Can ATV2 play 1080p after the update?

no it wont play 1080p, the hardware isnt there.

-mvimp

Yes I can confirm that, I haven't done any extensive testing yet,so I don't know if there are any limitations to it yet.

ATV2 has ALWAYS been able to play H264 1080p videos. iTunes (store) itself didn't have any available, but if you got any and dropped it on iTunes on your Mac/PC, it would stream from your computer and play on your ATV2 just like any 720p would. Thing is: resolution output would ALWAYS be 720p, no matter what the source resolution is. So yeah, it downscales.

I'm curious about the update, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna stay the same. Otherwise, why replace the hardware?

I'm sorry I'm not sure you are correct there. I extensively tested the Apple TV when it first came out and it wouldn't play video above 720 lines of resolution. It may have changed in a more recent update but it wasn't there at the beginning.

i dont think it really matters for most content, to be able to see the difference between 720 and 1080 you need to be fairly close to the television. i was hoping that the new appletv3 would have additional features beyond removing a limitation on streaming size....

that will just increase my home ISP data usage possibley to the point of hitting my 200gb monthly cap.

I can confirm it does. Like I said, it is able to decode 1080p, but it will only output 720p. You might also want to mind the bitrate, I don't know what the A4 can handle. You can easily find free trailers in 1080p mp4s encoded with h264 on the web. Make sure you try different bitrates, you'll see that it works.

I have just updated and can confirm the ATV2 gets the new fancy UI, but video settings are still limited to a maximum 720p. :(

I agree with you there. I use the ATV mostly for Netflix anyways, and I think it is 720p (might be wrong...). And I was a bit disappointed by the lack of new features in the ATV3 too. Good thing is I don't spend money and just keep on using the one I've got. ;)

Or if you have a front projection system.

i have a home theater with a hd projector, i may get a appletv3 for that area, just beacuse you would see the difference on the bigger screen

Hello All,

I sold an apple tv2 to a friend and he has a 60" mitsubishi 1080p set and when connected to the apple box the main apple tv2 screen will appear briefly ( for a min or so) then goes blue as if no signal is connected. I believe that the apple tv2 gen. box can play streamed 1080p content but cannot actually output 1080p to a tv this is truly 1080p. Just a thought..

The answer is no, as a matter of fact when you go to settings / TV resolution you will see 1080p on the AT3, and you will see 720p on the ATV2.

I agree with Winston Churchill, it still does not, even after the last update, you want 1080p as I do, you go and buy an ATV3, as I will.

So I'm still curious and am not sure on the actual answer...

Can I downloand and play 1080p content through my ATV2. I know that its max output is 720p, but I'm wondering if I buy another ATV3 that outpus 1080p and begin to upgrade my movie library to 1080p movies, will they only play on the ATV3 or will they play on the ATV2 but be downscaled to 720p? I just don't want to invest time/money in 1080p downloads if they would only play on the ATV3 and not the ATV2. I'm not concerned with output resolution (720p is fine for me), but more concerned with a single 1080p file playing on either ATV2 or ATV3... Thanks for any help.

I downloaded the 1080p version from the iTunes Store and it played fine when streamed via home sharing to an ATV2 unit.

I was pleasantly surprised as I didn't want to waste the hdd space