The new generation ipods provide HD resolution and quality via the component cables (3 rca-divided colors).

On the other hand, navigaton systems (like the new F series too) only provide composite video, via a simple rca/jack cable (1 rca), which is not a quality solution.

I belive that external USB drives may have better quality, because the navi system decodes the video itself.

Am I right?

Is it easyer to handle external HDDs and the files on it with the AVIC systems, than using Ipods? Or, does Ipod provide faster/better interface to handle the files?

Pioneer USB connections do not transfer video though, only audio.

And do you really think having HD resolution on a 5.8 inch screen is going to make any difference? Apple added the component option for people that hook them up to their big screens or larger computer screens. I doubt such a small screen at a couple feet away is going to be a big deal

The simple AV cable is the other extreme. Noisy pictures, unclear shadows, un-colrful video.

You are right, that a 5,8" screen does not need HD video, I believe that S-video would be enough....

That's a shame....I thought that USB do transfer videos as well. Ipod video is the solution than...

Thanks!

Ya, even on my D3 my ipod videos don't look nearly as good as the DVDs I ripped them from. Thought about increasing the resolution, but then they take up too much space on the ipod

Ya, even on my D3 my ipod videos don't look nearly as good as the DVDs I ripped them from. Thought about increasing the resolution, but then they take up too much space on the ipod

Hopefully the F series' new screen will solve these quality issues.... Is the new screen brighter, or just higer in resolution?

I've read that the new F series has a USB port for hooking up devices. Can you use this USB port and a standard Ipod computer cable to hook up to your Ipod, or do you have to get Pioneer's cable?

This unit will work with the 30GB Ipod Video, correct?

Thanks,

Brandt

Lots of this years Pioneer decks have USB and work fine with that cable that comes with the ipod. It won't transfer video through USB though, so if you want video you will have to buy the Pioneer cable

I've read that the new F series has a USB port for hooking up devices. Can you use this USB port and a standard Ipod computer cable to hook up to your Ipod, or do you have to get Pioneer's cable?

 

This unit will work with the 30GB Ipod Video, correct?

 

Thanks,

Brandt

Lots of this years Pioneer decks have USB and work fine with that cable that comes with the ipod. It won't transfer video through USB though, so if you want video you will have to buy the Pioneer cable

 

I've read that the new F series has a USB port for hooking up devices. Can you use this USB port and a standard Ipod computer cable to hook up to your Ipod, or do you have to get Pioneer's cable?

 

This unit will work with the 30GB Ipod Video, correct?

 

Thanks,

Brandt

So it will work the same as the Pioneer cable just without video?

Well, I don't know whether its true or not, I found an F900BT on ebay, and the description said:

"The AVIC-F900BT has versatile connectivity, which means you can watch compressed video such as MPEG 4 on the screen (from SD cards and USB devices), and enjoy audio and video playback from your iPod (supporting generations from October 2005). Bring your digital lifestyle in-car."

Hmmm? Video via USB?

The ipod cable that is used with the new F series is a combination of USB, RCA VIDEO, and RCA AUDIO left and right. The USB portion appears to only control the ipod. A typical ipod sync cable may be sufficient if you are just concerned with playing audio with your ipod but it will not transfer video as Pioneer is now using RCA jacks for that.

I wonder why they made the usb part of the cord so short and the av so long? you will need a longer usb cord to attach if you want to put it in the glove box or an armrest console. Hmm, plus i want to be able to split the usb so that if someone rides with me we can use their thumb drive/external usb as well. I was trying to be lazy and take it to a shop when it came out but this might be a diy install now, LOL.

ok so from what I understand, if I am only concerned with music from my Ipod, the standard apple usb cable should work and still give me control over the ipod via touch screen and voice command?

Several of the new gen Video / Nav units offer Ipod video but say they don't work with the Ipod Touch (Kenwood 8120). I thought I remembered reading the same for the Z2 / Z3? Does anyone know about the F-series?

I am curious as to how the interface is with an external hard drive is on the F series. I have never liked how itunes organizes my music on my ipod, so a usb powered external hard drive would be great, you could organize all of the folders and genres yourself. then just plug it in. If the interface shows files and folders just like on the computer I will be selling my D3 along with the 160gb ipod, the ipod cable and bluetooth adapter for the new F-Series

I wonder why they made the usb part of the cord so short and the av so long? you will need a longer usb cord to attach if you want to put it in the glove box or an armrest console. Hmm, plus i want to be able to split the usb so that if someone rides with me we can use their thumb drive/external usb as well. I was trying to be lazy and take it to a shop when it came out but this might be a diy install now, LOL.

The USB portion of the ipod cable is so much shorter because the F's attached USB lead is pretty long. Long enough that it should reach to your glove box with plenty to spare. So the ipod cable's USB lead will plug into it there. But the RCA cables on the ipod cable need to be longer because they have to reach to the back of the unit.

I am curious as to how the interface is with an external hard drive is on the F series. I have never liked how itunes organizes my music on my ipod, so a usb powered external hard drive would be great, you could organize all of the folders and genres yourself. then just plug it in. If the interface shows files and folders just like on the computer I will be selling my D3 along with the 160gb ipod, the ipod cable and bluetooth adapter for the new F-Series

I'm curious about this too. Anyone? Anyone?

I'd love to dump the iPod. I don't care for syncing or iTunes. I'd prefer to just dump my entire music folder onto a hard drive.

You can test out how an external hard drive would look on the F-series by simply plugging a small USB stick with some files/folders on it into the unit. Also, I believe the USB source has the very same interface as the SD card slot does.

what about playing movies off the sd card??

Yes, you can play movies from both the SD card and USB input. I have tested them both myself and they both work. But for some reason video playback from the SD slot seemed a bit laggy to me, but tat may be because the video I was using was a very high resolution and the unit had to resize/shrink it while playing.

Are we talking about Divx AVI movies?

Do they play in the proper aspect ratio?

Yes, you can play movies from both the SD card and USB input. I have tested them both myself and they both work. But for some reason video playback from the SD slot seemed a bit laggy to me, but tat may be because the video I was using was a very high resolution and the unit had to resize/shrink it while playing.

Did you get smooth video playback from USB? What settings did you use? I've tried playing mp4 videos encoded to the spec in the manual and they're always laggy, even at low bitrates.

Gnat - bizarrely, the F series won't playback Divx movies from SD/USB, only mp4 and (low resolution) wmv. The DVD drive will playback Divx, but not mp4. Logical eh?

After testing some different video formats out on an SD card, the ones that will play are AVI (DivX, Xvid), MP4, and WMV formats. MPG/MPEG videos will not play.

As far as encoding settings and resolutions or whatever, I'm not sure. I just took some existing videos I had and dumped them on my SD card to see if they would play. And yeah, some were laggy. Bu if they are laggy you could lower the resolution some, or maybe get a better class SD card that has a higher data transfer rate.

After testing some different video formats out on an SD card, the ones that will play are AVI (DivX, Xvid), MP4, and WMV formats. MPG/MPEG videos will not play.

Strange, I was using a USB stick, and I'm sure Divx avis didn't work.

Are you sure you got an Xvid file to play? I couldn't get one to play from a DVD, but all the Divx files were fine.

As for bitrate it wasn't down to the transfer speed of the USB stick - the stick I used can manage 7mb/s transferring from the PC, which is a lot more than the bitrate of the file. Remember though that the AVIC can't even show the map and play music from USB without stuttering, so I think it has some I/O issues

Well I'm not entirely sure what format of AVI they were, they were just some old videos I found lying around on my computer and I didn't really check. And I don't have them on my comp or the card anymore, so I can't even tell at this point.

I didn't really bother with testing it out that much, because it just seems a lot more feasible to play the movies off of my ipod, because it uses the ipod to precess the video rather than the AVIC, plus I can fit a lot more on the ipod than an SD card or USB stick.

Can anyone tell me how the video on the USB or SD card compares to the video on the D3? I have the D3 and i am not happy about the video and the AUDIO quality with the video. Is it at all improved on the F700BT ?

Also, does anyone know the difference in quality with Video on SD or USB on the F700BT compared to DVD video on the F900BT or F90BT??