Watching videos on a TV from 4th and 5th gen iPad (and iPad

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Watching videos on a TV from 4th and 5th gen iPad (and iPad > NAS)

jonathan18

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#134059 13-Nov-2013 10:01

Hey there I’ve been planning on purchasing an iPad Air, but this morning I’ve come across a potential deal-breaker – I was hoping other readers out there may know of some solutions to this problem.

Essentially, I had planned on being able to connect it to a television to output videos (eg, while on holiday). I went to purchase the adapter to enable me to do this and found out two significant issues (apart from the high cost, that is!):

Video: the quality of the video output is apparently poor, due to the “adapter” being more of a video processor that doesn’t even managed to output “proper” full HD and without adding artefacts etc (this apparently is only a problem with the Lightning adapter; the 30 pin one does 1080 natively).
Audio: apparently it doesn’t output Dolby Digital (a key point, given most of my collection would have DD soundtracks).

Given these significant matters, does anyone have any useful ideas as to how to get around them? That is, apart from buy a 30-pin iPad or a non-iOS device, that is (the latter may still be an option!). I take it that there may be a more straight-forward option in my own home, given I assume I can connect the iPad via DLNA, though will include support for Dolby Digital?

Recommendations for video streaming from NAS to iPad (or other tablets)
Finally, there is the matter of video watching the other way, ie streaming it on the iPad from our NAS. I remember a number of apps removed Dolby Digital support, but I see that some have brought it back (eg CineXPlayer). What would people’s recommendations be for an app that can not only play local video but also stream from a NAS, and that supports a good range of video and audio codecs? (Totally willing to pay for the best solution, as this will be a common use for the device).

Many thanks for any suggestions.

Cheers
Jonathan

(edit for formatting purposes only)

jonathan18

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#933086 13-Nov-2013 13:35

Ok, now I see the iPad is even more limited than I ever feared, in that it can't stream wirelessly to the TV through acting as a DLNA server. So, seriously, an Apple TV is really the only way to get wireless streaming to a TV??!!

Oblivian

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#933094 13-Nov-2013 13:48

Smart tv with a DLNA player?

Panasonics work fine with XBMC over wireless.

You can run it on the PC as a serving host, or the device as a player

Both will play to each other via upnp

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_XBMC_on_iPad/iPhone/iPod_touch

jonathan18

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#933101 13-Nov-2013 13:59

Oblivian: Smart tv with a DLNA player?

Panasonics work fine with XBMC over wireless.

You can run it on the PC as a serving host, or the device as a player

Both will play to each other via upnp

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_XBMC_on_iPad/iPhone/iPod_touch

Thanks for this; I have a smart Panasonic TV so at least that ticks that box.

That said, the material on the page you link to states the iPad has to be jailbroken and running iOS up to 6.1 - I would be purchasing an Air, not too keen on jailbreaking it while under warranty, and it'll have the latest iOS on it. Does this rule me out from what you're suggesting? Are there alternatives that don't require jailbreaking?

I'm noting your comments about running XBMC on "the PC as a serving host", but I assume here you're talking about the ability to play stuff on the iPad being served off the PC (as opposed to an alternative to needing to jailbreak the iPad) - is that correct? Apologies for my ignorance!

Many thanks
Jonathan

PlatinuM195

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#933114 13-Nov-2013 14:21

For streaming to the TV, I don't see why you need the iPad. You can simply run a number of DLNA media server applications on the PC and then browse your videos on the TV (Plex is a good option).

In terms of NAS to iPad, I've found the easiest option is to simply browse the NAS as a Samba share using an app such as CineXPlayer or OPlayer. No problems playing most filetypes, even with subtitles.

littleheaven

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#933115 13-Nov-2013 14:21

You can get apps that will stream from your idevice to any DLNA compatible TV or home theatre system. I did a quick search and came up with this one: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/arkmc-dlna-upnp-media-streaming/id405487397?mt=8 but there appear to be dozens others. Not sure what the audio quality is like, but what are the chances the places you stay on holiday would have dolby home theatre? This solution also assumes anywhere you might go on holiday would have DLNA enabled equipment, which is never guaranteed. If you're more likely to be doing the streaming at home on your own equipment, I would definitely recommend Apple TV. I held off buying one for a very long time but since Santa kindly got me one last Christmas, I have really enjoyed using it. If you were to get one, you could just take it on holiday with you, it's so tiny. And if you had wireless connectivity where you were staying, it would give you the added option of renting movies from the iTunes store should you run out of things to watch. The only requirement would be a TV or home theatre system with an HDMI line in.

Edited for BB code fail

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jonathan18

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#933134 13-Nov-2013 14:32

PlatinuM195: For streaming to the TV, I don't see why you need the iPad. You can simply run a number of DLNA media server applications on the PC and then browse your videos on the TV (Plex is a good option).

In terms of NAS to iPad, I've found the easiest option is to simply browse the NAS as a Samba share using an app such as CineXPlayer or OPlayer. No problems playing most filetypes, even with subtitles.

It's not a big issue, as generally video (esp movies/series) we may have on the iPad will already be on our NAS, so these are just streamed to the TV via an Mac Mini running XBMC.

It's sharing videos that aren't also stored on another location, eg videos of the kids including those shot on the iPad, that I'd want to be able to easily display on the TV.

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#933142 13-Nov-2013 14:36

the ipad is a great toy to do colourful things on ...

but when you need it as a tool it's useless

why don't get a windows based laptop as your "central server"?

jonathan18

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#933147 13-Nov-2013 14:41

littleheaven: You can get apps that will stream from your idevice to any DLNA compatible TV or home theatre system. I did a quick search and came up with this one: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/arkmc-dlna-upnp-media-streaming/id405487397?mt=8 but there appear to be dozens others. Not sure what the audio quality is like, but what are the chances the places you stay on holiday would have dolby home theatre? This solution also assumes anywhere you might go on holiday would have DLNA enabled equipment, which is never guaranteed. If you're more likely to be doing the streaming at home on your own equipment, I would definitely recommend Apple TV. I held off buying one for a very long time but since Santa kindly got me one last Christmas, I have really enjoyed using it. If you were to get one, you could just take it on holiday with you, it's so tiny. And if you had wireless connectivity where you were staying, it would give you the added option of renting movies from the iTunes store should you run out of things to watch. The only requirement would be a TV or home theatre system with an HDMI line in.

Edited for BB code fail

Fair point re availability of decent equipment when away from home; hence my preference had always been to simply go with the HDMI cable adapter (given this will be compatible with most TVs these days), but given the problems I've identified in my first post (quality of image and lack of DD) I'm not sure if I could accept these compromises.

I did think that, sure I could buy an Apple TV and take it away with me when needed, but 1. it's relatively expensive (for this sole purpose of connecting the iPad and TV) and 2. it's more cumbersome in some ways than a cable (eg, needing power). I think I'd need to find a further use for it to be able to justify the purchase (given we already run a Mac Mini that can probably do most of the other things the Apple TV can do). Any other key advantages to having one (in addition to renting movies)? I did wonder about Netflix, given I'd love access to this at some point (though I can probably also access this via the Mac Mini?).

Will have a good look at the apps that you say can stream from an iPad; can't access these sites at work. Thanks for this!

jonathan18

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#933181 13-Nov-2013 14:56

joker97: the ipad is a great toy to do colourful things on ...

but when you need it as a tool it's useless

why don't get a windows based laptop as your "central server"?

We already have a Windows laptop; it's just large and cumbersome in comparison, especially to take away (one of the reasons for purchasing an iPad!).

sir1963

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#933633 14-Nov-2013 07:36

As opposed to plugging in a Hard Drive to the TVs USB port ?