AirPlay-extended desktop?

[chickenwingfly]

Hello guys,

Do you know if via AirPlay mirroring there is the possibility to extend the desktop or at least mirror a second desktop while working on others?

Or, is it possible to only mirror a single application (NOT iTunes)?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Franklin Gaves]

AirPlay Extend Desktop

I just installed Mountain Lion and have discovered it does not offer an extended desktop mode or specific application-only mirroring.

I would love to have it for video editing, but it is not an option.

Here are the options available when in "System Preferences:"

 

[sexiewasd]

I'd really love to get an Apple TV to airplay netflix to my TV so I don't have to use an HDMI cable, but than you know, I'd have an Apple TV to watch netflix on. It kinda makes it pointless when there are better options for that. Using it as a second monitor would make it worth purchasing one though, just because I have a Macbook Air 11" and Xcode taking up most of my screen pretty much all of the time.

 

[chickenwingfly]

I just installed Mountain Lion and have discovered it does not offer an extended desktop mode or specific application-only mirroring.

I would love to have it for video editing, but it is not an option.

Here are the options available when in "System Preferences:"

Image

Thanks so much for the reply. I guess now I don't have an urge to upgrade. It's a bummer.

I'd really love to get an Apple TV to airplay netflix to my TV so I don't have to use an HDMI cable, but than you know, I'd have an Apple TV to watch netflix on. It kinda makes it pointless when there are better options for that. Using it as a second monitor would make it worth purchasing one though, just because I have a Macbook Air 11" and Xcode taking up most of my screen pretty much all of the time.

Well the ATV has a built-in Netflix app anyway.
And yes, indeed it would be interesting to use as an extender.
I personally just wanna be able to stream a library of some sort (NOT iTunes as I won't convert to their movie format) so I thought ML would be an option (in the meantime while they jailbreak the ATV 3, which at this point will be never).
And also just streaming a window would allow me to just stream VLC or something (of course nothing beats a jailbroken ATV that you could use to remotely stream XMCB and use its control to select movies and stuff).

 

[chrisherbert]

I'll bet we will see some third party solutions for this very soon. You might even get official support, since I'd imagine some people will want to use Airplay for presentations and mirroring isn't ideal for that.

 

[50548]

Just so I understand it better: What is AirPlay Mirroring good for? Playing videos that your computer hosts?

Because even if I wanted to show someone something from my desktop, I would NOT be able to do it unless I stayed in front of the computer...am I right or am I missing something here?

 

[chrisherbert]

Just so I understand it better: What is AirPlay Mirroring good for? Playing videos that your computer hosts?

Because even if I wanted to show someone something from my desktop, I would NOT be able to do it unless I stayed in front of the computer...am I right or am I missing something here?

Unless your desktop is in the same room as the TV, airplay would not be very useful. You could use a remote control app from your iPhone or iPad, I guess. But how else could it possibly work?

I would assume that the vast majority of people are using it with laptops.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Just so I understand it better: What is AirPlay Mirroring good for? Playing videos that your computer hosts?

Because even if I wanted to show someone something from my desktop, I would NOT be able to do it unless I stayed in front of the computer...am I right or am I missing something here?

Couple of things come to mind. Suppose I'm giving a presentation, I can Mirror my desktop and show my presentation to everyone without having to run cables all over the place. I can control my mac with a remote as well, everything being wireless.

Another good use is if you want to play some webpages or web videos on your TV, you can activate mirroring and it'll play it back without a hitch.

Third use, you can playback videos without having to convert them and then port them into iTunes for Airplay to work.

 

[wassal43]

hope dev will use of this advantage by making single app mirroring instead of the whole screen

 

[JediSkipdogg]

I think we have yet to see all that Airplay will do. I am debating on buying an Apple TV at this time so I can use it.

For presentations you no longer have to have cables connected to a laptop. However, I would like to see a "extended" display option for that. Otherwise, you lose all of the presentation tools that something like Powerpoint gives you when on multiple displays. Right now, you'd have to have the presentation full screen on the laptop as well which means you can't see the upcoming slide or any notes attached.

Right now though, I think it is semi-pointless besides giving one a larger monitor than their laptop normally has.

 

[chickenwingfly]

Yes yes and yes to all above.

It's not THAT pointless for some certain uses, but for what I wanted it's not ideal as it basically renders my Mac "useless" while mirroring, when rendering some "media" that is (not of course if I wanted a bigger screen or other people to see what I was doing).

Also not being able to extend the desktop is a total bummer.

The thing is, mirroring is not new and there are already third party solutions out there but they either suck at rendering videos (e.g they can't handle the heat of a 1080p stream) and they won't extend the desktop or just mirror one window.

On the wait..

 

[ArchieNL]

Yes yes and yes to all above.
The thing is, mirroring is not new and there are already third party solutions out there but they either suck at rendering videos (e.g they can't handle the heat of a 1080p stream) and they won't extend the desktop or just mirror one window.

On the wait..

Did you by any change found any app or option to render 720p or more streaming through Airplay without handling issues? This is also my major setback; Airparrot can extend your desktop but they also suck at rendering video through Airplay.

 

[chickenwingfly]

Did you by any change found any app or option to render 720p or more streaming through Airplay without handling issues? This is also my major setback; Airparrot can extend your desktop but they also suck at rendering video through Airplay.

AirFlick is what I've used to stream 1080p, seamlessly.

But of course my main idea is to have something that can read a damn video library and then stream that to the ATV with the option to either control it via the ATV remote OR an app on the iPhone/iPod/iPad!!!
Plus I'm the only english speaker home so I always need subtitles for movies if I want to stream then (unless I'm just watching movies by myself) so iTunes, AirFlick are pretty much useless since I have to re-encode the files and hardcode the subtitles (welcome, 1980).

So far only the ATV 2 with jailbroken state and XMBC (that's what I've read, not that I ever used XMBC before but given the praise it gets...) can accomplish my "dream" and hence this topic because I thought Mountain Lion somehow could help me out but it seems it's nothing more than a mirroring feature (well I already knew it was called that anyway) of the whole screen.

 

[wickedny5]

Hello guys,

Do you know if via AirPlay mirroring there is the possibility to extend the desktop or at least mirror a second desktop while working on others?

Or, is it possible to only mirror a single application (NOT iTunes)?

Thanks for your time.

Airparrot allows you to extend the desktop, also at your tv's native resolution either 720p or 1080p for the newer Apple TV.

I had to buy Airparrot (its only 9.99) because i have mid 2010 macbook pro and apple thinks my system thinks is "obsolete". Sorry apple, even if you think my 2 year old macbook pro is obsolete I sure as hell don't think so.. I spent 2,700 for my system (max upgrades), i rather buy a third party software for 10 bucks than upgrade a perfectly running 2 year old system.

ML + airparrot cost me $30 together, but thats what i paid for Lion last year so i didn't feel that bad.

 

[jacg]

So hang on, when I'm using Keynote, I currently plug into a VGA cable and show my slides on a projector as a second display while viewing notes and the next build/slide in front of me on my primary display.

Are you all saying that this isn't possible using AirPlay? That would certainly temper my enthusiasm for the feature.

 

[chickenwingfly]

Airparrot allows you to extend the desktop, also at your tv's native resolution either 720p or 1080p for the newer Apple TV.

Wait, so we (I) don't get lost in terminology.

What you are saying is that, if I have two desktops on the OS, and then on one I'm working on something, and then on a second desktop I open a video fullscreen and tell AirParrot to JUST airplay that second desktop to the ATV, while I'm working on the something on Desktop 1, and the person on the TV being feed by the ATV sees what is on Desktop 2?

 

[devman]

Just so I understand it better: What is AirPlay Mirroring good for? Playing videos that your computer hosts?

Because even if I wanted to show someone something from my desktop, I would NOT be able to do it unless I stayed in front of the computer...am I right or am I missing something here?

We were all sitting the lounge room tonight watching the olympics opening ceremony (DVR'd the night before). When that finished, my son told us about some iMovie projects he'd done. Great I said, show us on the TV. He simply clicked airplay and all four of us were easily able to see the work he'd done. That's one use case.

Another is that I watch Australian football on a website streamed to Safari. I can turn on airplay and watch on on a 52" TV instead of my 15" laptop. I just sit the laptop out of the way and watch the game on the bigscreen TV. This is content that is only available via a website. (afl.livesport.tv)

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Airparrot allows you to extend the desktop, also at your tv's native resolution either 720p or 1080p for the newer Apple TV.

I had to buy Airparrot (its only 9.99) because i have mid 2010 macbook pro and apple thinks my system thinks is "obsolete". Sorry apple, even if you think my 2 year old macbook pro is obsolete I sure as hell don't think so.. I spent 2,700 for my system (max upgrades), i rather buy a third party software for 10 bucks than upgrade a perfectly running 2 year old system.

ML + airparrot cost me $30 together, but thats what i paid for Lion last year so i didn't feel that bad.

The Real Reason Why Macs Before 2011 Can’t Use AirPlay Mirroring In Mountain Lion [Feature]
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/178460/the...e-airplay-mirroring-in-mountain-lion-feature/

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I just installed Mountain Lion and have discovered it does not offer an extended desktop mode or specific application-only mirroring.

iTunes does offer it at the app-level. You can play a movie in iTunes and that playback window has an airplay icon in its control bar. If you click that, you can then wirelessly stream the movie playback to your TV. You can then four finger swipe on your laptop to get back to the desktop and continue to work on it, while the movie is still playing back on your TV.

I assume from this other apps can offer the same capability once they code to the airplay APIs. (speculation)

 

[kralnor]

Based on these responses there must be a ton of people out there giving presentations with their Macs.

Honestly I don't have much of a need for mirroring the same stuff I already have on my thunderbolt display onto my TV. Yeah it's nice to have it on my TV in front of my couch, but then I can't check my email or get any work done (play video games) at the same time.

I'd LOVE to be able to extend the desktop or do single app mirroring like Airparrot does. I'm using it for now, but it randomly drops connection which requires a restart to get it to recognize the aTV again, and is much lower quality streaming than using Airplay.

 

[chickenwingfly]

I'd LOVE to be able to extend the desktop or do single app mirroring like Airparrot does. I'm using it for now, but it randomly drops connection which requires a restart to get it to recognize the aTV again, and is much lower quality streaming than using Airplay.

So lemme get this straight, via AirParrot I can stream say, a VLC window to my ATV while I keep on working on my stuff on the mac?

 

[Satnam1989]

So lemme get this straight, via AirParrot I can stream say, a VLC window to my ATV while I keep on working on my stuff on the mac?

Yes AirParrot allows you to extend desktop, It is recommend that your Apple TV is plugged in via Ethernet for faster speeds and better video processessing so no lag happens.

I have AirParrot as well and was hoping the Mirroring will allow me to Extend Desktop but sadly it doesnt...which I think is quiet stupid of apple to not offer as a standard feature....It doesn't take any more power to show "Extended desktop" than it does mirroring....

 

[Icy1007]

It is called AirPlay MIRRORING for a reason.

 

[pdjudd]

It is called AirPlay MIRRORING for a reason.

Indeed. They have always advertised it as Airplay Mirroring for a reason - it is not an extended desktop solution. That is how Apple advertises it products -as one thing. Heck, Airplay on iOS devices has always involved mirroring. Of course iOS devices have never been multi display. I think that is why it was called that - to emphasize that this was similar to what was out on the iOS.

 

[chickenwingfly]

Yes AirParrot allows you to extend desktop, It is recommend that your Apple TV is plugged in via Ethernet for faster speeds and better video processessing so no lag happens.

I have AirParrot as well and was hoping the Mirroring will allow me to Extend Desktop but sadly it doesnt...which I think is quiet stupid of apple to not offer as a standard feature....It doesn't take any more power to show "Extended desktop" than it does mirroring....

Ok, thanks a lot for the insight.

 

[jacg]

Almost seems a bit pointless now. For any video in iTunes, you can just play it directly from the aTV anyway.

Is there any hardware reason why the aTV cannot show a secondary display, such as a Keynote slideshow (while notes, etc remain on my primary)?

 

[ArchieNL]

Yes, Airplay Mirroring is useless. Main reasons why I (wanted-to-play-movies-via-VLC-on-my-retinaMBP-without-attaching-to-my-hmdi) think this:

- It is not buffering (like playing Itunes on the AppleTV) and hence stuttering because my network apparently isn't fast enough?
- I cannot extend my desktop.
- I cannot use the remote.

So this is only useful when i'm showing people my pictures (which look better om my Retina) without huddling behind the laptop.

My two cents. Hopefully this will be addressed in future updates.