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Topic: Comparison of iPod video and newer differences? (Read 6375 times) previous topic - next topic
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Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

I have a 5th gen iPod 60GB. I'm a bit dissapointed at how big of a pain in the ass it is to get videos on to it as bitrate and general complexity of whats being shown need to be taken into account.  IIRC they updated the video playback functionality to increase resolution and/or bitrate of the video the device could handle. I'm having one HELL of a time finding a nice feature update list though. Most "product guides" and reviews are from pre-2007 and haven't been updated. They also lack technical depth. Not that I know all ARM processors intimately or anything but its really nice when someone comes along and points out the pros/cons.

Can anyone link me to a nice rundown of hardware changes since the 5th gen iPod video? I may be interested in replacing mine with a newer one, but I remember hearing about the 6th gen iPod classics having poorer DAC/sound quality. Then they updated the iPod again to 7th gen, but the only thing I can find about that is that they upsized the hard drive.

Thanks for any help.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #1 –
I don't mean to burst your bubble but the newer iPod classics have the same video bitrate and resolution limits of the 5G/5.5G iPods with user created videos.  You are still limited to 1500kbps and 640X480.  There are some way to use a slightly higher bitrate and resolution but these tricks also carry over to the 5G/5.5G iPods.  The iPod classics can output video to 480p through a component video connection though, the 5G iPods are limited to 480i.

The iPod classics from 2007 marked the first change to the anodized aluminum body but the 160GB model was plagued with software and hardware issues.  Most of those were fixed with the 120GB iPod classic.  The "new" 160GB iPod classic is the same as the older 120GB model except that it has a 160GB hard drive.  You can find some information regarding the ARM processor here.  The ARM wikipedia entry shows some of the iPod models and their appropriate ARM chips.  This website contained some information, you might want to check out iLounge.com as well.  They will sometimes list inner hardware changes in their reviews.  I used to remember specs such as audio processor, ARM processor, RAM, etc. but I have forgotten it all.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #2 –
Don't forget that comparing ARM chips between these iPods is nearly meaningless.  The 5/5.5G used a Broadcom add-on part to decode video, the ARM part was (in essence) the same as all the prior iPods.

Creature of habit.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #3 –
Oh, I really thought they doubled the processing power on the video end somewhere along the way =/

Thanks for the info though korn.

If anyone wants to chime in on the *possible* audio quality differences it would answer everything.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #4 –
IIRC, the Wolfson chip on the Videos is the equal (and possibly better) of any of the iPods in terms of SNR.

It's also the last "classic" iPod to run Rockbox.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Axon on
IIRC, the Wolfson chip on the Videos is the equal (and possibly better) of any of the iPods in terms of SNR.

It's also the last "classic" iPod to run Rockbox.

The wolfson chip on which iPod videos?

As for roxbox I don't care for it.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: jdub on
The wolfson chip on which iPod videos?


Only the 5/5.5th generation was called the "iPod (with) Video".  6 and 6.5 (7) are called the "iPod Classic"
Creature of habit.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: jdub on
Oh, I really thought they doubled the processing power on the video end somewhere along the way =/


They added *much* faster ARM cores, but I think video is always done by an additional DSP.

Quote from: jdub on
If anyone wants to chime in on the *possible* audio quality differences it would answer everything.


Maybe check google and see if you can find some RMAA tests for various models?  IIRC the newer ones generally had better audio quality then the older, particularly when driving low impedance headphones.  The video and below would start to get bass roll off.  I don't think the newer ones do that.

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: kornchild2002 on
I don't mean to burst your bubble but the newer iPod classics have the same video bitrate and resolution limits of the 5G/5.5G iPods with user created videos.  You are still limited to 1500kbps and 640X480.  There are some way to use a slightly higher bitrate and resolution but these tricks also carry over to the 5G/5.5G iPods.  The iPod classics can output video to 480p through a component video connection though, the 5G iPods are limited to 480i.


Not true. The classic does support higher bitrates than the 5G, see here for more details: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3859. The average bitrate can go up as high as 5000kbps (iTunes does not allow to transfer videos with higher average bitrates), it supports full PAL or NTSC resolutions with anamorphic encoding and more reference frames then the 5G (5 on PAL res, 6 on NTSC) and the VBV limitations are less strict. I did some tests on my 2007 classic half a year ago and it worked fine with full NTSC resolution, average bitrate of ~4000kbps (as long as the VBV limitations are respected), anamorphic video and multiple reference frames (I think I only used 5 instead of 6 reference frames since I had one preset for PAL and NTSC).

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #9 –
Well that would explain why my 2.5Mbps videos never worked on the iPod classic (which is why I made my comment).  I always stuck to using handbrake's legacy iPod setting as, with their older releases, the new iPod setting produced videos much smaller than 640X480.  One of the first things I tried was syncing a 2.5Mbps video over to my 120GB iPod classic last year, it was made with handbrake's legacy iPod setting (since that was the only way to get 640X480).

I need to go back and try things again.  Not that I would ever want to use anything larger than 1.5Mbps (if my sources are DVDs) but it would be nice knowing if the option is there as I do have some 640X480 videos encoded at 4.5Mbps that I don't want to transcode down to 1.5Mbps.  It is also interesting that those specs go against what Apple says (I am not doubting you or anything):

H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Comparison of iPod video and newer differences?

Reply #10 –
Apple's claims are somewhat strange. The classic simply supports Baseline Profile at level 3.0 with the possible exception that you can't use more than 6 reference frames even for very low resolutions (I haven't tested this myself, just read it somewhere and never felt the urge to use more then 6 anyway).
They also claim that the iPod touch only does Baseline while my touch 3G clearly does Main Profile at level 3.0 (with up to 6 consecutive b-frames).