Can you help me with this HD/DRM/Apple/Home Theater problem?

Apple TV. $225.

HDMI out, digital audio out. (or component video & analog red/white audio out) It will stream the HD episodes from your host iTunes computer just fine over wireless G.

I love mine, just got it for Xmas. E-mail me if you need any more specific info.

I dunno… especially since I have the xbox+netflix already, shelling out $225 for episodes that I’m already paying for seems excessive. And if I use my Apple TV to rent, then I’m double dipping on my netflix subscription. Perhaps I’ve reached the limits of my fanboidom.

I’m dropping NetFlix this month. Standard-def doesn’t do it for me no more, Jackson. And in my experience, the NetFlix streaming is a cut above YouTube, a cut below Hulu.

of course, there are ways to download HD content for free, load that into iTunes & stream it to the Apple TV, but it’s kind of a pain in the ass to be honest

Netflix will soon stream HD content; the AppleTV is the way to go (basically a $225 dongle for that content), and as you know, since there is no way to burn video content as you would burning Audio CDs (to strip DRM-though you didn’t hear it from me)...there are no other ways to “back up” your content onto another medium.

I’m hoping for some Apple TV crumbs to be tossed tomorrow morning… maybe a hardware upgrade, a software update, hell I’d settle for the ability to purchase HD movies from the iTunes Store.

Hold the phone folks. What about connecting my MacBook up to my receiver using a Mini TOSlink to TOSlink cable, then just playing the episodes I want? It seems like from here that the HD shows you buy from the store output in 5.1, and I have the video portion handled with my DVI->HDMI cable, so I’d be all set! Can anyone verify this?

What’s the selection like on AppleTV, though? I’m guessing it can’t nearly be as large as netflix.

You can see it all at the iTunes Store – that’s what the Apple TV accesses. You’re right, it isn’t NetFlix, but DVDs have a ten-year head start on HD content.

We just bought Apple TV for 127 dollars at Sams on clearance last week. It’s awesome!

Hey Andrew, AppleTV is certainly a way to go (as others suggested) but I’ll tackle #3 of the scenarios you listed…

Most likely the “buzz” in the audio that you’re hearing is caused by ground loop interference, not copy protection. To correct it, go to Radio Shack and tell them you’re getting ground loop interference between two powered audio devices and they should sell you a small filter that you plug between the RCA connectors for the audio into. It’ll clear it right up. It’s usually around $10.

Switching to an optical audio cable, as you were asking about, would also remove the interference.

@Maverick That’s exactly what I thought. I think it has to do also with the fact that the level coming out of the Mac is extremely low (I have to crank my receiver up to about -3db; normally I’m in the -40db – -25db range), so any inherent interference in the RCA cable is amplified.

The laptop power supplies are notorious for passing ground loop interference. Either filter it on the line (as Maverick pointed out) or get a power conditioner that filters RFI/EMI and ground loops. Usually the APC UPS etc. will do that pretty effectively.

@PupnTaco You can’t rent TV shows via Apple TV, correct? Only buy?

Yes, you can rent. You download it and it waits for you to start watching. Once you start, you have 24 hours to watch it once or as many times as you like, then it goes away.

NetFlix it ain’t!

@PupnTaco: Really? TV shows? In HD? For how much?

Hang on, I’m watching the David Attenborough version of “Planet Earth” in HD on my Apple TV. those stalactites are amazing

(Checks Main Menu >TV Shows>TV Networks—>Sci Fi Channel—>Battlestar Galatica—>Buy all episodes (HD) $29.90.)

No rental for BSG. Looks like TV Shows are for sale only, I was wrongo bongo. Movies can be rented (SD and HD) or bought (SD only at the moment).

@PupnTaco Well, that’s all right. And actually, due to the way that Apple encodes their audio, the iTunes TV shows can only be output in 5.1 if you have a MacTV (though I’m reasonably pleased with ProLogic II through my MacBook).

I just can’t justify spending $225 just so I can get 5.1 sound—especially when I’m shelling out $40 for a season (HD is actually $39.90).

or you could steal it shhhhh

I second APPLE TV. Then get the nitoTV, it opens your ATV to other (pretty much any) format.

I got the XBOX too, but over months of use I found that ATV beats Netflix big time.

@Dave

They are upgrading their library and more and more movies are available in semi-HD. Real HD as in 1080p the ATV can’t handle because the processor is too weak. After all, ATV is nothing but a locked-interface MacMini without accessible drives.

I strongly recommend to “pimp” it using ATVFlash

It lets you play almost everything including *.mkv

@Andrew

don’t feel dorky :) I despise most US TV series for their bluntness/tackiness/stupidity, but ended up buying all episodes of BSG (and watching them within 10 days or so).