Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can Apple TV do this?

lwilliams

lwilliams

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 27, 2012
470
246
Athens, GA
Current using a WDTVLive in bedroom. I use Mezzmo for video and audio streaming from a server in the house with 21tb of movies/TV/music. I can stream without using iTunes and want to continue to do so.

SO...... If I get Apple TV for another room, will I be able to stream video (HD and SD with Dolby DTS, etc) through the Apple TV without having to adding all the content to iTunes?

The documentation for Apple TV is extremely sparse.

The only use I have for iTunes is updating firmware on my iOS devices.
 
I buy movies from itunes on Apple Tv, it stores in the cloud, use netflix and hulu, etc. If you do not currently or do not plan on using itunes then why consider getting an Apple Tv? You are probably better off getting a Raspberry Pi to use as a media server. Using itunes is preference more than anything but you do not HAVE to use itunes in order to enjoy having and using an Apple TV.
 
No.

First and second generation Apple TVs could be jail broken and made to do what you describe. To my knowledge the latest (3rd) generation can't be hacked yet. So no, you would be stuck doing it Apples way.

You might consider the AirPlay work around... Using an iPhone or iPad with a specialized app, I use Infuse - there may be others, to access your content directly from your server and stream it via AirPlay to the AppleTV. It works for me and has the advantage of playing any type of file; converting it on the fly and sending it to the ATV in a form it can understand. The down side of this is that your network, be it wired or wifi, must be up to the task and properly configured.
 
Because Apple's market is primarily people who have no idea what NDLA is. I had to look it up myself. Wikipedia says it is a "non-profit collaboration." There's your answer: Apple is extremely "FOR PROFIT" and usually acquires anything or anyone it collaborates with.
 
lwilliams said:
Current using a WDTVLive in bedroom. I use Mezzmo for video and audio streaming from a server in the house with 21tb of movies/TV/music. I can stream without using iTunes and want to continue to do so.

SO...... If I get Apple TV for another room, will I be able to stream video (HD and SD with Dolby DTS, etc) through the Apple TV without having to adding all the content to iTunes?

The documentation for Apple TV is extremely sparse.

The only use I have for iTunes is updating firmware on my iOS devices.
Click to expand...

The best you can do with an AppleTV 3 is 5.1, which really IS all you need unless you have a home theater the size of most peoples houses. To get it to work on an AppleTV you will have to recontainer all your files in MP4 containers and then import them into an iTunes Library.

You can buy some NAS drives that that have an iTunes server running on them, but apart from that you would need a computer or some sort of network attached storage through a device such as an Airport.

If you don't want to convert your library then don't bother with an AppleTV 3.
 
I guess I will pick up another WDTVLive. Most of my files are .ts, some are .mkv. I don't want to compress them more than that.

The WD will decode any and all formats, as will Mezzmo.

So I will just continue to use Mezzmo as my DNLA media server and the WD to get it to the AV system.
 
lwilliams said:
I guess I will pick up another WDTVLive. Most of my files are .ts, some are .mkv. I don't want to compress them more than that.

The WD will decode any and all formats, as will Mezzmo.

So I will just continue to use Mezzmo as my DNLA media server and the WD to get it to the AV system.
Click to expand...

Subler doesn't compress your content, MKV is a container, MP4 is a different container. It's like a lunchbox, and all it does is move your pastrami sandwich from one lunchbox to another. Except in this case your pastrami sandwich is just the movie.
 
lwilliams said:
Current using a WDTVLive in bedroom. I use Mezzmo for video and audio streaming from a server in the house with 21tb of movies/TV/music. I can stream without using iTunes and want to continue to do so.

SO...... If I get Apple TV for another room, will I be able to stream video (HD and SD with Dolby DTS, etc) through the Apple TV without having to adding all the content to iTunes?

The documentation for Apple TV is extremely sparse.

The only use I have for iTunes is updating firmware on my iOS devices.
Click to expand...

Best way to do this is with Plex and Plex Connect. Works very well.
 
Air Video HD can also do.

You install the Air Video Server Hd on the PC/Mac where you have all your movies/series stored, get Air Video HD app from the app store on your ios device and airplay to your atv.

I have this setup and it works flawlessly with all my mkv bd rips, Air video HD is doing the transcoding on-the-fly if needed. No itunes involved.

I prefer this over Plex because it uses "native" airplay so you can turn off the display on your ios device. Plex only does airplay mirroring which is not optimal (i.e. the movie is playing on both atv and your ios device).
 
Last edited:
orestes1984 said:
Subler doesn't compress your content, MKV is a container, MP4 is a different container. It's like a lunchbox, and all it does is move your pastrami sandwich from one lunchbox to another. Except in this case your pastrami sandwich is just the movie.
Click to expand...

There would be limitations to consider even in that most simple of a method. The Apple TV does have an upper limit on video bitrate (~25Mb/s) that some Blurays would surpass. Also it only supports 5.1 Dolby Digital (AC3) albeit at 640Kb/s which is higher then DVD and is considered bluray quality. So for movies that have DTS only, they would have to be transcoded to AC-3 regardless.
 
westrock2000 said:
There would be limitations to consider even in that most simple of a method. The Apple TV does have an upper limit on video bitrate (~25Mb/s) that some Blurays would surpass. Also it only supports 5.1 Dolby Digital (AC3) albeit at 640Kb/s which is higher then DVD and is considered bluray quality. So for movies that have DTS only, they would have to be transcoded to AC-3 regardless.
Click to expand...

Transcoding audio can be done quickly, easily, seamlessly and simply in handbrake by dropping your video compression down to minimal and then exporting the HQ sound. The video in an MKV container is just MPEG anyways so that pops right out and then you just transpose back in the audio file. Voila, about 15 minutes extra work, and just the same if you want to add additional languages, etc...

5.1 is a non issue. Unless you've got a home theatre larger than the size of most peoples floor space e.g. a real home cinema with like 100m2 of floor space, you won't need more than 5.1 and you won't be able to hear the difference anyways.

You can take me on that in a double blind test if you so wish. Anything more than 5.1 in your average house hold is just a gimmick. A good 5.1 setup will knock the socks off of an overspread cheap 7.1 speaker system in the same room every time. In many cases even a couple of decent floor standers in 2.1 will be enough. That's simply a case of quality over quantity every single time.

Spend your money on better speakers every time and your ears will thank you with it. I really don't care either ;) Unless you've got a real stadium home theater 7.1 is a gimmick. In a normal sized room it will never sound right and you will be able to spend more where it counts on higher quality speakers with 2 less channels anyway.

If you're even considering talking about home theater in a box type setups your opinion is null and void by default. Leave the 9.1 and whatever else for the actual cinema experience at a brick and mortar cinema, that's what your ticket and over priced candy pays for ;)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back