“One thing I love about my Apple TV is that it makes it easy to watch videos from my Macs on my HDTV,” Dennis Sellers reports for Apple World Today.
“Well, at least if the flicks are on iTunes or aresupported by AirPlay,” Sellers reports. “If not, then it’s Silver Screen [US$19] to the rescue.”
“The Mac OS X app lets you stream video in a variety of formats from your desktop or laptop to your TV,” Sellers reports. “As long as you stay on the same Wi-Fi network, just tap on a film’s name, and it will be streamed out to your Apple TV and, if needed, transcoded on the fly.”
More info, screenshots, and link in the full article here.
Why not just spend $5 for the Air Video HD app for Apple TV and navigate all the videos on your hard drive through the Apple TV interface? It also transcodes. (Or Plex, which is free but has a steeper learning curve.)
I love Air Video HD. It’s slightly tricky to set up, but when it’s up, I don’t have to be on the same wifi network as my Mac. I can watch movies which are on my Mac’s hard drive through my iPad over the internet.
I have TV shows on one drive and movies on another drive. Can this thing see all of them without having to switch back and forth between hard drives?
Yes, you can designate any number of folders on more than one drive. All videos in any subfolders of those folders are available. Nice way to organize your video collection.
You can specify an entire drive.
It will be able to see all video on the root, folders and subfolders.
The setup is very easy.
Because $19 is cheaper than $5 + cost of Apple TV?
Good point. Not everyone can afford an Apple TV. But anyone who can afford cable TV sure ought to consider getting one.
Perhaps I wasn’t following closely enough, but doesn’t Silver Screen send signal to Apple TV? As best I am reading, it is simply bypassing DRM to allow you to “Air Play” digital content when regular Air Play will not. What am I missing?
Why not just put the movies on a thumb drive and plug that into your TV?
Because the TV is very limited in what format it can read.
I have 3 drives filled with content, much more than what I could fit on a USB thumb drive.
It’s easier and more convenient to stream.
why bother when u can stream easily?
Why bother? I watch videos on my train commute to work. I frequently loose internet connection. Streaming is not viable for me.
Handbrake. Problem solved for free.