HD For Indies

So there's this newfangled QuickTime 7, which is part of OS X 10.4 (Tiger), but can be downloaded separately for 10.3.x. It includes a new codec (a compressor/decompressor - DV is a codec, so are HDV, MPEG-2, DVCPRO HD, etc.). This codec is called H.264, and it's getting lots of press. Why? Because it can put a whole lot of detail into a very small file. And more importantly, it's been chosen as one of the codecs to be used in the next generation of high definition DVD discs - both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have included it in the required specifications for their discs and players. This codec also scales well - meaning it works well on small sized moving images, like you might use for videoconferencing (in iChat A/V 3), or also for large (in pixel size) stuff, like high res movie trailers nearly 2000 pixels wide. A great example of this is that the exact same codec can be used for the dial up speed movie trailers (160x90 or so) as it can for the 1920x1080 sized trailers. This is rare - not all codecs work well both large and small, and are efficient enough to do HD sized movies.

Apple has clearly state the requirements for HD H.264 playback on their QuickTime tech specs web page:

For 1280x720 (720p) video at 24-30 frames per second:
1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer
At least 256 MB of RAM
64 MB or greater video card

For 1920x1080 (1080p) video at 24-30 frames per second:
Dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer
At least 512 MB of RAM
128 MB or greater video card


So that clearly rules out all iBooks, PowerBooks, PowerMac G4s, iMacs and eMacs right off the bat for playing these formats back. They might stutter through them, but they can't play them back in real time, playing all the frames. H.264 is a VERY processor intensive codec - that's one of the reasons the data rate is so small, it requires a LOT of horsepower to make a little bit of data represent a whole lot of detail in an image.

Q: "Well, what about the new iMac? It's 2.0 GHz, and that thing says 1.8 GHz is required!"

A: It SAYS PowerMac G5. There are differences between the two machines above and beyond processor speed, such as bus speed. That said, real world testing (and I'll be doing some) will verify this, but in terms of stated stats, gotta go G5. Maybe the top end iMac will work, maybe it won't...wait and see.

Lots more on new Macs to be posted shortly...

-mike