Ars Technica has taken a look inside the new iPod. It uses the new Broadcom BCM2722 chip, which was just announced yesterday. This chip can decode MPEG4 video up to 640x480, but H.264 video only up to 352x288. Apple rates the iPod at 480x480 MPEG4 and 320x240 H.264.
So, as expected, the new iPod is incapable of decoding significantly higher resolution H.264 video than its 320x240 spec. Perhaps next year...
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3 comments:
Although I agree that higher def video would be nice, the Ars review seemed to be quite impressed with the current quality (apart from the terrible quality of Thriller which I too found!) even when replayed through a tv, so perhaps the need is less than expected
Reviews around the net of 320x240 H.264 video quality played on larger screens have been mixed. Some think it's acceptable (albeit not great) whereas some feel it really is subpar (albeit barely watchable). Obviously I fall into the latter camp. In addition, because I would like to keep my videos for which I've paid into the future, image quality matters a bit more. I don't have a strong desire to pay for and keep sub-par video in my collection. Even 480x360 H.264 video would be a vast improvement (although 640x480 would be preferred).
Despite Apple's claims of only support MPEG4 @ 480 x 480 max, I was able ti rip a dvd using handbrake to mpeg4 @ 640 x 342 (widescreen size of this movie for 640 pixel width). I copied the file to iTunes to sync with iPod 60GB unit. It sycned and played fine.
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