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Apple TV and Xvid/Divx?

C

Cattywampus_

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2006
511
21
Hi

I plan on buying an Apple TV tomorrow. I am going to get a 40gig one - is there any advantage of getting a 160gig over the 40?

Also - I am buying in the USA but taking it home to the UK - apart from the adapter being american there should be no other problems right?

Also the main question - what is the best way to get the Apple TV to be able to play XVID and DIVX movies? I was thinking along the lines of a shared folder on my Mac that it can stream from over the wireless network - hence why I am getting the 40gigger cause hopefully I see no need to actually store much on the thing itself?

Many thanks.
 
Sounds like you will be disappointed. Do some more reading before you buy one. You can't "share" a directory on your MAC to stream DIVX, XVID content from. These formats are not supported on an ATV. To make it work, you'd have to hack your ATV. There are a few solutions out there, but in the end, you can't quite be sure that they will still work after a firmware refresh. The most famous one would be "aTV Flash". Google it and you shall find all the info you need. Yes, it can all be done for free as well but you will need to collect the tools yourself while the aTV Flash is a simple USB stick solution. Anyway, my point is that you're better off investigating BEFORE you buy to avoid disappointment. Out of the box, you will have to convert all the movies into an ATV format. This takes A LOT of time if you happen to have quite a collection.

Copy from the apple.com page:

Video formats supported
H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): Up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps) in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
iTunes Store purchased video: 320 by 240 pixels, 640 by 480 pixels, 720 by 480 pixels (anamorphic), or high-definition 720p
MPEG-4: Up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 720 by 432 pixels at 30 fps) in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

It's a great little box as long as you're aware of the restrictions.
 
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