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Airplay doesn't fit screen! (pictures included)

I've just installed a new 1080p projector and connected my iPad 3 to it.


When using Apples standard VGA Adapter the iPad fills the whole screen on the projector, see picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqhpyrfv6d7omgn/VGA.JPG


But when im connecting an Apple TV 3 and using screen mirroring via Airplay, the picture gets smaller, see picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wbxfbo4cxgbp4me/ATV.JPG



I can't find any reasonable explanation to why this happens, so I'm asking here. Is there any solution?


Thanks!

iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on Oct 31, 2012 3:48 AM

Reply
27 replies

Oct 31, 2012 12:20 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I think you misunderstand me 🙂


It's a 1080p 16:10 projector I have.


The iPad is fully capable of delivering a 1080p signal when using some apps, the Youtube or other video apps for example. In other words, when watching youtube clips everything works like a charm.


But when mirroring the home screen, the iPad does NOT output a 1080 point picture vertically. There are black bars all the way around, as shown on the pictures in the first post. I understand there should be black bars on the sides due to the iPads 4:3 aspect ratio, but not all the way around?

Oct 31, 2012 12:29 PM in response to henrikfromgöteborg

Where does the black bars come from? Maybe the iPad actually does output a 1080p signal vertically but making the image smaller and adds black bars to it itself? Or does the projector recieve an image with lesser resolution, like 768p and puts it in the middle of the screen, in which case, why doesn't the projector rescale the image? That question makes me believe the black bars are actually imbedded in the iPads output signal..

Oct 31, 2012 1:25 PM in response to henrikfromgöteborg

The Apple TV outputs a 16:9 picture. The iPad outputs a 4:3 picture.


On a 16:9 display the picture from the iPad has black bars each side since a 4:3 picture won't fill a 16:9 display.


However a 16:9 picture on a 16:10 display has black bands top and bottom since 16:9 doesn't fit into 16:10.


Therefore in your circumstances you will have black bands top, bottom and on each side.

Oct 31, 2012 2:03 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I understand that a 16:9 picture will create black bars on a 16:10 screen. I understand that a 4:3 picture won't fill a 16:10 screen and create black bars on the sides, and I understand that the ATV3 output is 16:9, but forget all this about aspect ratios. I just mentioned 16:10 because that was what I happened to have in hand.


Im now sitting at home with my full HD 1920x1080 (16:9) TV and getting the same result, although the black bars on the bottom and top are a tiny bit smaller which should be logical since i switched from the previous 16:10 screen.


But all this does not matter. The mirrored picture of the iPad is not 1080 pixels in height, even though i understand that the HDMI signal from the ATV3 is. Therefore it will create black bars on the top and bottom. If the 4:3 picture from the iPad was 1080 pixels vertically it should fill upp my TV from top to bottom, but it doesn't. The video output however supports true 1920x1080 resolutions, so movies and youtube clips etc will fill the whole screen from pixel to pixel. My TV detects no change in resolution when changing from a video app to screen mirroring, leading to my conclusion:


My guesses is that the iPad is sending a 1280x960 signal which will create 120 pixels of black space, 60 on top and 60 on bottom. It should send a 1440x1080 signal!



Have you tried this yourself to confirm that I'm wrong?

Nov 1, 2012 12:14 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Can you confirm that you don't see any black bars on the top and bottom? What kind of TVs are you using? With which settings and resolutions? Does it fit 100% pixel to pixel?


It is possible to make the iPad fit the screen by changing the settings in the projector. It's not possible to make it fit 100% pixel to pixel, but it looks ok.


But the problem is that the projector is installed in a room where it's sometimes going to be operated by people who barely knows how to turn it on and off. If I change the overscan and aspectratios to fit the iPads screen mirroring, then problem will appear with underscan when changing the source to a DVD player or a PC, and I can't allow that to happen.


The issue is still that the Apple TV is feeding a 1080p signal to the projector, but the picture of the iPad is NOT 1080p, but I guess 1280x960. Which means there will always be black space all the way around if the projector is set to autodetect because it only detects the 1080p signal. The projector doesn't know what is black bars and what is the actual iPads screen picture.Changing the setting to other than auto will cause problems when changing the source and as I said, its not an option, because people won't understand this.


It's kinda sad that such a simple thing is so complicated, and it feels like this technology isn't ready yet.. :/

Nov 1, 2012 3:49 PM in response to henrikfromgöteborg

I have a good LG, a cheap Goodmans a Sharp and another at work which I'm not sure about, all that I use regularly and others less regularly. Some are connected using 720p and some 1080p.


its not really possible to answer your 'does it fit 100%, pixel for pixel' question, because TV's don't work the way you think they might do. TV's do something called overscan, which results in the picture being displayed bigger than the screen, so a small portion at the edge of the picture is cropped away. All TV's do this to a greater or lesser extent. Whilst I am therefore unable to see the edge of my picture I can in all cases confirm that my mirrored iPad picture is cropped.


Because, this might hide something you don't want it to on an iPad screen, unlike a movie where it doesn't matter, Apple have added a setting to correct for overscan. This setting basically shrinks the picture by a set amount. Because each TV set overscans differently, the amount the picture appears to shrink and the size of the black border introduced by this varies from TV to TV. Apple have likely corrected based on the worst cases of overscan. I can confirm that when I turn this setting on when using my iPad that I get a different amount of border on each TV.


if you are able to adjust how the iPad looks on your TV using your TV settings, it's the TV that is complicated not the Apple TV, the Apple TV has 2 related settings only.


so far as I am aware the iPad sends a 720p picture to the Apple TV, but this doesn't really matter, since whatever resolution is sent to the Apple TV, the Apple TV scales it to the resolution it is set to output.

Nov 2, 2012 12:31 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Okey, I'm more of an end user and not really into all these technical terms. I've hooked up computers with projectors a lot, and this compensation for worst cases of overscan you're talking about seems to be something uniqe to the iPad. I've never seen it before with Windows computers. A PC running windows fills up the screen perfectly. The Apple TV interface fills up the screen perfectly. The video output of the iPad fills up the screen perfectly. Hooking up the iPad to the projector with Apples VGA Adapter fills up the screen perfectly.


Why, why, why has Apple decided to compensate for these worst cases of overscan when, and only when, connecting the iPad to a TV or projector with Airplay or Apples HDMI Adapter, and only whith screen mirroring?


What is the difference between the HDMI and VGA adapter? Why is it so important to compensate for overscan when connected with the HDMI adapter but not the VGA adapter? Try this for yourself if you can and see that the picture of the iPad gets smaller on a TV or projector with the HDMI adapter.


I seriously don't understand all this..



I just wanna point out again that it only happens when mirroring the iPads homescreen. When playing videos from the iPad via airplay or the HDMI adapter, there is no compensation for overscan and the sceen fills up perfectly.

Mar 12, 2013 5:54 PM in response to henrikfromgöteborg

I see the exact same issue on my TV. When I use iTunes on my PC the screen fills up perfectly. When I mirror on my IPad the screen isn't filled, leaving 2 spaces left and right. They don't want to say that this is a problem between the IPad retina and the Apple TV, but it is. Again, my PC has no issue via iTunes.


Instead of smoke screening with display ratios and all that crap, Apple should be working the issue out.


I have an HD widescreen too. I'd like the Apple TV to do for my IPad what it can for my PC, fill the whole screen. Bad enough Apple doesn't play well with others like Amazon video and Amazon player, let alone that Google provides memory for 1/10th the price. The least they could do is figure this out. But then again, they do want to get into the TV business now and maybe Apple TV doesn't like my Sony HD TV.


I'm day 1 with my Apple TV and this is most unimpressive... simply rediculous that Apple TV can't display a full image for iPad, overscan on/off or whatever.

May 27, 2013 6:23 PM in response to GMac441

ANY ANSWERS HERE?


I hate to see answers that beat-around-the-answer and try to make us feel like retards. I am a long time apple supporter, and just CUT MY CABLE and am relying on my iPad, Apple TV and Hulu...


SO, WHY DOESN'T MY IPAD AIRPLY "MIRROR" FIT MY TV SCREEN?


I have an iPad 2 (no retina) and like the guy above, my iTunes will Airplay PEFECTLY, why doesn't the iPad do it? Any layman's style answers would be really appreciated.


THANKS


PS -...i just want it to work!

May 27, 2013 6:59 PM in response to vazandrew

Thanks for the explanation...


So, what you are stating is "iPad is NOT ready for prime time yet as a way to deliver a quality experience to our TV set????"


We can download all the cool apps and etc, but cannot get the good stuff to the big screen. For people satisfied with watching TV on a super small screen, they got a cool tool...for those of us who demand a BIG TV Experience, the iPad is useless. Or am i missing something here????


Actually, I guess my iPad makes for a good (and expensive) TV Guide!


😟


Airplay doesn't fit screen! (pictures included)

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