getting ATV2 for upstairs, need some advice

[rick98761]

I am planning on getting an Apple TV2 for upstairs. Currently in the basement I have a server/htpc that runs to my projector. I have about 4tb of media on it, although they are direct rips off my blu-ray discs which I keep in storage. I would like these playable on the new Apple TV2. I know in their current format (uncompressed MKV files, with HD Audio) they will absolutely not play on the Apple TV. I'm assuming the way I'll have to go at this is make a second copy of each video converted in hand break or or iFlicks. I guess my question is, is there a better way. I'm aware of air video, but I don't want to rely on it a ton for two reasons. First being ease of use for the family, second reason being I don't want that computer bogged down doing real time conversions any time someone is watching something.

My question is, has anyone else found a better way to manage a setup like I currently have?

One other question, if I convert everything using the iTunes 1080p setting in iFlicks will the ATV2 be able to handle it? I know it won't output at that res, but for the sake of saving time in the future when Apple TV does do 1080p I would like to know if I can just convert them to 1080p now.

 

[Che Castro]

Dont waste your time converting to mp4

Just jailbreak your atv2 and those mkv files will play fine in xbmc

You dont need a program running on your pc to run xbmc on the atv2

 

[rick98761]

Dont waste your time converting to mp4

Just jailbreak your atv2 and those mkv files will play fine in xbmc

You dont need a program running on your pc to run xbmc on the atv2

I figured the ATV would choke on those videos. Remember they are 1080p bluray rips with up to 40mb/s bitrates. Am I wrong in thinking this?

 

[rick98761]

Dont waste your time converting to mp4

Just jailbreak your atv2 and those mkv files will play fine in xbmc

You dont need a program running on your pc to run xbmc on the atv2

Well I gave it a shot and it was choking bad on my bluray rips. So I suppose my only option is to transcode everything down. Can anyone tell me if the ATV2 can handle the iTunes 1080p setting in iFlicks? I would hate to transcode everything down to 720 then redo it when ATV3 comes around.

 

[Rocco83]

Pretty sure 1080p is a no go for ATV2.

 

[thetruth1985]

Well I gave it a shot and it was choking bad on my bluray rips. So I suppose my only option is to transcode everything down. Can anyone tell me if the ATV2 can handle the iTunes 1080p setting in iFlicks? I would hate to transcode everything down to 720 then redo it when ATV3 comes around.

I'm curious to know why you want to get a apple tv for this. Don't get me wrong, I have 4 apple tvs and I love them all the same. I also have 2 boxee boxs and I'm sure that they can stream all of your blu ray rips in their native format with HD audio (over ethernet of course).

 

[blueroom]

Handbrake them but for Blu-Rays change the quality setting to around 23.

 

[Che Castro]

I'm curious to know why you want to get a apple tv for this. Don't get me wrong, I have 4 apple tvs and I love them all the same. I also have 2 boxee boxs and I'm sure that they can stream all of your blu ray rips in their native format with HD audio (over ethernet of course).

He needs a wd tv live

 

[ZStation]

I know in their current format (uncompressed MKV files, with HD Audio) they will absolutely not play on the Apple TV.

They absolutely will.

One other question, if I convert everything using the iTunes 1080p setting in iFlicks will the ATV2 be able to handle it? I know it won't output at that res, but for the sake of saving time in the future when Apple TV does do 1080p I would like to know if I can just convert them to 1080p now.

ATV2 will play 1080p content via XBMC or the likes, but only outputs to 720p.

I use my ATV2, jailbroken, running XBMC almost exclusively. I only occasionally use Apple's own software on the ATV2 for AirTunes (or whatever it's called this week). My TV/movie stuff is in AVI and MKV on my NAS (running Windows 7, holding my iTunes library.

 

[rick98761]

I'm curious to know why you want to get a apple tv for this. Don't get me wrong, I have 4 apple tvs and I love them all the same. I also have 2 boxee boxs and I'm sure that they can stream all of your blu ray rips in their native format with HD audio (over ethernet of course).

The main reason was for AirPlay. I guess I could get another box also, but that seems redundant.

 

[rick98761]

They absolutely will.



ATV2 will play 1080p content via XBMC or the likes, but only outputs to 720p.

I use my ATV2, jailbroken, running XBMC almost exclusively. I only occasionally use Apple's own software on the ATV2 for AirTunes (or whatever it's called this week). My TV/movie stuff is in AVI and MKV on my NAS (running Windows 7, holding my iTunes library.

Do you have any blurays ripped? The ATV was choking bad on them, so I would have to transcode them down to a much lower bitrate file anyway. At that point I may as well do it in a ATV format and skip xbmc, unless I'm missing something.

 

[AdrianK]

They absolutely will.

You mean the ATV is capable of decoding AVC High@L4.1 at bitrates of 20-30mbit? That I would like to see. And what about VC1, does XMBC decode that properly on ATV?

Do you have any blurays ripped? The ATV was choking bad on them, so I would have to transcode them down to a much lower bitrate file anyway. At that point I may as well do it in a ATV format and skip xbmc, unless I'm missing something.

That's exactly what I would do, makes the most sense.

 

[thetruth1985]

The main reason was for AirPlay. I guess I could get another box also, but that seems redundant.

Well I guess it just depends what kind of room you are trying to setup when you say "upstairs". It also depends how anal you are in maintaining picture quality as well as HD sound. If you are going to be using a receiver that is capable of all the HD audio formats as well as a good enough television that you can tell the difference between 1080p and 720p, then I don't think the apple tv 2 is a good fit. The current ATV only does 720p and Dolby Digital. On my 55 inch Samsung television that I have in the living room, I can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. On my 42 inch bedroom vizio, 720p and 1080p looks almost the same.

 

[rick98761]

Well I guess it just depends what kind of room you are trying to setup when you say "upstairs". It also depends how anal you are in maintaining picture quality as well as HD sound. If you are going to be using a receiver that is capable of all the HD audio formats as well as a good enough television that you can tell the difference between 1080p and 720p, then I don't think the apple tv 2 is a good fit. The current ATV only does 720p and Dolby Digital. On my 55 inch Samsung television that I have in the living room, I can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. On my 42 inch bedroom vizio, 720p and 1080p looks almost the same.

Ok to be more clear upstairs is just a 40 inch tv with no surround sound. So quality really isn't a huge concern, the things I have converted so far from my bluray rips looks just find. To be honest I will rarely watch a movie up there since I have a 100 inch 1080p projector with a very nice surround sound downstairs. What I was really looking for is a solution to just steam all my files as they are. I tried xbmc and it choked bad on the bluray rips.

The entire point of the apple tv was for AirPlay and since we just had a baby it is hard for my wife and I to go downstairs and watch tv shows on the projector, so I thought it would be nice to have the option to just stream stuff upstairs when we want. Looks like the best way is for me to just get a extra 2tb hdd and just do a huge transcode batch on everything we would ever want to view up there. Not really a big deal, just will keep my htpc chugging along for a few days.

If it becomes a huge issue I'll just pick up a different streamer and regulate the ATV to AirPlay. Here's hoping for a ATV 3 that can decode 1080p uncompressed blurray rips with hd audio in mkv format. I think I may be waiting a while for that though

 

[iceman72]

Why not just jailbreak it and not worry about ripping or downloading movies? Every since I got my ATV2 my harddrives are clean. I dont see the need to download or rip movies. I have only found one movie that I wanted to watch that was not available to stream. Sounds like you may be better off just using a pc as a media center and call it a day.

 

[rick98761]

Why not just jailbreak it and not worry about ripping or downloading movies? Every since I got my ATV2 my harddrives are clean. I dont see the need to download or rip movies. I have only found one movie that I wanted to watch that was not available to stream. Sounds like you may be better off just using a pc as a media center and call it a day.

Where do you stream media from? I'm not going to buy blurays for my basement setup then pay to stream the same content. Anyway I've got it figured out. I'll just encode the stuff I think we may watch in areas in the house other then the theater room in the basement. Hard drive space is dirt cheap so it's no big deal. Jailbreaking doesn't help me one bit since the atv can't handle the files anyway.

And while yes another htpc would be nice it is way more costly, and doesn't support AirPlay, which was one of the major factors in getting the atv.

 

[thetruth1985]

Where do you stream media from? I'm not going to buy blurays for my basement setup then pay to stream the same content. Anyway I've got it figured out. I'll just encode the stuff I think we may watch in areas in the house other then the theater room in the basement. Hard drive space is dirt cheap so it's no big deal. Jailbreaking doesn't help me one bit since the atv can't handle the files anyway.

And while yes another htpc would be nice it is way more costly, and doesn't support AirPlay, which was one of the major factors in getting the atv.

Good luck man and let us know how it works out.

 

[iceman72]

Where do you stream media from? I'm not going to buy blurays for my basement setup then pay to stream the same content. Anyway I've got it figured out. I'll just encode the stuff I think we may watch in areas in the house other then the theater room in the basement. Hard drive space is dirt cheap so it's no big deal. Jailbreaking doesn't help me one bit since the atv can't handle the files anyway.

And while yes another htpc would be nice it is way more costly, and doesn't support AirPlay, which was one of the major factors in getting the atv.

You gotta do some research. Everything you need to know is out there at your finger tips. I have not had my apple tv gen 2 for more than two weeks and I love it. No longer do I rip movies, download movies or do redbox for that matter. But you gotta be willing to do just a tad bit of googling and youtubing. But once you find it you little problem will no longer be an issue.

 

[slothrob]

Where do you stream media from? I'm not going to buy blurays for my basement setup then pay to stream the same content. Anyway I've got it figured out. I'll just encode the stuff I think we may watch in areas in the house other then the theater room in the basement. Hard drive space is dirt cheap so it's no big deal.

I think you're on the right track. Transcoding the files you already have on hard disks is pretty painless and you don't have to resort to questionable sources.

 

[rick98761]

You gotta do some research. Everything you need to know is out there at your finger tips. I have not had my apple tv gen 2 for more than two weeks and I love it. No longer do I rip movies, download movies or do redbox for that matter. But you gotta be willing to do just a tad bit of googling and youtubing. But once you find it you little problem will no longer be an issue.

As I figured it's just a bunch of pirating. No thanks.

 

[iceman72]

I don't understand.....what's questionable sources? For starters he is already using XBMC , which means he is already doing something Apple doesn't want him to do. That also means he is or has already been on the XBMC forums. I don't think those guys on XBMC are questionable sources. What's questionable is why he is ripping his own BR movies? You can only watch it on one tv any way. Most people that rip movies are already doing questionable things. So if you already are waist deep in doing questionable things why not do a little more research and cut those questionable things to a limit? Streaming movies and tv is much less questionable than ripping is any day. At least you are not storing questionable data on hard drives. Let's say he gets caught with that data, then unless he has physical originals then he will get in tons of trouble. Heck they could even make a case that even that is illegal. But streaming is usually a one time thing that you don't keep anything. I personally would prefer to stream.

 

[iceman72]

As I figured it's just a bunch of pirating. No thanks.

I bet you having copies of br movies would get in much more trouble than me just streaming movies. Lol. You sound like one of those people that justify what you do and call everything else pirating. Ripping movies is pirating with the intent of distribution. I mean really....why do you need to copy your own stuff? Just use the original. The original is better anyway.

 

[rick98761]

I bet you having copies of br movies would get in much more trouble than me just streaming movies. Lol. You sound like one of those people that justify what you do and call everything else pirating. Ripping movies is pirating with the intent of distribution. I mean really....why do you need to copy your own stuff? Just use the original. The original is better anyway.

Not since I own them. I just rip them for connivence. How is the original better?

 

[iceman72]

Not since I own them. I just rip them for connivence. How is the original better?

I know your trying to justify it, but even though your telling yourself that its ok. Copying DVD's, CD's, BR Movies etc even if it belongs to you is illegal. LOL The software that you use is made to copy movies you make yourself. Not to rip store purchased movies. There have been many lawsuits that the RIAA has won over software that does this.

Any way the point I am getting at is this. If you are going to copy the stuff just save yourself some hassle and time and just stream it. You can't get in trouble by doing that. I mean really every movie says you can't copy it in the very beginning not to mention on the backs of boxes etc.

Just save yourself some headache, jailbreak your ATV2, install XBMC and stream what you want.

Heck how many cases have you heard of someone getting sued for streaming something from online? I have never... Streaming is the future. Media is so old school. After the new OSX and iOS is released even Apple is no longer using Media.

I have a crappy DSL and I stream tv,movies etc great with now pausing. With a decent connection you are set.

 

[rick98761]

I know your trying to justify it, but even though your telling yourself that its ok. Copying DVD's, CD's, BR Movies etc even if it belongs to you is illegal. LOL The software that you use is made to copy movies you make yourself. Not to rip store purchased movies. There have been many lawsuits that the RIAA has won over software that does this.

Any way the point I am getting at is this. If you are going to copy the stuff just save yourself some hassle and time and just stream it. You can't get in trouble by doing that. I mean really every movie says you can't copy it in the very beginning not to mention on the backs of boxes etc.

Just save yourself some headache, jailbreak your ATV2, install XBMC and stream what you want.

Heck how many cases have you heard of someone getting sued for streaming something from online? I have never... Streaming is the future. Media is so old school. After the new OSX and iOS is released even Apple is no longer using Media.

I have a crappy DSL and I stream tv,movies etc great with now pausing. With a decent connection you are set.

Your post makes no sense. Paid streaming is the future. Pirate streams is still pirating and is still illegal. While I haven't heard of anyone getting sued for streaming, it wouldn't surprise me, and I don't want to be in the first batch to get nailed with it.

Btw, ripping a bluray I own is in no way illegal, same as ripping a cd you own is not illegal. In the US you are allowed to backup your content.