Looking for comments as opinion as well as expert knowledge!
I have decided that my future video purchases should be to 1080p (or better!)
standard where possible. The superseded Apple TV 2 is designed for “only 720p
“high definition” which I find provides satisfactory viewing on the big screen,
but will need replacing one day. I prefer using Apple TV over DVDs, and I
don’t have a BluRay player (or discs).
A recent iTunes Store experience gave me a shock with an unexpected
(subjective) poor video quality download. I then did a little research into TV
broadcast and DVD video standards, but my brain turned to gluggy rice before I
reached a reasonable understanding.
My story starts with SBS TV broadcasts and EyeTV recording. SBS simultaneously
broadcasts on SD and HD channels. I assume there is ONE data source which is
split to the two streams. If the source is 1080 then the SD channel will lose
some quality. As it seems that most source programs (movies and TV shows) are
SD, then the HD channel can not improve” the quality of the input data. Until
now, most of my EyeTV recordings have been from the SD channel. (I now propose
to record some shows from the HD channel, accepting the resultant bigger file
size and possible unchanged perceived quality.)
I am somewhat irritated with SBS programming. I start to record episodes of a
series. Then state time differences replaces the WA broadcast with something
important to the Eastern states, such as a live soccer game in Bolivia, or they
may just drop some episodes (on a repeat series broadcast).
I recently recorded the first two episodes of a show (on SD channel), then the
time slot was re-allocated. As it seemed SBS was not going to re-program the
show, I checked the availability on DVD and the Apple iTunes Store. Both were
available and as my preferred destination is Apple TV, I purchased the iTunes
Store version which was only available for download in SD. Does it follow
that the original SBS broadcast was in SD and not HD? After downloading the
show, my feelings were that the iTunes Store version gave inferior video
quality to the broadcast SBS SD and subsequent EyeTV version! Would I have had
a better viewing experience directly from the DVD? Is SD quality equal to DVD
quality?
EyeTV can process a recording to both AppleTV 720 and 1080 standards. I assume
a 1080p file cannot provide an enhanced display via the Apple TV 2, a 720
device. The trade off with HD is file size: An SD recording from SBS processed
for 720 viewing gives say a 1.0 GB file. An HD recording processed for 1080p
viewing gives a 2.7 GB file, while the same HD recording processsed at 720p
results in a 1.7 GB file.
Yes, I’m spoilt. Once upon a time, when digital meant fingers, TV broadcasts
and video tapes of movies seemed so wonderful. Watching archive footage
inserted into modern programs accentuates the awful difference in picture
quality.
Any comment?
Regards,
Alan
Alan Smith
Late 2012 iMac 27 Intel Quad Core i5 Fusion 3.2GHz 8G RAM - OSX 10.9.5
Mavericks
Late 2009 iMac 21.5 Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz 12G RAM - OSX 10.9.5 Mavericks
iPhone5; iPad2; ATV2
-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml
Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml
Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
