I don't know how popular it is, though it is displayed prominently on the start-up screen of the Xbox 360--which is very popular.
Even so, I don't want to give the impression I'm a Microsoft fanboy. I haven't actually purchased an Xbox Live movie in months. They call it HD, but the movies are only 720p and 5-6GB a piece. I'd be very surprised if Apple's downloads are any better. Sure, the quality's great, but it's not to the level of the 1080p/lossless audio content on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. "HD" can mean many things...
Nifty, but one part that bugged me was his earlier line (c/o Engadget):
"I'd like to say all of us have tried. We have, MSFT, Amazon, TiVo, VuDu, Netflix, Blockbuster -- we've all tried to figure out how to get movies over the net onto the TV. We've ALL missed. No one's succeeded yet."
He mentions Microsoft as one of the failures, but Apple's new service is almost identical to the Xbox Live Marketplace, which has been working great for over a year. Similar studio support, HD, 5.1... the only Apple advantages are DRM'd portability and 30 days before expiration instead of 14.
Advanced recording technology may be more readily available, but is it really comparable to CGI? While LotR used computer-generated crowds seamlessly, they still recorded 30,000 cricket fans to replicate the sound of Uruk-hai at the Battle of Helm's Deep. It makes me wonder how advanced modern digital audio is compared to special effects.
What's the file size of a HD movie, and how long will it take to download at 1.5 mbs?
The only service I've used that distributes a large number of HD movies online is the Xbox Live Marketplace on the 360. A 720p movie on there usually ranges from 6-7 GB which has takes 8-12 hours over my DSL line. Someone can correct me, but that size seems a bit small to be a true HD film. Most Blu-Ray/HD-DVD movies are 1080p, AFAIK. Besides the 360 & PS3, BR/HDDVD are the only ways to get a true 1080p image (no one broadcasts above 1080i). As the owner of a 1080p HDTV, that makes this format war all the more annoying.
"It's an expensive migration path with little perceived benefit for many people and very little in actual programming to use it -- most of what I watch isn't available in HD, and I wouldn't watch "Everybody Loves Raymond" in any definition."
I think many people that see very little advantage to HDTV just haven't seen one in use in a proper environment (the local Circuit City doesn't count; they always look like crap in there). My 57-year-old father isn't an early-adopter, he's a no-adopter. His last audio purchase was reel-to-reel and every computer he's owned has been a hand-me-down. After watching just two over-the-air HD PBS programs on my $900 37" Vizio with a $30 Radio Shack antenna (meager by gadget-head standards), I know he'll have a new TV by the end of the year. I don't think high-def movies will be the catalyst for HDTV purchases, it'll be free HDTV broadcasts and the decreasing costs of TVs. The problem is not enough people realize free digital TV is being broadcast over-the-air right now.
The article recommends a 5.1 speaker setup. Since EAX isn't supported (erm, yet) and it uses software-based audio, how does the game interface with, say, a normal DD/DTS reciever and it's digital vs. 6-channel analog inputs? I'm waiting for a DD-advertised game to actually output a Dolby Digital signal w/o an nForce.
Slashdot Mirror
For even more geek cred: he made an 'All your base' reference on Olbermann last month: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVsYZo86S-k (0:48)
I don't know how popular it is, though it is displayed prominently on the start-up screen of the Xbox 360--which is very popular.
Even so, I don't want to give the impression I'm a Microsoft fanboy. I haven't actually purchased an Xbox Live movie in months. They call it HD, but the movies are only 720p and 5-6GB a piece. I'd be very surprised if Apple's downloads are any better. Sure, the quality's great, but it's not to the level of the 1080p/lossless audio content on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. "HD" can mean many things...
Nifty, but one part that bugged me was his earlier line (c/o Engadget):
"I'd like to say all of us have tried. We have, MSFT, Amazon, TiVo, VuDu, Netflix, Blockbuster -- we've all tried to figure out how to get movies over the net onto the TV. We've ALL missed. No one's succeeded yet."
He mentions Microsoft as one of the failures, but Apple's new service is almost identical to the Xbox Live Marketplace, which has been working great for over a year. Similar studio support, HD, 5.1... the only Apple advantages are DRM'd portability and 30 days before expiration instead of 14.
Advanced recording technology may be more readily available, but is it really comparable to CGI? While LotR used computer-generated crowds seamlessly, they still recorded 30,000 cricket fans to replicate the sound of Uruk-hai at the Battle of Helm's Deep. It makes me wonder how advanced modern digital audio is compared to special effects.
Hopefully they'll stop their obstructive marketing in front of PAX, since they'll be 2 states away.
What's the file size of a HD movie, and how long will it take to download at 1.5 mbs?
The only service I've used that distributes a large number of HD movies online is the Xbox Live Marketplace on the 360. A 720p movie on there usually ranges from 6-7 GB which has takes 8-12 hours over my DSL line. Someone can correct me, but that size seems a bit small to be a true HD film. Most Blu-Ray/HD-DVD movies are 1080p, AFAIK. Besides the 360 & PS3, BR/HDDVD are the only ways to get a true 1080p image (no one broadcasts above 1080i). As the owner of a 1080p HDTV, that makes this format war all the more annoying.
"It's an expensive migration path with little perceived benefit for many people and very little in actual programming to use it -- most of what I watch isn't available in HD, and I wouldn't watch "Everybody Loves Raymond" in any definition."
I think many people that see very little advantage to HDTV just haven't seen one in use in a proper environment (the local Circuit City doesn't count; they always look like crap in there). My 57-year-old father isn't an early-adopter, he's a no-adopter. His last audio purchase was reel-to-reel and every computer he's owned has been a hand-me-down. After watching just two over-the-air HD PBS programs on my $900 37" Vizio with a $30 Radio Shack antenna (meager by gadget-head standards), I know he'll have a new TV by the end of the year. I don't think high-def movies will be the catalyst for HDTV purchases, it'll be free HDTV broadcasts and the decreasing costs of TVs. The problem is not enough people realize free digital TV is being broadcast over-the-air right now.
...making it a good time to ask if the RIAA will ever throw in the towel.
Shoot! It's hard enough to fight a behemoth conglomerate like the RIAA without it having the most useful thing in the universe on hand.
"Well, thanks to the Internet I'm now bored with sex."
...it just happened about 1,000 years early.
-Fry, A Bicyclops Built For Two
The article recommends a 5.1 speaker setup. Since EAX isn't supported (erm, yet) and it uses software-based audio, how does the game interface with, say, a normal DD/DTS reciever and it's digital vs. 6-channel analog inputs? I'm waiting for a DD-advertised game to actually output a Dolby Digital signal w/o an nForce.
/hopeless Creative junkie
When the universe reaches the standing wave frequency of the Great Superstring, it will all vibrate apart.
I personally hope it will reach that frequency before it reaches the "brown noise".