Written by Apple TV is gorgeous because it can be an online streaming resource as well as local source streaming player. There is over 13 million shipment volume yearly of Apple TV for all over the world. People getting to use to stream videos from Mac/PC to big screen, having Apple TV in hands means you can mirror everything in Mac/PC to Apple TV seamlessly.
Actually, there are two different ways to stream media contents from computer to Apple TV based on different demands and needs.
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1. Way to AirPlay Video from Mac to Apple TV with iTunes
Step 1. When the update message pops up, upgrade your iTunes to the latest version because this way requires iTunes 10.2 or later. Or you can click Help -> Check for updates.
Step 2. Connect Apple TV to big screen and check the update too, it requires second or third generation, turn on airplay in setting.
Step 3. Make sure Apple TV and Mac under the same network, it requires Wi-Fi (802.11a/g/n) network.
Step 4. Open iTunes, locate and click the AirPlay icon, which shows on the left of iTunes, next to volume control or somewhere else depending on your iTunes version. Select the device you want to stream based on different multimedia. If you want to stream photos or videos, choose Apple TV. While if you want to stream music, you may need AirPort Express to control those speakers or receivers. What’s the best is your speakers and receivers are AirPlay-enabled.
Step 5. Then everything in iTunes will show on TV directly and it will become the control panel.
2. Way to AirPlay Mirroring Video from Mac to Apple TV
Though users can airplay media files to Apple TV, it limits users because it supports only several main media formats. Therefore, the AirPlay mirroring comes to solve all troubles, which can mirror everything in Mac to big screen directly via Apple TV. There are no many differences between those 2 ways, except for the following things:
Step 1. Apple TV should be second generation or later with software update v5.0 or later. Mac OS should update to OS X Mountain Lion or later.
Step 2. The AirPlay mirroring button will show on Mac menu bar automatically if your Mac supports this function and under the same network. Click it to choose the device you want to mirror.
Step 3. It supports to optimize image quality by using resolution matching model. 2 options for you: match desktop size to Apple TV or this Mac depends on your requirements.
Except streaming with Apple TV, there are many other ways to share your local media contents to TV. However, frankly speaking, the former is one of the best ways. Surely, some limitations like version and format shortage are inevitable and if you need some powerful software to stream your media contents to TV flawlessly shaking off those limitations, you can take Pavtube Video Converter for Mac into consideration, you can also view the article to get more details on how to easily play incompatible videos on Apple TV without issues.
As mentioned above, we can stream media contents from iTune library to Apple TV directly via Mac or from iOS devices to Apple TV with AirPlay. However, Windows PC doesn’t embed with AirPlay, you can stream videos from PC to Apple TV via iTunes Home Sharing.
iTunes Home Sharing
Home Sharing in iTunes lets you share your iTunes media libraries between up to five computers in your household and play your iTunes content on your iOS devices and Apple TV (second generation or later). You should make sure that all those PCs and Apple TV are under the same network. Then you need to login with the same Apple ID (generation one) or different (generation two or later).
Step 1. Download and install iTunes with the latest version. (12.0.1 is available now)
Step 2. Launch iTunes, go “File-> Home Sharing-> Turn” on Home Sharing.
Step 3. Input the user name and password and click “Done”.
Then move to Apple TV, connect Apple TV to the big screen via adapter and HDMI cord, then go Computers, where will show the Home Sharing PCs you had already turned on. Choose the one you want to stream. Now you can stream the video files on PC to Apple TV and showing on big screen now. By the way, if you repeat the above steps in other PCs, you can share the iTunes Library contents between different PCs too.
P.S. If the video or audio files aren’t supported by Apple TV, you have to re-encode it. This means converting the media file to a different codec, bitrate or resolution and save it in a compatible container file format (like .m4v, .mp4).
A professional video software for re-encoding is Pavtube Video Converter. Open the app, load your file(s), select an Apple TV preset and click “Convert”, let Pavtube create an new video file.
Now, no matter Mac or PC, there is no need for you to worry about how to stream media contents to Apple TV for playing and enjoying. Have fun!
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