Full Review - Questions and Answers
What Content Actually Works? Apple's website says "If it's on iTunes, it's on your widescreen TV." Apple support, however, offers more of a riddle than a solution. Specifically, Apple support claims "not all videos that play in iTunes will necessarily play on the Apple TV". However "any video that plays on 5G iPods (video iPods) WILL play on the Apple TV." So what to do if select video content won't play on the Apple TV? Find yourself a video conversion program and convert it to iPod/Apple TV format. VisualHub (an indispensable program for Mac computers) will convert almost any video format to Apple TV-friendly format. Sadly, if DRM-protected video won't play on your Apple TV, conversion might be out of the question. Is the Apple TV a DVR?
There's a lot of hubbub right now over select iTunes video content not working on the Apple TV. It seems that there are videos that work fine in iTunes, whether purchased via iTunes or manually converted to iTunes-friendly format, but that do not play on the Apple TV. Online forums are filling up with aggravated commentary about this problem. The standard Apple TV friendly formats are h.264 and MPEG-4 (whether protected by DRM or not). It is a logical expectation that any content purchased via iTunes or that are compatible with iTunes should be compatible with the newer technology of the Apple TV.
The Apple TV is not a DVR. You cannot record any type of video with it. Also, it does
not play DVDs. It does not convert videos from one format to another.
iPhoto on Apple TV
When using the Apple TV in "sync" mode with a Mac computer, it is possible to sync your iPhoto library (the entire library or just parts of it) with the Apple TV. If your iPhoto library consists of high quality digital images, then the resultant display on an HDTV is going to be very impressive.
I'm a semi-pro photographer and even though I've seen my own photos hundreds of times (enough to get bored with them), I was highly impressed with the way they looked on my HDTV. The Apple TV displays the images in a sort of Ken Burns-like slide show, with or without music. Colors are fantastic, transitions were fun and engaging and the overall effect was very pleasing.
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by Stacey on May 5, 2008:
“We loved Apple TV so much, we now have two... one for each floor of the house. The larger size is a must, especially with the movie download capability, from the couch. That said, here's what I would suggest to make users like us even happier: - allow...” More...