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Pathfinder55

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 18, 2007
365
0
Does your TV have to be a widescreen or can it be anything? Cause on the apple website all it talks about is widescreens.
 
Yep - has to be widescreen. Although I believe streaming music/audio still works - you just won't be able to see any video.
 
Most 4:3 component TV's have a 16:9 mode, don't they? Mine does; check your manual. Maybe I'm just lucky.
 
Widescreen not necessary

I have used an Apple TV on a 32 inch Sony TV with the traditional 4:3 screen since the Apple tv came out. Just make sure you've got component inputs on the back and you should be ok. Also, you need to choose the 480i or 480p resolution during setup. The picture does get a little squished sometimes, but it's still very viewable. It's great for the kids to watch their videos and listen to music, etc. If you've got the component hookups, don't let the fact that you don't have widescreen stop you.
 
To add to what others have said, but say it a little differently for anyone who may be confused: no, your TV does not have to be widescreen (16:9), but the :apple:TV formats all video output for display on a widescreen TV, so if you connect it to a standard (4:3) TV the image will not be proportioned correctly (compressed horizontally). There is a 'TV Resolution' setting on the :apple:TV, but it only supports widescreen formats (e.g. 720p, 480p, 1080i, 720p/50Hz, 1080i/50Hz, 576p/50Hz); there is no setting for 4:3 displays.

In addition, the :apple:TV only connects via component input (three connectors, red, green, blue) or HDMI. It does not support composite (one connector, yellow) input to your TV. To my knowledge, component input is standard on widescreen/HD TV's, but is much less common (though not unheard of) on 4:3 TV's.

If you have a 4:3 TV that doesn't have component inputs you are all but out of luck. You would have to have some device that converts component video to composite (or if your TV's really old, RF), and even then the image would be distorted.

If you have a 4:3 TV that does support component input you will be able to connect the :apple:TV and you will see an image, but it will be distorted. Some TV's in this category have a '16:9' or 'widescreen' mode, which will correct the image proportions in the TV, probably by letterboxing, but possibly by cropping the sides (full screen mode).
 
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