New iPod Display and Video Resolution

Judging by my email, there’s obviously a lot of confusion about the new 640 × 480 resolution video support in the new iPods (and in the version 1.2 firmware update for older 5G iPods). Here’s the deal: all 5G iPods have displays with 320 × 240 resolution. That’s how many pixels are on the displays. The old firmware only supported video at up to 480 × 480 resolution. The latest firmware — which is what the brand-new iPods come with from the factory, of course — now supports video at up to 640 × 480.

When played back on the iPod, it is downsampled to fit the 320 × 240 screens. When played back on a TV, via the S-video or composite video output of the dock, the video is displayed at the higher resolution.

★ Thursday, 21 September 2006