Maybe the movie you're watching in iTunes on Windows isn't the highest quality?
Maybe one day Apple will look to the Windows iTunes client as well. I have had such hopes for a long time.
Apple has prioritized its work by ``wiping bugs off the windows of the headquarters campus Apple Park'' and ``a new special box so that employees can keep the pizza they bring from the company cafe to their desks delicious. I know it's somewhere in between "designing
But that doesn't mean we Windows fans can't dream.
Itunes on Windows has low resolution?
Currently, iTunes sucks.
Unusable, clunky UI, confusing settings.
And it's never more vivid than when you try to watch a normal movie.
Let me explain.
By default (at least I think it is.
Since that was the case when I first installed iTunes via the Microsoft Store), iTunes on Windows plays movies at a maximum resolution of 1080p.
You can check this in the settings (Edit > Preferences > Playback).
However, when I stream a movie in my library and right click on the window and set it to play at "Actual Size", it does not "look" like it is playing at 1080p.
The following is an actual screen shot of streaming Judge Dredd on my 3440x1440 monitor.
If you still download the movie using iTunes' default settings and set it to 'actual size', the same size player will open.
Again, it doesn't look very 1080p.
To compare the size of this player, let's take a look at a normal 1080p test movie (1920x800 pixels to be precise) played using the good old multimedia player VLC.
Here's the real thing. If you select the "actual size" option too early when streaming a movie on iTunes, you'll end up with this smaller player screen size.
So you have to wait for the movie to play before selecting "actual size".
Then you can watch the movie in a 1080p size window.
This is not a big deal if you want to expand the player or go full screen as soon as you start watching.
That said, for those who watch movies in a window, this sizing issue is tricky.
Unlike other streaming services that offer full-size players at lower quality, Apple's program will play in a smaller player until you switch streaming to 1080p (you can use the "real" player instead). If you're the type to hit the "size" fast).
This isn't too much of a problem, but it's not the end of the story.
There is another setting in iTunes that actually controls the quality of the movies you download.
And it's not a setting in the "Playback" section.
If you want to download and watch the 1080p version of the movie, in the Downloads section of Preferences, uncheck Download High Quality SD Videos and check Download Full Size HD Videos. let's put
After setting iTunes to this setting, when watching an HD video, right-click and select "Actual Size" to display a larger version of the player.
This solves the confusing image quality problem.
For quality, right-click on the movie, select "Movie Info", then "File" and look for the "video quality" line for that movie. , can be checked at any time.
Is it easy to distinguish between 720p and 1080p?
If you're unaware of iTunes' weird quirks and watch movies in full-screen mode, you might not even realize that the resolution of the movies you download is 720p instead of 1080p. I can't.
I checked the files downloaded in iTunes with and without the "Download full-size HD video" option checked, and they had different names.
One is "04 Dredd (HD).m4v" and the other is "04 Dredd (1080p HD).m4v".
Yes, a 720p movie is also "HD", but you might not know from looking at the filename that "HD" in this case doesn't exactly mean "1080p HD". .
File size is also not conclusive evidence.
The 720p version of Judge Dredd is 3.19GB, while the 1080p version is 3.53GB.
In Windows File Explorer, they both showed the same dimensions (640x266), but that shouldn't be the case.
The video frame rate was also listed incorrectly as 0.10fps.
If that were true, you'd end up with a horribly slow motion video.
By the way, when I compared both versions of the movie, I was surprised to find it hard to tell the difference in quality.
I was sitting about 50cm from my monitor (3440x1440 display).
The distance at which you can easily see the difference between a stretched 720p image and a 1080p image.
Yes, you can see the difference if you look closely, but I'm not sure I would have noticed the difference if I hadn't consciously compared the two images.
In other words, you probably didn't know the image was 720p until you looked at the settings.
If you uncheck "Download full size HD video" (1080p), streaming video:
If "Download full size HD video" is unchecked (720p), download video:
When "Download full size HD video" is checked (1080p), download video:
In all fairness, there is a (obviously) huge difference in quality between the full size version of this "HD" video and what it would look like if you set the maximum resolution in iTunes to something like standard definition. .
The loss of image quality is obvious.
It's a bit annoying that Apple's implementation of iTunes streaming and downloads is confusing.
Sure, it's easy to change the settings, but many people check their "Maximum Resolution" setting and say, "Yeah, it's set to 1080p, so this little video I downloaded is also 1080p. It must be.”
But it really isn't.
On macOS Catalina's Apple TV app (one of the three apps that split iTunes), deciphering video playback settings is easier than that.
On Apple TV, there are only two settings to choose from, and both are in the same place.
However, there are some silly nuisances. If your Mac was previously set to download low-quality videos (or if that was the default without you knowing it), you can choose Download full-size HD videos or Best available. Quality" does not automatically update all 720p files to 1080p.
These files must be manually deleted and re-downloaded.
For those of you who have already downloaded the entire library, this is annoying.
Summary: How to watch the highest quality movies on iTunes
We have summarized how to watch the highest quality movies on iTunes.
- In your iTunes settings, make sure playback and downloads (if applicable) are all set properly (1080p or 'best available', depending on your operating system). increase).
- Check the downloaded movie (via Movie Info) to see if it's 720p instead of 1080p.
- When possible, watch streaming videos maximized or full screen. If you select "actual size" too early in the player, you may (wrongly) assume that "this streaming video must stay at the small size (and 720p) forever."
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Image: David Murphy
David Murphy - Lifehacker US [original: How to Get the Highest Resolution When Watching Movies in iTunes]