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Are we ever going to see full-screen AirPlay mirroring on ATV?

W

wws

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 9, 2012
90
0
Hi.

Does anyone else want full-screen AirPlay mirroring on the Apple TV 2/3? I purchased a Apple TV for this reason and was disappointed when it was not available. We can already do full-screen Airplay content, and with the amount of processing power and graphics capabilities these devices have, there's no reason not to extend this feature to AirPlay mirroring. If anyone knows of a way to enable this feature, please share. I have an ATV2 with the 5.3 software update, iPad 2, 1080p TV.

Thanks,
wws
 
wws said:
Hi.

Does anyone else want full-screen AirPlay mirroring on the Apple TV 2/3? I purchased a Apple TV for this reason and was disappointed when it was not available. We can already do full-screen Airplay content, and with the amount of processing power and graphics capabilities these devices have, there's no reason not to extend this feature to AirPlay mirroring. If anyone knows of a way to enable this feature, please share. I have an ATV2 with the 5.3 software update, iPad 2, 1080p TV.

Thanks,
wws
Click to expand...

Are you referring to Airplayed screens that have black pillarboxing on the sides? I talked to an Apple trainer who said it depends on the app to take advantage of it. Apple's own Safari browser doesn't take advantage of it, but Real Racing does. It just depends right now. All apps designed for the iPhone 5 should (because it's a 16x9 aspect ratio).
 
Irishman said:
Are you referring to Airplayed screens that have black pillarboxing on the sides? I talked to an Apple trainer who said it depends on the app to take advantage of it. Apple's own Safari browser doesn't take advantage of it, but Real Racing does. It just depends right now. All apps designed for the iPhone 5 should (because it's a 16x9 aspect ratio).
Click to expand...

When I turn on AirPlay mirroring on my iPad, it displays the mirrored screen as a box in the center of my tv screen. When I say full screen, I want my iPad to mirror it's screen across the whole tv screen. Doesn't OS X do it this way?
 
wws said:
When I turn on AirPlay mirroring on my iPad, it displays the mirrored screen as a box in the center of my tv screen. When I say full screen, I want my iPad to mirror it's screen across the whole tv screen. Doesn't OS X do it this way?
Click to expand...

The only device I have that will airplay to my Atv is my iPhone, but it DOES show it full screen.
 
Under Mavericks you can:

1. use the TV as a monitor (no mirroring, so 16:9 ratio)
2. mirror the screen using either the TV aspect ratio or the computer's.
3. If your computer is a MBA 11" or a mini or Macbook attached to a 16:9 external monitor (like a thunderbolt), then the mirroring is in the 16:9 ratio the computer uses.

Number 3 is true under Mountain Lion as well.
 
wws said:
When I turn on AirPlay mirroring on my iPad, it displays the mirrored screen as a box in the center of my tv screen. When I say full screen, I want my iPad to mirror it's screen across the whole tv screen. Doesn't OS X do it this way?
Click to expand...

Yes, but you're not running OSX on your iPad.
 
wws said:
Hi.

Does anyone else want full-screen AirPlay mirroring on the Apple TV 2/3? I purchased a Apple TV for this reason and was disappointed when it was not available. We can already do full-screen Airplay content, and with the amount of processing power and graphics capabilities these devices have, there's no reason not to extend this feature to AirPlay mirroring. If anyone knows of a way to enable this feature, please share. I have an ATV2 with the 5.3 software update, iPad 2, 1080p TV.

Thanks,
wws
Click to expand...

You'll never see that from an iPad because the aspect ratio is different. Your iPad is 4:3 (16:12) and your 1080p TV is 16:9. You lose 1/3 of the screen area on the sides as black bars. The only way to make it fill the screen would be to cut off the top & bottom of the picture by "over scanning" which would not be useful.

If mirroring from a Mac with 16:9 screen, or an iPhone 5, you'll get "almost" full screen coverage.
 
Dalton63841 said:
It's an iPhone 4. Didn't know there were any settings. I just click the airplay button on my iPhone and it shows up on the Atv.
Click to expand...

That's AirPlay content, no mirroring. Mirroring is only supported with A5 and above.

----------
FreakinEurekan said:
You'll never see that from an iPad because the aspect ratio is different. Your iPad is 4:3 (16:12) and your 1080p TV is 16:9. You lose 1/3 of the screen area on the sides as black bars. The only way to make it fill the screen would be to cut off the top & bottom of the picture by "over scanning" which would not be useful.

If mirroring from a Mac with 16:9 screen, or an iPhone 5, you'll get "almost" full screen coverage.
Click to expand...

OK I thin,k I understand the reasoning behind my original question. Thank you for giving such a detailed explanation :)

wws12
 
I get screen mirroring on both my iPhone 5 (full screen on an HDTV) and my iPad mini (full screen, but 4:3 aspect ratio). I also get full screen mirroring from my MBA and MBP. I do not have the mirroring option on my 4th gen iPod Touch.
 
wws said:
....OK I thin,k I understand the reasoning behind my original question. Thank you for giving such a detailed explanation :)

wws12
Click to expand...

Seeing can help with understanding Go here and scroll down to the 4th set of pictures. The right picture would be the full screen 1.33 (4x3) iPad and the left would be what you are asking for on a 1.78 (16x9) TV. Notice in order to fill the sides you must cut off the top and bottom of the picture (about 30%). What if a helicopter was over the building or what if the man was holding something important in his hands?
 
wws said:
Hi.

Does anyone else want full-screen AirPlay mirroring on the Apple TV 2/3? I purchased a Apple TV for this reason and was disappointed when it was not available. We can already do full-screen Airplay content, and with the amount of processing power and graphics capabilities these devices have, there's no reason not to extend this feature to AirPlay mirroring. If anyone knows of a way to enable this feature, please share. I have an ATV2 with the 5.3 software update, iPad 2, 1080p TV.

Thanks,
wws
Click to expand...
it's there for certain devices, but you're not going to be able to do it with an ipad 2. Either upgrade or see if there is a jailbreak tweak that will activate it for you.
 
ritmomundo said:
it's there for certain devices, but you're not going to be able to do it with an ipad 2. Either upgrade or see if there is a jailbreak tweak that will activate it for you.
Click to expand...
AirPlay Mirroring is a hardware issue, not software issue. The devices that support it, contain a hardware H.264 encoder to encode the framebuffer in real time prior to streaming it out.
 
priitv8 said:
AirPlay Mirroring is a hardware issue, not software issue. The devices that support it, contain a hardware H.264 encoder to encode the framebuffer in real time prior to streaming it out.
Click to expand...
My wife has an iPad 2. She's able to AirPlay/Mirror with it. :confused:
 
wws said:
Hi.

Does anyone else want full-screen AirPlay mirroring on the Apple TV 2/3? I purchased a Apple TV for this reason and was disappointed when it was not available. We can already do full-screen Airplay content, and with the amount of processing power and graphics capabilities these devices have, there's no reason not to extend this feature to AirPlay mirroring. If anyone knows of a way to enable this feature, please share. I have an ATV2 with the 5.3 software update, iPad 2, 1080p TV.

Thanks,
wws
Click to expand...

ritmomundo said:
it's there for certain devices, but you're not going to be able to do it with an ipad 2. Either upgrade or see if there is a jailbreak tweak that will activate it for you.
Click to expand...

priitv8 said:
AirPlay Mirroring is a hardware issue, not software issue. The devices that support it, contain a hardware H.264 encoder to encode the framebuffer in real time prior to streaming it out.
Click to expand...

A simple Google search found this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5209?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US. Apparently the iPad 2 does have Airplay mirroring. Best to follow those instructions to set it up.

Also, read this troubleshooting guide: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4215
 
Although I understand the technical reasons for it, the size of the mirrored image on a widescreen TV is a bit of a turn-off.

It's a pity there's no "Airplay mirroring" button for apps that do support it natively. For instance, I've been using Netflix on the iPad for ages, but only realised a few days ago if you launch it with mirroring on it plays fullscreen on the TV. There's no button/icon that tells you it has this feature. Admittedly, the video is heavily compressed and the framerate isn't perfect, but hopefully that will improve with ac Wifi devices and a future (I'm assuming) ac AppleTV.
 
whooleytoo said:
Admittedly, the video is heavily compressed and the framerate isn't perfect, but hopefully that will improve with ac Wifi devices and a future (I'm assuming) ac AppleTV.
Click to expand...
One equally important variable in this equation is the bandwidth people are getting into their homes.
 
priitv8 said:
One equally important variable in this equation is the bandwidth people are getting into their homes.
Click to expand...

Thanks. In my case, that shouldn't be the case (100Mbps broadband), and Netflix works fine on the AppleTV, it's just AirPlaying from iPad to AppleTV is very poor quality.
 
wws said:
When I turn on AirPlay mirroring on my iPad, it displays the mirrored screen as a box in the center of my tv screen. When I say full screen, I want my iPad to mirror it's screen across the whole tv screen. Doesn't OS X do it this way?
Click to expand...

I have an iPad 4, and the same thing has happened to me a couple of times with the Photos app and possibly the YouTube app: a small mirrored image of my iPad screen, surrounded by a thick black border on all sides, appeared in the center of my 1080P TV. Exiting and re-entering the app has solved the problem each time, so I don't know what the cause is.

I love AirPlay, but it's dodgy at times in other ways, too. Sometimes the selection icon (the box with the arrow) doesn't appear in an app, so I have to go to another app where the the icon appears. I select the destination system and then return to the original app, and the AirPlay icon then appears. Sometimes I'll select the destination TV/stereo, and it's checked in the AirPlay box, but no picture or sound goes to my TV/stereo. Again, exiting and re-entering the app a few times usually solves the problem.
 
If you're using a MacBook to do AirPlay Mirroring, you can get proper full screen in the TV by going into System Preferences > Displays and change the resolution to "Optimize for Apple TV (AirPlay)"
 
MoodyM said:
If you're using a MacBook to do AirPlay Mirroring, you can get proper full screen in the TV by going into System Preferences > Displays and change the resolution to "Optimize for Apple TV (AirPlay)"
Click to expand...
You can do this also from AirPlay menu, provided you've enabled it in Displays preferences.
 

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