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Apple TV To buy ATV2 for XBMC or connect iPad to TV

Steve-Jobs

Steve-Jobs

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 18, 2010
299
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Hi, As you can see from the title, I have an iPad and thinking of buying an ATV2 and JB it to use XBMC.
But I was wondering is it possible to install XBMC to my iPad and get an HDMI cable to connect to TV? I have iPad retina btw, so is it better quality than ATV2 and will it work?

Thank you...
 
Steve-Jobs said:
Hi, As you can see from the title, I have an iPad and thinking of buying an ATV2 and JB it to use XBMC.
But I was wondering is it possible to install XBMC to my iPad and get an HDMI cable to connect to TV? I have iPad retina btw, so is it better quality than ATV2 and will it work?

Thank you...
Click to expand...

What iPad model do you have? iPad 4 with Lightning? I don't recommend XBMC on iPads 4's connected to external TV's via HDMI. See https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1559304/ for a complete explanation.

If it's "only" an iPad 3, then, the output qulity will be significantly better than with the 4. Nevertheless, going for, say, nPlayer or AVPlayerHD will still be preferable to using XBMC, unless you have a special format / streaming source those players can't play back.
 
well...

Steve-Jobs said:
Hi, As you can see from the title, I have an iPad and thinking of buying an ATV2 and JB it to use XBMC.
But I was wondering is it possible to install XBMC to my iPad and get an HDMI cable to connect to TV? I have iPad retina btw, so is it better quality than ATV2 and will it work?

Thank you...
Click to expand...

Retina on iPad doesn't impact your external screen. Have the iPad 3 and it works with the HDMI adaptor but I connect to a monitor not a TV. Audio doesn't work out separately unfortunately and also the scaling is oddly small in comparison to my 2008 Macbook Pro using XBMC.

If you get the HDMI cable for iPad, I don't know if audio will carry myself.

As for the other person, you clearly weren't asking about moving files but streaming them.
 
Another option if you already have the iPad jb is:
AirPlay moviebox to a virgin aTV3. Also, XBMC from the iPad can mirror to aTV if your ipad allows mirroring and you then don't have to stand up to change shows.
 
Romanesq said:
As for the other person, you clearly weren't asking about moving files but streaming them.
Click to expand...

Was this targeted at me? I don't really understand...

Nevertheless, what I've stated above is still topical: do NOT use XBMC for playback via HDMI if you have an iDevice with the newer Lightning connector. Only older 30-pin models - for example, iPad 2/ 3, iPhone 4S - should be used and only with the full-res Alpha 7 version I've linked to in the full article.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I have the iPad4. Looks like it's not going to work through the iPad.
How about an iMac? I have an iMac which has XBMC as well. is it possible to stream videos through iMac to my TV. I really don't want to pay $$ for an overpriced ATV2.
Lets say is there a wifi connection possibility from iMac to the TV to stream videos?

Thank you...
 
You can pull an HDMI cable to your tv, or if you have a DLNA compatible TV you can run a media server from your imac.

But if you are looking at xmbc, I think your best bet is an ATV3 and just use airplay or mirroring.....both work well for me, from either imac or ipad.
 
dextr3k said:
You can pull an HDMI cable to your tv, or if you have a DLNA compatible TV you can run a media server from your imac.
Click to expand...

Yup, another vote for driving the TV from the iMac. Even a supercheap, 2-3 US$ Mini DP-HDMI cable will work - I've been using the one at http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Displa...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3cc8722eba (got it for $5).

But if you are looking at xmbc, I think your best bet is an ATV3 and just use airplay or mirroring.....both work well for me, from either imac or ipad.
Click to expand...

Just don't forget NOT to use the iOS version of XBMC for AirPlay. It delivers really substandard quality over AirPlay as it drives the ATV directly as opposed to just act as a "proxy", just passing the URL of the file to play back, as it should. Use AVPlayerHD / nPlayer / any decent, AirPlay-capable player - assuming, of course, you're playing back native iOS formats (mov / mp4 / m4v files) and not, say, MKV's.

I've published tons of tutorials on all these questions here at MR in the iPad Apps and Apple TV forums.
 
Steve-Jobs said:
Hi, As you can see from the title, I have an iPad and thinking of buying an ATV2 and JB it to use XBMC.
But I was wondering is it possible to install XBMC to my iPad and get an HDMI cable to connect to TV? I have iPad retina btw, so is it better quality than ATV2 and will it work?

Thank you...
Click to expand...

You could purchase a Raspberry Pi and install XBMC - it is a lot cheaper than the ATV2 and can still perform airplay and also control XBMC via the XBMCRemote app via App Store! No need to worry about JB etc :)
 
Bl0ckHe1d said:
You could purchase a Raspberry Pi and install XBMC - it is a lot cheaper than the ATV2 and can still perform airplay and also control XBMC via the XBMCRemote app via App Store! No need to worry about JB etc :)
Click to expand...

And run an FTP server, webserver, printer server, VNC server, Torrent server….
 
Thanks everyone for helping. I had a quick look at what Plex is. Looks similar to XBMC but can you still stream live TV? That's why I want to do with my ATV to stream live Television...

Looks like I'll be watching TV from my iPad & Mac for now. There's no way I'm paying $$$$ for ATV2. When ATV3 JB comes out the price's going to go down anyway (hopefully)

The only thing connecting my iMac to TV is the Mac in a different room, can't keep carrying it to watch TV :)
 
I have the ipad 3 running xbmc and yes the original apple 30 pin to HDMI does carry audio, it also will pass dolby digital & dtx along with other multi-channel digital audio streams

Romanesq said:
Retina on iPad doesn't impact your external screen. Have the iPad 3 and it works with the HDMI adaptor but I connect to a monitor not a TV. Audio doesn't work out separately unfortunately and also the scaling is oddly small in comparison to my 2008 Macbook Pro using XBMC.

If you get the HDMI cable for iPad, I don't know if audio will carry myself.

As for the other person, you clearly weren't asking about moving files but streaming them.
Click to expand...
 
cyber16 said:
I have the ipad 3 running xbmc and yes the original apple 30 pin to HDMI does carry audio, it also will pass dolby digital & dtx along with other multi-channel digital audio streams
Click to expand...

Does ipad 4 will carry the same quality to TV?

thanks
 
Not sure if the the ipad 4 Lightning-HDMI adapter cable carries dts & DD 5.1. audio, it does at least carry two channel audio
I have read that the HD conversion is rather poor when compared to the older 30-pin hdmi cable due to fewer pins/connections within the cable/connector socket
 
i know this an old thread but I wanted to get some advice.

I also have xbmc on my iPad 3 successfully streaming content to my tv via hdmi.

What i've been trying to find out is whether I can output audio to my bose airplay speakers.

Now the thing is, I know its somewhat possible, because yesterday i managed to get it working by chance. In this order, I was airplaying youtube vids, then i opened up a game ( asphalt 8) and noticed that the game sounds were coming through my Bose speaker via airplay:eek: so I thought hey.. let me try and stream a movie from XBMC, and low and behold it worked!:cool: I was getting the audio over my bose... side note, the audio was out of sync but using the audio options in xbmc i offset the sound about 2sec on this particular movie and worked out perfect.

Now my question is, was this a fluke or is this genuinely workable just not fully supported, as all my research up to now and on the official xbmc forum points to this not be possible. I know its suppose to work in the reverse, as in airplay to xbmc but not vice versa.


also shame to hear the quality lacks in lightning connector on iPad 4! I was looking to upgrade to the upcoming iPad 5 once there is a JB out for it, but this news has me concerned.
 
Last edited:
OutSpoken said:
also shame to hear the quality lacks in lightning connector on iPad 4! I was looking to upgrade to the upcoming iPad 5 once there is a JB out for it, but this news has me concerned.
Click to expand...

Same here, so does the lightning connector not actually carry 1080p? On any app? Really putting me off the iPad 5 now :S
 
007p said:
Same here, so does the lightning connector not actually carry 1080p? On any app? Really putting me off the iPad 5 now :S
Click to expand...

Basically, unless you play a hardware-decodeable movie from most players (but not XBMC), not.

Lightning is a definite step in the wrong direction WRT HDMI.
 
Menneisyys2 said:
Basically, unless you play a hardware-decodeable movie from most players (but not XBMC), not.

Lightning is a definite step in the wrong direction WRT HDMI.
Click to expand...

Oh right ok, so pretty much any 1080p content an ipad 2 can play now (i.e. hardware decodeable) will be the same on lightning devices, even though they might start getting the power to do better software decoding. Which is fine for me I guess, I tend to stick with h.264.

XBMC can hardware decode right? So I take it cant do lightning output 1080p because its running on the lower SDK version?
 
007p said:
Oh right ok, so pretty much any 1080p content an ipad 2 can play now (i.e. hardware decodeable) will be the same on lightning devices, even though they might start getting the power to do better software decoding. Which is fine for me I guess, I tend to stick with h.264.
Click to expand...

Yes, most players have no problems with Lightning if (and only if!) you play back HW-decoded stuff. With them, no image quality degradation will happen.

007p said:
XBMC can hardware decode right?
Click to expand...

It can to a certain degree. Unfortunately, it's still incompatible with Lightning; this is why I in no way recommend it for Lightning users, unlike for the older 30-pin ones.
 
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