which video format to stream from iPad to TV ?

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Matrose Author

Level 1

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which video format to stream from iPad to TV ?

I want to be able to stream films from my iPad3 to a HD television.

When I played the films on my Mac, they were on DVD's and had a Universal Disk Format.

They appeared on the Mac after downloading as: MPEG Program Stream format and had names like: VTS_01_3.VOB

I then used iSkysoft Media Converter to convert them for the iPad, and they show up in iTunes as follows:

User uploaded file

My question is; will I be able to stream them to a widescreen HD TV, or have I converted them to the wrong format ? I plan on using a cable, not Apple TV.

Thanks,

Matrose.

Posted on Aug 7, 2012 1:52 PM

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Answer 1

Matrose Author

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Aug 7, 2012 1:58 PM in response to Matrose

OK, so the format I tried to copy and paste didn't paste. Here it is:

Kind: MPEG-4 video file

Size: 2,60 GB

Bit Rate: 145 kbps

Profile: Low Complexity

Channels: Stereo

Video Dimensions: 1280 x 720

Total Bit Rate: 5988 kbps

Video Codec: H.264

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Answer 2

vazandrew

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Aug 7, 2012 2:27 PM in response to Matrose

If these are commercial DVD's we cannot discuss here.

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Answer 3

Matrose Author

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Aug 7, 2012 3:59 PM in response to vazandrew

No, they're not commercial. They belong to a private organisation and are used in presentations.

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Answer 4

vazandrew

Level 8

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Aug 7, 2012 4:19 PM in response to Matrose

Ok, just wanted to make sure. Have you tried playing them? Something like handbrake is usually the most reliable.

Here are the formats that are compatible with the iPad.

H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;

MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;

Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

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Answer 5

Matrose Author

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Aug 8, 2012 4:19 AM in response to vazandrew

Thanks for your detailed answer. They play fine on the iPad, but I don't have a HD TV to try this out .... which is why I'm asking.

I'll be giving a workshop where I need to stream the films to a HD TV.

Does it not matter - for the TV - what format they're in?

Is the only thing which matters, whether they play on the iPad?

One thing I'm wondering: in the specifications you've listed above, MPEG-4 is in one category, and H.264 video is in a 2nd category ..... but in my list, both show up ! I got that fom the Get Info in iTunes.

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Answer 6

Menneisyys

Level 4

1,300 points

Aug 8, 2012 4:26 AM in response to Matrose

Matrose wrote:

Does it not matter - for the TV - what format they're in?

Is the only thing which matters, whether they play on the iPad?

Nope, it'd only matter if you used AirPlay + AppleTV. For wired connections, you can play back anything. That is, if your iPad is able to play it back on the built-in screen, the same should happen on a wired TV.

Matrose wrote:

One thing I'm wondering: in the specifications you've listed above, MPEG-4 is in one category, and H.264 video is in a 2nd category ..... but in my list, both show up ! I got that fom the Get Info in iTunes.

MPEG-4 is the container while H.264 is the video stream inside the container. They have nothing to do with each other other than MPEG-4, as a container, can only have some (very restricted) formats inside it, mostly different versions of H.264.

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Answer 7

Menneisyys

Level 4

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Aug 8, 2012 4:29 AM in response to Matrose

BTW,

1. you will want to read http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/selecting-best-dvd-player-app-its-playing-bugf ix , it explains everything needed to know on DVD playback in both the original (MPEG-2) and converted (H.264) format.

2. I don't recommend "iSkysoft Media Converter" (see the benchmarks & explanations at http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/benchmark-excellent-multimedia-converter-handb rake-vs-commercial-apps ). Use the free(!!!!) HandBrake instead - it's much faster. And it's free.

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Answer 8

Matrose Author

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Aug 8, 2012 8:27 AM in response to Menneisyys

Well, after reading all this info, I only wish that I'd asked for advice earlier, since so much is more clear now.

I shall certainly download Handbrake. To be fair, even though the price for iSkysoft Media Converter was high, and I see that I could have done without it ... and used the money for something else ... it has worked very smoothly and without problems, though oh so slowly !!!

Thank you very much indeed.

I do have one last question: the original format (before conversion) of each DVD is

Video Info:

MP2V,

720x480,

30.0 fps.

7800 kbps

Audio Info:

LPCM, 2,

48000 Hz,

192,0 kbps

Have I converted this to the most suitable resolution by choosing 1280 x 720 ? Or would it be better for the final playing situation on a TV, to keep nearer to the original 720x480 ?

Thanks a lot for your help.

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Answer 9

Menneisyys

Level 4

1,300 points

Aug 8, 2012 8:32 AM in response to Matrose

Keep the original resolution - there's no point in upsizing the image at all. Just leave everything on their default in HandBrake, video-wise. (Subtitle-wise, you may want to enable transferring them.)

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Answer 10

Matrose Author

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Aug 8, 2012 8:39 AM in response to Menneisyys

Thanks !

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