Alternative to Blu-Ray and HD DVD players?

I think Apple TV is "good enough" for most people, but the highest quality audio and video will still need to be viewed on disc based media or run directly from a HDD for the foreseeable future. I've compared downloaded HD movies from the XBOX Live marketplace to HD-DVD movies on disc and I cant tell the difference. I know the audio from the downloaded movie is more compressed than the HD-DVD disc but it still sounded amazing on my 5.1 system. I don't know if I can say the same for the Apple TV. Apple always puts the user experience above all else. If they need to lower the audio and video quality of the content on the Apple TV to ensure a better end user experience, they will. My biggest gripe with Apple TV and the XBOX Live Marketplace is the inability to purchase movies. I understand their argument against selling movies but I'm sure it boils down to studio restrictions that keep movies from being purchased digitally. Most movies I'm content to rent, but I have quite a long list of movies that I want to own and have in my library.

well couldn't you in retrospect purchase the movies on itunes and then put them onto Apple TV?

Keep in mind that the ATV is 720P and a true HD Movie (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) is 1080p.

HD is not created equal. Same when buying the TV. There is low high def at 720p and high high def at 1080p.

720p looks good and is fine for a rental, and the downloads are faster. But if you want to own a high def movie, I would want it to be 1080p.

The apple tv is a good component to have. I purchased one because the nice interface and quality of picture it puts out compared to different media players. The only problem is that it only plays .mp4. When the apple tv supports different formats it will become a powerhouse. As to your question, you cannot really tell a difference with 720p and 1080p except through your wallet. For facts blu-ray disc are always going to superior because of the contant on the disc 50GB vs. 25GB(hd-dvd), that is why blu-ray is superior in quality. And since most movie studios are going to blu-ray, consumers will benefit will cheaper dvd's and hd-dvd disc. So, it boils down to; Do you have time to encode all your dvd's ? If so, then the apple tv will work for you. Also, consider that 30 dvds will only take up about 60GB's of space.

Keep in mind, that just because Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are capable of 1080p, it doesn't mean they actually ARE. Many Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs are 720p (which is still considered HD). Just flip back and forth between ABC (720p) and NBC (1080i). There's very little difference, if anything at all... some people even think 720p is BETTER than 1080i/p because every line is being drawn at the same time as opposed to alternating 540 lines back and forth.

Yes you can purchase the SD version of the movie and put it on ATV. You can not purchase the HD version of the movie from iTunes. You can only rent the HD version and can only do that in ATV.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/16/itunes-and-apple-tv-rentals-and-purchases-wha t-you-can-and-can

well user 1724 has a solid point. this idea would deter most people from buying an ATV just because its 720P and not the latest and greatest.

On the point of Blu-Ray's capacity, when it boils down to hd movies, the fact that its discs can hold 50gb of information means relatively nothing. No hd movie would require that amount of space. So, in this case, setting aside other significant parts of each technology, the hd dvd and blu-ray are on the same level. The whole battle will probably be influenced greatly by gaming and computers more than movies. Even though sponsorship by companies such as Warner Bros for Blu-Ray provide the means to make each technology one step ahead of the other.

i agree with TMeesseman for a large part all the diff hd's and 1080p most of all is a marketing issue
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/08/14/hometheatermag-there-is-no-differnce-betwee n-1080i-and-1080p-mo/

also if one take 1920×1080 with 30frames of that res a sec 32bit colour
http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/dynawebdocs/0650/SGI_EndUser/books/ShotMaker_UG/sgihtml/reqs.html
renting a movie from itunes dont really takes a few minuts to download anymore........

There are 3 separate issues here.

First, the monitor quality and capability:
If you have 1920x1080 resolution monitor that can display 1080p (progressive scan), then ATV will be significantly inferior than BRD or HD/DVD player sending 1080p signal natively to full HD monitor. If your monitor is less than that (say 1366x768 or 1280x720 and can handle only 1080i (interlace) or 720p), probably not all that much different than ATV displaying at 720p (which is 1280x720). The only thing is the amount of bitrate (data per/second) that ATV content provides versus BRD or HD/DVD content.

Second, all BRD and HD/DVD players "upscales" 480i DVD (Stand Def) content to 1080i/p, which can be quite good. I've not been impressed with ATV's ability to upscale 640x480 content (iTune SD content) to large monitors. Also, SD DVDs are actually encoded at over 800x480 for widescreen content these days and bitrate is much higher than 1500 for iTune movies.

Third issue:
The audio on ATV HD content is 5.1 whereas DolbyHD and DTS equivalent are 7.1 - which if you have setup your room with 7.1 system (like I have), 5.1 is a bit of a disappointment. Further, SD DVD from iTune store is still DD2.0, and while most receivers can handle that into DD-II/IIx, it is simulated and not discrete sound output. SD DVDs have 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 depending on content/movie.

So the long answer to being BRD or HD/DVD player alternative is it depends. One must tradeoff the benefit of a dedicated player in addition to ATV (or MacMini for that matter).

Certainly cannot debate about the convenience, if one has a decent broadband connection and n/g router setup.

I'm no HD-DVD fanboy, but more storage space on a disc does not equal a better picture. Now if for some reason a film was using the max bitrate, which most HD movies on HD-DVD and Blu-ray don't, and was several hours long, then it might need 50GB. I can guarantee you that the movies on Blu-ray are not even close to 25GB, maybe not even 15GB. I was shocked myself when I downloaded a 7.5GB HD movie off the XBOX Live marketplace and compared it to an HD-DVD movie that had 25GB of storage to make the film look better. I could see no difference. Other sites around the web have compared Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies to HD movies that are no more than 10GB in size. No difference. I think the 25-50GB discs are for future use. I would be very surprised if any Blu-ray disc has even come close to needing all of that 50GB.

No matter how you justify it, a HD DVD or Blu-ray disc has 1080p lines where Apple TV is 720p lines. On a relative small TV set you probably will not see the difference, but with large 50+ inch monitors, there will definitely be a difference. The clarity of 1080p is 1080/720 better. More lines is more lines.

There is also the higher definition audio tracks that are available on Blu-ray and HD-DVD, especially the lossless audio. If you have a capable audio system, Apple TV in it's current doesn't come close to matching Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Apple just had to make compromises for their AppleTV as Blu-ray and HD DVD is just too big of files to download over an Internet connection.

bingo joshua. and that is my point. with technology now-a-days, you have to look beyond the movie aspect when discussing the battle between Blu-Ray and Hd Dvd. These discs will be used for software, backing up computers, gaming on multiple systems, music, etc etc etc. may people think that the cheapest player will achieve success, which is a understandable angle. but when you look at which technology has the better corporate sponsorships, Blu-Ray takes the cake. hd dvd is dealing with the now, blu-ray is dealing with the now and is preparing for future capabilities already.