Roxio Toast 9's H.264 encoding doesn't work

I've now installed Roxio Toast 9 Titanium (with the HD/BD Plug-in) and have burned a few HD DVDs on DVD-R. It does work, but with some serious caveats.

1) With the default encoding settings and with the advanced H.264 setting, it doesn't work at all with any of my files. Toast claims there are problems with the source material, but all of them encode to MPEG2 just fine in Toast. Obviously Toast has no problems reading the files. It just can't re-encode them to H.264 for some reason. (All the clips I tested are QuickTime HD files downloaded off Apple's website.)

2) I made my first MPEG2 HD DVD disc on DVD media with the video bitrate set to Toast's maximum of 26 Mbps. It starts to play on both my iMac and my Toshiba HD-A2, but skips on both. It seems to be a problem with the bitrate, in that the iMac's laptop drive and the Toshiba likely can't read the data fast enough off DVD media. If I put the disc into an external Firewire desktop DVD drive, the iMac handles the disc perfectly and playback is smooth. I also tried an 18 Mbps MPEG2 disc, and it still skips on the iMac if I use the internal laptop drive.

What this means for us is that we need to severely limit the bitrate on HD DVDs when using DVD media, for maximum compatibility with some DVD readers. I suspect a reasonable bitrate would be approximately 10-11 Mbps, but unfortunately, this is too low for MPEG2. MPEG2 is too inefficient a codec for good quality hi-definition material at that bitrate. At 10-11 Mbps, H.264 would be greatly preferred, but that is also not an option, since H.264 encoding in Toast does not work properly.

In short, Toast's hi-def disc support is problematic with DVD media at this time. Hopefully these issues will be corrected soon in a software update.

[Update 2008-03-20]

The skipping issue appears to be related to the DVD media type.

My iMac's Pioneer DVR-K06 and my Toshiba HD-A2 do not like Sony +R media (SONYD21). (These were burned as the +R booktype, not -ROM.) At 18 Mbps, both still skip. At 15 Mbps it plays smoothly on the Pioneer, but it still skips on the Toshiba. However, if I use Maxell DVD-R (RITEKF1) it plays perfectly with both machines, even at 26 Mbps.

Unfortunately, MPEG2 uses up too much space, and H.264 encoding still doesn't work properly.

The good news is Roxio is aware of the problem:

We're working on this... but I have authored AVC discs on DVD media.

I'll post an update when we have more information to share, right now we're gathering test files and working on a solution.

Roxio Toast 9 Titanium burns HD DVD & Blu-ray on DVD-R

Roxio's new Toast 9 Titanium has an HD/BD plug-in available to allow it to burn both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, even on DVD media.

The new HD/BD plug-in for Toast 9 gives users the ability to author high definition video content on to Blu-ray, or even standard DVD discs! Take high-def video footage from AVCHD camcorders, TiVo and EyeTV and create Blu-ray discs that can be played on any standard Blu-ray set top box or Playstation3 game console. Did you invest in HD DVD? The HD/BD Plug-in even supports HD DVD formats and disc players.

This is a very nice addition for those getting into Blu-ray, and those who already have the (now defunct) HD DVD format players. It's now that much easier to play your HD content on your TVs. This is especially true now that standalone HD DVD players (which also make very good upscaling DVD players) can be purchased at a bargain-basement $70, and Xbox 360 HD DVD drives can be purchased for $40 in some places.

Furthermore, Apple's DVD Player application supports limited HD DVD playback, and it's possible that some of these HD discs created in Toast will work in DVD Player. I will do some testing once I have gotten Toast 9 and the plug-in.

[Update 2008-03-19]

Reports are coming in and HD DVD on DVD-R is confirmed to work on Toshiba standalone HD DVD players as well as Apple's DVD Player application. I have not yet seen confirmation about compatibility of Blu-ray burned on DVD, but hopefully some reports will surface soon. I was under the impression that Blu-ray formatted discs needed AACS to be fully compliant with the Blu-ray specification, but I am not clear on that. For this reason it would be good to have reports from more than just the Sony PlayStation 3.

Apple captures 25% dollar share for US computer sales

Reports state that new NPD numbers have Apple's total personal computer unit share hitting 14% in the US market in February 2008, an enormous jump over February 2007. Even more impressive is Apple's 25% dollar share last month. It would appear that Apple's iPod (or iPhone) halo is continuing to do its job, and well.

AAPL closed up $6.09 today to $132.82, an increase of 4.8% (which reflected the 4.2% rise in the Nasdaq and S&P 500, with the Fed's 0.75% rate cut).

Aperture 2 released - $199 in both Canada and US

Apple finally released Aperture 2 yesterday with a long list of new features, not the least of which is a new plug-in architecture for third party image editing plug-ins.

Apple has added the ability to create editing plug-ins for Aperture, which will, over time, revolutionize the program. Having an edit plug-in interface means that Aperture users will be able to do just about anything to their images. It’ll be possible to create plug-ins that replicate film effects, add borders, allow for selective edits like dodging and burning—the possibilities are pretty endless. For the purist who only wants to focus on Aperture’s image editing tools, there’s no need to ever add a plug-in, but for those who have been hankering to extend the program’s capabilities—your wish has been granted.

This is a huge addition to the program, and one that will likely make it much more popular with professionals. The support of third party developers will go a very long way to help solidify Aperture's place in the market.

Other important additions and improvements include things like tethered camera support, background exporting, improved speed, and a whole host of others.

Also big news is Apple's new pricing structure. It's only $199 now for the full application, and $99 for the upgrade. Just as importantly, the Canadian dollar is treated at par, and the pricing is the same in Canada, reflecting the fact that the Canadian dollar is essentially now worth the same as the US dollar. This is even better than the comparative pricing on the new 32 GB iPod touch, released last week. It's $499 in the US, and $519 in Canada, a 4% difference. That's not quite at par, but close enough, especially considering the Canadian dollar was worth a few cents less a couple of weeks before the 32 GB iPod touch was released. It appears that the US's low dollar isn't raising prices much for Americans, but is helping to lower prices on Apple's products elsewhere in the world.

The educational pricing in the US isn't particularly impressive in comparison however. Aperture 2 is $179 for education individuals, just $20 less than the full retail price. The educational pricing in Canada has not yet been posted.

Jobs weighs in on the AAPL rout

AppleInsider has gotten its hands on an internal memo from Jobs to Apple employees commenting on the recent large drop in AAPL's price.

Not surprisingly, he didn't really say anything specific, but obviously he felt the concern about the stock price was enough to warrant speaking out and providing assurances.

"...we have outperformed many other blue-chip tech companies, including Google. I continue to believe that our fundamentals - our remarkable people, our clear and focused strategy, our new product pipeline, our 200+ retail stores, our $18 billion of cash in the bank with no debt, etc., will serve us well in the coming months and years."

MacJournals rants about Wall Street analysts

It has been an interesting week for anyone in the stock market, just about anywhere in the world. It has been an even more interesting month for anyone with stock in Apple. After hitting hitting an intra-day high of over US$200 on Dec. 28, AAPL has been in a steady decline, settling to just over $161 at the end of last week.

Then, on January 22, 2008 while Americans were celebrating Dr. King, markets around the world crashed. Apple had the pleasure of holding its Q1 2008 financial conference call the very next day, in the context of very jittery markets, with American indices also showing mini-crashes for the day. AAPL closed down 3.5% to a respectable $155.64 on Tuesday.

Shortly after market close, Apple announced that its last quarter was the best sales quarter in company history, with results blowing past all analysts' expectations. The after-hours crowd promptly reacted... by shaving 11% off AAPL's value. Why? Largely because despite Apple's stellar results for the last quarter, their guidance for the following quarter didn't meet Wall Street analysts' rosy expectations.

I lost a few bucks that day, but judging by their response, it seems the people over at MacJournals.com may have lost more. They have published a scathing analysis of "irresponsible" Wall Street analysts.

Ouch.