Video Formats

• The iPod Video, officially known upon its release as the "Fifth Generation" iPod, came with a 2 1/2 inch screen that was larger than that of previous models and marketed as perfect for the playing of video content. It initially shipped in two models--one with a 30- gigabyte hard drive and one with a 60-gigabyte hard drive, but the latter has since been replaced with an 80-gigabyte model.
  
  Just as iPods support very specific kinds of music content, iPods with video playback capabilities support very specific kinds of video formats. The Video iPod supports only videos encoded in the .MP4 and H.264 formats, though iTunes supports files encoded in the .MOV Quicktime format. iTunes converts these Quicktime files into something readable by the iPod during the syncing process.
  
  

Slideshows

• The Video iPod supports the user's ability to use a television set, monitor or video projector as an external video output device. This means that it is entirely possible to play videos or photo slide shows from your iPod on a nearby TV or computer monitor. This can be achieved in one of two ways. The first is by using Apple's special AV cable, one end of which plugs into the iPod and the other to the regular component video inputs on a TV, monitor or projector. The second is by plugging your iPod into an iPod dock that has an S-Video output, and connecting it to a device that has an S-Video input via the appropriate cable.
  
  

Purchasing Content

• In addition to making your own content using various programs found on the Internet, a plethora of video content is available via the iTunes store either for free or for a small fee. The iTunes store provides television shows from many major television networks, movies to rent or purchase, video podcasts and music videos. All of these can be downloaded from the store to your hard drive and then uploaded to your iPod using the same synching process as when transferring music.