Using your Apple TV

If your home is fully equipped with Apple products, the easiest way to watch home movies privately is by using an Apple TV.  There are several options to display your home movies on your Apple TV, it just depends on which Apple device you happen to have your movies on.

From your iOS device: With point and shoot cameras dropping in sales by 30 percent in recent months, more people are using their iPhones to capture all of their personal moments on video.  Provided you are running iOS 4.3 or greater, when the video files are still on your iPhone, you can view them directly on the AppleTV using AirPlay. Simply turn on your Apple TV, tap on the AirPlay icon and select which AppleTV you want to view your videos on.

Directly from your Mac: If you do not have an iPhone, and you have been off loading your video files from your digital camera directly to your Mac, you can still use AirPlay from your Mac to watch your videos on your Apple TV.  Macs running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion can also stream their entire screens directly to an Apple TV using AirPlay Mirroring.

If you do not have a newer generation AirPlay-capable Mac (mid-2011 or newer), you still have two choices.  The first is an app in the Mac App Store called HUDTube ($4.99, Mac).  This is the only video player app in the Mac App Store that supports streaming to an Apple TV using AirPlay.  With HudTube, you simply drag and drop the video file you want to view, and select the Apple TV you wish to stream to.

The second solution for your Mac is to use a product called Air Parrot ($9.99, Mac).  This product brings the same AirPlay streaming capabilities to older Macs.  One nice feature that Air Parrot has that Apple’s own AirPlay Mirroring does not is the ability to select just one app window.  This feature is called “App Mirroring.”  As an example, with App Mirroring you can display just the QuickTime Player rather then your entire desktop.

Home Sharing from iTunes: You can also use iTunes on your Mac to stream your home movies to your Apple TV.  Beginning with version 10.1 of iTunes, you have been able to share your video files alongside your photos with Home Sharing.  Home Sharing is a way to share your entire iTunes Library on your local network to all of your Apple devices.  It is easy to enable, but does require that you have an iTunes account.  Keep in mind that all Home Sharing will be limited to devices that are configured with that account.

Once you have Home Sharing enabled in iTunes, from iTune’s File menu go back to Home Sharing menu item and click on “Choose Photos to Share with AppleTV.”  Here you can select either an iPhoto Library, an Aperture Library, or any other folder on your Mac containing photos and videos you want to share.  Just be sure to check “Include Videos” when you first set this up.

To watch your shared movies, you must also enable Home Sharing on your Apple TV.  Now you will be able to select any one of the movies you shared by accessing them from the “Computer” icon on the home menu of your Apple TV.  Even thought they are videos, they will be listed under “Photos” of your computer’s Home Sharing library.  Keep in mind that this Home Sharing solution is limited to your devices connected to your home network.

Direct connection with cables

If you do not have an Apple TV connected to your HDTV, the next best thing is to use a cable to connect your Apple device directly to your HDTV.  How you connect to the HDTV will depend on which Apple product you have and the type of connectors your television supports.  For the most recent Macs that come equipped with either a mini display port or Thunderbolt, there is the Belkin Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter for $34.95 which will allow you to connect your Mac to an HDTV using an HDMI connection.

For your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad that still has the older 30-pin connector, you can use the Apple Composite AV Cable for $39.  While this is not an HDMI solution, it does connect to a wider variety of home theater equipment.  There are also the Lightning Digital AV Adapter for $49 that works with the iPhone 5 and latest version of the iPad that come with the new Lightning connector.  Each of these solutions will allow you to play back your movies from your Apple device directly to your HDTV.

Copy files to USB thumb drive

If your Mac is not near your home theater equipment, or you just don’t want to mess with cables every time you want to watch a home movie, you may be able to watch your video files from a USB thumb drive.  Many of todays home theater appliances come equipped with a USB port.  The challenge here is getting your home videos into a format that your device can display.  To convert mine, I have always used Handbrake (Free, Mac).  Handbrake is capable of reading in a wide variety of video formats and can export to the industry standard H.264.

If you are looking for a solution that works just as well, but is available through the Mac App Store, then try Smart Converter Pro ($4.99, Mac).  Like Handbrake, Smart Converter Pro can convert all of your home movies in a batch process.  Unlike Handbrake, it can also encode your home movies to DivX, a popular video format that a lot of older home theater equipment still supports.  Once you have your home movies in the format that you need, simply copy them over to your USB thumb drive and plug it into your home theater equipment.

Host your own UPnP/DLNA media server

Another option is to host your own Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) or Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) media server from your Mac.  Most smart HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, Roku and popular game consoles like the XBox and Playstation all can play videos served up by a UPnP/DLNA server.  The problem with this solution historically has been finding a media server solution that your home theater appliance works well with.  This sounds complicated but it really is not.  It is basically the same thing that iTunes does via AirPlay to the Apple TV outlined above.  Just think of UPnP/DLNA as AirPlay for the rest of the home theater market.

For the Mac, there are two popular media server solutions that are UPnP/DLNA compliant.  The first is Plex Media Server (Free, Mac).  Plex has been around for a while now and has done a great job of ensuring that its solution works well on a wide variety of devices.  Once installed, there are tutorials and instructions to help publish your local video files over your home network.

The second solution that does not have nearly all of the features the Plex has — but does a great job at serving up a folder full of home movies — is Serviio (Free, Mac).  Both solutions are easy to set up and will provide access to your home movies to almost any UPnP/DLNA compliant device attached to your home network.

There are several options available to you when it comes to watching home movies at home.  Not every solution requires that you use only Apple products to record and watch your home movies.  Each one offers its own benefits, from being able to play back your recently recorded videos directly from your iPhone, to storing years of home movies on your Mac and being able to bring them up any time you want to view them.

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Purchase a stylish dock

Since it will be dedicated to a particular location rather than be carried around, consider something other than a simple protective case.  Instead shop around for a stylish dock that will show off your other equipment.  What you will want to consider is whether or not you want to conceal or reveal the charging cable.  You may consider Apple’s iPad Dock ($29), which will charge the iPad when docked.  On the high end would be something like Cambridge Audio’s iD100 iPad Dock ($236), which adds audio and video connectivity.  But I have always appreciated the simplicity of design that products like Just Mobile’s Xtand Encore ($59.95) or Twelve South’s BookArc ($29.99) have to offer.

Wire everything up

Sometimes the dock you purchase will also include a means of wiring up your iPad to your system directly, especially if your system has a USB port and supports the iPod Dock interface. Sometimes, however, these docks are limited to audio only.  If you are also interested in driving video in addition to music, you could consider something as simple as getting Apple’s Digital AV Adapter.  But these solutions will require you to keep your iPad tethered to your system.  The best possible solution would be to also consider using an Apple TV as the accessory of choice to control the content you wish to watch or listen to over AirPlay.  In all cases, the goal is the same: to play content located on your iPad through your entertainment system.

Take control

This is where the iPad can become more than just another component attached to your home theater — when you can pick it up and take control of all of the other components you have attached to your home theater system.  Many manufacturers like Samsung, Denon and Pioneer all have remote apps that will allow you to control the various components you have purchased.  And even AT&T’s U-verse app will allow you to remotely control your cable box over Wi-Fi.  But you may want even more control than that.  This is when you may want to consider something like the Gear4′s Unity, Logitech’s Harmony Link or Griffin’s Beacon.  All three will enable your iPad to remotely control most if not all of the home theater components you have on hand.

Turn on Home Sharing

And that leaves just one last thing: your iTunes music and video library.  With Home Sharing enabled, you can access your entire iTunes library without having to sync back to your Mac.  And if you have an Apple TV, you can use Apple’s own Remote App to access your iTunes music library.  Even if you have moved your music to the cloud with Apple’s iTunes Match, your iPad will be able to access your entire music and video library when connected to your home Wi-Fi network.

Even the original iPad still has what it takes to act as a DVD or DVR by providing access to on-demand video content as well as a CD player or radio receiver to serve up your music library and even access streaming audio sources online.  And with the added ability to control the components you do decide to keep, it is definitely a solid addition to any home theater setup.

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Logitech’s Harmony line of universal remotes has been one of the top brands out there for many years for progammable multi-function home theater system control. They allow you to quickly and easily set up not only multiple devices on one remote, but also program various activities that combine a number of commands from the different components in your home entertainment setup.

Harmony Link brings the same features to your iPhone, iPad or Android device (allowing them to control up to 8 devices and various, user-customizable activities combining those devices), but it also ups the game with interactive content discovery features. The Harmony Link software lets you browse TV listings for your area and provider, and then watch shows using its interactive TV guide. It actually looks pretty magical as demoed in the video below.

I’m even tempted to sign up for cable again just to check that out, but note that you’ll need an iPad to take advantage of the interactive TV guide at launch. Android devices and the iPhone only feature device and activity controls.

The Link system works by connecting with your device via a Wi-Fi receiver, and then translating commands to IR for your home theater equipment to understand. That means if you’ve devised a clever way to keep your cable box, receiver, etc. out of sight, you’ll actually be able to control them with the Harmony Link without having to go on safari just to change channels.

Link on the iPad also includes features for adding shows and channels to favorites, which is nice in and of itself, but also seems like a logical first step towards social sharing features. Just allowing others to see via Facebook or Twitter what you’re watching would add a social layer to Harmony Link that could make it a great way for content providers to encourage second-screen engagement, since people will already be using the remote app to enhance their TV viewing anyway. Hopefully Logitech sees the inherent opportunity there, too, and adds social elements in a future iteration.

Bravo to Logitech for making this available at $99 when it launches next month. The iPhone and iPad have long had the potential to become a disruptive force for the universal remote market, especially since they seem to be becoming more popular as supplementary viewing devices for people consuming TV-based content. A relatively cheap Link (when compared to Logitech’s existing Harmony line) lets Logitech get out in front of the potential for mobile devices to eat into its market share. And thanks to the interactive guide, Link does so in a way that adds value, rather than simply replicating existing Harmony functions in a boring way that leaves room for others to improve.

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Step 1: Get Spotify

There are two ways to get a Spotify account: either by invitation for a free account, or by paying for premium or unlimited accounts. Once you have an account set up, you’ll need to download and install the Spotify OS X client application. Then just start browsing for music and create playlists. Just a few more steps, and you’ll turn your house into one big Spotify jukebox.

Step 2: Extend AirPlay to any Mac music app with Airfoil

Next you’ll need Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil for Mac. Airfoil has been around since long before Apple introduced AirPlay and the second generation Apple TV. Any audio application on the Mac (including Spotify), or even the Mac’s system output can be made accessible to AirPlay devices with Airfoil.

1. Download and install Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil for Mac.
2. Choose Spotify in Airfoil as the application you want to play.
3. Choose the AirPlay and/or Airfoil device(s) you want to connect to.
4. Play music using Spotify.

Step 3: Extend your range with Airfoil speakers

One of the limitations of Apple’s AirPlay has been the fact that iOS devices themselves are not able to receive AirPlay streams, only send them. Luckily, Rogue Amoeba created an app called Airfoil Speakers Touch for iOS devices that allows Airfoil to play music on any and all iOS devices connected to your local network. This works great if you want to extend your playback to speakers that otherwise would not be connected. There’s also a version of Speakers for OS X (.zip file) that will allow you to extend your playback to all the Macs on your network. Keep in mind that you are limited to your local network, so this is not a workaround for taking your library on the go, which is only included in the premium and unlimited Spotify accounts.

Bonus: Remote control options to round it all off

Now that you’re playing music from Spotify around your house, how can you also control it remotely? There are two good third-party solutions to help with this: One will let you control Airfoil on your Mac, and the other will allow you to control Spotify.

• Reemote for Airfoil. Kai Aras’ Reemote lets turn on and off different combinations of Airfoil and AirPlay enabled devices on your network. You can even control their individual volumes, to some extent, and you can switch your audio source application on the host Mac. There is an iPhone as well as an iPad version of Reemote. To make this work, you’ll also need to download and install the Reemote Server application for Mac.
• Two Remotes for Spotify. To control what playlists you’re listening to from within Spotify on the Mac, there are two good solutions. Axel Moller’s Spot Remote and Anders O’s Remoteless. Both apps are universal, supporting both the iPhone and iPad. Both allow you to browse and start Spotify playlists, as well as search for tracks, artist and albums. Another thing they both share is the use of an open source library called SIMBL. The server software for Spot Remote as well as Remoteless requires that SIMBL be installed on the host Mac in order for either solution to work. SIMBL allows third-party developers to enhance the functionality of other applications from other developers. Unfortunately, while it seems to work for some, OS X Lion does not yet appear to be officially supported by either solution.

Since this does require a bit of setup, it isn’t quite as easy as just using iTunes and an Apple TV. But if you’re looking for an alternative that makes use of Spotify’s great new service, maybe this is the whole home music solution you’ve been waiting for.

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iOS 5 doesn’t bring native support for apps on the Apple TV, but it does introduce AirPlay Mirroring for the iPad 2. Mirroring is a feature that was introduced alongside the iPad 2. It allowed users to display exactly what was on their tablet on an external display, too, using the Digital AV Adapter Apple released that provides an HDMI connection for video and audio out. When it was announced, I said the mirroring ability was the iPad 2′s killer feature. That’s even more true now that Apple has promised to make the technology wireless.

I’ve had a chance to go hands-on with AirPlay Mirroring, and it works as advertised. Once you select your Apple TV as an output source in the multitasking menu bar, everything you do on your iPad will be transmitted to your Apple TV–connected display. Even in this early beta form, it works remarkably well, with very little lag time and without any interruptions in the connection during my test. It does seem to be fairly taxing on the iPad’s battery, but by no means to such an extent that it affects the usefulness of the experience.

It does require that users have both an iPad 2 and an Apple TV in order to work, however. The cost of the Digital AV Adapter from Apple’s retail store is $39, but the Apple TV is itself only $99. That’s still just shy of $100, and even basic wireless video transmitters that don’t provide any additional functionality start at around $80.

Note also that while the home screen and most apps display in the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad 2′s screen (or in 3:4 when viewing in portrait orientation), full-screen video outputted to the AirPlay-connected TV automatically adjusts to fill the screen if it is formatted for widescreen. Developers can also specifically tell their apps to adjust to a widescreen aspect ratio, as Firemint has done with Real Racing 2 HD, which it has announced will support HD wireless output in iOS 5.

iCloud may be hogging the tech press spotlight, but AirPlay is Apple’s big play in the living room, and it’s one of the most significant and potentially disruptive new technologies the company has introduced in a long time. iOS 4.3 brought third-party developers access to AirPlay video streaming, a major step in attracting consumer attention to the tech. Now, with AirPlay mirroring, Apple will completely change the way users and the market think about its Apple TV relaunch. With the help of Apple TV, the iPad 2, and future Apple mobile devices that support it, AirPlay Mirroring could become the Google TV that actually works for consumers, and one that users can easily take with them.

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Turtle Beach recently introduced a wireless gaming headset called the PX5, which features a mini receiver designed for use with PS3 or Xbox 360 gaming consoles, but it actually supports Macs, too, thanks to the optical audio out I mentioned above. I spent a week testing out the PX5 with my Mac HTPC setup, and here are my thoughts.

Not Cheap — In Both Good and Not So Good Ways

The PX5 system is the mostly costly offering in Turtle Beach’s lineup of gaming headsets, with an MSRP of $249.95. You can get it cheaper if you look around (Amazon has it listed for $212.99 as of this writing), but while it’s still not inexpensive even then, consider that Beats by Dre or Bose headphones will probably cost nearly as much, if not more.

Turtle Beach also packs a lot of value into that $250 price tag. The PX5 is wireless, communicating with the receiver base via 2.4 GHz RF signal. It supports pass-through audio if you want to use it in combination with a full home theater receiver, and it also offers Bluetooth connectivity. Finally, it’s fully programmable; the only problem is its programming software is Windows-only.

Downsides

Windows-only programming is a drag, but the presets Turtle Beach preloads onto the PX5 are probably adequate for most users anyway. Plus, if you have Windows installed on your computer via Boot Camp or virtualization software, you can still take advantage of this feature.

Also, as I mentioned, the PX5 communicates via 2.4 GHz RF. That means if your home wireless network is also on the same frequency, there can be some interference. In my usage with an older 2.4 GHz-only Apple AirPort Extreme router, I could hear audible clicks infrequently when I was very close to the router (within three feet), or when I was transferring large amounts of data over the network. But when I swapped out the router with my newer, dual-band switching 2.4 and 5.0 GHz AirPort Extreme, I heard nary a whimper of static while using the headset.

Note that in all cases, it’s recommended that the PX5 receiver is in the same room where you’re using the headset, and that line-of-sight seems to guarantee an optimal connection. Even with all these caveats, I found the connection was consistently strong, and even the occasional interference I experienced under the worst conditions was more than bearable.

Finally, note that the PX5 natively supports only Dolby Digital 5.1 and 7.1 for true surround sound. If your source uses DTS, the receiver will digitally process it using Dolby Pro Logic II technology, which, while not optimal, in my experience also didn’t detract from the experience enough to make me give it too much thought.

Strong Suits

First, the PX5 is remarkably versatile. It works very well not only with Mac home theatre setups, but also with PCs (so long as they have optical audio output), with the PS3 and the Xbox, and also with Bluetooth devices.

One really cool feature is that you can connect the PX5 to your iPhone as a Bluetooth headset (independent of the RF receiver), while also using it with an optical source through the RF connection. That means you can use it to talk on your Phone while playing games or watching a movie, by muting one and switching to the other on the fly. Or, you can stream stereo music via A2DP from your iPhone or computer to the PX5. In fact, as a stereo Bluetooth headset, I’ve yet to come across another product that matches the PX5 for sound quality. The detachable boom mic it comes with is also more than up to the task of making voice calls. Unfortunately, there aren’t any iPod controls on the headset for use with the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

The PX5 is also great for small spaces and for people who don’t want to clutter up their entertainment space with wires, big stereo system components, and speakers. It has about the same footprint as your average contemporary wireless router, or like a slightly thicker DVD case. The fewer wires I have in my office/gaming space, the better.

While the PX5 doesn’t offer the ability to connect more than one headset to the wireless receiver, it does provide a 3.5mm jack that can be used with any stereo headphones at the same time as the wireless headset, complete with virtual surround sound. That means if you have a friend over and want to watch a movie together, you can do it without any particularly complicated additional setup.

One last point that may be contentious as a strength: the PX5 uses regular AA batteries, both alkaline and rechargeable. Some may prefer a built-in rechargeable battery, since this device does tend to use a lot of power, but I’ve managed to get a lot of usage time out of a set of 2 AAs. The alkalines it shipped with lasted pretty near the 15-hour life in the official specs, and even a pair of well-worn rechargeables I’ve been using since have done very well so far. I prefer not having to deal with a proprietary battery when it comes time to seek out a permanent replacement, since the PX5 seems to be a product I could be using for a very long time.

Verdict

If you like watching movies on your Mac, and you’re looking for a surround sound experience that won’t break the bank or draw noise complaints from your neighbors, the Turtle Beach PX5 is a very good option. Consider that you get a high-quality Bluetooth headset in the bargain, as well as probably the best gaming headset on the market, and the value picture gets that much better.

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