Apple TV owners' thread. - Page 54

You are correct, they are not the same. I have the new iPad. When mirroring is on I see my iPad home screen, and everything thats on the iPad shows on the screen. I havent seen any apps that I have that dont work with mirroring. Airplay will only work with apps that support it.

Brad

You are also correct. Maybe some clarification would help those confused.

AirPlay is a streaming service that works with compatible applications that display the AirPlay Icon. Some applications supported are audio only while others are A/V. This content can be streamed to a comparable devices.

Mirroring is a function of AirPlay which when activated, displays the screen content and audio of the iPad on a connected Apple TV display.....wirelessly, docked, or through an HDMI connection kit.

Either way, it's a great, functional streaming system.

So now that we have cleared up that Mirroring is not the same as Airplay, can the users who mentioned that Hulu opted of mirroring was indeed saying Hulu opted out of Airplay? ie. different content showing on on iPad versus TV.

If that is the case, wouldn't it be more accurate to say Hulu never developed their app to support Airplay? So users will just enjoy the full screen video experience using Mirroring?

We still need to confirm that Hulu does in fact (or not) have the capability to opt out of Mirroring. My guess is, they cannot as this is part of iOS5, not the app itself.

This is from a thread on another site.

"Airplay MIRRORING from an iPad 2 or iPhone 4s (or iPad 3, I suppose) SHOULD work for any app such that you just see on the TV exactly what is on your iPad. BUT the individual app developers have the option of prohibiting their particular app from being Airplay Mirrored to the ATV. This is what the Hulu Plus app on the iPad 2 currently does. If you try to do airplay mirroring with the Hulu Plus app to the ATV2, your iPad 2 will tell you that this particular app doesn't allow mirroring and you'll get a blank screen. So Hulu is stopping you from airplay mirroring their app to the ATV. I don't know why.
"


See http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1335361

So, I think it is not obvious at all that they can't get out of mirroring. When I mirror from my iPad2/3 it does seem as though you see the screen but I just haven't tried that app.

philip

Good info. But at the bottom, there is a very good post from someone who actually has an iPad with the Hulu app. Looks like Mirroring is allowed with Hulu. But I also see HGO Go does not allow mirroring. This should clear things up. Hulu can be mirrored as posted in the above video.


*** start copy ***
So to recap:
NBC: yes AirPlay. So full HD 16:9 streaming.
Hulu: no AirPlay; but yes to AirPlay mirroring. Thus letterboxed streaming only.
HBO GO: no AirPlay; no AirPlay mirroring either. So no streaming at all. "You're gonna get no AirPlay and you're gonna to like it!"
*** end copy ***

I just checked HBO GO it does have AirPlay (audio only). I turned mirroring on and a screen popped up say HBO doesnt support HDMI now, and will soon ect.

Brad

That's because HBO decided to get into bed with Microsoft instead of Apple. Only time will tell if that was a wise decision. The XBOX360 isn't on my list of useful client devices and what's even mort silly?......if you already subscribe to HBO, why watch it via HBOGo through a 360 instead of a hi def cable/sat box?........come on guys...get your heads out of your asses.

I don't watch it using GO. I was trying it out after reading some of the post. I watch HBO on cable.

My point exactly

So it looks like HBO Go has their own agenda to NOT support Mirroring. They must have a business reason not to do this, at least not yet.

Developers who put apps for download and sale on iTunes would probably NOT opt out of Mirroring. Why would they want to limit users form using their app. Defeats the purpose of releasing it in iTunes. I guess they could limit it in a free version and make people pay for Mirroring in the paid version?

Once again, it looks like you can mirror while using the Hulu app. <-- this started all this talk about Airplay and Mirroring. We figured it out now. Next.

Anything current, I watch through cable. However, HBO GO is great for catching older shows (The Wire, The Sopranos, Deadwood) any time you feel like it. I've used it on the Xbox and Boxee, and I think it's a great addition to the service.

That's interesting. If you can watch HBO Go on Boxee and it sounds like you can watch it on your iPad, why the heck would they dis-allow Mirroring on the iPad so you cannot use the iPad to output the shows to your TV. #makesnosense #so1990

That's a good question

All this brings me back to my earlier point, of course.

Mirroring via AirPlay sometimes works brilliantly, and sometimes not. Mirroring via the HDMI adapter does not use AirPlay to do the mirroring. It should always work, no matter what decisions the app authors made with respect to AirPlay mirroring.

AirPlay mirroring is more convenient, of course, but when you really want that picture on the big screen, nothing beats a hard line.

The picture quality of anything like that on the 360 looks like complete garbage compared to the Apple TV, blu-ray, or VUDU. I don't know how people can stand watching it.

Still new, dumb question.

Do I understand correctly that a program on your Ipad can be written to not allow mirroring via wireless, but can not prevent mirroring via a hardline connection?

Also, when you say it sometimes doesn't work brilliantly, do you mean no picture? I assumed PQ (no other changes) is the same regardless of wireless or wire.

As I understand it, yes. I have not tried HBO GO via a hardline, come to think of it, but my understanding was that HDMI mirroring is a hardware function that can't be messed with, unlike AirPlay mirroring. The post above makes me wonder if I'm 100% correct on that, but there ya go.

AirPlay occasionally has glitches, be they network congestion-related, wireless issues, or who knows what. Can't connect, glitches in transmission, etc. Also, there is some small delay, not usually a big deal, but it's there. Hard wire connection always works, period, no delay.

Anyone else having not seeing video as of recent when connecting via a receiver? Both my apple TVs fail to show video even though the bluray is working perfectly.

No problems on my units. Sounds like an HDCP problem. You may have to do a hard reset.

Been there and even reset and restored the appletv, tv and receiver. I still can't get it to work.

Try connecting the ATV directly to the TV. Try swapping HDMI cables.

If none of that works, you may have a dead ATV, for whatever reason.

Both work when connecting directly.

What's your receiver?

Also, do you have the 3rd gen Apple TV or the 2nd Gen?

Please bear with me -- this is an Apple TV and Airport Express success story.

A couple of years ago the Elan Via! music panel in our master bedroom failed. We could live without it, so I didn't get around to having it repaired until recently. A $564 mistake! When I reinstalled the unit, supposedly with the programming restored, it failed again. When I substituted an Elan Z-Valet for the panel and swapped some cables at my Cat 5e patch panel, that Z-Valet and another one also failed to operate. I was screwed!

My wife insisted that I find a solution based on off-the-shelf components that did not requiree custom installation and servicing. I suggested using our existing two Airports, plus another one (newer!) and a new Apple TV 3. She agreed. Yesterday I did it.

With my current setup I can have multiple devices playing different music from our single iTunes library simultaneously:
(1) the iMac on the second floor playing Camelot through thethe third floor speakers,
(2) Apple TV 3 in the family room playing Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra through the family room sound system, and
(3) my 2nd generation iPod touch playing a Telemann trumpet concerto through the second floor office speakers.
At the same time I can even
(4) use my iPad 2 to playT.S. Eliot's recitation of Prufrock through the master bedroom speakers.

With the Airfoil app on my iMac, I can also use my browser (Chrome) to play Internet music (e.ga., WQXR) streams through any of the AirPlay devices.

FYI the family room has a home theatre, with 5.1 Marantz SR8000 audio-video receiver, Samsung D7000 plasma HDTV, an HD-DVD player, a Blu-ray player, and a Verizon FiOS set-top box. Apple TV is connected to the TV via HDMI and to the receiver via an optical audio cable. The TV also has an optical connection to the receiver. Both optical connections can be active at the same time, so the TV can be off if I just want to play music.

Three other rooms are served by two three-channel B&K amps (one for the left channel, the other for the right channel). The amps' stereo inputs for my home office and the master bedroom are driven directly by Airport Express units. The third Airport Express is connected to an input of my 40-year-old Crown IC-150 pre-amp, along with a tuner, a FiOS STB, a CD player, and a turntable. All this equipment is on the third floor. The office and bedroom speakers (on the second floor) are wired to the amps on the third floor. One problem: the amps stay on, even when not getting a signal on any input. The Elan pre-amp could signal the amps to turn off, thus saving energy.

My wife is delighted with the new arrangement, as am I. Now we just need to find a new home for our Elan Z-630 pre-amp, two Z-Valets, and Via! Music touch panel.

I hope this report gives hope and inspiration to everyone who is looking for an alternative to expensive, high-maintenance custom home entertainment systems.

Bill Griffeth

Awesome story and setup Bill. Now you need to get Real Racing 2 HD for your ipad and play that on your giant screen!

Bill, what you said is exactly what I've been waiting to hear. Thank you for sharing. You just sealed the deal for me to switch over to Apple devices.

nice job bill... very similar to what i do in my house...

Thanks for your appreciative replies, guys.

One more thing: the Elan system we used for ten years was able to control devices by IR, something our Apple system does not support, at least not that I know of. For example, by using the Z-Valets and the Via! Music panel controls, we could change FiOS channels, radio stations, AM/FM mode, and CD tracks. However, such control required custom programming by the vendor. Consequently, if I had replaced the Marantz tuner with another brand with different IR codes, I would have needed to pay for a service call to reprogram the Elan devices.