Problem with videos that play in iTunes but won't play on Apple TV

[jedipastor]

I've downloaded some videos from the net that are H264 encoded (they have an .mp4 extension) - they play fine in iTunes but when Apple TV syncs it says "could not be synced because it is a video format Apple TV doesn't support."

I always thought that if a file played in iTunes then it would for sure play in Apple TV also. Any thoughts as to why such vids wouldn't play on ATV? Also, any suggestions other than re-encoding to how I can make them compatible?

 

[dynaflash]

I've downloaded some videos from the net that are H264 encoded (they have an .mp4 extension) - they play fine in iTunes but when Apple TV syncs it says "could not be synced because it is a video format Apple TV doesn't support."

I always thought that if a file played in iTunes then it would for sure play in Apple TV also. Any thoughts as to why such vids wouldn't play on ATV? Also, any suggestions other than re-encoding to how I can make them compatible?

iTunes can play many video's that the AppleTV can't. There is no way to know without more info about the source.

Re-encoding is probably the only way to be assured it will play on the atv.

 

[sandman42]

See 'Video formats supported' on the TV Tech Specs page. One thing people often have trouble with, especially for higher resolution files, is the frame rate.

 

[NEBaghead]

Play the video in Quicktime and open the movie inspector. Most likely it is the FPS that is too high. I've had to convert many of mine to 24 FPS to get it to play on ATV.