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Cloudyskies22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2023
123
151
Hi, I’m wondering how the experience has been for those who have watched streaming media or downloaded owned movies from apps like Netflix or Vudu on their TV from an iPad using a USB-C to HDMI adapter? Is the 4K HDR quality extremely good? Are there still compression artifacts? Do all apps work?

I’m hoping that with the iPhone 15 Pro and it’s new USB-C port, that users will be able to use an Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter to output content via HDMI to any TV or monitor in 4K HDR up to 60Hz.

I know that most apps including Vudu do not allow iPhones to play 4K resolutions due to the limited resolution of the devices themselves. However, with Thunderbolt data transfer speeds and the HDMI adapter, I would hope that Apple would recognize the VALUABLE consumer benefit by enabling apps to output 4K HDR to TVs via these HDMI adapters.

I know that presently iPhones have been able to use the Lightning to Digital AV Adapter to take HDMI to their TV or monitors, but as I understood it, this uses the Airplay standard and is limited to 1080P HD due to the slow speed of Lightning data transfer. I myself tried this a few times, but I was getting blank screens from apps like Netflix and the picture quality on apps that did work were way below 1080P, and highly compressed, looking almost unwatchable in my standards.

Imagine how great it would be if you could hook your iPhone up to your TV, monitor, or projector and use unlimited data to watch any of your owned digital media or streaming subscriptions, in 4K HDR. Airplay as I understand it is limited to 1080P STILL IN 2023…
 

iStorm

macrumors 68020
Sep 18, 2012
2,027
2,432
Imagine how great it would be if you could hook your iPhone up to your TV, monitor, or projector and use unlimited data to watch any of your owned digital media or streaming subscriptions, in 4K HDR. Airplay as I understand it is limited to 1080P STILL IN 2023…
There are two different kinds of AirPlay. Not sure if they have any technical names, but lets call them "local AirPlay" and "streaming AirPlay".

Local AirPlay is when you mirror your screen, or play content that's stored on your device. Your device is pushing the content to the TV, and that is limited to 1080p.

Then there's streaming AirPlay, which is probably the most common use. This is when you AirPlay Hulu, Disney+, etc. This is not limited to 1080p. It basically tells your player/TV "go stream this video from the cloud" and it should play whatever version your player/TV is capable of. For example, when I AirPlay Disney+ to my Samsung TV, it plays the 4K version of the content.

I myself tried this a few times, but I was getting blank screens from apps like Netflix and the picture quality on apps that did work were way below 1080P, and highly compressed, looking almost unwatchable in my standards.
You cannot use Netflix via HDMI anymore. This is why the screen was blank. I believe it's like this for most apps that have DRM content.
 

Cloudyskies22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2023
123
151
There are two different kinds of AirPlay. Not sure if they have any technical names, but lets call them "local AirPlay" and "streaming AirPlay".

Local AirPlay is when you mirror your screen, or play content that's stored on your device. Your device is pushing the content to the TV, and that is limited to 1080p.

Then there's streaming AirPlay, which is probably the most common use. This is when you AirPlay Hulu, Disney+, etc. This is not limited to 1080p. It basically tells your player/TV "go stream this video from the cloud" and it should play whatever version your player/TV is capable of. For example, when I AirPlay Disney+ to my Samsung TV, it plays the 4K version of the content.


You cannot use Netflix via HDMI anymore. This is why the screen was blank. I believe it's like this for most apps that have DRM content.
Yes, airplaying non-local simply tells your other device to stream the content from the internet itself, nothing is coming from your device except the order to start the stream. The embarrassing thing is that Airplay in 2023 cannot stream from your device to your TV WITHOUT internet in 4K HDR. You literally cannot even stream your own recorded 4K videos from your iPhone to your TV. They literally have to be placed into iCloud and then the TV still has to have internet to grab them from the cloud itself. This is so embarrassing and anti-consumer. The funny thing is that it’s probably to grab some more iCloud+ subscribers.

Airplay in 2023 should EASILY be able to stream content stored on your device directly to your TV in 4K HDR without internet or cellular connections at all. It should merely be using local Wi-Fi to stream it over. Even if it did require internet for DRM checks, it should simply require a cellular connection and not use data to stream it over of course, because it’s local.

As for that iOS 16 breaking HDMI firstly it was only breaking Lightning to HDMI. USB-C to HDMI from iPad Pros still functioned normally. Moreover, I just read the other day that this was actually fixed in iOS 16.3 or so, but I haven’t checked to confirm that because after seeing how absolutely terrible Lightning to HDMI from the iPhone was, I didn’t even care that apps stopped working because I wasn’t going to use it anyway.

What I’m saying is that this year the iPhone 15 Pro gets USB-C and that god damn USB-C to HDMI adapter better move iPhone content to other screens in uncompressed 4K quality FINALLY. This, despite the fact and in place of the fact that Airplay is still absolutely embarrassingly bad for 2023.

When Federighi began talking about Airplay on stage for iOS 17 I thought for sure he was going to say that users could finally stream in 4K HDR but no, absolutely nothing about it, by far the most important feature they could’ve added to iOS 17.
 

SemAms

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2011
2
0
someplace very hot
I have been using USB-C to HDMI adapter on my iPad 11" to play Disney+ on my 4k Samsung TV, but must admit the overall viewing experience is underwhelming; colors are not vibrant at all
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,967
34,042
Seattle WA
There are two different kinds of AirPlay. Not sure if they have any technical names, but lets call them "local AirPlay" and "streaming AirPlay".

Local AirPlay is when you mirror your screen, or play content that's stored on your device. Your device is pushing the content to the TV, and that is limited to 1080p.

Then there's streaming AirPlay, which is probably the most common use. This is when you AirPlay Hulu, Disney+, etc. This is not limited to 1080p. It basically tells your player/TV "go stream this video from the cloud" and it should play whatever version your player/TV is capable of. For example, when I AirPlay Disney+ to my Samsung TV, it plays the 4K version of the content.


You cannot use Netflix via HDMI anymore. This is why the screen was blank. I believe it's like this for most apps that have DRM content.

I display Netflix full screen on my 4K monitor with a USB-C to DisplayPort cable from my M1 12.9.
 

Cloudyskies22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2023
123
151
I have been using USB-C to HDMI adapter on my iPad 11" to play Disney+ on my 4k Samsung TV, but must admit the overall viewing experience is underwhelming; colors are not vibrant at all
This is unfortunate and something I was afraid of. How in the hell could it not be full quality through USB-C to HDMI.

Do you use the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter or another her high-end one?
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,967
34,042
Seattle WA
I have been using USB-C to HDMI adapter on my iPad 11" to play Disney+ on my 4k Samsung TV, but must admit the overall viewing experience is underwhelming; colors are not vibrant at all

Yeah, better off to use built-in apps or external device like a FireStick.
 

Cloudyskies22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2023
123
151
Yeah, better off to use built-in apps or external device like a FireStick.
But the point is to use the phones unlimited cellular connection lol. If you already have Wi-Fi No one would hook up their phone to a TV or monitor to watch media lol….
 

Cloudyskies22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2023
123
151
Connect a streaming device to phone's hotspot?
You know hotspot data is limited right? There is no unlimited hotspot data from Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile. They’re all at about 50GB max. After that the speed is throttled to 3G and unusable for any streaming.
 

teh_hunterer

macrumors 65816
Jul 1, 2021
1,228
1,672
At the end of the day, as much as it sucks, you're using these products in a way that wasn't intended. Yes, they work. But as you can see, Apple hasn't bothered to make it home theatre quality. You'll probably notice that the video quality on streaming apps, while it may look alright on the iPad screen, doesn't exactly look amazing on an external display either. The app developers aren't imagining you're hooking your iPad or iPhone up to a TV - because basically nobody does.

Much better to go for a solution that uses another device, and sort out your internet issues.

A cheaper and less powerful product that is intended to be used that way is going to be much better. A cheap Chromecast does a far better job. In the same way a Nintendo Switch is a better TV gaming device than an iPad, even though it's got an 8th of the processing power and a 4th of the cost.
 

musicman0725

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2007
144
21
Hi, I’m wondering how the experience has been for those who have watched streaming media or downloaded owned movies from apps like Netflix or Vudu on their TV from an iPad using a USB-C to HDMI adapter? Is the 4K HDR quality extremely good? Are there still compression artifacts? Do all apps work?

I’m hoping that with the iPhone 15 Pro and it’s new USB-C port, that users will be able to use an Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter to output content via HDMI to any TV or monitor in 4K HDR up to 60Hz.

I know that most apps including Vudu do not allow iPhones to play 4K resolutions due to the limited resolution of the devices themselves. However, with Thunderbolt data transfer speeds and the HDMI adapter, I would hope that Apple would recognize the VALUABLE consumer benefit by enabling apps to output 4K HDR to TVs via these HDMI adapters.

I know that presently iPhones have been able to use the Lightning to Digital AV Adapter to take HDMI to their TV or monitors, but as I understood it, this uses the Airplay standard and is limited to 1080P HD due to the slow speed of Lightning data transfer. I myself tried this a few times, but I was getting blank screens from apps like Netflix and the picture quality on apps that did work were way below 1080P, and highly compressed, looking almost unwatchable in my standards.

Imagine how great it would be if you could hook your iPhone up to your TV, monitor, or projector and use unlimited data to watch any of your owned digital media or streaming subscriptions, in 4K HDR. Airplay as I understand it is limited to 1080P STILL IN 2023…
I was looking for a USB-C hub over Prime Day and found an article from macworld about different usb-c hubs:


I ended up going with the Anker 565 USB-C hub (which was the same price at the time as the Anker 555 USB-C hub mentioned in the article) and am very happy with it. I am not using it for my iPad Pro, but am using it with my MacBook Pro and my work laptop (it supports the iPad Pro, I just haven't used it yet). The usb-c hub is very compact and also comes with a travel case. One thing it does not include is a power adapter, however, I just connected my MacBook pro charger up to the hub and the hub also charges both my laptops when they are connected. I think there are a number of adapters that can do what you want, the only question is finding the one that does what you need for the right price.
 
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sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,967
34,042
Seattle WA
I was looking for a USB-C hub over Prime Day and found an article from macworld about different usb-c hubs:


I ended up going with the Anker 565 USB-C hub (which was the same price at the time as the Anker 555 USB-C hub mentioned in the article) and am very happy with it. I am not using it for my iPad Pro, but am using it with my MacBook Pro and my work laptop (it supports the iPad Pro, I just haven't used it yet). The usb-c hub is very compact and also comes with a travel case. One thing it does not include is a power adapter, however, I just connected my MacBook pro charger up to the hub and the hub also charges both my laptops when they are connected. I think there are a number of adapters that can do what you want, the only question is finding the one that does what you need for the right price.

I use the Anker 555 (fewer ports than the 565) with my M1 12.9 Pro and it works great.
 
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