Full HD on the Apple TV will Help Do Away With the Need to Author Blu-rays!

I've been offering my wedding clients their wedding video in a Digital Copy format in addition to their Blu-ray or DVD discs. But it looks like with the addition of the full HD content capability of the new iPad and Apple TV, that maybe I can start offering Digital Copy content in place of Blu-ray or DVD's. Maybe that's why Apple has been avoiding Blu-ray from the onset? It would be a welcome change for me not to have to worry about authoring Blu-ray or DVD!

Offer it for a fraction of the price of a physical optical disk, see who bites. Would be interesting to see how it works out over the next 8 months for you. Keep us posted. I'm very interested in this.

I wonder if Compressor will get an Apple TV 1080 preset added in the next update? I suggest we all fill out the Compressor feedback page asking for it.

Heck, I'm already offering a $200 discount on my packages if they choose to download the digital copy files versus having to author DVD's or Blu-rays.

I'm pretty ticked at myself for purchasing a new iPad 2 last October. I should of waited! Now I have 2, and will soon have all 3 versions. Anyone want to offer me something for my 1st generation wifi only 64 GB iPad?

Check the prices for used iPad's on eBay, pretty amazing that folks are paying $500 for an iPad 2. Ah well, that's how technology marches on. No matter when you buy something, something more impressive is always around the corner.

Just updated my iPad 2, and there is a whole new KILLER string section added to iOS Garageband! VERY cool!

Yeah, I've got a 1st generation black 64 GB wifi only iPad up for sale, asking $400 for it. That's $300 less then a new iPad, for anything less, I'll just keep it as it still has a lot of life (knock on wood) and uses left for it.

But I'll have to have the latest iPad to insure the videos I present to my clients work properly on it. I'll need to upgrade one of my two 2nd generation Apple TV's too and I just bought them in December! That's okay, I would rather see Apple keep evolving than just setting on their hands and not improving stuff. I really like the idea of tethering to 5 other devices, but I'm sure AT&T will screw us once again, we'll have to wait and see I suppose.

BenB wrote: Offer it for a fraction of the price of a physical optical disk, see who bites. Would be interesting to see how it works out over the next 8 months for you. Keep us posted. I'm very interested in this.

I wonder if Compressor will get an Apple TV 1080 preset added in the next update? I suggest we all fill out the Compressor feedback page asking for it.

Wont that also mean that videos formated for the new Apple TV at 1920 x 1080 will be compatible with the iPhone 4S since it is capable of Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 ?

www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

RonPriest wrote: Heck, I'm already offering a $200 discount on my packages if they choose to download the digital copy files versus having to author DVD's or Blu-rays

I'm also interested in what you find with this, but I am willing to bet most of your wedding clients are going to want a hard copy DVD....perhaps in addition to a media file. While they may have state of the art mobile devices, they probably want to send copies to Grandma, Aunt Bessie, Cousin Loretta, etc., etc. who don't. But...you never know

dgwvideo wrote: I'm also interested in what you find with this, but I am willing to bet most of your wedding clients are going to want a hard copy DVD....perhaps in addition to a media file. While they may have state of the art mobile devices, they probably want to send copies to Grandma, Aunt Bessie, Cousin Loretta, etc., etc. who don't. But...you never know

That is true. If they still want the Blu-ray or DVD discs, then they simply don't get a discount. If they want the Digital Copy files in addition to the Blu-ray or DVD's, then it cost them above and beyond the original package price. So it just depends on if they want to save some money or not.

I think physical media is dying and and it was Apple who put the final nail in the coffin by rejecting Blu Ray from the very beginning. Since Apple is so successful, nearly every other tech company is following suit.

Game manufacturers have been switching over to online content distribution for a couple years and so has Microsoft and Apple. It is a cheaper distribution model and probably results in greater revenue. It will be interesting to see what happens to all the brick and mortar stores that go empty. Blockbuster already went out of business, didn't they?

We all need to follow the path of this content distribution scheme and instead of just offering a discount, why not monetize the content per download? Set up a mini content distribution system with a shopping cart and offer the content on various platforms including itunes, etc. Wouldn't it be more appealing to a wedding couple to be able to access their video from multiple devices wherever they are, for the rest of their lives?

I've setup vlogs before and would be more than happy to offer my web development services to create a streamlined content distribution system for other professionals that can be monetized. Message me and we can talk.

The times they are a changin'

BenB wrote: ... I wonder if Compressor will get an Apple TV 1080 preset added in the next update? I suggest we all fill out the Compressor feedback page asking for it.

I've been doing some investigating on the possible new Apple TV compressor settings, and I imagine it will be the same as their current HD for Apple Devices (10 Mbps) presets which is Compatible with the Apple TV (2G), iPad, and iPhone/iPod touch with Retina Display, where are as followes:

- File extension: m4v
- Estimated size: 4.5 GB/hour
- Device: iPad/iPhone with Retina Display
- Codec: H.264
- Multi-pas: On, frame recorder: On
- Average data rate: 10 (Mbps)
- Maximum data rate: 14 (Mbps)
- Quality (Spatial, Min Spatial, and Temporal Quality: 50

Audio Encoder
- Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz
- Channels: 2
- Bits Per Sample: 16
- AAC encoder quality: high
- Data rate: 128 kbps

Does anyone see anything here that may need to be tweaked for the new Apple TV and or iPad? Here are the specs for those new devices:

New iPad TV and video Specs

- AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation) at 720p

- AirPlay video streaming to Apple TV (3rd generation) at up to 1080p and Apple TV (2nd generation) at up to 720p

- Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 1080p with Apple Digital AV Adapter or Apple VGA Adapter (adapters sold separately)

- Video out support at 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable (cable sold separately)

- Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

New Apple TV Video Specs

- H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High or Main Profile level 4.0 or lower, Baseline profile level 3.0 or lower with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

- MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

- Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format