CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10273

Ok, so about a week ago the wife got her new iPad. Its quicker than the 1st gen, but that is to be expected. Beyond that I had not spent any time with it until today when the 3rd gen Apple TV showed up. I connected the ATV to the 1at floor plasma and the only thing I configured on it was to give it a unique name. I then showed the wife things like how to use the services like Vimeo, YouTube, Apple's Trailers and the Internet Radio.

I then showed her how to use AirPlay via the iPad to the ATV (she really like that), and finally showed her how to use mirroring (wireless). I have to admit I was really impressed with how I didn't see any buffering issues with the ATV3 as a standalone media streamer, but then again I spent a whole hour so far.

I'll need to test other sources of media, but the intriguing part of the ATV is its simplicity and portability. I can easily see this type of product in most rooms of the house connected to simple receiver and speakers while the personal content remains portable and the online content available natively.

The one thing I can see some complaints about, though, is the difference in aspect ratio between the native aspect of the iPad and that of common household HDTVs. For instance, the iPad 3 has a native resolution of 2048-by-1536, but somehow this 4:3 aspect is mapped to a 1920x1080 16:9 display. To me this means only 1440x1080 can be achieved. BTW, this difference in aspects isn't because of the HDTV because even Apple's iMacs are 16:9.

Having a unified aspect front for the product line may be in their future, but something tells me that they should have already done this because most buyers haven already bought into the newest iPad will not allow less in the next generation. Personally, I could have easily lived with 1920x1080 resolution on the iPad. Let's keep life simple.

Now I am trying to figure out if there is a way to ad-hoc these two directly together wirelessly without going through a home network. Both already have 802.11n built in so in keeping with the simplicity theme lets remove the middle man.

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:22 pm Post subject:

Good to hear you and the wife like the new iPad, Wan... I have a $100 gift card from buying a new washer and dryer, and I'm seriously considering using it toward a new Retina iPad since the kids have basically taken over our old iPad 1. This one would be MINE. I really like the display on the new one - it's really, really sharp and damn purdy to look at. Should be awesome for reading, and will make an AWESOME home theater controller!

A couple of points:
- Yes, the output from the iPad will only be 1440x1080 on the ATV, but only in video mirroring mode - because the iPad display is 4:3. If you send videos to the ATV, it is 1080p. If you have a game that supports Airplay-out directly, it could use the whole 16:9 display.

- It seems like a good idea to make the iPad 16:9, but for reading and general use, 16:9 is only good for two things: movies and games. For reading, content creation, and damn near everything besides movies and games, 4:3 is actually very good. If keeping life simple is important, changing the aspect ratio would be nightmare for developers and users alike. There are millions of apps designed to work on the iPad at 4:3 already. Developers would burn massive resources to re-build every single app to work in 16:9, and then how to display new apps on the old iPad or old apps on the new app? NOT simple!

- As for the WiFi, it's a total pain in the ass to set up WiFi devices to work in Ad-hoc mode, so why would you? Yes, the WLAN is technically a middle-man, but that's what it's there for. Use it. It works. Don't make things more difficult than they need to be.

SC

ecrabb · Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:30 am Post subject:

OK, Wan (and some of the others in the gang here) might actually get a kick out of this...

The guys over at DisplayMate subjected the new iPad to their display shootout, and the results are pretty awesome...

http://www.displaymate.com/iPad_ShootOut_1.htm

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10273

Actually, I picked up a couple of spare Linksys WRT54GL routers from Amazon and I can setup a one-device solution for networking for the wife. While not completely eliminating the middle-man for the application I am working on, it can make it easier to manage as an isolated network.

As for the aspects and resolutions, I think a lot of applications are dynamic enough already as they already support a dynamic resolution and aspect as far as orientation goes. Have we seen a condition in which lower-resolution apps made pre-iP3 are not working on the iP3? And apps that allow landscape/portrait orientation as already changing aspect between 4:3 and 3:4.

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10273

Ok I bought another on and have it in the theater. I am sitting here listening to the Sucker Punch soundtrack while watching the ATv National Geographic screen saver. Mind you I am using the 1st gen iPad to stream the music, and while this is happening I am writing this. Yeshaw! Oh, and I am doing this all wirelessly.