5 ms·

Does anyone know where this "No HD movies or TV" thing is coming from? Can the iPad mini not play 720p content or something? A link to where this is stated woul

Does anyone know where this "No HD movies or TV" thing is coming from? Can the iPad mini not play 720p content or something? A link to where this is stated would be helpful.

chaz 14y ago
I wrote this comment on a prior discussion about this: > SD vs HD, is dependent upon who you ask. The CEA, which represents the TV makers, says that anything with at least 720 lines is HDTV, thus enabling 1024x768 to be called HDTV. ATSC, which develops broadcast standards, says that HDTV should be 720 or 1080 lines at 16:9 aspect ratio, which implies 1280x720 or 1920x1080. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4710875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4710875
Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
I'm sure it can play an HD movie if that's the file you have, just the screen resolution is such that it won't appear as HD to your eyes. But this post is a wonderful example of the sort of doubt Amazon will be very happy to have spread as a result of the ads.
- chucknelson 14y ago
  So Amazon is just saying that 720p is not HD enough? They have decided to define HD as high-dpi screens only all of a sudden? I guess it goes with their branding, but yeah, totally misleading.
  - smackfu 14y ago
    iPad mini can't play 720p either (1280x720) without scaling or cropping since the screen is only 1024x768.
engtech 14y ago
They're probably using 1080P as the definition of HD. The last time I looked at buying a movie in iTunes, the max resolution they sold was 720P.
- arrogant 14y ago
  No longer the case. They started renting/selling 1080p content with (or perhaps before) the release of the 1080p Apple TV.
- vetinari 14y ago
  720p as HD definition will suffice for Amazon. iPad mini has 768 pixels, but the display is 4:3. It will not display 720 lines without distorting the video. Or cropping. To play 16:9, it will be displayed as 1024x576 with black bars at top and bottom. 576 happens to be SD PAL.

Does anyone know where this "No HD movies or TV" thing is coming from? Can the iPad mini not play 720p content or something? A link to where this is stated would be helpful.

chaz 14y ago

I wrote this comment on a prior discussion about this: > SD vs HD, is dependent upon who you ask. The CEA, which represents the TV makers, says that anything with at least 720 lines is HDTV, thus enabling 1024x768 to be called HDTV. ATSC, which develops broadcast standards, says that HDTV should be 720 or 1080 lines at 16:9 aspect ratio, which implies 1280x720 or 1920x1080. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4710875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4710875

Tyrannosaurs 14y ago

I'm sure it can play an HD movie if that's the file you have, just the screen resolution is such that it won't appear as HD to your eyes. But this post is a wonderful example of the sort of doubt Amazon will be very happy to have spread as a result of the ads.

chucknelson 14y ago
So Amazon is just saying that 720p is not HD enough? They have decided to define HD as high-dpi screens only all of a sudden? I guess it goes with their branding, but yeah, totally misleading.
- smackfu 14y ago
  iPad mini can't play 720p either (1280x720) without scaling or cropping since the screen is only 1024x768.

engtech 14y ago

They're probably using 1080P as the definition of HD. The last time I looked at buying a movie in iTunes, the max resolution they sold was 720P.

arrogant 14y ago
No longer the case. They started renting/selling 1080p content with (or perhaps before) the release of the 1080p Apple TV.
vetinari 14y ago
720p as HD definition will suffice for Amazon. iPad mini has 768 pixels, but the display is 4:3. It will not display 720 lines without distorting the video. Or cropping. To play 16:9, it will be displayed as 1024x576 with black bars at top and bottom. 576 happens to be SD PAL.