I don't know how Apple TV works. I am wondering if I can use it to connect my MBP with my Samsung LED TV wirelessly and make the Samsung LED a second screen? I know you can connect iPhone with a TV wirelessly using Apple TV (I think its called mirroring?). But can I do the same with a MBP - see my MBP's screen on the Samsung LED without using a HDMI?
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Can you connect MBP screen with your LED TV using Apple TV?
- Thread starter jas5279
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not as a second screen, but you can mirror the MBP to the ATV like with iPhone.
The only way to get the second screen is with an HDMI connection to the TV, the MacOS should automatically recognize the TV when connected, then in Display settings, you can choose to extend (a second desktop) to the TV, or show the desktop on both the MBP and TV.
The only way to get the second screen is with an HDMI connection to the TV, the MacOS should automatically recognize the TV when connected, then in Display settings, you can choose to extend (a second desktop) to the TV, or show the desktop on both the MBP and TV.
Mirroring means your one screen is duplicated on the second output. This is the only way Airplay from a Mac works. There are several ways to invoke it. In applications, Safari for example, there are generally Airplay controls. So, lets say you are on youtube and want to stream a video to ATV. Look for the airplay icon (A rectangle with an arrow pointing up, kind of looks like a TV), and select your ATV and it will stream to the TV. The second way to to mirror the entire screen to ATV, if you have the Show Mirroring Options checked on the System Preferences > Displays, there will be an Airplay icon on the Mac menu bar. Select the ATV and everything on the Mac screen will appear on the TV via ATV.
Extending to a second screen means two desktops and windows can be moved between them. Traditionally, this is two desktop monitors connected to two video ports in the PC\Mac. But, this can also be a TV if you have a way to connect (DVI\VGA\HDMI typically).
You might try Air Parrot2. The trial should give you an idea of if it will do what you want, but the idea with AP2 is that you can Airplay to multiple AppleTV and Chromecast devices. It also seems to have a way to extend your Mac desktop to ATV, but I haven't used the app in a few years so not sure how it works these days. If it works in the trial, the paid version is only $13. It also works with a remote app on iPhone\iPad (AirParrot Remote). As I recall, the trial is 7 days, but might limit the length of airplay sessions. The paid version of course would not be limited.
http://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/features/mac/
Extending to a second screen means two desktops and windows can be moved between them. Traditionally, this is two desktop monitors connected to two video ports in the PC\Mac. But, this can also be a TV if you have a way to connect (DVI\VGA\HDMI typically).
You might try Air Parrot2. The trial should give you an idea of if it will do what you want, but the idea with AP2 is that you can Airplay to multiple AppleTV and Chromecast devices. It also seems to have a way to extend your Mac desktop to ATV, but I haven't used the app in a few years so not sure how it works these days. If it works in the trial, the paid version is only $13. It also works with a remote app on iPhone\iPad (AirParrot Remote). As I recall, the trial is 7 days, but might limit the length of airplay sessions. The paid version of course would not be limited.
http://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/features/mac/
you can make the aTV a "second screen" using airplay.
there are options to either mirror or extend.
mirroring is when the television and your mac monitor have the same image on them
one of them will have black bars on the top or sides, since they are not the same aspect ratio, you get to pick which one.
second screen or extend, means it's a whole second display
so as a very basic example you can have mail on your mac's screen, and safari on the TV
you would have to set up relative placement, so that your mouse movement would make sense, So if the TV is to the Left of your mac, then moving the mouse off the left side of the mac would put it on the right side of the tv.
all that being said, this is not a great option, It tends to be a bit slow and can stutter. It's probably fine for text based things, but watching video will not be an enjoyable experience.
[doublepost=1514432904][/doublepost]
Since the past couple versions of osX, there is an airplay display option
but it also requires a newer mac, there is a list on the following page
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201343
there are options to either mirror or extend.
mirroring is when the television and your mac monitor have the same image on them
one of them will have black bars on the top or sides, since they are not the same aspect ratio, you get to pick which one.
second screen or extend, means it's a whole second display
so as a very basic example you can have mail on your mac's screen, and safari on the TV
you would have to set up relative placement, so that your mouse movement would make sense, So if the TV is to the Left of your mac, then moving the mouse off the left side of the mac would put it on the right side of the tv.
all that being said, this is not a great option, It tends to be a bit slow and can stutter. It's probably fine for text based things, but watching video will not be an enjoyable experience.
[doublepost=1514432904][/doublepost]
Since the past couple versions of osX, there is an airplay display option
but it also requires a newer mac, there is a list on the following page
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201343
Okay, I understand now. Yeah, I don't want a 'second screen' as I don't want to move Windows. I simply want to connect my MBP screen to my Samsung LED without a wire (without HDMI) so I guess ATV does what I am looking for it to do.
I'm not sure why you suggested me AirParrot? From your explanation, I think ATV will mirror my MBP screen onto the Samsung LED that I have and I'll be able to watch movies, surf the web etc. just as I can with an HDMI cable.
he suggested airparrot since the airplay display is a somewhat new feature he didn't know about.
you don't want to do airplay display to watch movies, it will be jerky and stutter.
surfing the web should be OK, as are things where large portions of the screen aren't chaining at the same time.
airplay display has to wait for an image to be on the screen, it then looks at the computer screen, re-encodes it, and sends it to the aTV in near real time. They have sacrificed quality for speed.
for watching movies, i suggest something like beamer, as it will take the file and play it directly on your aTV.
If it needs to it will re-encode the file, but since it can read ahead, it's a better image on the output.
you have to select the videos with the beamer app on your mac.
another option is plex, (what i use) its free (with an upgrade option for certain features), It's more of a media server than just to play random files, so you would point it at your folder of movies or TV shows, it then scans them, and you select what you want to watch on the player (there's versions for all the streaming devices like aTV, roku, fire stick, as well as a lot of smart TVs, and your android or iOS devices)
it does take a little more organization in how your files are stored, so that it can figure out what's what, but it's a "richer" experience on the playback side.
Once set up, it's similar to netflix on the playback side, with all your media with thumbnails, and descriptions.
I think it depends on how you do it. I am absolutely sure, that for example iTunes is smart enough to recognise the status of AirPlay Mirroring. If you play back anything with APM turned on, iTunes will simply revert to direct media streaming, not the usual AP Mirroring. Would be worthwhile to test with other players (like QT app and media player in Safari) if they do the same. I would assume they all utilise the same system-level macOS media player.