Apple TV, Airplay and iPads

[Dave2002]

Does anyone here have experience of Apple TV, Airplay and linking to iPads?

Is it really the case that an Apple TV connected to an HD TV can stream decent video from an iPad? I have a generation 1 iPad, though I have the latest software installed.

If so, can it also do the photo displays faster than my Freesat box or Blu-Ray, both of which seem challenged with displaying photo albums. I'd probably also want to use it for iPlayer, 4oD etc.


I do have a Roku LT unit connected to another TV, and I may be able to get it working with Plex and the iPad, but that would require using yet another computer as a server - not impossible, but time consuming, and I'd need to be fairly confident that it would work It could be worth the current £93 from Amazon [or even less - http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Apple-TV...2407386&sr=1-1 - is this the same/latest model? The price keeps changing I'm sure it was £93 this morning ...now sems to be £84.99] for the Apple unit if it saved a few hours of installation pain and head scratching.

Can I assume that I don't need a server with the Apple TV, or is that wishful thinking? I did find an application called Twonky Beam, but that seems to be rather finicky and difficult to handle. I could afford an Apple TV, but arguably I don't need yet another device. It's not worth it if it doesn't deliver something significantly better than I have now. On a previous occasion I had a WD TV and sent it back because it didn't show the videos from our cameras without glitches, and the workaround which I found was too time consuming. For photos I want to simply insert a camera card into a reader, get the photos to a computer or iPad, and then show them from there. Using a video tool such as Handbrake sometimes improves video** if the cpu on the host computer isn't fast enough, but I really don't want to have to do any extra processing if I can avoid it.

I can watch iPlayer on our HDTV from Freesat, but it's rather clunky navigating to the pages. It is undoubtedly easier to download (where possible) content to the iPad from iPlayer, and then play it there, but it would be good to watch on the bigger screen. I also suspect that the video quality might be better - though I'm not sure - for downloaded content rather than streamed content.

** By doing a very modest compression on HD video using Handbrake it is possible to reduce some video files to around 25% of their original size. The image loss per frame is barely perceptible, but it improves the overall experience enormously as the video may then run without stuttering, and one can run on Intel Core Duo machines, rather than i7s with a high clock rate and an advanced video graphics card. It perhaps makes the video more portable across machines too, as I have noticed differences in the severity of such stuttering in different operating systems with the same hardware.

[johnb]

If you are suffering from stuttering when streaming video to your TV might it be that you are using Wireless to connect the TV to your network and that the wireless cannot cope with the bandwidth?

I stream non-HD iPlayer (usually around 6.2Mbps) and recorded TV programmes with no stuttering at all - but then I am using Ethernet, not wireless.

[Dave2002]

If you are suffering from stuttering when streaming video to your TV might it be that you are using Wireless to connect the TV to your network and that the wireless cannot cope with the bandwidth?

I stream non-HD iPlayer (usually around 6.2Mbps) and recorded TV programmes with no stuttering at all - but then I am using Ethernet, not wireless.

I agree with your reasoning, but that's not the answer. I have seen that problem with HD files direct from files on the computer. SD material is often (usually) OK, but HD material taken with some cameras can present a challenge. I've not got as far as seeing what happens over wireless links.

One suggestion which has just been made to me is to take my iPad down to the nearby Apple store, and ask them to demo the Apple TV. I was also told that it could be rather jerky, which makes me less inclined to try, and in that case I'll probably just go for the dedicated Mac Mini solution which I already have ready to go, and which I know works - though cost wise it is, of course, rather more expensive.

[Dave2002]

Actually I went down to the Apple Store, and it seems my iPad can't do exactly what I was hoping, being only gen 1, even though running on iOS 5. I could perhaps use the Apple TV with my network and other kit I have around. i'm now guessing that the reason my iPad didn't work with Twonky Beam was because my iPad, being gen 1, lacks the ability to link directly to the Roku device, though I'm really not sure.

[Stunsworth]

Dave, I stream video from my iTunes library to Apple TV and it streams without stuttering - and offers 5.1 sound when appropriate.

i have a later iPad than you, and I can stream from the iPad to the Apple TV without any problems.

Bear in mind that the aspect ratio of the Apple TV is different to a widescreen TV, so you're likely to have black bars either side of the display on the TV.

I've also streamed video from Apple and Netflix, again it streams fine - though I have a fast Internet connection (60 mBytes)

[Resurrection Man]

Various random thoughts. Yes, not surprised your 1st gen iPad cannot do what you want it to do. Often down to available performance hardware at a viable price at time of product inception. Same goes for iPods, for example. I researched long and hard when I bought a secondhand iPod as to whether or not it would provide the functionality I was after.

Whenever I buy anything IT related/sound system related () my default position is that 'it won't'. Then I try and find out if it actually does. I make no assumptions. However finding out is very difficult often. Googling using terms like "iPod (whatever you want it to do) problems" is a good starting point. Cable interconnects is also a stumbler.

Re stuttering..could very easily be the inability of the disk drive to read stuff fast enough off of the disk. Lots on the web about the disk I/O and head placement speed requirements of HD streaming. Or even the interface being too slow between disk and motherboard.

[Dave2002]

Stunsworth

I don't think the gen 1 iPad really does Airplay, and/or mirroring, which I think is a major reason why it won't work for me. It won't even work with an HDMI cable, apparently.

RM

I have tried the HD files I've mentioned on a variety of different systems, and with different operating systems - and, because I've had access to them - also on the same hardware with Mac OS and Windows. There is even a difference between the performance between different operating systems. Sometimes this can be marginal, in the sense that the video files may sometimes work OK, and other times not.

I have found that HD files from some cameras are very demanding. It is certainly the case that running from a slow disc drive or memory stick doesn't help, and ideally running from memory is best. However, when I figured that using Handbrake to reduce the size of the video file without significantly compromising the video quality might improve loading to/from the memory for video, the results were if anything better than I expected. The video quality loss due to Handbrake was pretty much imperceptible, while the moving animals in my video actually moved, rather than moving a bit, jerking a bit, stopping, jerking more, moving more etc.

MPEG2 SD video files are usually no problem, and neither are more heavily compressed SD video files. The problems come with HD video. If the HD video is compressed using more powerful codecs the results can be OK, but if they're something like MPEG2 then I think the time taken to shift the data is too great and stuttering appears. This can be a problem with the HD video data from some cameras.

I'll return in a while with the HD formats which gave problems - they were from two different cameras from different manufacturers - Panasonic and Canon.

[Frances_iom]

have you caught up with Apple's little 'trick' on later models - see http://www.tuaw.com/2013/03/04/heres...pter-probably/

[Stunsworth]

Dave, you are correct Airplay is limited to the later models.