1080p download and playback bugs in iTunes 10.6 for Windows

Question

There seems to be some bugs in iTunes 10.6 for Windows related to 1080p video.  According to Apple, the minimum specs for viewing 1080p video on a PC is:
To play 1080p HD video on a PC, you need a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor, 2GB of RAM, and an Intel GMA X4500HD, ATI Radeon HD, or NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS or better graphics processor.
My PC exceeds these specs (Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz CPU, 8GB of RAM, AMD Radeon 7970 video card, 30" Apple Cinema Display).  The first bug appears when I go into the preferences setting and switch the download preference fom 720p to 1080p, which triggers a warning box that says:
This computer may not be able to play 1080p videos.  You can still download these videos for use on other devices.
That's odd but I press "OK" and downloaded the 1080p copy of a TV episode.  When I press play, another warning box popped up:
Video is too large.  The 1080p version of [show] is too large to play on this computer.  You can choose to play a smaller 720p version of this movie below.  This message will be dismissed in XX seconds.
The message gives you three options: PLAY SMALLER VERSION / OK / CANCEL.  If I select OK or simply let the timer run down, the 1080p video starts playing without any problems.  Anyone else seeing this?

Answer 1

Oh that clarifies things, I see what you mean.  The error message still confuses me because even your smaller Acer monitor matches the pixel resolution of the 1080p video - the video doesn't exceed the monitor's pixel ratio so it's not technically "too large" as the error message says.  The 1080p video should fill your Acer monitor edge to edge while leaving black borders on the top and bottom of your Samsung.  I think this is clearly a bug in iTunes.
I know what you mean about the movie opening up so that a portion of the image is off the screen but that sounds like an issue related to the default position of the window when you start a video.  The default position is such that a smaller size like the SD copy probably isn't cut off but that a larger video does get chopped until you change where videos open by default.  I can change the position simply closing the video while it's playing.  iTunes remembers the place on the screen where I closed the video and opens all videos at the spot afterwards.  Does that not work for you?