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gloryunited

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 29, 2010
316
1
When streaming music from PC iTunes library or from iPhone via Airplay, what would the TV screen be showing? Pictures, album arts or playlist? Can we turn it off?
 
For the first minute, or so, the song/artist/album name + artwork.

photozi.jpg


If you leave it idle, the screensaver will kick in. You can choose from multiple type of transitions and stock picture galleries of animals and flowers, or from your MobileMe, Flickr, or Photo Stream galleries.

You can power off the screen, provided you have speakers plugged in directly in the optical audio output.
 
For the first minute, or so, the song/artist/album name + artwork.

Image

If you leave it idle, the screensaver will kick in. You can choose from multiple type of transitions and stock picture galleries of animals and flowers, or from your MobileMe, Flickr, or Photo Stream galleries.

You can power off the screen, provided you have speakers plugged in directly in the optical audio output.

Thank you so much!

I don't have hi-fi or separate speakers at home, so the ATV2 plus my HDTV will add so much value to my living room entertainment!
 
Thank you so much!

I don't have hi-fi or separate speakers at home, so the ATV2 plus my HDTV will add so much value to my living room entertainment!

No problem. You'll definitely love the AppleTV. It's probably my favorite Apple toy, no joke. I have one in my living room and one in the bedroom.

AirPlay for music, videos, and photos is amazing and now that you can mirror your iPhone 4S (iPad 2 as well) to your AppleTV makes it even better. And I'm definitely looking forward to when AirPlay Mirroring comes to Lion.

YouTube and Netflix (as well as some of the other apps) are nothing but added bonuses.
 
No problem. You'll definitely love the AppleTV. It's probably my favorite Apple toy, no joke. I have one in my living room and one in the bedroom.

AirPlay for music, videos, and photos is amazing and now that you can mirror your iPhone 4S (iPad 2 as well) to your AppleTV makes it even better. And I'm definitely looking forward to when AirPlay Mirroring comes to Lion.

YouTube and Netflix (as well as some of the other apps) are nothing but added bonuses.

When AirPlay comes to Lion, does it mean we can stream any format to the TV? :D
 
When AirPlay comes to Lion, does it mean we can stream any format to the TV? :D

That would be a wet dream come true, if it allows any format to stream. To be able to play movies in any format and not have to go through the hassle of conversion and loading into iTunes would be amazing. But who knows. You know how Apple is and they often like to cripple things, so we'll have to wait and see.
 
That is untrue. I always switch my TV off after finding something to play and the audio has never stopped.

James, are you saying that you CANT start the music, with the tv off ?

Do you HAVE TO turn the TV on first, THEN turn it off, to continue to play audio ?

Thanks !
 
James, are you saying that you CANT start the music, with the tv off ?

Do you HAVE TO turn the TV on first, THEN turn it off, to continue to play audio ?

Thanks !

Some people can't play music (through the optical out) with the TV turned off. I've never tried it myself, but I've seen that some people can and some people can't.
 
Some people can't play music (through the optical out) with the TV turned off. I've never tried it myself, but I've seen that some people can and some people can't.

Oh ok. Because I really want to get an Apple TV, if and ONLY if, I can stream music from my iPhone to the Apple TV, that will be hooked up to my surround sound, via an optical out cable.

Thanks
 
Oh ok. Because I really want to get an Apple TV, if and ONLY if, I can stream music from my iPhone to the Apple TV, that will be hooked up to my surround sound, via an optical out cable.

Thanks

You will definitely be able to do that.
 
It is not true.

You will definitely be able to do that.

Since software version 4.4 (4.4.2 is affected too) streaming from any device over AppleTV 2 to optical out is NOT possible. The only remedy is to turn on TV or beamer and after few seconds turn off to get the sound.
 
Oh ok. Because I really want to get an Apple TV, if and ONLY if, I can stream music from my iPhone to the Apple TV, that will be hooked up to my surround sound, via an optical out cable.

Thanks

Of course you can do that. The only people who can't are those who hook their Apple TV up directly to the tv and do not use optical out directly to the stero either.

I have my Apple TV hooked directly to my surround receiver using HDMI so I can turn the tv off at any time and hear audio. Same for people who use optical to the stereo and HDMI to the tv.
 
I have my Apple TV hooked directly to my surround receiver using HDMI so I can turn the tv off at any time and hear audio. Same for people who use optical to the stereo and HDMI to the tv.

Since software version 4.4 (4.4.2 is affected too) streaming from any device over AppleTV 2 to optical out is NOT possible. The only remedy is to turn on TV or beamer and after few seconds turn off to get the sound.

Two COMPLETELY different answers. I'm going crazy here :confused:
 
That is not true with the Apple TV2, once the ATV2 sees the hdmi link go away it stops outputting audio via the toslink connection as well. Just a heads up.

Is that the case if your receiver is still live though? The HDMI link is live to the receiver which is outputting audio. The HDMI between the receiver and the TV drops, but as long as the receiver doesn't shut down (most have an option for this) wouldn't that keep the ATV happy?

If not, I have an ATV2 itch that just got scratched. :(

OP: apologies for adding confusion to the thread. I've never run into that problem on my ATV1.
 
Two COMPLETELY different answers. I'm going crazy here :confused:

Here's the deal, according to apple, with firmware 4.4.2 or higher when you have toslink hooked up to the atv2 if you turn off your tv and your tv does not continue to keep the hdmi handshake going the apple tv will stop sending out audio via optical.
 
Of course you can do that. The only people who can't are those who hook their Apple TV up directly to the tv and do not use optical out directly to the stero either.

I have my Apple TV hooked directly to my surround receiver using HDMI so I can turn the tv off at any time and hear audio. Same for people who use optical to the stereo and HDMI to the tv.

Ahh, OK. You're confirming what I had assumed.

I wasn't aware that the ATV2 was HDMI link sensitive. So next time I'll be careful to make the distinction between direct to TV and receiver pass-thru set ups.
 
Since software version 4.4 (4.4.2 is affected too) streaming from any device over AppleTV 2 to optical out is NOT possible. The only remedy is to turn on TV or beamer and after few seconds turn off to get the sound.

What I answered wasn't a question whether he'd be able to stream music with the TV off or not, he just wanted to be able to stream the music. If I've missed something that he said earlier - my bad. But I just said "yes, you'll be able to stream music to your stereo through the optical out" :)
 
What I answered wasn't a question whether he'd be able to stream music with the TV off or not, he just wanted to be able to stream the music. If I've missed something that he said earlier - my bad. But I just said "yes, you'll be able to stream music to your stereo through the optical out" :)

OK. Just to make it clear.
Apple TV 2 is supposed to stream sound to optical out. It was possible with the software version 4.3 without any problems. With the last update (4.4) this option works only with TV or beamer turned on (at the beginning then you can turn it off). But this bug is really annoying. Look at : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3391154?start=45&tstart=0

Wait for 4.4.3 :)
 
I'll just keep streaming music via airport express until the next update. Is there a downside to that?
 
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