iPad Pro USB-C to HDMI: Safari video no full screen display

[raidensix]

Hi all,

Got the 11 inch 2020 iPad Pro and trying to watch Safari browser videos on my TV using the Apple USB-C to HDMI adapter and am unable to get it to display full screen, it's basically just mirroring the IPP on the TV with black bars all around. On my 2016 iPad, this is not an issue. On the 2016, the iPad would display "TV connected. This video is playing on the TV" but on the 2020, the video plays as well.

Is there a setting somewhere I need two change?

 

[AutomaticApple]

On my 2016 iPad

Which model of iPad?

 

[ed.]

Is there a setting somewhere I need two change?

how are you connecting on the tv? it seems like you are mirroring the screen instead of sending just the video feed. You could try to see if the airplay button has a different option than 'mirroring'.

 

[raidensix]

@AutomaticApple - 2016 I9.7" iPad Pro.

@Ed - I'm using the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter HDMI port to connect the TV. The 2020 seems to completely mirror Safari to the TV by default. Even if I maximize the video, it's not full screen and the video is also playing on the IPP 2020 as well. If I use VLC, once it starts playing a video, the IPP 2020 stops mirroring and will show "TV Connected" but on Safari/Chrome, it stays in mirror mode.

On the 2016 IPP with lightning HDMI adapter, using Safari, once I start playing a video it will aso mirroring and display TV connected.

Btw, TV does not support Airplay

 

[ed.]

So to recap the problem seems to be only when you are streaming from Safari or Chrome, correct?
If so, sometimes this has to do with how a video is coded on the webpage.
Have you tried the same exact video with the 2016 iPad and with the new one?

 

[sparksd]

@AutomaticApple - 2016 I9.7" iPad Pro.

@Ed - I'm using the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter HDMI port to connect the TV. The 2020 seems to completely mirror Safari to the TV by default. Even if I maximize the video, it's not full screen and the video is also playing on the IPP 2020 as well. If I use VLC, once it starts playing a video, the IPP 2020 stops mirroring and will show "TV Connected" but on Safari/Chrome, it stays in mirror mode.

On the 2016 IPP with lightning HDMI adapter, using Safari, once I start playing a video it will aso mirroring and display TV connected.

Btw, TV does not support Airplay

Have you looked at settings on the TV itself? Some TVs I've had to change the display settings to get full screen (4:3 with mirroring but video apps expand to full screen). You might have to adjust the TV for this iPad.

 

[raidensix]

So to recap the problem seems to be only when you are streaming from Safari or Chrome, correct?
If so, sometimes this has to do with how a video is coded on the webpage.
Have you tried the same exact video with the 2016 iPad and with the new one?

Yes, exact same video plays full screen on the 2016 IPP and the 2016 IPP screen will start displaying "TV connected. This video is playing on the TV". On the 2020 IPP it just stays in mirrored mode.

 

[teohyc]

Fullscreen only works for selected apps.

Try playing some trailers from Apple TV app and see if you get fullscreen.

 

[ed.]

Yes, exact same video plays full screen on the 2016 IPP and the 2016 IPP screen will start displaying "TV connected. This video is playing on the TV". On the 2020 IPP it just stays in mirrored mode.

I noticed that this implementation is a bit shaky in general, so I fear this might be one of those mysterious unsolvable cases. You can experiment maybe with the procedure: starting the video on the iPad and then connecting the cable, or disconnecting it and reconnecting it while the video is playing... I don't have the hardware for the new pro, so I can't test it myself. A (poor) workaround is to play with the tv's zoom settings, but doing that will surely impact video quality.

 

[raidensix]

There is definitely something different in the implementation preventing a browser from redirecting output to a TV instead of simply mirroring. Both the 2016 IPP and the iPhone 11 Pro Max stop mirroring and play the browser video full screen on the TV via lightning/HDMI adapter. With the 2020 IPP, this function appears to have been removed and browsers limited to mirroring to TV using a USB-C/HDMI adapter.

 

[ed.]

I know that the HDMI adapters from apple are not simply passthrough devices, I think I remember reading someplace that inside the adapter there is a video encoding chip that does something... it could be that the USB C implementation is different. I'm planning to get one usb C hub with HDMI video out in the near future (a third party, not the apple one), and I already have the lighting HDMI adapter from apple for my mini 5. When I do, I'll try some combinations and report back here. Can you share a video link that behaves differently so we have the same reference?

 

[raidensix]

You can try play any Youtube videos on the iPad using Safari and you'll see the same behavior. My iPhone 11 and 2016 iPad will switch to TV full screen when you maximize on the iPad 2016/iPhone and the iPad 2016/iPhone will be in "TV Connected" mode. My 2020 IPP will just stay in mirror mode.

Note my family uses the iPad browser to watch family NAS videos in HLS format on their TVs so "downloading the YouTube or Netflix app" is not an option. Other family members will need to hold off on iPad upgrades for the time being.

 

[ed.]

Note my family uses the iPad browser to watch family NAS videos in HLS format on their TVs so "downloading the YouTube or Netflix app" is not an option. Other family members will need to hold off on iPad upgrades for the time being.

You could try using a network player for that - Infuse works quite well and has a nice interface.
The free version might even be enough - although the pro is something like 10 euros per year.

 

[PortoMavericks]

I know that the HDMI adapters from apple are not simply passthrough devices, I think I remember reading someplace that inside the adapter there is a video encoding chip that does something... it could be that the USB C implementation is different. I'm planning to get one usb C hub with HDMI video out in the near future (a third party, not the apple one), and I already have the lighting HDMI adapter from apple for my mini 5. When I do, I'll try some combinations and report back here. Can you share a video link that behaves differently so we have the same reference?

The AV Adapter over lightning is only doing the conversion to HDMI. The HDMI over USB-C on the iPad works the same way but instead of handing the conversion to the adapter, the iPad Pro does it internally.

Both are feed from the same source (the same for the AirPlay functionality). That’s how iOS works with display output.

 

[ed.]

Both are feed from the same source (the same for the AirPlay functionality). That’s how iOS works with display output.

so the decision to send the mirrored screen or the fullscren video feed happens before anything gets to the adapter, correct? So the adapter is not the issue.

 

[raidensix]

Airplay-ing the browser video to an Apple TV plays fine in full-screen so there's something different between the HDMI/TV-Out and Airplay modes.

 

[PortoMavericks]

so the decision to send the mirrored screen or the fullscren video feed happens before anything gets to the adapter, correct? So the adapter is not the issue.

Exactly, the adapter depends on what iOS is sending over lightning. With USB-C, that process is handled inside the iPad so it can be HDMI over USB-C compliant.

I think Apple needs to totally revamp their video output of on iOS in order to support more robust options.

Maybe iOS 14?

 

[ed.]

Completely agree. For example I can’t figure out for the life of me why I’m able to stream video feeds to the Apple TV manually via airplay from my iPhone (by clicking the airplay icon from the player in safari), and the same icon is nowhere to be found on the iPad.

 

[Zander89]

This only just stopped working for me since I updated to iOS 13.4. iPad Pro 11”