blackwaterpark83

Q: Mirroring problems from iMac to TV when playing video using VLC Player

At the end of 2015 I bought a 4th generation (32GB) Apple TV and an iMac with OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

When I try to Mirror my display fro my iMac to the TV using Apple TV the video (playing through VLC) is jumpy and disjointed. I spoke to Apple Support and they concluded that playing video through VLC was the problem and that VLC need to make updates for the new Apple TV. I was told that Quicktime was the only guaranteed program to watch video through, but lots of the file formats I have aren't compatible with Quicktime. I know Quicktime converts files now, but sometimes they take forever and some files just will not finish converting. The Apple Support guy told me of another way to convert the files but I can't remember what he said now! I have done all the latest VLC updates and am finding this really frustrating as this was the reason I bought the Apple TV in the first place. Any suggestions on a quicker way to get around this?? Thanks!

Posted on Aug 12, 2016 8:57 PM

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Q: Mirroring problems from iMac to TV when playing video using VLC Player

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  • by Rudegar,

    Rudegar Rudegar Aug 13, 2016 12:47 AM in response to blackwaterpark83
    Level 7 (28,371 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 13, 2016 12:47 AM in response to blackwaterpark83

    if you mirror from your mac then the vlc app on the appletv will have no impact it would not even be used or required to be installed on the appletv

     

    does it work ok if you use the vlc app on the appletv ?

     

    does airplay mirror work ok with other video steaming ?

     

    when one airplay and performance is impaired it's usually a network interference issue rather then a software one

  • by Diana.McCall,Apple recommended

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Aug 15, 2016 3:31 AM in response to blackwaterpark83
    Level 4 (2,915 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 15, 2016 3:31 AM in response to blackwaterpark83

    Hi. Mirroring is not the best way to view video, since it has to create a new video from the screen and transmit it continuously. Instead, you could use VLC on the ATV and access the files from your computer using Home Sharing or one of the other methods VLC supports.

  • by blackwaterpark83,

    blackwaterpark83 blackwaterpark83 Aug 15, 2016 3:41 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 15, 2016 3:41 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Thanks for your reply. I just downloaded VLC onto the ATV. Home Sharing only shares your iTunes library right? I'm not sure how I get the VLC app to see files on my iMac? If you can help me out, I'd really appreciate it!

  • by blackwaterpark83,

    blackwaterpark83 blackwaterpark83 Aug 15, 2016 3:45 AM in response to Rudegar
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 15, 2016 3:45 AM in response to Rudegar

    Thanks for your reply. I only just installed VLC on my ATV - I didn't realise there was an app! Now that I have the app, I am wondering how I see files on my iMac from the VLC app on the ATV?

     

    Yes, airplay mirror works fine if I am viewing video in Quicktime from my iMac.

  • by Diana.McCall,Apple recommended

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Aug 15, 2016 4:04 AM in response to blackwaterpark83
    Level 4 (2,915 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 15, 2016 4:04 AM in response to blackwaterpark83

    Here is the doc for VLC, https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Documentation/

    There's no separate item for ATV, but it's basically similar to the iOS version. If you read that, you can see the various ways it can access files, including via an SMB (Windows-style) shared folder. See what you can find.