Apple TV from macbook lags

[sepandee]

I've searched the internet and can't find a fix. I have an apple tv (3rd generation) that's connected to my television and to my router (20Mbps). When I play a video from an iphone or an ipad that's connected to the tv through airplay, there are no problems. However, I've tried 3 different macbook airs (the newest one from 2013 running El Capitan) and they all have the same issue: the video is choppy. If display is mirrored, then the video on the laptop plays fine, and the sound is fine, but the video showing on TV is choppy/lags. If it's not mirrored, then the video on the TV lags.

And it doesn't matter whether the video's being streamed from an online source (Youtube) or being played from a local fine.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
[doublepost=1452561652][/doublepost]K, I searched some more and some people said to download beamer and use that to play a video. And indeed, that made the problem go away! But Beamer costs $25 or something to purchase, otherwise it will only show the first 15 mins of a video.

 

[benjitek]

...some people said to download beamer and use that to play a video. And indeed, that made the problem go away! But Beamer costs $25...

Try Plex -- a very capable free version may solve your issues. A monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscription is also available for some enhanced functionality but definitely not necessary for a substantial feature-set.

 

[sepandee]

Thanks, but I'd like to know what the issue is. Apple comes out with a product that somehow doesn't work with some of its own products and their customers have to spend time searching and perhaps money buying 3rd party apps just to be able to use Apple's product as it should be used?

 

[Alrescha]

When I play a video from an iphone or an ipad that's connected to the tv through airplay, there are no problems. However, I've tried 3 different macbook airs (the newest one from 2013 running El Capitan) and they all have the same issue: the video is choppy.

Are you using Safari Airplay on your Macs or Airplay Display? From your description it sounds like the latter. These are two different technologies and you probably should not expect them to perform the same. The Mac has to decode the video, prepare it for your display (real or virtual) and then re-encode it and send it to the Apple TV.

Under the right circumstances (1), Safari can Airplay directly to an Apple TV just like an iOS device. There will be an Airplay symbol right on the video itself. That should perform as you expect. See:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201343

A.

1) I don't know what the circumstances are. My desktop Safari will Airplay Vimeo videos directly to my Apple TV, and it performs perfectly. My laptop won't do this, but only supports Airplay Display.

 

[sepandee]

I guess it's the latter. I just go to system preferences, displays, then turn Airplay Display on. Then I either attempt to stream something or just play a local file, with similar results (or lack thereof).

 

[Alrescha]

I guess it's the latter. I just go to system preferences, displays, then turn Airplay Display on. Then I either attempt to stream something or just play a local file, with similar results (or lack thereof).

I would suggest you do not turn on Airplay Display, but see if Safari Airplay works for you (I know Vimeo works). You can also give files to iTunes, and play them on the Apple TV (via iTunes Airplay or Home Sharing) which will avoid the overhead of Airplay Display.

A.

 

[sepandee]

Try Plex -- a very capable free version may solve your issues. A monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscription is also available for some enhanced functionality but definitely not necessary for a substantial feature-set.

I tried. How does it work? I installed the plex media server, opened an account, and added my films. But you play the fils on your browser, and there's no way to connect to Apple TV. I tried installing plex on apple tv but on a 3rd gen apple TV, there's no way to do this as far as I know.
[doublepost=1452606282][/doublepost]ANd yes, playing videos on itunes or with safari airplay fixes the issue Yay. But now i have some videos that have a non-itunes playing format (e.g. .mkv) and want to play them without converting them to something such as .mp4.

 

[Blujelly]

can you turnoff the Bluetooth from your MacBook please?

 

[sepandee]

Huh? When did I ever say bluetooth was on? It's been off.

 

[Blujelly]

Huh? When did I ever say bluetooth was on? It's been off.

I never said you said it was on. I'm going by my experience! This done it for me as well I turned the Bluetooth of and the lag stopped. After a few days I turned the Bluetooth back on and it was working fine.

My MacBook pro was causing interference from the Bluetooth.

 

[sepandee]

I never said you said it was on. I'm going by my experience! This done it for me as well I turned the Bluetooth of and the lag stopped. After a few days I turned the Bluetooth back on and it was working fine.

My MacBook pro was cussing interference from the Bluetooth.

Were you playing on Airplay Display?

 

[Blujelly]

Were you playing on Airplay Display?

yes its why I mentioned it

 

[zhenya]

Yes, use Safari or iTunes Airplay and it should work fine. For other file types, you need a 3rd party. Air Video HD is a cheaper option, but it requires the use of both your Mac and an iOS device. Works flawlessly though with nearly any video type.

 

[benjitek]

I tried. How does it work? I installed the plex media server, opened an account, and added my films. But you play the fils on your browser, and there's no way to connect to Apple TV. I tried installing plex on apple tv but on a 3rd gen apple TV, there's no way to do this as far as I know.
[doublepost=1452606282][/doublepost]ANd yes, playing videos on itunes or with safari airplay fixes the issue Yay. But now i have some videos that have a non-itunes playing format (e.g. .mkv) and want to play them without converting them to something such as .mp4.

Plex transcodes on the fly, so it doesn't matter if you're playing a MKV or a MP4 file. It also supports native AirPlay, so you can cast to your ATV instead of mirroring. You'll even get smooth playback accessing a video from your media server via an iOS device and AirPlay-casting it to your ATV.

There's a 3rd party option for pre-ATV4 Plex usage, PlexConnect. Supposedly works well, but as the ATV4 is my first -- I've not used it myself.