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iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

post #1 of 15
1/15/08 at 1:10pm
Thread Starter 
I would have started a thread in the movie software section, but I somehow thought the interest may be limited. This news of downloads for rentals of films and the support of so many studios in interesting.

Will it mark the eventual move to downloads as the primary means to acquire all forms of media. No more DVD's, or HDM?

I'm not a renter, but this may get me in. I prefer to buy what I know I want to own. I am not fully up on the specs, but I think I read the films are at 720 resolution. I think I'd still prefer 1080, since I am so used to it. But for a rental, I can see this being acceptable. One could always buy the HDM version later if they like the film.
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post #2 of 15
1/15/08 at 1:20pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

As a recent owner of an ITouch, I think it's a great idea to have Itunes movie rentals. Now I can have fast and HD movie rentals.(and on the go!)

Hopefully I can download "Shot Em Up" and take it with me while at work

Plus with the recent news of Itune copies of movies on DVD copies.
First copy to have this feature is Family Guy Blue Harvest.

Some fantastic ITunes news this week!
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post #3 of 15
1/15/08 at 2:44pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

OK, who's gonna be the 1st one to sample Apple's rental fare? And four questions for when you do....

1. Are movies cropped to fill the widescreen? (If so, what do they do about 4:3 material)

2. Do all the movies have 5.1 Dolby surround, or just the HD movies?

3. Concerning the HD movies; Are they all films currently available on HD-DVD/BRD, or is Apple offering some exclusive titles not available on disk yet?

4. Any lagging or picture jitter during the movie? Did you have any other issues the forum should know about? (audio drop-out, pixelation, ghosting, etc etc)
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post #4 of 15
1/15/08 at 3:22pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Garrett Lundy
OK, who's gonna be the 1st one to sample Apple's rental fare? And four questions for when you do....

1. Are movies cropped to fill the widescreen? (If so, what do they do about 4:3 material)

2. Do all the movies have 5.1 Dolby surround, or just the HD movies?

3. Concerning the HD movies; Are they all films currently available on HD-DVD/BRD, or is Apple offering some exclusive titles not available on disk yet?

4. Any lagging or picture jitter during the movie? Did you have any other issues the forum should know about? (audio drop-out, pixelation, ghosting, etc etc)

It shouldn't be any differen't than the TV show downloads.
Like Lost that's filmed in HD.
Lost looks great on my Itouch.
No jitters, audio drops outs, pixelation
of course there's no 5.1, it's an I touch, not your home theater.

I'm downloading Ipod's 1.1.3 update now to get Movie rentals
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post #5 of 15
1/15/08 at 4:47pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

It appears that 720p content is being restricted to the AppleTV only. This is a major let down if you ask me. I have a Mac Mini HTPC and would pay for HD content through iTunes. I will not however pay for yet another device. I guess I'll be sticking with Netflix for a while longer.

-EJ
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post #6 of 15
1/15/08 at 5:42pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Huh, I just downloaded the latest iTunes update, and I'm not seeing the rental option in the store, only the buy option.
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post #7 of 15
1/15/08 at 6:03pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Quote:
Are movies cropped to fill the widescreen?
If it's like the stuff you buy, it will be 640 wide by however many pixels tall to be the correct aspect ratio. 4:3 will fill the 640x480 frame. Similarly, HD stuff will be 1280 wide; 16:9 will be 720 tall, while wider-screen movies will be shorter. No cropping.
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post #8 of 15
1/15/08 at 7:59pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Garrett Lundy
Huh, I just downloaded the latest iTunes update, and I'm not seeing the rental option in the store, only the buy option.

Yeah, I've updated both my ITouch and my Itunes to the correct versions and I can't see the rental store(area) either

UPDATE!!!

They don't have their rent page up yet.
but do a search for the movies "300" and "Blades of Glory" and you can rent it.

BUT!!!!

Either they have it mislabeled or they are only offering a FULLSCREEN version of it.

I'm SHOCKED!!
I would have never thought they would give you a FULLSCREEN version
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post #9 of 15
1/16/08 at 7:53am

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnS
Yeah, I've updated both my ITouch and my Itunes to the correct versions and I can't see the rental store(area) either

UPDATE!!!

They don't have their rent page up yet.
but do a search for the movies "300" and "Blades of Glory" and you can rent it.

BUT!!!!

Either they have it mislabeled or they are only offering a FULLSCREEN version of it.

I'm SHOCKED!!
I would have never thought they would give you a FULLSCREEN version

I suspect that is not the HD version.

There was a post elsewhere that said that HD rentals would only be for Apple TV, and since they have not shipped the Take 2 version or made the upgrade available yet, perhaps they are holding back.

I suspect that when they have HD content available for rental, they will not hide the fact;-)

Brian
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post #10 of 15
1/16/08 at 9:54am

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Rentals are up now. There is a "Top Movies" list and a "Top Rentals" list in the Movie section. I find it interesting that not all movies have rental and purchase options. For example "Shooter" has a "buy it now" button but no rental option. Whereas "Live Free or Die Hard" has a "rent now" button but no buy option. And yes no HD available through iTunes. Lets hope they rethink that one.

-EJ
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post #11 of 15
1/16/08 at 10:53am

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Only the initial studios have Widescreen.
New ones are ALL FULLSCREEN.
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post #12 of 15
1/17/08 at 8:34am

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Quote:
BUT!!!!

Either they have it mislabeled or they are only offering a FULLSCREEN version of it.

I'm SHOCKED!!
I would have never thought they would give you a FULLSCREEN version
Everyone put your panic and outrage away. This appears to be a labeling issue.

I sacrificied 3 of my hard-earned dollars and rented Moulin Rouge, one of the Fox catalog titles marked as "Fullscreen". I can happily report it plays at the proper OAR of 2:35.1.

I also think we need to consider that when we're dealing with a system (Apple TV) which is aimed EXCLUSIVELY at widescreen HDTVs, the term "Fullscreen" may not mean what we're all used to it meaning (Pan & Scanned for 4:3 sets).
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post #13 of 15
1/17/08 at 2:50pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig S
I also think we need to consider that when we're dealing with a system (Apple TV) which is aimed EXCLUSIVELY at widescreen HDTVs, the term "Fullscreen" may not mean what we're all used to it meaning (Pan & Scanned for 4:3 sets).
Joe SixPack's brain just burst an aneurysm.
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post #14 of 15
1/17/08 at 2:57pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

iLounge has posted an in-depth article on iTunes 7.6, including all the ins & outs of renting movies.

I found the following to be of particular interest given the recent concerns about "Fullscreen" rentals:
Quote:
Additionally, rented movie content now takes advantage of anamorphic encoding supported by the iPod and iTunes in order to provide a higher vertical resolution at the standard 640x480 maximum (the video file shown above has an actual resolution of 640x356, but is using anamorphic encoding to provide a proper widescreen presentation).
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post #15 of 15
1/17/08 at 5:44pm

Re: iTunes Movie downloads, the future is now?

they need to fix this labeling issue, as the movie Ronin(to rent only) says widescreen-and not Fullscreen, like the other rentals.
very confusing
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