Forums
New posts
Articles
Product Reviews
Policies
FAQ
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Other Apple Products
Apple TV
Apple TV basics for an Apple newbie!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lifeisabeach" data-source="post: 1225482" data-attributes="member: 38864"><p>When I got it, I initially intended to drop a bigger hard drive in it and generally patch it to use alternative software packages. I didn't realize it used IDE drives, rather than ATA, so that threw me off when the drive I picked up wouldn't work. So I put that on hold and made a Patchstick to add different software packages. This was my first exposure to XBMC, and I really didn't care for it. Ditto for Boxee. It's been some time now since I had it, but it seems neither of those apps were very good at streaming HD videos.</p><p></p><p>I also felt the device was badly underpowered. In reviewing the specs, the h.264 support for the ATV1 is as follows:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>For the ATV2, it is:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>They don't state what bitrate the ATV2 supports, but I can say that I have one video with a bitrate slightly higher than 8Mbs and it streams that without a glitch. However that bitrate is an exception. Most everything I have is around 2.5 Mbps.</p><p></p><p>As I mentioned before, I felt that the ATV1 seemed badly underpowered and had trouble handling some HD shows I had. I just double-checked the media info on one show in particular I know was problematic, and I see why that was now. The bitrate is 3.2 Mbs, which is under what the ATV's max support is, but the fps is 25 fps. The ATV1 only supports 720p content up to 24 fps.</p><p></p><p>If you go with the ATV1, you almost certainly will want to use a Patchstick to add extra functionality. You may also want to consider the Broadcom Crystal HD card. It brings hardware decoding of h.264 video, greatly improving HD playback on the ATV1 if using software written to take advantage of it (i.e. XBMC). It takes the slot of the Airport card, so you would need to plan on playing media strictly off the internal drive, via a connected external drive (a Patchstick will enable that functionality), or via a wired ethernet connection.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lifeisabeach, post: 1225482, member: 38864"] When I got it, I initially intended to drop a bigger hard drive in it and generally patch it to use alternative software packages. I didn't realize it used IDE drives, rather than ATA, so that threw me off when the drive I picked up wouldn't work. So I put that on hold and made a Patchstick to add different software packages. This was my first exposure to XBMC, and I really didn't care for it. Ditto for Boxee. It's been some time now since I had it, but it seems neither of those apps were very good at streaming HD videos. I also felt the device was badly underpowered. In reviewing the specs, the h.264 support for the ATV1 is as follows: For the ATV2, it is: They don't state what bitrate the ATV2 supports, but I can say that I have one video with a bitrate slightly higher than 8Mbs and it streams that without a glitch. However that bitrate is an exception. Most everything I have is around 2.5 Mbps. As I mentioned before, I felt that the ATV1 seemed badly underpowered and had trouble handling some HD shows I had. I just double-checked the media info on one show in particular I know was problematic, and I see why that was now. The bitrate is 3.2 Mbs, which is under what the ATV's max support is, but the fps is 25 fps. The ATV1 only supports 720p content up to 24 fps. If you go with the ATV1, you almost certainly will want to use a Patchstick to add extra functionality. You may also want to consider the Broadcom Crystal HD card. It brings hardware decoding of h.264 video, greatly improving HD playback on the ATV1 if using software written to take advantage of it (i.e. XBMC). It takes the slot of the Airport card, so you would need to plan on playing media strictly off the internal drive, via a connected external drive (a Patchstick will enable that functionality), or via a wired ethernet connection. [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Other Apple Products
Apple TV
Apple TV basics for an Apple newbie!
Top