Some screencaps from the USA service, accessed through some trickery since Canada doesn't get any of the good stuff. I chose streams based on Official Netflix Watch Instantly 5.1/1080p Title List and a couple other posts.
It's worth noting that the quality indicator isn't frame-accurate; i.e. a visible quality shift may occur and then 15 frames later the text will update to note the stream change. I made sure it was stable for my shots.
The capture process isn't completely lossless because the PS3 can't be made to output YCbCr when it isn't playing in disc mode. I have it outputting RGB Limited and whichever part of the chain that's doing the conversion to 4:2:2, I believe the capture card itself, adds dithering (visible in the second patch of the third test pattern). Of course this is nothing compared to the losses incurred by the streaming compression in the first place.
Though I'm not able to capture at 1080p24, I can say that some of the streams are at least stored in that format, as multiple captures of the same thing yielded different pulldown pattern placement. So it's a dynamic thing laid on by the app.
"Example Short 23.976" (HD / 5.1)
"24: Redemption" (HD)
"Cobra" (HD / 5.1 - defaulted to Stereo)
"Law & Order: SVU" Season 8, Episode 1 (HD / 5.1) - High vs X-High
"Lost" Season 1, Episode 1 (HD / 5.1) - X-High vs Blu-ray
"The Matrix Reloaded" (HD) - X-High vs HD DVD/BD
"The Matrix Revolutions" (HD / 5.1) - X-High vs HD DVD/BD
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgohan /forum/post/21791966
Those are only 720p iTunes. I'm currently really confused on what's available in 1080p as some list the resolutions and some just say HD. I'll try to add 1080p to that Breaking Bad post though.
There are lots of shows available in 1080p already. If it says HD 720p, 1080p in the description that means there is a 1080p version available for download. You have to upgrade to itunes 10.6 and change settings to prefer 1080p. If you look under free shows this is what I downloaded to test out. Not sure if all these are still available for free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StinDaWg /forum/post/21792813
There are lots of shows available in 1080p already. If it says HD 720p, 1080p in the description that means there is a 1080p version available for download. You have to upgrade to itunes 10.6 and change settings to prefer 1080p. If you look under free shows this is what I downloaded to test out. Not sure if all these are still available for free.
As I stated above, their description pages all say "HD: Includes 720p, 1080p (Downloading 720p)". (Only the episode of V and the GCB pilot are free right now).
The "Downloading 720p" thing is a setting you swap under Preferences -> Store. It confused me at first because there is also a SD/720p/1080p setting on Preferences -> Playback.
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgohan /forum/post/21793142
The "Downloading 720p" thing is a setting you swap under Preferences -> Store. It confused me at first because there is also a SD/720p/1080p setting on Preferences -> Playback.
EDIT: I downloaded the GCB pilot and when I tried to play it was told that the 1080p version of the title was "too large" to play on my computer, a Core 2 Quad with 6 GB of main memory. Certainly not the fastest machine on the block, but I play much larger files encoded at much higher bit rates all the time
A lot of people seem to be getting that message, and me too. They play decently after hitting OK, though without hardware decoding...
Can one of you guys take a shot from somewhere near the start of GCB for me? PrintScreen - > paste -> save into PNG works.
I found it easier to create my previous iTunes shots by decrypting the files and using regular decoders. That isn't an option with the 1080p files, and iTunes on my system apparently plays files with boosted contrast and colors. I'm trying to determine whether it's just me.
I can say that there are many scenes in the Breaking Bad episode where the 4660kbps 1080p looks worse than the 3973kbps 720p. Sometimes it can't handle the grain at all.
. It does suck up the CPU, taking about 50% on my machine. But then I'm watching video, so who cares?
What's the difference between "iTunes HD download 720p" and "iTunes HD download 720p in iTunes" (besides the obvious visual differences)? 1080p is much smoother but I'm generally not impressed, at least not in that example. I would certainly prefer it to the 720p.
EDIT: I tried to post a shot from the beginning of GCB as requested but Photobucket is screwing me over. It's here:
Code:
You may be able to get to it by cutting and pasting it into the URL field of your browser; if I make it a link it will not work (though I can link to the reduced size version it creates
Specifically, for the former I used the AviSynth plugin FFVideoSource (ffmpeg) to decompress the decrypted file and upscaled it using LanczosResize. The latter is the video played in iTunes over HDMI with a screen resolution of 1920x1080.
Thanks for the link, that worked. Did you download the 720p version of this or is something weird going on? The 1080p file is 1.71GB if you need to check.
Apart from the blur they look much the same, at least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgohan /forum/post/21794663
Thanks for the link, that worked. Did you download the 720p version of this or is something weird going on? The 1080p file is 1.71GB if you need to check.
I've noticed from the screenshots posted here and other places that the 1080p itunes don't appear to be that much improved over the 720p, and in some cases look worse. However, when actually watching them in motion on my 50" 1080p plasma, the 1080p files appear noticeably sharper. The other most notable improvement in the 1080p is way less banding. In comparing the same scene in 720p vs. 1080p where the 720p has noticeable banding on large areas of solid colors, this is reduced and 95% eliminated in the 1080p. This has to be a product of using better encoding settings and high profile with CABAC compression because the 1080p video bitrate is only 1000-1500 kbps higher than the 720p.
The 1080p upgrade isn't a "fall out of my chair in awe" difference, but given the choice and that there is no price difference I would recommend the 1080p download because of the encoding improvements and the overall better sharpness.
Sorry I can not post any screenshots as I have already deleted the episodes off my computer.
I had intended to include a frame of the Vudu preview but completely forgot. Added it now. I also see that today's 99-cent movie is Watchmen DC so I've grabbed that to compare with my multiple Blu-ray copies.
I'm not impressed by the few 1080p iTunes videos I've seen so far. After reading the short Ars Technica piece I was expecting good things. The start of the Breaking Bad ep with the B&W pool looks like garbage watching the 1080p copy, full of compression artifacts, while the 720p is much more stable. Midnight in Paris is stripped of the grain and the texture detail along with it.
There is literally no detail in those shots. It looks like upscaled dvd. Does it really look that bad in motion? The few tv shows I downloaded look fine. Certainly not Blu-ray quality but "good enough". Still curious why they went with an average bitrate of 5000 when their 720p is 4000. Even their 1080p movie trailers they put on their site are 8000-10000 kbps. 1080p really needs more bitrate than what they are giving it. Even keeping bitrate the same and switching to x264 for encoding might have produced better results than whatever they are using.
The sad thing is by switching to high profile encoding with CABAC compression, and increasing the bitrate to 5000, they probably would have produced some very nice looking encodes at 720p. But that wouldn't sell like "1080p" would it?
Instead, we get bitstarved 1080p.
Do you have the BB pool episode pics? I'm quite familiar with that shot and would be interested in seeing the difference.
1080p Netflix is 4.8 Mbps AVC and it looks a ton better than iTunes, to me. msgohan, is there any possibility of getting some frames from both iTunes and Netflix to compare? An iTunes freebie of a title available on Netflix in HD?
In defense of itunes, Midnight in Paris is an incredibly grainy movie. Other stuff I've seen does not look nearly as bad. Apple outsources their encodings to different companies so quality is going to vary from release to release.
The Blu-ray screenshots don't look particularly grainy to me, but the only way I've watched the movie is via the iTunes rental so I'll take your word for it. And to answer your question, yes that is how the iTunes 1080p looked in motion.
The Watchmen on Vudu vs BDs comparison I mentioned earlier is here .
I've added the Breaking Bad 1080p shots to the unwieldy large comparison in post #67 , so there is one example of iTunes vs Netflix. The artifacts I'm talking about for the pool shots can't easily be shown in screenshots. What really stands out is interframe instability - you know, like pulsating.
Besides Mad Men, what's a detailed show that's 1080p on both iTunes and Netflix? Doesn't necessarily have to be free.
Limitless . It's difficult finding something given there's no way to filter iTunes for 1080p. Virtually any HD Netflix title will have a 1080p encoding (or encodings, for a TV series).
EDIT: I never watched it, but the first season of Breakout Kings is on Netflix and iTunes in 1080p (iTunes also has season 2). I certainly have watched it and all 6 recent series of the revived Doctor Who are on both Netflix and 1080p Itunes (not in HD on either service until Series 5). iTunes has a lot of freebie HD Doctor Who clips which are sadly not available on Netflix.
Also not something I've watched, but Supernatural seasons 1-6 are available in HD on Netflix and 1080p on iTunes.
That will conclude my search for 1080p iTunes stuff also available on Netflix. I hope it helps
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgohan /forum/post/21815606
I've added the Breaking Bad 1080p shots to the unwieldy large comparison in post #67 , so there is one example of iTunes vs Netflix. The artifacts I'm talking about for the pool shots can't easily be shown in screenshots. What really stands out is interframe instability - you know, like pulsating.
Those BB shots do look hit or miss. Some of the 1080p look noticeably sharper while others look less detailed and/or missing grain. The bitrate on those are a little low though at 4600. All of the itunes 1080p tv shows I've downloaded have had a video bitrate of 5000-5500 kbps.
Are you viewing these in itunes or have you removed the encryption and are playing it in another player? Itunes has a notoriously bad video decoder.
See above where I said the encryption can't be removed and compared the 720p decoding. There's no resolution loss but the iTunes display messes with the greyscale and colors.
I saw that the first episode of The Killing is on Netflix so I'll compare that next. It is (was?) free on iTunes and Zune, but isn't on Vudu at all. Unfortunately it's another grainy AMC series so I'm not expecting to see anything new.
Ya, I forgot they haven't broke encryption on the 1080p files yet. I actually downloaded 1080p The Killing on itunes yesterday. Noticed a lot of banding on solid colors in dark scenes, using the itunes decoder of course.
I just looked at those BB 720p shots again and it is amazing how much worse the picture looks in itunes player vs external player. Itunes really washes out the picture and you lose the small details because whites are blown out. The first shot with the glass on the table is a good example.
I don't know about the US Google Play, but the store I see doesn't indicate what's in HD and one of the movies I looked at had a comment saying it was "VHS quality".
I was wondering, is there any difference in Netflix, if say my internet feed is like 25 MBPs, or higher, does Netflix adjust quality up to that level or does the highest it go 4.8 MBPs? Thanks
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