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chele519

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 15, 2012
161
0
Hi guys. I'm interested in getting an apple tv to stream tv shows from my iphone 5. Currently I'm been hooking up my laptop via hdmi but I'm trying to prolong its life and not use it as much. Plus it's inconvenient to have to hook up everytime. I've installed Plex and added some channels. before I buy the iphone plex app, I'd like to find out if I would still need to use the laptop running the plex server to watch tv? I would not be streaming any video stored on my laptop, only things like tv episodes from abc, cbs, etc. I know most of those are also available as apps on the iphone but I saw that plex has hulu as a channel. I'm not clear if that is the regular hulu or hulu plus. Would those channels be playable on an iphone 5 with the plex app airplayed to the apple tv or does it only work with a jb apple tv2? I don't want to buy the app only to find out I've misunderstood how it works. Thanks for any help.
 

institute

macrumors regular
Oct 10, 2012
177
0
To use Plex on the ATV 3 you will need to have the Plex Media Server running on your home computer. You then stream the channels to the ATV 3 via Airplay using the Plex iOS app on your iDevice, which acts as a client for the server.

So, yes, you will have to have your computer running to use Plex in this scenario, but you can use it with the ATV 3, no jailbreak required.

The Hulu channel on Plex is the free version (not Hulu+).
 
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chele519

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 15, 2012
161
0
Thanks for the clarification. So, if I understand correctly, the only benefit to doing this would be to avoid having to hook the laptop to the tv directly to watch Hulu. All the other channels I'm interested in have iPhone apps so I'm set with those.
 

institute

macrumors regular
Oct 10, 2012
177
0
Pretty much. Or you could pay 8 dollars a month and use the Hulu+ app built into the ATV 3, that is if you are using the US iTunes Store and are in the states or using a VPN service.
 

GarrettL1979

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2012
330
0
Pretty much. Or you could pay 8 dollars a month and use the Hulu+ app built into the ATV 3, that is if you are using the US iTunes Store and are in the states or using a VPN service.

Is the any advantage to using Hulu+ over the Hulu plex channel or vice versa?
 

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
To all,

if you are mirroring iPhone to TV, aren't you watching "iPhone resolution" on a big screen TV?
 

institute

macrumors regular
Oct 10, 2012
177
0
Is the any advantage to using Hulu+ over the Hulu plex channel or vice versa?

Hulu+ usually has more than just the last few episodes of a show, quite often many full seasons and also offers movies. Actually the only reason I currently pay for Hulu+ is their Criterion Film collection which has many classic movies from all over the world.

Admittedly, you have to be into older, "foreign" and subtitled films to really get the most out of the Criterion listings.
 

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,552
2,610
To all,

if you are mirroring iPhone to TV, aren't you watching "iPhone resolution" on a big screen TV?

First off, iPhone resolution is pretty darned good, even on a big TV :)

But to the point - there are two types of AirPlay from iPhone to Apple TV. There is Mirroring, which simply displays what's on your phone, on your TV screen. That's basically in iPhone resolution, scaled up to fit the screen.

However many video apps, including the built-in video player, YouTube, etc., support AirPlay streaming video. In that type of AirPlay, the iPhone screen is blanked and a full-screen rendition of the video is sent to the Apple TV. So if, for example, you record a video with the built-in camera on the iPhone and AirPlay it to the Apple TV 3, it will play in full 1080p resolution.
 

GarrettL1979

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2012
330
0
Hulu+ usually has more than just the last few episodes of a show, quite often many full seasons and also offers movies. Actually the only reason I currently pay for Hulu+ is their Criterion Film collection which has many classic movies from all over the world.

Admittedly, you have to be into older, "foreign" and subtitled films to really get the most out of the Criterion listings.

Thanks!
 

dewthedru

macrumors regular
Nov 22, 2010
178
2
Is the any advantage to using Hulu+ over the Hulu plex channel or vice versa?


as stated above, hulu plus does have more options. however, there are shows that are only available on the regular pc-based version for some reason. the new show "hannibal" is one.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,033
8,404
New Hampshire, USA
I could never get the Hulu channel working in Plex on my Roku so I'm not sure how well it works under Plex in a JB ATV.

I would probably just get Hulu+ on your ATV.
 
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