Can't sync while watching other AppleTv content?

[Squareball]

I've searched the forums but can't seem to find if anyone else has this problem so here goes.

I have around 90gigs of movies and tv shows synced to the AppleTV. It seems that if I'm syncing a movie or a TV show and I go down stairs and use the AppleTV to watch a TV show that's already synced that the syncing of the new movie/tv show stops. So basically, I can be 90% of the way through syncing a movie but if I use the AppleTV at all the sync will stop and restart again once I'm done using the AppleTV.

Is this normal? It seems odd that I can't use the AppleTV and sync at the same time.

 

[BobC]

Yes, it's normal.

The AppleTV needs all its resources when displaying HD content, so temporarily suspends network activity (and syncing) until the video is finished. Note that the AppleTV can sync while playing music, audio podcasts, and the viewing of pictures.

 

[Squareball]

Thanks. Follow up question. If that's the case, how does streaming work? Wouldn't it have to shut off the network connection while playing back the data it has streamed so far thus making streaming impossible without stopping for 2 minutes every minute or so?

 

[imlucid]

Thanks. Follow up question. If that's the case, how does streaming work? Wouldn't it have to shut off the network connection while playing back the data it has streamed so far thus making streaming impossible without stopping for 2 minutes every minute or so?

No, it is able to stream the video continously.

Kevin

 

[Squareball]

No, it is able to stream the video continously.

Kevin

That's what I would think (although I don't have much success streaming, it buffers a lot). So how come it can stream constantly but it has to turn off the net connection while watching a show causing me to not be able to sync while using the device to watch video? I just don't get it.

 

[imlucid]

That's what I would think (although I don't have much success streaming, it buffers a lot). So how come it can stream constantly but it has to turn off the net connection while watching a show causing me to not be able to sync while using the device to watch video? I just don't get it.

Well it is conservative in its usage of network and other resources such as memory and disk usage. The last thing you want is for video playback to stutter or stall. This is especially important for high def content.

Kevin

 

[rulerofthemoon]

play music and it will still sync

Must be a resource issue since you can sync photos, music or movies while the Apple TV is playing music.

 

[tomacintosh]

Well it's quite simple, if you're trying to read a large file off a hard drive while simultaneously trying to write a large file to it, you're going to run into problems keeping the video running smoothly. One or the other has to give way.

 

[Yvan256]

Well it's quite simple, if you're trying to read a large file off a hard drive while simultaneously trying to write a large file to it, you're going to run into problems keeping the video running smoothly. One or the other has to give way.

Indeed, let's not forget that the TV uses a 2.5" laptop drive, those aren't known to be incredibly fast.