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If it plays in iTunes, will it play on ATV?

X

Xyl

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 30, 2006
181
0
I don't have an ATV yet but plan on getting one soon for HD rentals.

I also have some movies converted from Visual Hub. I've imported these movies into iTunes and they play without a flaw - both video and audio. I'm not sure if I have additional codecs installed (I probably do). So the question is, if the video and audio play fine in iTunes (and Front Row) after importing them to iTunes, will it be guaranteed to play on ATV?
 
Nope, the AppleTV has limited support for video files, whereas in iTunes and Front Row you can use many more codecs (that you download, and some that Mac has default support for, but the AppleTV doesn't). But chances are if it is a .mp4 or .m4v, it will work.
 
Thanks for the replies.

So short of actually testing it on Apple TV, there's no other way to find out it will work?
 
Try it on any video capable ipod (anywhere from 5th gen, Touch, current classics or nanos) or iPhone if you have one.
If it plays on that it should play on the :apple:TV.
Although the pods only support up to 1.5 Mbps, while the TV handles 5, and the TV can handle larger resolutions also. so not a definitive test
 
Xyl said:
I don't have an ATV yet but plan on getting one soon for HD rentals.

I also have some movies converted from Visual Hub. I've imported these movies into iTunes and they play without a flaw - both video and audio. I'm not sure if I have additional codecs installed (I probably do). So the question is, if the video and audio play fine in iTunes (and Front Row) after importing them to iTunes, will it be guaranteed to play on ATV?
Click to expand...

If you need additional codec support, you can install nitoTV after patching your aTV. PM me if you have questions..
 
You can play your movie in Quicktime, and while playing it select 'Show Movie Inspector' (under the 'Window' menu on a Mac, don't know about a PC). It should tell you what you need to know about the file.

Also, in iTunes if you have a movie that won't play on :apple:TV, you can select the movie then click 'Convert Selection for AppleTV' under the 'Advanced' menu. It will make a compatible file (in addition to the original), but there will be some quality loss.
 
You can also modify the software of ATV to allow usage of more video formats and codecs.
 
waw74 said:
Try it on any video capable ipod (anywhere from 5th gen, Touch, current classics or nanos) or iPhone if you have one.
If it plays on that it should play on the :apple:TV.
Although the pods only support up to 1.5 Mbps, while the TV handles 5, and the TV can handle larger resolutions also. so not a definitive test
Click to expand...

I thought of that too, but I don't have any of those :(.

tom1971 said:
If you need additional codec support, you can install nitoTV after patching your aTV. PM me if you have questions..
Click to expand...

Trying to stay away from any hacks...but thanks for the info.

sandman42 said:
You can play your movie in Quicktime, and while playing it select 'Show Movie Inspector' (under the 'Window' menu on a Mac, don't know about a PC). It should tell you what you need to know about the file.

Also, in iTunes if you have a movie that won't play on :apple:TV, you can select the movie then click 'Convert Selection for AppleTV' under the 'Advanced' menu. It will make a compatible file (in addition to the original), but there will be some quality loss.
Click to expand...

I've done that, and it looks like it should play, but I guess I can never be sure. I also tried the 'Convert Selection for AppleTV' and it says it's already in the correct format - I'm guessing that still does not guarantee that it will play (video and audio) on the ATV.
 
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