Submission + - Apple TV "barely watchable"
lpangelrob writes: Peter Svensson of the Associated Press (accessible via various media websites) reviews the Apple TV, and comes away less than impressed.
While the Apple TV gets solid marks for "a very iPod-like interface, commendably clear and easy to use", the Apple TV experience falls apart on an HD television. The reviewer notes that "videos from Apple's online iTunes store look horrible on an HDTV set. The movies and TV shows have the same nominal resolution as DVDs, but look much blurrier, approaching the look of standard-definition broadcast TV."
Compared to the XBox 360, the reviewer states that "the Xbox interface is like a slap in the face." In terms of video quality, however, "the Xbox does your HDTV justice", producing stunning images "better than most broadcast HD, and almost indistinguishable from HD DVD or Blu-ray discs, which provide the best video quality available to consumers right now." Standard definition programming looked far better on the 360 than the Apple TV.
Svensson is not optimistic about the Apple TV's chances in the future, either, going on to say that "The hard drive is small, and the low power consumption speaks of weak processors inside. And since Apple's standard-definition video looks so bad, I'm not confident the HD video will look good either."
While the Apple TV gets solid marks for "a very iPod-like interface, commendably clear and easy to use", the Apple TV experience falls apart on an HD television. The reviewer notes that "videos from Apple's online iTunes store look horrible on an HDTV set. The movies and TV shows have the same nominal resolution as DVDs, but look much blurrier, approaching the look of standard-definition broadcast TV."
Compared to the XBox 360, the reviewer states that "the Xbox interface is like a slap in the face." In terms of video quality, however, "the Xbox does your HDTV justice", producing stunning images "better than most broadcast HD, and almost indistinguishable from HD DVD or Blu-ray discs, which provide the best video quality available to consumers right now." Standard definition programming looked far better on the 360 than the Apple TV.
Svensson is not optimistic about the Apple TV's chances in the future, either, going on to say that "The hard drive is small, and the low power consumption speaks of weak processors inside. And since Apple's standard-definition video looks so bad, I'm not confident the HD video will look good either."
