Connect Macbook wirelessly to plasma TV

Uh, AppleTV.

Depending on the generation Macbook it is either native or you will need a 3rd party program like AirParrot.

 

If you have a new enough Macbook pro, you can do this using an Apple TV.

 

Apple TV if your MacBook is 2011 or later. For watching movies it is perfect however their is a bit of lag with general operation in OSX

 

It's an exact mirror, but there may be some lag or dropped frames for video or other fast movement, depending on the quality of your wireless connection.

 

Just because you're running Mountain Lion doesn't mean your computer is capable. What are the specs of your MacBook Pro?

 

AirPlay does all of this for you with the Apple TV. It's a simple matter of setting up the little box. The taskbar up top will show an AirPlay icon, you can click it and BAM, your computer, including audio, is being streamed to it. Simple as that.

 

My router is in the other end of the house. If I bought an Airport Express, could this strengthen the wireless signal in my room, thus not only helping my normal wifi but also the streaming quality?



would it be good enough to let you watch a 1080p video file without lag on your TV from a RMBP?

 

yes, an airport express can extend the range of your network. I actually have a Panasonic TV that is wifi capable and instead of buying a USB dongle I went with an airport express to not only give my TV internet, but also extend the range.

 

If the Airport Express were acting as a wireless repeater, then no, I would not expect it to improve things much unless you had virtually no signal otherwise. If you can connect it via Ethernet that would be a big improvement.

I don't personally find AirPlay mirroring good enough for video, even of relatively low quality.

 

Will things be getting better when things gets updated to wifi 802.11ac standard?

 

Just remember that if you use the 2nd airport as a repeater you will lose half your speed since it has to pick up the original signal, and re-transmit your data back to the original router.

 

Buy an apple TV first, and then if it doesn't work, get an airport express and try to amplify the signal.

 

So basically.

I buy an Airport Express. It works almost like an atenna. I use the ethernet on this Express device, this antenna. and somehow this helps the signal for the computer?


But honestly, doesn't this just turn the Airport express into a glorified wifi dongle?

 

Think of it as an extender. You can use the Airport express as one of three things:

-A standalone router, plugged in directly to your modem by an ethernet cable and broadcasting your wireless signal.

-A network extender(which is how I'm using mine), it is plugged in to your main router and extends the range of your wireless network. My main router is a Time Capsule at one end of the apartment, the other end is covered by the Airport Express, meaning I get perfect wireless coverage in every square foot of my place.

-A repeater, which would take the weak signal from a faraway router, amplify it, and rebroadcast it, this is the slowest way to use it, as wireless devices can only send or receive at any one time, not both at the same time.

 

That is exactly how I use my second express. It is an extender, but also plugged directly into my plasma acting as a "dongle" The signal strength is fantastic! Also, you would think panasonic would have just built wifi into their TV's like samsung is doing.

 

RE: TC, AE, streaming 1080p ...

Hi,

...just thought I'd mention some results that I've checked myself...

First of all, a caveat: WiFi is so very dependent upon the strength of the radio signal versus the noise level and the level of radio interference, so my results will not necessarily be your results. In fact, most certainly my results will not be your results.

Having said that, I have successfully streamed three different 1080p videos to three different devices wirelessly from a single Mac mini. The setup is diagrammed below:

Mac mini --> 1Gbit ethernet --> TC --> ethernet --> AE
TC --> 2.4GHz wireless --> MBP
TC --> 5GHz wireless --> rMBP
AE --> 2.4GHz wireless --> ATV3

So the Mac mini is wired to the Time Capsule and Airport Express. The TC is connected wirelessly to two laptops. The AE is connected wirelessly to an Apple TV3. Three different 1080p videos are streamed wirelessly to three different devices, without problems, pauses, or stutters. The TC is roughly 10 feet from the AE through a floor (TC on floor 1, AE on floor 2), the MBP was about 15 feet from the TC through a floor (i.e., on floor 2), the rMBP was about 25 feet away from the TC through a floor (i.e., also on floor 2), and the ATV3 was about 20 feet away from the AE in a separate room. I did this experiment to see if it could be done, as a small museum that I provide free consulting for needed to stream three videos to three different HDTVs simultaneously and didn't want to hardwire them. I just wanted to see if this could be done with wireless N. I should mention that the TC and AE setup their own 2.4GHz and 5GHz access points, that is, the AE is not "extending" the TC's wireless. In other words, there are actually four SSIDs, one for each band on each of the two wireless devices. I also tested switching the rMBP to the AE's 5GHz band and this worked also to stream the three simultaneous videos.

Regards,
Switon

 

AirParrot

T5BRICK: Can you help me with this? You seem to have dealt with this in the past.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1591101&highlight=airparrot

 

Logitech Reveu! i love it!

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Airplay Mirroring
Requires a second-generation Apple TV or later. Supports the following Mac models:

iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)

Source: Apple.com

 

You need to have at least mid 2011 Mac with Intel Sandy Bridge i-series CPU (Core 2 Duo is a no-go!) that has an integrated video encoder (called Intel Quick Sync Video). The exact list of compatible Macs you can find here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5404
AirParrot is a different story - it uses CPU to encode video on the fly, even on C2D machines.

 

There is an app on the Mac App Store called Mirror for Panasonic TV, which let's you do screen mirroring from any Mac to any Panasonic Smart TV. You can find it here: http://apple.co/2bKVcyv