I friend of mine emailed me:

I think we’ve probably got some of the “crap in – crap out” problem going…

The video looks pretty good on our friend’s Mac, in Final Cut Pro, but anything he renders and posts on YouTube in HD looks jumpy/jerky. I’m a Vegas guy and I don’t know how to help him with Final Cut… Nor do I understand all the different Final Cut lingo.

I’ve looked at a lot of HD videos on YouTube, and many are junky, but many are also just beautiful. I’ve discovered that HD playback is also dependent on the user’s computer. HD1080 videos always playback poorly on our computers, while HD720 videos usually playback well. So, we’ve focused on getting the HD720 to look good, but we’re not having any luck.

Our friend said he tried the straight Apple TV settings you suggested, but when he posts to YouTube, it only comes up as 480p and never becomes 720p…

So, that’s where we’re at today…

Thanks for any advice or help you can offer.