Apple TV owners' thread. - Page 69

Thanks for your kind condeiscendence!

He's got a history and they're starting to remember.

I'm usually pretty good at finding the information I need before purchasing an item, but a few things about Apple TV have me stumped. I would greatly appreciate some input or a point in the right direction.

My wife and I each already have an iPhone and we plan to purchase an iPad next month, so I'm thinking an Apple TV would be perfect to meet the following needs:

1) send music to my home theater via native AirPlay in the Mog app on the iPad

If I understand correctly, no matter what I throw at the Apple TV, it will output 16bit/48Hz, right? I assume pretty much all of the music on Mog is 16bit/44.1Hz, but I'm not too concerned with bit perfect from an online streaming site. Aside from one unnecessary conversion, is there any quality loss with AirPlay?

2) send video to my home theater via native Airplay in the YouTube app on the iPad

First off all, does the Google YouTube app have AirPlay since the native Apply app is gone? And I'm sure bit rate varies wildly, but from what I can tell, YouTube videos are already 16bit/48Hz. Again, is there any quality loss with AirPlay? Can it handle 1080p YouTube videos? I read somewhere (maybe this thread) that it automatically selects the highest resolution -- is that accurate?

3) Netflix

It appears that Apple TV can handle SuperHD (although my Internet provider currently does not) and 5.1 DD+, correct? And I think the iPad app has native AirPlay already? Is that wireless? If my Apple TV is wired but the iPad is not, am I streaming Netflix wirelessly if I use AirPlay from the iPad? I don't think my wireless network can handle that. I guess (even after reading quite a bit) I'm still confused as to how AirPlay actually does what it does.

And a few miscellaneous things... Using AirPlay, is the iPad volume used or is it fixed and I can now use my home theater's volume? Can I stream to multiple AirPlay devices at the same time?

Thanks!!!
Edited by woody777 - 4/24/13 at 10:54pm

With Apple TV it comes loaded with Netflix. It will also stream it wirelessly from your iPad/iPhone. Netflix is 5.1DD. If you have hbo, the hbogo app is also 5.1DD. Pretty sure they are 1080p, but with streaming sometimes the picture quality gets fuzzy but usually comes right back. I think that is related to my network. There is also a YouTube app. With airplay there is a mirroring option that allows you to view anything on your idevices on your big screen. I have even played games while mirroring just because i could. Volume can be controlled from the idevices as well as your HT. I'm no expert on airplay and I've only had apple tv for a sort while. Also with hbogo you can stream something and still use your idevices to surf the web at the same time. Again I'm no expert at this, but I hope I was able to answer some of your questions. Lastly, for $99 it's a steal IMO. That's a pic of the home screen.

Thanks pappaduke!

I think my main concern is that I'm getting high quality audio and video using AirPlay. I already have an HTPC in my home theater, so I can stream Mog and YouTube directly from their respective websites in the highest quality available. I'm basically looking at the Apple TV as a $99 remote control. It's an annoyance to reach for a mouse and keyboard to navigate Mog and YouTube. If my iPad and AirPlay basically become a remote control for Mog and YouTube on my tv, I would be in heaven. But I don't want to trade quality for convenience.

Your iPad/iPhones will be the remote with the Apple TV (you can even get an app for that from iTunes). You don't need to worry about Airplay from your iDevices with Netflix and YouTube since the apps are native to the Apple TV. As stated above, Netflix is Dolby Digital on the Apple TV, not Dolby Digital+.

Airplay will work with devices that are wireless and wired as long as they are on the same network.

That's a good point. I know what the Netflix app is capable of... what about the YouTube app? Does it play 1080p when the video is in 1080p? I have a YouTube app on my blu ray player and it is horribly crippled.

Hi all - not sure if this is an Apple TV question or not, but I believe it is. I've streamed Netflix on two Panasonic viera plasmas in our home for months with no issues. Recently added an Apple TV and Netflix works fine through that...but now it no longer seems to work through either of the TVs. Can't figure out why. It isn't the wireless, as Amazon Prime works fine on both TVS. But for the life of me I can't figure out what went wrong with Netflix or how the Apple TV would have impacted this.

All devices are corrected wirelessly, by the way.

Would appreciate any advice!

I copied and pasted this from flatpanelshd.com. Is this accurate? I can't find much discussion on the web about it.

"When using internet sources for watching video (such as YouTube) or listening to music (such as Pandora, Spotify or any internet radio service) something else happens when using AirPlay. When streaming from an internet source and pressing the AirPlay button on your iOS device, your AirPlay-enabled music system or Apple TV box will open a direct connection to the internet source. The AirPlay receiver (for example Apple TV, AirPort Express, or systems with built-in AirPlay) is being authorized to access the internet source and no streaming occurs between the iOS device and the AirPlay receiver, thus no loss of quality. The video or music quality is as good as the streaming service allows."

If this is true, then AirPlay (not mirroring) streams no quality loss and if your Apple TV is plugged in with an Ethernet cable, your wireless network quality doesn't much matter, correct? (I'm talking solely about Internet streaming, not content stored on an iOS device.)

Airplay, except mirroring of course, is not processed on the iDevice so it's kind of direct. If you have a Synology NAS they have a very neat Video app which sends videos directly to the ATV via AirPlay and to DLNA players via DLNA. Very neat.

Philip

That is cool. So, if using AirPlay (not mirroring), the only limitation to bit perfect playback is the Apple TV itself as the device can only output 16bit/48Hz, right?

One last (I think) question: If I have a receiver with HDMI, is there any reason to ever use an optical cable too? I keep reading different posts where people are using both HDMI and optical. It doesn't seem like it would be a quality thing as digital is digital, right? Why use both?

One reason, which is my case, is I don't have enough HDMI inputs on my receiver for all my devices so the ATV goes HDMI to one of the TV inputs and optical to the receiver so I still get lossy audio. If this isn't your issue then I can't think of another reason why to do it this way.

I was watching a movie on crackle and used airplay to stream to TV, it looked awful;(

That could be for any number of reasons. The quality I get streaming from my Synology is identical to that going to a Sony GTZv box, PCH-A400 or my ATV. You can always run into examples which work better under certain conditions. Doesn't say anything.
To be fair I am not into HD audio and such. That is, the ATV is not for those wanting perfect Blu-ray quality playback.

Philip

I used both HDMI and optical at one point, because I was using the ATV to send music to outside speakers from a second zone on my AVR. The AVR could not route an HDMI source to the second zone without having the main zone on, so optical was the solution to avoid having to turn on the main zone.

Mark

I recently bought an Apple TV to get older TV episodes I have missed. I am disappointed in the audio quality of a few of the titles I have bought recently. I download HD copies however the audio is only in stereo, and is not in Dolby Digital.

How can I tell what TV shows are in Dolby Digital and which ones are not BEFORE i buy them?

I did notice that some episodes display a Dolby Digital logo next to them on my Apple TV and some TV episodes do not. However this is not an accurate way to tell which TV episodes are in Dolby Digital. For instance I purchased a TV show "Vikings - Burial of the Dead" and it does not show the Dolby Digital logo next to the episode, however this episode does play with and contain a Dolby Digital track. So how can I tell whether or not a TV show truly has Dolby Digital or not before I purchase it?

You basically answered your own question. You know it's in Dolby Digital if you see the logo. There will be some titles that don't have the logo but play in DD. It could be an issue with iTunes not being up to date. If in doubt, assume the title will not be in DD if you do not see the logo.

You can always adjust your receiver to decode the stereo signal as Dolby PLII Movie to get the surround effect.

Does anyone know with certainty if HBO GO is streamed in 720p or 1080p?

Looking at the picture quality I would say 1080p and the sound is dd5.1