Evening guys, I see this is an older post but the same knowledge applies since the ipad/iPhone/AppleTV were released. Vanadrew has been correct in each of his statements and if each of you did a little more research on a search engine, would have been able to understand the limitations of each component. Apple TV Video settings should be set to auto, if you have an HDTV it will always output at least 720p up to 1080p if you have a capable display. iPhones and ipads natively output 4:3 to all 16:9 HD displays therefor it will fill screen fully but have bars on left and right when airplaying. On the other hand, when most videos and Apple Designed Programs are airplayed they move to 16:9 functionality because 1. thats is their original format or a supported format 2. Airplay is capable of HD output And 3. The PROGRAM supports 16:9 output. If you are having trouble viewing a video via airplay install VLC player as this supports 1080p output as do most Apple Designed/ supported programs. I do this via my ipad often. Yes you do need a good connection speed via WIFI such as a wireless N or AC connection but even G will work, your download speed or internet connection has nothing to do with this unless you are streaming video/audio. To help compensate for this and for the gentleman with the projector, connecting directly to the Display (projector) can vastly help. When ipads first came out they could only physically connect to a display using analog or vga connection. While it is a great option to have it does not support 1080p resolution as most display do today because it is Analogue. A few years later when HDMI and mini-display ports came out Apple switched as their was a new standard with greatly improved quality. IE VGA will limit your output resolution, HDMI is a completely digital connection ( which ALL Apple TV's use, their isn't another connection option) which will always push a digital 16:9 1080p resolution When the source is 16:9. again the native output of iPad iPhone is 4:3, but will adapt to 16:9 via airplay when you present a Supported 16:9 image. I hope this helps as really none was tech talk. What everyone needs to adapt to now are 4k TV's and displays that have over 4000 lines of resolution. Your apple TV and most apps are not designed for this at all, most developers will have to revise programs, content, and programming via cable/Sat to support these. Apple TV supports only up to 1080p so hopefully there will be a long overdue revision. If your Macbook or other device will not fit screen via Airplay go to 1. Apple TV video prefs and set Display output to auto And 2. on Macbook go to System Preferences - Displays (While outputting via Airplay). Select ON outputted Display - (Best for this Display). This will override and adapt any presets you might have to fit the display via 1080p or whatever HD resolution your display supports. If the display is physically connected to a Mac you will often have the option to fit the video output of the display using overscan adjustments which will come up when using Sys Prefs- Displays. Hope this helps everyone further in this post and in the future. Feel free to respond and any other questions.
