Setup planning for ATV4

[TRICKorDEVICE]

I will be setting up my TV area in our new home in the next few weeks. ATV will be a part of it. I have a TV and a home theatre receiver (5.1 setup with a "receiver"). If my TV and my receiver both support CEC, will the Apple TV be able to turn the receiver and then the TV on?

The way I use to do it was to have the ATV plugged into the receiver (HDMI), then the receiver to the TV (HDMI), and I would use a Harmony One to fire everything up and control audio (receiver audio) and the ATV.

Any recommendation on the best way to set this up?

I'll have a 4K TV with 3-4 HDMI ports. Then I'll have my receiver with 3-4 HDMI ports. I'll be connecting an XBOX, Satellite (Direct TV), Wii U, ATV4 and Blu-Ray player. I used to have everything plugged into the receiver, with one output going to the TV. I would use a switch/splitter on one of the receiver inputs so I could accommodate all of the devices.

Any recs?

 

[Snoopy4]

Let your Harmony do everything. In alternate you can check if the TV and receiver support an audio return channel. In such a setup (ARC), the ATV can be plugged into the TV and you use the Harmony to turn on everything else. Audio gets fed back through the ARC HDMI connection.

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

Let your Harmony do everything. In alternate you can check if the TV and receiver support an audio return channel. In such a setup (ARC), the ATV can be plugged into the TV and you use the Harmony to turn on everything else. Audio gets fed back through the ARC HDMI connection.

Thanks for the tip. I was actually trying to get away from the Harmony, as the IR inconsistency is a pain in the rear.

Any other recs?

 

[Runt888]

I have pretty much the same setup (other than all the extra devices) - ATV4 to Receiver, Receiver to TV, both over HDMI. 99% of the time I'm using the ATV for everything (not much time to play games anymore with kids, and we got rid of cable).

Pros:
I was able to ditch my Harmony remote and use the Siri Remote for everything. It turns on and off the receiver and tv automatically, and I haven't had any problems with it so far (CEC support varies widely between vendors, so hopefully you have equipment that supports it well). The Siri remote and CEC turns everything on and off much faster than the Harmony and I don't have to stand there and keep the remote pointed in the correct direction to make sure the signals get through. I'm also hopeful that Apple will update the remote app and allow me to turn everything on and off with my iPhone or Apple Watch.

Cons:
In the rare case I need to use the Playstation, I'll have to grab the receiver remote out of the drawer and manually switch inputs (my Playstation is older and doesn't support CEC, otherwise I think it would automatically switch inputs when I turned it on). If I used other devices more often then I would be forced to stick with the Harmony and miss out on the awesome trackpad and voice control with the Siri remote (or use two remotes, which is annoying).

Since it looks like you have a lot of other equipment to control, the easiest solution is to keep the Harmony remote, turn off CEC, and use the Siri remote only when you are using the Apple TV. If all your devices support CEC, then you can probably cobble together a CEC based solution but you would still need to use a second remote to switch inputs. However, as far as I know, the Xbox doesn't support CEC (and I doubt the DirectTV box does either), so that limits your options.

 

[mcdj]

Check out the Harmony Smart Control remote. No touch screen. No charging dock. Batteries last forever (2 years, still on the original set for me). Uses RF and blasters, so no more IR woes. I ditched my Harmony One for it and haven't looked back. Best remote I've owned in 20 years.

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

I think I'm going to try to do it Runt's way. And then I can move to the Harmony if thing's don't work.

 

[seadragon]

Check out the Harmony Smart Control remote. No touch screen. No charging dock. Batteries last forever (2 years, still on the original set for me). Uses RF and blasters, so no more IR woes. I ditched my Harmony One for it and haven't looked back. Best remote I've owned in 20 years.

I agree. The Smart Control is my favourite remote. I also have the Ultimate but I always end up using the SC.

 

[Snoopy4]

Thanks for the tip. I was actually trying to get away from the Harmony, as the IR inconsistency is a pain in the rear.

Any other recs?

Maybe try this instead? I tried it as an interim to a more complex touch screen system and ended up staying with it because it worked so well:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-996-...qid=1446845218&sr=1-9&keywords=HArmony+Remote

I keep the remote it comes with around just in case, but use the app on an iPod Touch to control it (same app is available on the iPhone and iPad). You can add repeaters to it as well.

 

[Runt888]

I think I'm going to try to do it Runt's way. And then I can move to the Harmony if thing's don't work.

I'll be interested in seeing if you can get it to work. I definitely like the Siri Remote way better than the Harmony (mostly because it uses Bluetooth instead of IR, but also the trackpad and voice control is pretty useful), and I love being able to stick with one remote.

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

I'll be interested in seeing if you can get it to work. I definitely like the Siri Remote way better than the Harmony (mostly because it uses Bluetooth instead of IR, but also the trackpad and voice control is pretty useful), and I love being able to stick with one remote.

I'll report back in a couple weeks with results!