iTunes and the DVD

[meganly_chan]

I guess I should've added this: actually, I'm not so much interested in a "menu, etc." as I'd just like to be able to do SOMETHING with it that doesn't involve strictly iTunes and the iPod. I have a DVD making program that could add menus and chapter stops for me, plus another program that can convert the file to .vob to use to make into a DVD. Or, if not all that, how about just being able to burn it to a data DVD?

So, DRM is pretty much my beef with iTunes.

[Butter]

I haven't even embraced the digital deliver of music yet. Videos quality degradation the way it is now is an even bigger gap than that of mp3 quality vs. CD quality. Quality would probably be the biggest thing for me.

I wonder what the limits would be. I guess it would have to be cost effective for iTunes, but it doesn't seem to be too difficult for a fan-subber to put out a reasonably sized HD release. Apple is probobly releasing there videos with the idea that the majority will be used on an iPod anyway. It would be nice if another company would embrace a higher quality of digital video distribution. Everyone is all about instant gratification this generation.

Everything with digital media nowadays seems to be focusing on control rather than ease of consumer use, but then more ease means more stealing.

[ADC]

Originally Posted by Butter

I wonder what the limits would be. I guess it would have to be cost effective for iTunes, but it doesn't seem to be too difficult for a fan-subber to put out a reasonably sized HD release. Apple is probobly releasing there videos with the idea that the majority will be used on an iPod anyway. It would be nice if other companies would embrace a higher quality of digital video distribution.

It's true that iTMS is there to sell iPods first, to make money second. It's also true that the iPods currently can't handle files with resolutions greater than 640x480. So that's certainly part of the issue: If you can't play 853x480 or 1280x720 on an iPod, it doesn't fit into Apple's current strategy for iTMS. And that's why the widescreen files are 640x360. It's possible that you could see support for higher resolutions on the iPhone and iPod touch, as they have more powerful processors than the older iPods, but I don't know when (or even if) that'll happen.

Which brings us back to devices like AppleTV, which Steve calls a "hobby." It can handle 853x480 and 1280x720, but unless and until Apple gets serious about the device, it's tough to expect a smaller company like Funimation to support it.

[Quarkboy]

I suspect that the Apple store will start offering "HD" (and by that I suspect they will mean 720p) content as soon as Blockbuster announces the specs for its upcoming Apple TV competitor, and not a second earlier.

Thankfully the rumors are that it should get launched sometime early 2009, so assumming that the specs of the device (that's essentially the same idea as the apple TV except for movies and with the blockbuster brand-name) are good, they'll of course try and out-do the apple TV and with some actual serious competition in the download-to-tv market we should see quality go up.