iLounge

1

Interesting. 

Where was the question that asked “Have you purchased video content from iTMS only once to see how it works, but do not plan on doing it again in the near future until the quality of the video improves”?

That question may have accounted for 99% of the people who said they’ve purchased video content from iTMS.

Posted by Talking Madness in Los Angeles on November 22, 2005 at 2:29 AM (PDT)

2

I agree with Talking Madness to a point.  I think 99% of people who purchased video for the iPod did so out of curiosity and so they could show it off to their friends.  I don’t think there is a problem with video quality. The screen is super small - but the video to me seems fine.

Posted by Cornelius Snaggletooth on November 22, 2005 at 8:00 AM (PDT)

3

I’m one of the mere 2% who has purchased short film and tv content only:  a couple of Pixar shorts and the first five episodes of the second season of Lost so I could catch up on the series.  In my humble opinion, the video quality is very good except for the night scenes in Lost, of which there are many.  I wish there were a way to adust the brightness because otherwise the scenes are just too dark to see what’s happening.

Posted by Downing on November 22, 2005 at 9:37 AM (PDT)

4

I disagree, I haven’t bought video from iTunes but I have transfered video to my iPod and it is very good and even looks reasonably good when shown on a TV.

My only complaint is that the video is too expensive.  Like songs they charge the same price for the digital file as the do for the physical cd.  This is totally unreasonable, there is no packing, shipping, distributing, or warehouse costs when there are only digital files, like music I feel media should be much cheaper from iTunes.

Posted by Andrew on November 22, 2005 at 3:41 PM (PDT)

5

I’ve been relatively pleased with the quality of both free and ITMS video as presented on the 5G. I missed the crucial Lost snuff episode, so it was nice to be able to watch it the next day $2 seems a reasonable price. The video is crystal clear and sounds great. Not sure the same goes when playing the same videos on a TV, but that’s not really how I would use the 5G anyway.

I think the biggest ITMS problem right now in terms of video is lack of content. There’s very little new content and most artists have not authorized Apple to sell their videos (even when they have iTunes exclusive audio tracks). They just need to offer more stuff.

Posted by Steven Averett on November 22, 2005 at 4:47 PM (PDT)

6

My primary reasons for buying video from ITMS were so that I could get a feel for the experience and learn what the exact encoding specs for ITMS shows so that my videos could looks just as good.

I know there are people out there who want to see video that approaches HD quality, but don’t forget that the supposed quality comes at a huge price in terms of file size.  When I downloaded the pilot episode of “The Night Stalker,” not only was I impressed with the playback quality, I was equally if not more impressed with the mere six minutes it took to download the roughly 200mb file.

While I guess it would be nice if Apple were able to offer SD and HD content, let’s keep in mind that the whole idea of legal downloadable commercial video content is not even two months old. 

Let’s be patient and watch as the appetite for content continues to grow, compression continue improve, and most of all the attitudes of the content creators change.  Things will only get better.

Posted by Richard Lawrence on November 22, 2005 at 6:05 PM (PDT)