Is a better screen really worth £700?

[AQ_OC]

Just rough estimates based on personal experience ripping blu-rays and the size of files on iTunes. iTunes 720p HD movies are roughly 2 GB per hour. I think Apple has even stated that their SD videos are around 1 GB per hour and HD 2 GB per hour. I have purchased several TV shows in HD off of iTunes and they are generally around 1.5 GB for a 40-45 minute show. It does depend on the setting you are using to encode on Handbrake, but most of the TV shows/movies I have ripped in 1080p are around 4 GB per hour. This makes sense since 1080p has roughly twice the pixel density over 720p. You do get a bit of a break in size with feature films since Handbrake doesn't include the black bars when it encodes it. This number is dependent on the final quality you really want though. Also, keep in mind that when you pull the mkv, it takes everything including menus, alternate scenes, extra languages, closed captioning, etc... The actual movie itself isn't nearly that large. On the other hand, digital media is nowhere close to replacing blu-rays as some might have you believe as you are sacrificing quality a bit to make the file size more managable. If I have the choice to watch a movie on blu-ray or a 1080p digital copy, I choose blu-ray every time.

Edit: A link to what Apple states for their digital copy file size: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1906.

Ok...thanks, I get what you are saying about movies you get from apple. They likely do have a certain way they do they encodes to ensure uniform quality and file size.

When you use makemkv on a blu ray, you don't get any menus in the file, unless you decide to get them. But I make mkvs that are bit perfect, but have no menus. No subtitles, and only a single high def soundtrack. Depending on the movie, that file can be 40GB+, but most of them are not that big.

 

[SquiderDragon]

Although I wouldn't want to pay for the same movie twice. If I already own the blu-ray, I am not going to pay to stream it HD when I can load it onto my iPad for free.

Hi, not something I have tried but would like to. Can you let me know the basics and what utilities I would need to have. Also after conversion do you upload to device via iTunes followed by sync or another method?

Thanks

SquiderDragon

 

[richkyd]

SquiderDragon I agree re the 72 hour satisfaction limit and most of the time thats fine. It just drives me nuts resync'ing and swapping content round every few days, its so time consuming. I recall the days when my 160gb iPod was too big for my music collection (not that it is anymore) and how easy it was to keep piling the content on top of the pile. I LOVE to this day that whereever i take that iPod, I am taking ALL my music with me. Now, obviously you cant listen to it all, thats not the point. The fact is that whatever mood takes me, i have the music to fit. It's ALL with me. Now, I dream of the same with the iPad and it WILL get there. Memory will always get cheaper and bigger. But essentially the perfect setup is an iPad that replicates my Mac, with a copy of ALL my content. Then I can pull out the iPad and say 'watch shall i watch today'? I have 500 films to choose from. Actually I'll listen to music while i read the paper.. What album from ALL my collection shall I listen to? This will happen. This is not iPad 3. I never expected it to be. I was just hoping it would have been 128gb and then i could stop swapping over content every 72 hours. Once every 2-3 weeks would be a relief. It has nothing to do with whether i like iPad 3 or not, it just doesnt change my lifestyle and how i manage content. Removing apps to make way for more films is crazy..

 

[Mikekan]

You forget that the "screen" is what a tablet is about. It is also considerably faster in browsing in heavy loaded with graphics sites. I have nothing more to desire from a tablet, honestly...

 

[Kaykaykay]

SquiderDragon I agree re the 72 hour satisfaction limit and most of the time thats fine. It just drives me nuts resync'ing and swapping content round every few days, its so time consuming. I recall the days when my 160gb iPod was too big for my music collection (not that it is anymore) and how easy it was to keep piling the content on top of the pile. I LOVE to this day that whereever i take that iPod, I am taking ALL my music with me. Now, obviously you cant listen to it all, thats not the point. The fact is that whatever mood takes me, i have the music to fit. It's ALL with me. Now, I dream of the same with the iPad and it WILL get there. Memory will always get cheaper and bigger. But essentially the perfect setup is an iPad that replicates my Mac, with a copy of ALL my content. Then I can pull out the iPad and say 'watch shall i watch today'? I have 500 films to choose from. Actually I'll listen to music while i read the paper.. What album from ALL my collection shall I listen to? This will happen. This is not iPad 3. I never expected it to be. I was just hoping it would have been 128gb and then i could stop swapping over content every 72 hours. Once every 2-3 weeks would be a relief. It has nothing to do with whether i like iPad 3 or not, it just doesnt change my lifestyle and how i manage content. Removing apps to make way for more films is crazy..

Agreed on storage. I upgraded my iPhone 4 to 4S partly because 4S offered 64GB. I have about 36GB of music. I like taking it with me wherever I go, listening to whatever I'm in the mood for. I sometimes spend weeks or months abroad, but even when just out and about, I like having access to whatever I like. I'm not only interested in a 1TB tablet, I'd like even more, lol. It's just a matter of time and prices coming down.

I don't care to swap content if I can avoid it. I'd rather waste my time doing more enjoyable things and if a few hundred bucks buys me more storage, I'm buying. I have a 3TB portable hard drive that I take between one home and the other, for instance.

I've just switched over to a Samsung Galaxy Note from iPhone 4S and one thing I prefer is the flexibility of an SD card.

Better screen quality is nice on any mobile device, but I didn't have complaints about screen quality in iPad 1 or 2, so that wasn't a tipping point for me to buy the new iPad.

 

[Fluidz]

Once you've seen better your expectations rise, the bar raises. Moral of the story - if you've not seen an IPad 3 screen you'll think the world of an IPad 2 screen (especially if you happen to look at an original iPad screen first) lol

 

[Kaykaykay]

After looking at an iPad 2 screen AFTER upgrading to an IPad 3, there was nothing but flaws with the IPad 2s screen, similar to the difference between the screens we get n the latest phones today compared to a Symbian phone. I owned an iPad 2 for a year and yes I thought its screen was great, until I saw the newer panel. Moral of the story - once you've seen better the bar raises.

Well, I've had retina screen since 2010 on iPhone 4, and that didn't make me cringe when I saw the screen on iPad 1 or 2, lol.

 

[Fluidz]

Well, I've had retina screen since 2010 on iPhone 4, and that didn't make me cringe when I saw the screen on iPad 1 or 2, lol.

That's like comparing a 42" tv in 1080 vs a 20" screen with equivalent res. you can't really spot the difference as your eyes are focusing at different strengths.

 

[Kaykaykay]

That's like comparing a 42" tv in 1080 vs a 20" screen with equivalent res. you can't really spot the difference as your eyes are focusing at different strengths.

I can spot the difference. Can't speak for your eyes or preferences, of course. My husband's really into TV screen quality, for instance. I can see the diff between the screens when he upgrades, but it's not a big deal to me. He keeps wanting to upgrade my ancient TV in my home office, but I resist, because the screen doesn't bother me, and I like the boxy style of the set, which I bought overseas. It's like a museum TV, he says, lol.

 

[Texas Holders]

Hi, not something I have tried but would like to. Can you let me know the basics and what utilities I would need to have. Also after conversion do you upload to device via iTunes followed by sync or another method?

Thanks

SquiderDragon

I use Handbrake, it seems to be the most popular. You will also need software that removes the DRM so Handbrake can rip the movie. I use iTunes to load the movies on to my iPad.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[SquiderDragon]

I use Handbrake, it seems to be the most popular. You will also need software that removes the DRM so Handbrake can rip the movie. I use iTunes to load the movies on to my iPad.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

Hi yes sorted with handbrake and DVDFab HD Decrypter. I am having my first tryout with "The Next 3 Days".

Cheers

SquiderDragon

 

[Sincity]

I pondered the same question as a first time buyer. I was leaning towards the 2 (after I ruled out an Android) until I was at Best Buy and loaded the same web page that had very small fonts and had them side-by-side. The Retina blows away the 2; especially with small fonts. I plan on using it as a reader so typeface clarity is important to me.