OTA i buy in hi-def on the 360 or torrent from the intarweb. None of which this apple product will afford you to do without going through hoops.
2) Playing videos you have, for some reason, in H.264 format
.mp4 containers. Much smaller than a straight MPEG-2 rip but of similar quality and with the convenience of not being tied to a phyisical disk. This is very, very nice when I can drop a few movies onto my laptop before a trip and not have to pack the physical media and worry about losing or damaging it.
All of my DVDs have been ripped to H.264 in
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
Ok, granted, if you don't want to deal with a wire, you MUST buy that rediculous wireless adapter. I wonder why there are no third party devices for like $15 that do the same thing yet.
"- it *does* play H.264 and *only* H.264 video (protected and unprotected)"
The specs seem to say that it also plays mp4 video...from the Apple site:
"MPEG-4: Up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 720 by 432 pixels at 30 fps)"
"Playing videos you have, for some reason, in H.264 format"
What on earth is your problem with H.264? It looks better than DivX, and no one said you had to encode 320x240 like the iPod does. Don't be an ass. Every DVD I rip (on Windows or OS X) gets encoded as H.264 in an MP4 container.
Vote for global prefs bug
Get mencoder for demuxing from avi, MP4Box for muxing into mp4 and optionally AtomicParsley for metadata. Windows binaries: [1] [2] [3]
On Linux install the packages MPlayer and gpac.
Sample code
You can find out the framerate (frames per second) of the avi with ffmpeg [4].
Look for the line with fps in it.
RTFM of the parsley to see what sort of metadata you can add.
Now mod me up, bitches.
H.264 is sweet, it's alot better than divs/xvid. I really hope people will start encode pirated shows more frequently.
If I look at my cable bill and how much I actually use it, $2 an episode is a good deal. It's about $15/month and I only watch about 8 hours of TV a month, so it's only a little bit less expensive.
Besides, fidelity doesn't matter if it's crap. Does HD-DVD make the story or acting or script of King Kong or Gigli any better?
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
I think this is great news, but not because I'd ever buy one. I hope that this will inspire others to build competing devices - devices which aren't tied to Apple's store and Apple's DRM, but which instead will create a friendly little menu and play whatever content I throw at it, in divx, xvid, or whatever format.
I've got my entire DVD collection ripped to my hard drive. But it isn't all that easy getting them onto my television set. Sure, I can hook up my iPod or PowerBook to the TV and watch them that way but that gets tedious quickly. While you may find no merit to AppleTV, it is going to make my DVD collection much more useful. Not to mention all the video podcasts that I can now watch on the TV instead of the computer (or iPod).
This MediaMVP has the same problem as all the other similar devices sold. Lack of digital outputs.
No DVI, No S/PDIF (maybe).
Many have waited for some generic media box (that you can run linux on) that has no fans and has digital outputs.
The only solutions currently involve building your own. The hope is that the AppleTV device is hackable.
I would prefer DVI rather than HDMI, to try to avoid the HDCP shit.
How come this new product was launched differently? Is it not earthshaking enough for old Steve-o? No ad campaign to match? Or was it simply ready for primetime, and the next expo isn't soon enough?
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
'ing' is a noun.
Apple TV is almost a product I would buy. Actually I don't have any particular problem with the Apple TV product itself.
:)
But as far as I am concerned there is a single fatal flaw. I don't know how rip a dvd into h.264/quicktime container and retain 5.1 audio. I wont buy any of product like this now, but as soon as I can solve this audio problem I will. Maybe it's already been solved and somebody can point me to some documentation.
If you only go with the marketshare mindset, then you're not making choices on your own.
MP4 is like 5 years old now. Consider getting with the program.
What exactly are you watching anyway?
I just don't get Slashdot editors sometimes. A few months back, I sent in a submission that got posted, regarding the sale of Clear Channel. I had included a paragraph about some of my own experiences as a Clear Channel employee that I thought were insightful and relievant to the subject matter, but the whole paragraph (half the submission) was cut, and I was a bit upset. Here we have an example of someone spouting off stupid, uninformed bullshit that could have been answered with a "yes" or "no" question in about 2 minutes, and the editors keep it. What gives?
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
http://www.pocketdish.com/
4 &culture=en-US
DVR, records, play-back, and totally portable, better than an iPod.
Or
For a Product 3 years ahead of the AppleTV, ARCHOS 504 160 GB model offers a lot more stored video,
with it's docking station - records video, upload DVDs, and all portable too.
http://www.shoparchos.com/product.aspx?sku=308307
For the money, 160 GB of storage AND a portable media play costs $50 less than
an AppleTV $299 and Video iPod $349.
I'm not a Troll, it's reverse psychology.
All good points, don't forget the other added benefits of going through a service like iTunes:
1) No commercials
2) Never worry that something else might pre-empt your show and mess up the recording schedule.
So there's even other reasons to consider it beyond just the pure cost perspective.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Nope I watch a lot of shows and I watch news channels as well that iTunes does not carry the news or Discovery channel, Science channel, History channel, etc programs either.
I watch a lot of news myself - which you can get over the internet just as easily, and on your own schedule.
As for the other channels you mention - I had Dish HD with the discovery channel. Yes it looked great, but repetition was way to high. It's actually more practical to rent some discovery channel shows from Netflix or watch things online through their website.
I have digital satellite which has a superior picture quality than cable can deliver. I only own one HDTV ready TV, so HDTV is not much of a use to me.
The recording quality of ITMS shows easily beats out the horribly overcompressed video you get with most satellite TV. Talk about keeping crapware!
Like I said the iTunes DRM puts me off, and I discovered spyware in iTunes as well.
There is no Spyware in Itunes. Find one report on that, anywhere. If you had spyware it was your own PC, not in iTunes.
Quicktime Alternative is a version of Quicktime that removes the spyware, so others have proven that Quicktime contains spyware. Since Quicktime is a part of iTunes, then iTunes has spyware as well.
I believe this is what the phrase "I am surrounded by frickin idiots" was developed for. You have no idea what Quicktime sends, do you? It's not spyware, it just authorizes music and video anonymously - and doesn't even do that for anything but ITMS purchases.
Funny the same shows that HBO and Showtime are showing are available for download at iTunes, just not the complete list of movies because Apple didn't get the rights from some movie makers yet.
For movies you'd have to be an idiot to use satellite or ITMS. Netflix is way cheaper, and I can get Blu-Ray in addition to DVD. A Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) disc utterly destroys satellite video quality even when they broadcast in HD - and I can watch it when I want.
Plus my Tivo records local programs that iTunes does not even carry. Not to mention sports shows, news casts, special reports, and cable/satellite channels that don't sell their episodes on iTunes yet.
I record all that for free with my Elgato device - no monthly fee.
If you want to keep throwing money down the tubes for an inferior video experience by all means continue to do so - but I wouldn't be throwing stones from inside a very thinly walled glass hut.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If you transcode the audio to AAC, you can mux it with H.264 video into an MPEG-4/QuickTime container. If you do that, though, you won't be able to pass it through to your receiver over S/PDIF.
I only transcode audio for mono & stereo sources. For multichannel audio, I leave it in AC3 and mux it with H.264 video into a Matroska container.
Creating an .mp4 file with H.264 & AAC looks something like this:
#!/bin/shd irect_pred=auto -oac copy -o /dev/null "${1}" && \d irect_pred=auto -oac copy -of rawvideo -o "${2}.264" "${1}" && \
nice -n 18 mencoder -vf harddup -ovc copy -oac faac -faacopts br=128:mpeg=4 -of rawaudio -o "${2}.aac" "${1}" && \
nice -n 18 mencoder -vf pullup,softskip,${3},harddup -ofps 24000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1400:pass=1:turbo=2:keyint=240:bframes=3:
nice -n 18 mencoder -vf pullup,softskip,${3},harddup -ofps 24000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1400:pass=2:turbo=2:keyint=240:bframes=3:
nice -n 18 MP4Box "${2}.mp4" -fps 23.976 -add "${2}.264" -add "${2}.aac" && \
rm "${2}.264" "${2}.aac"
Creating an .mkv file with H.264 & AC3 looks something like this:
#!/bin/shd irect_pred=auto -oac copy -o /dev/null "${1}" && \d irect_pred=auto -oac copy -of rawvideo -o "${2}.264" "${1}" && \
nice -n 18 mencoder -vf harddup -ovc copy -oac copy -of rawaudio -o "${2}.ac3" "${1}" && \
nice -n 18 mencoder -vf pullup,softskip,${3},harddup -ofps 24000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1400:pass=1:turbo=2:keyint=240:bframes=3:
nice -n 18 mencoder -vf pullup,softskip,${3},harddup -ofps 24000/1001 -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1400:pass=2:turbo=2:keyint=240:bframes=3:
nice -n 18 MP4Box "${2}.mp4" -fps 23.976 -add "${2}.264" && \
nice -n 18 mkvmerge -o "${2}.mkv" "${2}.mp4" "${2}.ac3" && \
rm "${2}.264" "${2}.ac3" "${2}.mp4"
Both assume that the input is NTSC video that can be inverse-telecined to produce film-rate progressive-scan video. ${1} is the source file, ${2} is the destination file (without extension), and ${3} is a "crop=w:h:x:y" parameter to get rid of any black bars around the video. On a Gentoo box, you'll want to emerge mplayer gpac mkvtoolnix to get the necessary software.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
People actually use DivX?
For me it's more like:
Netflix $15/Mo * 12 Mo = $180/Yr
Cable $13/Mo * 12 = $156/Yr (Basic cable, baby. 50+ channels even.)
Total = $336/Year
We watch about 2 DVDs worth of content every week. Through iTunes that would cost us about $1000/year, assuming all of it is even available.
Divx and Xvid are the standard on Pirate Bay and other torrent sites. That's the way it is, whatever H.264's technical merits.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I don't give them heck for having a lot of market share for the iPod -- hell, I have one -- but a successful DAP isn't a long-term business model. The centre of their "digital hub" is the personal computer. Sure, many of their products are inter-operable with other operating systems, but do you think Steve Jobs wants to see more downloads of the Windows version of iTunes, or more sales of Apple computers?
It ain't happening near enough if you're one of them fancy "stratergizing" guys...
Of course, all the cowards who modded me as troll don't think past anything but their blinding fanboyism.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
Anyone know if this is legit? New iMac or a fake?
6 /
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7459616@N06/42987267
This Applescript Droplet will convert nearly any media file into a Quicktime media link that will play in iTunes. Anything that plays in iTunes will play on AppleTV.
http://dettmer.maclab.org/forum/Movie2iTunes.zip
so it doesn't play xvid or divx but it does play h.264 - does that mean it'll play x264? I can't seem to find a straight answer to that anywhere. It's relevant because, ahem, there might be some x264 content on my hard drive that I might want to watch on my plasma. And I may have gotten that content from the internets.
I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
sshh, don't you know being quietly smarter than everyone gives you an advantage?
Dude, they have every Star Trek movie available on iTunes!
I hope that, now that we have the promise of downloadable iTMS 720p video via the AppleTV, Apple will get their asses in gear and upgrade Quicktime's H.264 support. Forget about DivX, that's a waste of time. What's meaningful is if the new, modern Codecs can be played easily.
The problem with Apple's H.264 support is that it only supports the Baseline and Main Profiles, and lacks the popular B-pyramids feature which x264 Main-profile encoders use. None of the High or Extended profile features are supported. These features exist for a reason, and they're there to improve your quality/datarate. iTunes Music Store movies are already a fairly long download. To increase them to 720p would make it unacceptably longer.
If Apple can get QT7's H.264 decode (and hopefully encode) support up to par with x264's, then the iTunes Music Store's video downloads can increase in resolution without a linearly proportional increase in file size.
Slashdot. It's Not For Common Sense
The hardware requirements to decode it are nasty compared to xvid. My 600mhz ibook isn't fast enough to decode 640x480 h.264, let alone full screen.
That was fast.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
Get a new computer then.
Vote for global prefs bug
Use some of that $582 to buy an antenna. You wouldn't be buying an Apple TV without an HDTV anyway, and chances are your TV has a built-in digital tuner. Use it.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I don't think that this is the solution I'm looking for though. Or is it possibly to install a Matroska codec for quicktime, but more to the point, will this work with Apple TV? I suspect the answer is no.
.mov wrapper by transcoding the AC3 to multichannel AAC. So no real issue there, but it's not what I want. :) I've even muxed AC3 with h.264 video into a avi wrapper. I believe (I can't remember exactly what I did now) I've also created a .mp4 file using h.264 with AC3 audio that worked, but I had to use VLC. It's the combining of AC3 and h.264 into a .mov wrapper that's given me fits. The .mov wrapper is important to me as I'm attempting to use Quicktime as my media playback solution.
I wasn't totally clear with my previous statement. I can get 5.1 audio into a
The idea behind this all is to setup a media center that's plugged into my HDTV. With Apple TV all of my problems are solved, sorta. Network connectivty, remote control, and audio/video connectivity are taken care of. The remaining problem has always been my largest problem, 5.1 audio.
So my issue with Apple TV is this. How am I going to create content that the Apple TV will be able to handle? The trick is that the file that Apple TV works with must output 5.1 audio to my receiver to process via the optical port.