Reply With QuoteEven better would be mirroring the MBP through the Apple TV via ethernet cable. My ATV2 is hacked, so no problems there if there's a third party product I can install on the ATV2 directly.
I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro and was hoping that AirParrot would allow me to mirror my laptop screen on the TV via the Apple TV, the reason being that I could then watch films downloaded through Sky Go on the TV.
The problem is that it stutters... a lot.
Do I have any alternative options? My MBP does not have an HDMI port, but is there a USB to HDMI adaptor that someone could recommend? Any alternative mirroring options?
Advice would be much appreciated. :-)
Even better would be mirroring the MBP through the Apple TV via ethernet cable. My ATV2 is hacked, so no problems there if there's a third party product I can install on the ATV2 directly.
It's too old to work with the in-built Airplay mirroring of Mountain Lion. However, I think that model has a full size DVI-D out ? In which case ( as DVI-D is exactly the same output as HDMI for picture ) you can get a cheap DVI-D to HDMI cable. You'll have to route the audio seperately with another cable.
Paul
You need a mini display port to HDMI to get the picture on the TV then use AirPlay to get the sound through the Apple TV since the 2009 MacBook Pro does not output sound via the display port.
Wonderful - thanks chaps. It does indeed have a Mini DisplayPort but didn't realise there was a way around the sound issue.
Phil - With the Mini DisplayPort sending the picture via HDMI, how do I send the sound using Airplay? I.e. HDMI from laptop will be plugged into one port on the tv, ATV will be plugged into the other. Would that not result in me having to make a choice between picture and sound?
Last edited by mab; 2nd February 2013 at 01:53.
If you've got a PS3, you can stream downloads from the MGP via wifi and the PS3 to the TV.
I made the assumption that you'd have a similar setup to me. On my system I have my Apple TV connected to a home cinema amp so can show pictures from one source on the TV and sound from another source. I set this up by going to System Preferences then Sound, you can select where you want sound to be output to. You will see the internal speakers as well as any bluetooth and AirPlay speakers the computer detects. All you need to do is select the Apple TV. I've used this setup with my 2009 MacBook Pro to show Sky Go content on my TV and was amazed that there was no loss in sync between the sound and pictures.Originally Posted by mab
An alternative option for you might be to get a TosLink to Optical Mini adapter. You plug one end into the MacBook and the other end into the optical port on your TV (if it has one).
Apple TV seems to work well.. though as its already been out for 1.5 years I'm expecting something new to be released soonish...
i don't know much about macbook, but if you have a headphone jack on the laptop, you can use that as an audio out if you have a hifi it will sound much better than the tv in-built speakers. you are of course restricted where you can put your laptop, but you get to watch it on tv with great sound.
Thanks guys.
My setup is fairly basic - the ATV connects straight into the tv via HDMI. There is no home cinema or seperate speaker setup.
To check I have this right, using the Mini DisplayPort / HDMI to connect straight from MBP to tv:
- the ATV can't and wont play any part in this mirroring process
- there's no way to have the mirrored picture and sound play through the tv, the sound will have to play through seperate speakers (I could use my Arcam R-Cube from the other room)
Annoying that the Mini DisplayPort is picture only...
that is the biggest bugbear of display ports that support hdmi on a laptop, the fact there is no sound. spart from that, i think your assumptions are rather sound.... forgiving the pun!
You could look into airfoil, which has a video player that accounts for the audio delay in Appletv streaming... Not sure if you can make it play nice with sky go though
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