Now you could probably guess my excitement last week during the Keynote when Steve Jobs announced movie rentals…in High Definition (HD). Two great things that I had been longing for and here they were, right before me. Yes! But I also noticed that Apple’s CEO mentioned this during the Apple TV update and made no stipulation to if the HD would be on both AppleTV and iTunes. I guess raising my hand for a clarification would go unnoticed, so off to the Apple booth I went to find someone who could answer that. After bouncing off a few Apple employees, I finally found one who could answer my question. The answer, “No iTunes support.” Well, would it ever come to iTunes I begged? “I don’t know. Maybe.” Joy.

Here’s the deal with HD and AppleTV. The upgrade supports Dolby 5.1, common to HD set-ups but not exclusive in addition to the menus and other additions. Apple must feel that that coupled with the fact most watch movies from their couch in the living room (or their bed in the bedroom), support for us Mac users isn’t needed. But the thing is, a vast majority of DVD players and HD players (Blu-ray or HD-DVD) aren’t hooked up to audio systems taking advantage of the bliss of digital sound coming from the discs or to even attached to HDTVs (initial install base is at single digits.) Expect similar results out of Apple TV 2.0. Further added frustration to this thought is that Apple’s own web page states, “Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is not available with all HD rentals.”

Another interesting hitch to all of this is the fact that current Apple TV owners will be able to upgrade their firmware and receive HD content without the ability to hear that 5.1 sound. (Kinda kills the audio argument for Apple at this point, I guess.) Erg.

Looking to the visual aspect, what makes a plasma or LCD TV more special than my 30 inch Cinema HD display? Let me repeat my monitors name, Cinema HD. Um, don’t you think, Steve, that my Cinema HD device is just a wee-bit perfect for HD movies? In fact, I’d say it’s freakin’ over kill it’s so good!

So where’s the HD in iTunes, then? I don’t have to have 5.1 audio support, but it’d be nice to have it and with many after-market sound card options, Dolby’s theater performance isn’t an issue. Dying to push my Cinema HD screen to its limits, I’m tired of SD (Standard Definition) content on my lovely screen that I nearly had to hock my first born for to afford it. Give me something, Steve. What gives?

My only hope is my thinking that Apple TV 2.0 gets HD first to push more of Steve’s “hobby” off the shelf. Once the sales are serious enough for Steve to be pleased with them, I think we will see HD on iTunes and finally on my Cinema HD display.