ipad2 -- New rumors / announcements

[bhelms]

Re: HDMI dongle used w/ original iPad - will this allow one to recapture the DD5.1SS audio from a file that supposedly has it, like a movie, or is audio still limited to 2-ch only? If the former then I'll no-doubt bite on the dongle. If not, then what advantage does the dongle really offer over the component cable set that I already have?

 

[mperdue]

What I really want is a lot more resolution and perhaps a bigger display (they do have that thick border around the display that they could increase the screen size without making the unit bigger... If they had increased the resolution I would probably buy one.

That thick border is there for a reason- if the screen went all the way to the edge you'd be activating the touch surface just by picking it up.

 

[TheForce]

has anyone seen any leaks of pictures of the new ipad2?

I just received a spam e-mail that showed an "iPAD" with the caption, "win this new ipad2"

The device looked like the iphone 4 frame around the outside but it had a stand that pulled out from the back so you could sit the ipad upright on a table. Image was too rough to see any other details.

Isn't that likely to just be a b.s. image photoshopped by the spammer?

Likely... Yes but no way to tell for sure until now.
Now that I've seen this new magnetic cover, what I saw in the spam stated above WAS the real thing. I guess there were some leaked photos. I wonder now if Apple was playing a game and actually leaked the photo with no comment.

 

[TheForce]

Re: HDMI dongle used w/ original iPad - will this allow one to recapture the DD5.1SS audio from a file that supposedly has it, like a movie, or is audio still limited to 2-ch only? If the former then I'll no-doubt bite on the dongle. If not, then what advantage does the dongle really offer over the component cable set that I already have?

If you know for sure the file has DD5.1 then it should deliver. multichannel audio comes in several standards as you know. There is analog stereo, DD2.0, DD5.1 (AC3) AC3 is fully backward compatible with DD2.0 and analog stereo. If the file contains an AC3 bitstream it will have all 10 channels for backward compatibility. This is not true with DTS. So, playing an AC3 on a DD2.0 or analog stereo will work and if going to a DD5.1 device the full surround 6 channels will be there. If the file only has DD2.0 then only analog stereo and DD2.0 will output. AS we are talking hdmi here, there is no need to consider the analog only channel video and audio. Hope this helps.

 

[smokey982]

So how exactly will the HDMI dongle work? Will it be used only for showing video from the IPad to the TV? Or will it put the entire screen from the IPad to the TV? If the latter is the case, that would be sweet. I assume that shows from Hulu could be watched on the TV from the IPad using the dongle?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It mirrors whats on the iPad. Anything shown on the iPad is shown on the screen.

 

[smokey982]

It mirrors whats on the iPad. Anything shown on the iPad is shown on the screen.

With that being the case. This thing should do many of the things the Logitech Revue will do, except for the DVR integration of course.

 

[John Kotches]

If you know for sure the file has DD5.1 then it should deliver. multichannel audio comes in several standards as you know. There is analog stereo, DD2.0, DD5.1 (AC3) AC3 is fully backward compatible with DD2.0 and analog stereo. If the file contains an AC3 bitstream it will have all 10 channels for backward compatibility. This is not true with DTS. So, playing an AC3 on a DD2.0 or analog stereo will work and if going to a DD5.1 device the full surround 6 channels will be there. If the file only has DD2.0 then only analog stereo and DD2.0 will output. AS we are talking hdmi here, there is no need to consider the analog only channel video and audio. Hope this helps.

There is no analog audio from HDMI, it is a digital standard. Digital output options? Depends on the implementation of the interface.

I would be surprised if anything beyond DD (DD+, TrueHD, DTS - MA) are implemented. You are off the mark on how DD is encoded, but thats another kettle of fish.


Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using Tapatalk

 

[TheForce]

John-Yes, all the hdmi is digital but in the Dolby digital standard, there is also the capability of decoding it to an analog stereo as well as DD2.0 DD5.1 as well as a host of other matrixed formats. As an example- a DTS ONLY DVD will not play on a system that does not have DTS decoder. There is no way to default to any sound and playback will be silent. A DVD that has Dolby Digital will play on an analog ONLY system because by Dolby standard there are 2 channels of audio that will output to analog. The TrueHD, DD+ and DTS-MA are extensions of the original AC3. I too would be surprised if the ipad2 had these codecs installed. But that was not the point. The point is will the hdmi dongle deliver DD5.1 from the ipad and my answer is it will if the file is encoded with the AC3 bitstream, and as such, the sound should also play from that file in the ipad speakers. It's the DD standard to be completely backward compatible. DTS does not have this backward compatibility.

DD Plus is an enhanced version of AC3 and offers up to 13 channels of sound, True HD up to 14 channels. But these are enhanced dolby formats that require their own codecs to work assuming the source is encoded as such.

 

[diogen]

...a DTS ONLY DVD will not play on a system that does not have DTS decoder.

A "DTS ONLY DVD" cannot be called a DVD.
An AC3 track on a DVD is mandatory by the specs of the standard. Even if only 2.0
DTS is optional.

Diogen.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

With that being the case. This thing should do many of the things the Logitech Revue will do, except for the DVR integration of course.

And no FLASH. Meaning most of the video streaming sites won't play.

 

[TheForce]

A "DTS ONLY DVD" cannot be called a DVD.
An AC3 track on a DVD is mandatory by the specs of the standard. Even if only 2.0
DTS is optional.

Diogen.

That is correct by definition. The only "DVD"s I have like that were published by DTS themselves. They are hard to get. My DVD player in my Van does not have a DTS decoder so those have no audio out, just video.

 

[TheForce]

And no FLASH. Meaning most of the video streaming sites won't play.

Anti Flash is a Steve Jobs fight. I would bet the Apple policy changes re FLASH after Jobs fully retires and new management takes over.

 

[diogen]

Those cannot use the DVD logo.
Heck, IIRC there were a few DVDs released in the past with 640kbps AC3.
And they had problems because the spec calls for 448kbps max.
Dolby Digital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diogen.

 

[TheForce]

whatever...

Bottom line ipad2 doesn't play DVD, logo or not!

 

[diogen]

Jailbreak -> Cydia -> VLC -> plays everything (or so it should)...

Diogen.

 

[navychop]

Anti Flash is a Steve Jobs fight. I would bet the Apple policy changes re FLASH after Jobs fully retires and new management takes over.

In the Navy, going way back, you never change the set of the sails for the first 20 minutes on watch. After that, the wind shifted.

IOW, they'll wait a decent interval before changing on Flash. Who knows, maybe Flash will start to fade before then, replaced by The Next Big Thing.

 

[bhelms]

Tks Don and all re: the HDMI dongle explanation. I'll get one when it's available (doesn't appear in the iStore yet) and find out what it does on the original iPad. The one movie I D/L'd said DD5.1 but of course I can't extract that from the iPad...yet...!

I'm hoping the original 'Pad will also send the full screen display over HDMI regardless of ap in use ?!? One of my hopes (and the reason I bought the BT keyboard) is to be able to surf and e-mail from my easy chair into my HT (which still has no HTPC or 'net connections). I didn't realize we couldn't do that with the original 'Pad and component connections. At this point I don't envision using my current 'Pad, or any near-future upgrade, for delivering movies, etc. so the resolution is not a major concern to me...

 

[TheForce]

In the Navy, going way back, you never change the set of the sails for the first 20 minutes on watch. After that, the wind shifted.

First of all I wasn't in the Navy and second, I'm not that damn old! LOL!


bhelms- The hdmi dongle seems ( by explanation) to work differently than the older VGA adapter I have. The hdmi dongle is supposed to display your ipad screen, however, dongle is at 1080p resolution. The older VGA analog dongle I have displays just the component video of media display, not even the ipad home screen. In other words when you want to play a video, you launch a player and just the video shows up on your big screen. icons and control stuff remains on the ipad and not on the VGA screen. I don't have the composite output dongle but I was told it worked in a similar fashion to the VGA dongle. Big question- ipad2 is capable of 1080p but ipad1 is not so this will be an interesting discovery when we test them. I'm sure the dimwits at the Apple store will not know.

 

[bhelms]

Don - I have both the composite and component cables (OEM versions; the 3rd-party "equivalents" were locked-out) and the operation / view is identical with either, with the component having the possibility of providing a higher-resolution signal to inputs in your system that can handle it. I don't have the VGA adapter so I can't compare to it. With either composite or component cable in use, only certain video or photo aps are enabled to port through the cable. The image appears on the TV screen and the controls remain on the 'Pad screen, like you described. However, with aps like Safari and Mail, the entire image remains on the 'Pad screen and nothing is output to the TV.

I presume that would apply for the majority of things one can do on the 'Pad (games?) so I was disappointed a bit when I learned of that limitation with the cables, and re-enthused when I learned in this thread that the HDMI dongle will (apparently) allow the 'Pads native screen for all aps (?? - TBD) to appear on the remote monitor. Will that be true for the original 'Pad as well as iPad2 as Scott mentioned? Time will tell. I expect the original 'Pad will still output in only 720p as you mentioned (HW limitations) whereas the 2 version will accommodate 1080p, but as I mentioned above that won't matter for me. I'm also interested to confirm whether or not the full DD SS signal will port via that connection (assuming the file has it), tho' again that's merely a matter of curiosity. For the foreseable future I don't envision replacing my HD optical devices with a tablet, but that will no-doubt change in time, maybe around iPad4...the one with Flash enabled (for my legacy content) and better on-board audio (at least stereo speakers w/ SRS ??)

One thing I have not resolved yet - When I connect via the component cables directly to my TV, the video image is displayed in OAR. ('Pad is set to "Wide screen", I assume that matters.) But when I connect via my receiver, the image is expanded to fill the 16 x 9 screen. I guess I'll need to drill-down on that input and look for an AR setting, but I don't remember that option being there (?)

Another tidbit: Somewhere I read that the 720p output via the component cable is not absolute even if the source is "HD". IIRC, movies (thus by extension, all videos?) were only output in 420p ?? For the life of me, I can't find that information again to confirm. If that's true then the HDMI dongle could be a real upgrade even for the original 'Pad...