Download SD version of an HD TV show?

Wow M8, that's unfortunate. I decided to post a few screens, since I think several people are having this issue and I believe I know what the cause is.

Make sure you are searching for the show in the iTunes store as if you had never purchased it before. It is only from this page that you can download SD versions. If you search for the show from your previous purchases tab, this brings up a different page for the show, and you will not be able to download SD versions. This is key, and I think it is why some people report not seeing the options for downloading the SD version. I do not know why Apple would employ such a cumbersome method, but I guess that's irrelevant.

What you will also notice - and M8 I think this speaks to Apple's support resonse and unfortunately suggest some BS on their part - is that even though you can freely download the SD versions of the show by using the above method, Apple will still allow you to buy it in SD as a season, not by individual shows. Note that in the following screenshots of Band of Brothers, the HD version says purchased, but the SD version has a price, even though all episodes are clearly available for download.

Moving on, here are the screenshots of what you will see when you search for and select an already-purchased show in the main iTunes search, from an iPad.

Note that HD is selected by default.

Simply press the SD option and...

...you will see that all shows are available for download in SD. Note that I did not separately purchase these shows in SD, and this is evidenced by the fact that there is a price of $44.99 to purchase the SD season.

You can also do this on an iPhone, although the setup is slightly different. Instead of the HD/SD buttons, you must scroll to the bottom of the page, and select the "Also available in SD" button.

iPhone version:

...then scroll down...

...and press the Aso Available in SD button. Then select whatever epsodes you want and download in SD, and download.

Again, I can't stress this enough: Do not try to download shows from the "previous purchases" page (accessed from more->previous purchases). The option to downlaod in SD will not be available.

Hope this helps.

@nick

You can probably do this. I'll look a bit later and see if I can find it.

@nick fletcher 2

Okay, think I have your issue solved.

First off, make sure you have the SD version of the show you wish to sync in your iTunes library. This sounds obvious but it isn't - iTunes used to automatically copy SD versions to your library (when you purchased in HD), but it no longer does. So you may have to go to the show's page in the iTunes store and download the SD version by a similar method to the iPad process I laid out earlier (clicking the SD button, then downloading, etc.).

You can check to see if the SD version is already in your library by right-clicking the episode in question, and maneuvering to the video quality sub-menu. From there you can select which version of the show iTunes will play back. (see below)

To sync to your iPad in SD...

Make sure your device is plugged in to your computer and then select the device within iTunes. Across the top of your iTunes window you'll see the tabs for "Summary", "Info", "Apps," "Music" etc. Select "Summary".

Down the page a bit there is an Options section with a few boxes avilable to check. Select "Prefer standard definition videos" and then click "sync" or "apply" in the lower right.

From this point onward, iTunes will preferentially sync SD versions of all your shows to your devices, providing an SD version is in your library. Otherwise, it will sync the HD version.