Apple TV firmware update News from Engadget:
Second and third generation Apple TV boxes have a new software update to keep an eye out for, and now that the changelog has been posted for 5.0.1 we can see what it brings. According to this screen grab from Apple’s support page, the update adds HD previews for TV shows and movies in the iTunes store, and fixes issues affecting AirPlay, Home Sharing, Netflix and more. Of course, FireCore warns jailbroken fans to stay away from the update button for now, all others should get a prompt on their hockey puck sooner rather than later.
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The New Generation Apple TV (ATV 3) does 1080p Streaming and Playback
It was not just iOS device users getting the 3rd generation iPad in this March. Apple also released Apple TV 2012, which support up to 1080p movies playback and stream. Feel like watching Blu-ray with the 3rd Gen Apple TV? Just rip Blu-rays and encode movies to 1080p at 6mbps+. Follow the guide below rip Blu-rays to Full HD 1080p MP4 files that play even sharper in iTunes than the 1080p downloads.
System Requirements for ripping Blu-ray to iTunes and streaming 1080p to Apple TV
- Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.5/10.6/10.7/10.8
- Compatible Blu-ray Disc Drive
- Blu-ray Ripper software
- 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor
- At least 2 GB of RAM
- iTunes 10.6 or later
- A video driver that supports HDCP for Windows PC
- A display that supports HDCP with a screen resolution of 1280 x 800 or higher
- Apple TV 3rd generation
Step-by-step guide for ripping Blu-ray movies for Apple TV 3 with 1080p HD quality
1. Make sure your Blu-ray Disc drive is well connected with computer, and put a source Blu-ray Disc to the BD drive. Mac is lacking of Blu-ray support and you need to add an external BD drive that is compatible with Mac.
2. Have Blu-ray Ripper installed on your computer. Pavtube is recommended.
Download link:
Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper for Windows (Windows 7, Vista, XP compatible)
Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper for Mac (Mac OS X 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, 10.5 compatible)
3. Run the Blu-ray Ripper. Press “Load Disc” icon to import Blu-ray movie. The software requires network connection to decrypt Blu-ray so keep your network wired.
Continue reading →
One thing that has really been disappointing Mac users is the missing of Blu-ray support. Two years passed since Jobs said NO to Blu-ray that “Bluray [Dsic] is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD – like it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats.” iTunes Store videos jumps from 720p to 1080p, but Blu-ray is still unavailable to Mac users. Apple threw Mac Pro owners a bone in 2011 when they added Blu-ray authoring and burning support to Final Cut Pro X, Final Cut Pro 7, and Compressor 4. But that’s not enough for authoring Blu-ray on Mac Pro. To have your Mac burn and play Blu-ray disc, it still requires some more devices and applications.
How to turn your Mac Pro into a Blu-ray Disc Burner:
Add a compatible Blu-ray Disc drive to Mac Pro (MCE 12X Blu-ray Recordable Drive recommended);
Author/burn Blu-ray Disc with proper editing/burning software (e.g. Final Cut Pro X, Compressor 4, Roxio’s Toast 11 Titanium Pro, etc).
How to turn your Mac Pro into a Blu-ray Player:
- Add a compatible Blu-ray Disc drive to Mac Pro (MCE 12X Blu-ray Recordable Drive recommended);
- Download and install an universal media hub for playing unprotected Blu-ray contents (PLEX recommended).
Commercial Blu-ray Disc is still unavailable to Mac. If you want to play commercial Blu-rays, you need to get a workable Blu-ray Ripper application that can crack BD protections and back up Blu-ray to Mac HDD first (Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper for Mac recommended). Continue reading →
It was not just iOS device users getting the 3rd generation iPad and Apple TV last month. Apple also released iTunes 10.6 the same day with iPad event and bring in 1080p contents to iTunes Store. The renewed iTunes store now offers HD content in both 720p and 1080p. Reviews pointed out that iTunes 1080p video looks better, saves space using better H.264 compression. Now the question is, does iTunes 1080p downloads presents crystal clear quality as Blu-ray Disc movies do? The good folks at Ars Technica tested out the film 30 Days of Night, and come to the conclusion that “while iTunes isn’t going to topple Blu-ray for quality, downloading a couple of films or TV shows from Apple’s 1080p-ified Store will still be more than satisfactory in terms of quality” (1080p video smackdown: iTunes vs. Blu-ray).
If you’re more into video quality, an advice here for you is to rip the Blu-rays by yourself, and encode movies at higher bitrate. And better still the rip is DRM-free and can be transferred to an Android tablet like Asus Transformer Prime and Galaxy Tab 10.1. (Read more for how to rip Blu-rays to Full HD 1080p MP4 files that play even sharper than the iTunes 1080p downloads. )
AMD APP(Accelerated Parallel Processing) stands alongside Nvidia CUDA as one of the two most prevalent GPU computing platforms available today. Initially known as ATI Stream, the AMD APP is a set of advanced hardware and software technologies that enable AMD graphics processors (GPUs), working in concert with the system’s central processors (CPUs), to accelerate enabled applications beyond traditional graphics and video processing.
How does AMD APP stack up? You might have been impressed with its clear video playback and fast game play and realistic physics effects. But wait, there’s still something you should have a try with- the AMD APP accelerated encoding. Let’s explore how effective AMD Radeon HD graphics are when it comes to video transcoding:
Test 1. AMD Radeon HD6370 (GPU)vs. AMD Dual- Core E2-3200 processor(CPU)
Test 2. AMD Radeon HD 5800 (GPU) vs. Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K (CPU) Continue reading →
If there is a best HD media player for 2012, it must be the Apple’s new released 3rd generation Apple TV (known as Apple TV 2012). The real reason to get excited about the new Apple TV (and to read this overview, frankly) is to find out how Apple’s 1080p content looks. We’ve been Blu-ray fanatics since the early days and for years have had a hard time enjoying non-disc movies owing to the constant distractions posed by bad picture quality. Vudu’s HDX titles have always been the exception, along with Zune Video on the 360. So we’re happy we now have another choice for high-quality, full HD video.
We rented a few 1080p movies and the one that really left an impression was Inglourious Basterds. Having watched it on Blu-ray more times than we care to admit, we didn’t hesitate to rent it for $3.99 from Apple ($1 less than Vudu’s HDX) and switch obsessively the HDMI inputs our Blu-ray player and Apple TV was connected to. Watching a number of familiar scenes on both and sitting unusually close to our 60-inch 1080p Pioneer Kuro, we were hard-pressed to spot any differences. Most impressive was the lack of noticeable compression artifacts in the background of dark scenes, or during, say, explosions. Continue reading →
Wanna pick up a Blu-ray Ripper and not knowing which one to choose? We collect the best Blu-ray rippers on market and compare them side-by-side with reviews as well for your reference:
No. 1 Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper – Excellent
The good: Not any other Blu-ray Ripper can do with all kinds of BD/DVD sources: protected and unprotected Blu-ray Disc, BDMV folder, BD ISO, physical DVD, VIDEO_TS folder, DVD ISO and IFO file. Using the “Full Disc Copy” feature, you can preserve the Blu-ray’s original file structure. Insert the Blu-ray disc, click on the “Full Disc Copy” button, and select a folder to copy to. Continue reading →
It looks like we were blind-sided a little by that decidedly iPad-esque invite, because Apple has something more for us — it’s just announced the latest iteration of Apple TV and it can do 1080p video. The new UI inches slightly closer to iOS territory, with a splash of new color and a whole range of third-party apps willing to play with the new box. This includes access to Photo Stream alongside old favorites like Netflix, Flickr and YouTube. Expect improved connectivity to the iCloud (including your movie content) and better integration of your iTunes playlists directly from the refreshed UI. The good news: the price is going nowhere — the new model matches the 2010 version at $99. Continue reading →
What music, video, and photo file types/ codecs are compatible with the PS Vita?
At this time, the following formats are supported on the PS Vita system:
- Music
MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), and WAVE (Linear PCM)
- Videos
MPEG-4 Simple Profile Level 3, Maximum 320×240 pixels, AAC
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Baseline/Main/High Profile Level 3.1, Maximum 720p, AAC
- Photos
JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, and PNG
NOTE: You may not be able to play some content depending on the type of data, file size, or copyright protection(e.g. DRM-restricted movies). Some content distributed over the Internet and by other means may also have playback restrictions-so called DRM restriction. Continue reading →
Blu-ray Playing Software
Discount Blu-ray/DVD Rippers