Video iTunes: 320x240 is IN
Oh my god... We have now official backing for the half resolution to be the next big thing... after Veoh officially tuts 320x240 as the big innovation in content streaming now Apple does so too - this in the year of HD who would have thought. In addition to the already available Music videos - now $1.99 - you can also download the two best running US-TV-Shows such as Desperate Housewives - for $1.99 per show - and some Pixar short films - yes you guessed it also for $1.99 per episode. iTunes6 is the new version that supports video a little better then before and is now premiering vlogcasts. All videos are secured by fairplay and are not burnable to dvd/cd - you are allowed to put them on any number of iPods and up to 5 computers - not too bad. ALL videos are 320x240 making the number one VJing resolution and the number one vlogging resolution the number one internet streaming resolution. It will be MPEG4 a n d H.264 ... no sweat to change the vjblog over to H.264 just yet (so I will double check). The new video capable iPods costs $299 for 30 gig and $399 for 60 gig. Now someone want to support a poor artist?
The prospect that apple wents with the defacto standard of 320x240 and does not force push H.264 is remarkable - I really thought if they do video iPod they gonna push the envelope - they didnīt and it maybe is again a smart move as they put the poor content developers outside the major production studios in a competitive position as of quality - EVERYONE can produce a professional looking 320x240. Now lets see this interesting development and how it unfolds in the vlogger scene - oh yeah I need to do an entry :P good days indeed...
iTunes6: it converted all my videocasts that I subscribed to and imported a couple of normal Mpeg4s - from where I am still investigating and its outright cool.
UPDATE: The video specs for the iPOD (not the iTunes) are as following:
H.264 video up to 768 kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per second; MPEG-4
video up to 2.5mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per second
I guess everyone will go H.264 with 768 soon as this is good quality with minimal file size but good that none of the vloggers have to make their entries backward compatible (wouldnīt have been much of a problem over here but still good to save the hassle)