iTunes Batman the Animated Series HD vs. SD - Blu-ray Forum

esqknight · 05-17-2019, 06:12 PM

I bought the entire series in SD awhile ago when it was on sale for $30. After they added HD, it seemed like the picture quality improved for my SD versions. But I've been super curious to know how much better the series looks in HD, but not curious to spend $80 to find out. (I think the best sale price on HD so far has been $60). This week volume 1 is on sale for $5, so I figured that was a decent price to satisfy my curiosity.

I can report that HD is better, but at least on my 55" LED, not by a lot. The picture is a little sharper, but the colors are the same. I'd say the SD version on iTunes uses the new remastered version of the series and downgrades the sharpness for SD quality streaming. That's my conclusion for what it's worth.

I'm not sure whether I'll pay to upgrade the rest of the series if the volumes go on sale.

ManOfTheForest · 05-18-2019, 11:15 AM

How come it didn't get upgraded?

All the TV shows I bought with the exception of Star Wars The Clone Wars upgraded my episodes too HD when it arrived.

esqknight · 05-18-2019, 03:57 PM

It's been my understanding that itunes doesn't upgrade television shows if an HD version is added after SD has been purchased. I contacted apple support to ask after Batman the Animated Series in HD was available and was told that I couldn't even pay to upgrade and would have to buy the HD version for full price if I wanted it. Has your experience been different?

Alan Gordon · 05-18-2019, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManOfTheForest

How come it didn't get upgraded?

All the TV shows I bought with the exception of Star Wars The Clone Wars upgraded my episodes too HD when it arrived.

Quote:

Originally Posted by esqknight

It's been my understanding that itunes doesn't upgrade television shows if an HD version is added after SD has been purchased. I contacted apple support to ask after Batman the Animated Series in HD was available and was told that I couldn't even pay to upgrade and would have to buy the HD version for full price if I wanted it. Has your experience been different?

My purchases of "The Simpsons" Season One and "The O.C." Season One were also not upgraded to HD from their initial SD purchases.

ManOfTheForest · 05-18-2019, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esqknight

It's been my understanding that itunes doesn't upgrade television shows if an HD version is added after SD has been purchased. I contacted apple support to ask after Batman the Animated Series in HD was available and was told that I couldn't even pay to upgrade and would have to buy the HD version for full price if I wanted it. Has your experience been different?

When did you buy Batman in SD?

I’m talking about back in the earlier days of iTunes but now I’m not so certain that they got upgraded.

What year did HD TV start showing on iTunes?

esqknight · 05-20-2019, 12:43 AM

Batman the Animated series has only been available in HD since last fall.

ManOfTheForest · 05-20-2019, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esqknight

Batman the Animated series has only been available in HD since last fall.

Well that is a different kettle of fish to what I first thought.

Also I've had a quick look at my TV show library and now I'm not sure whether I was correct in saying that those TV shows from years back were upgraded.

-Gonzo- · 05-20-2019, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManOfTheForest

Well that is a different kettle of fish to what I first thought.

Also I've had a quick look at my TV show library and now I'm not sure whether I was correct in saying that those TV shows from years back were upgraded.

One way to check would be to go to the store and switch between the Also Available in SD and Also Available in HD options and see if one requests payment.

ManOfTheForest · 05-20-2019, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Gonzo-

One way to check would be to go to the store and switch between the Also Available in SD and Also Available in HD options and see if one requests payment.

Yes but I’d also have to Google when iTunes started offering HD TV shows, the years certain TV were running, etc

Too much work and it doesn’t matter anyway as it is of no help to the OP

esqknight · 05-20-2019, 01:54 PM

I do think at least for Batman the Animated Series, I noticed an improvement for my SD streaming after the HD was added, maybe because the entire series was remastered and apple wasn't about to go to the trouble of keeping the original for SD and remastered for HD.

ManOfTheForest · 05-20-2019, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esqknight

I do think at least for Batman the Animated Series, I noticed an improvement for my SD streaming after the HD was added, maybe because the entire series was remastered and apple wasn't about to go to the trouble of keeping the original for SD and remastered for HD.

Apple don't make that decision.

What is made available, removed, etc. is up to the distributor.

esqknight · 11-04-2019, 12:28 AM

I already own the SD version of Batman Beyond and I'm not planning on upgrading. But I can say that the picture quality of my SD version improved (colors and sharpness) after itunes uploaded the new masters. It isn't quite HD, but it is does look better, so probably lower resolution of the new masters.

Fiffy · 11-04-2019, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esqknight

I'd say the SD version on iTunes uses the new remastered version of the series and downgrades the sharpness for SD quality streaming. That's my conclusion for what it's worth.

Yes, that is common practice. I noticed this in several cases when movies went 4K with new masters. The HD and lower quality versions are then also updated. I think what happens is that the studio submits the assets in the highest resolution and the store has a workflow to automatically create downscaled versions of that in different quality levels. There are more than just 1080p HD and SD, since they also still support 720p and different encodes for streaming and downloading, and possibly different encoding rates for adaptive streaming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManOfTheForest

How come it didn't get upgraded?

All the TV shows I bought with the exception of Star Wars The Clone Wars upgraded my episodes too HD when it arrived.

To my knowledge iTunes has never upgraded SD to HD (neither TV shows nor movies).

MonkeyShines · 04-07-2020, 09:07 AM

Volume 4 is the New Batman Adventures and many of the episodes are not listed in the same ordered that they aired on TV.

Are the episodes standalone stories or is there a need to watch them in any particular order?

05-17-2019, 06:12 PM	#1
esqknight Junior Member Member since:Apr 2015	iTunes Batman the Animated Series HD vs. SD I bought the entire series in SD awhile ago when it was on sale for $30. After they added HD, it seemed like the picture quality improved for my SD versions. But I've been super curious to know how much better the series looks in HD, but not curious to spend $80 to find out. (I think the best sale price on HD so far has been $60). This week volume 1 is on sale for $5, so I figured that was a decent price to satisfy my curiosity. I can report that HD is better, but at least on my 55" LED, not by a lot. The picture is a little sharper, but the colors are the same. I'd say the SD version on iTunes uses the new remastered version of the series and downgrades the sharpness for SD quality streaming. That's my conclusion for what it's worth. I'm not sure whether I'll pay to upgrade the rest of the series if the volumes go on sale.

11-04-2019, 12:28 AM	#12
esqknight Junior Member Member since:Apr 2015	Upgrade Batman Beyond I already own the SD version of Batman Beyond and I'm not planning on upgrading. But I can say that the picture quality of my SD version improved (colors and sharpness) after itunes uploaded the new masters. It isn't quite HD, but it is does look better, so probably lower resolution of the new masters.

05-18-2019, 11:15 AM	#2
ManOfTheForest Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:May 2010 Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- iTunes collection:- Trading Score:7	How come it didn't get upgraded? All the TV shows I bought with the exception of Star Wars The Clone Wars upgraded my episodes too HD when it arrived.

05-18-2019, 03:57 PM	#3
esqknight Junior Member Member since:Apr 2015	It's been my understanding that itunes doesn't upgrade television shows if an HD version is added after SD has been purchased. I contacted apple support to ask after Batman the Animated Series in HD was available and was told that I couldn't even pay to upgrade and would have to buy the HD version for full price if I wanted it. Has your experience been different?

05-20-2019, 12:43 AM	#6
esqknight Junior Member Member since:Apr 2015	Batman the Animated series has only been available in HD since last fall.

05-20-2019, 01:54 PM	#10
esqknight Junior Member Member since:Apr 2015	I do think at least for Batman the Animated Series, I noticed an improvement for my SD streaming after the HD was added, maybe because the entire series was remastered and apple wasn't about to go to the trouble of keeping the original for SD and remastered for HD.

04-07-2020, 09:07 AM	#14
MonkeyShines Banned Member since:Nov 2016	Volume 4 is the New Batman Adventures and many of the episodes are not listed in the same ordered that they aired on TV. Are the episodes standalone stories or is there a need to watch them in any particular order?

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