Is There Any Way To Stream Windows 10 Computer To Apple Tv Generation 3?

[PokeNev]

Just As The Title States, Is There Any Way To Stream Windows 10 Computer To Apple Tv Generation 3?

 

[notimp]

https://alternativeto.net/software/airparrot/

For Mac its AirParrot or Reflector, which are all listed in the first few Alternatives in the Link, so go through the list and try a few.

Its more economical to just hand over video urls to your set top box though (see https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-macos-linux-scripts-to-interface-with-android.531237/ although this isnt for windows, you could try and create something like this for windows as well. (Batch scripting), I guess. )

 

[PokeNev]

https://alternativeto.net/software/airparrot/

For Mac its AirParrot or Reflector, which are all listed in the first few Alternatives in the Link, so go through the list and try a few.

Its more economical to just hand over video urls to your set top box though (see https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-macos-linux-scripts-to-interface-with-android.531237/ although this isnt for windows, you could try and create something like this for windows as well. (Batch scripting), I guess. )

To stream to it I have to jailbreak it, I’m pretty sure the answer is yes but I don’t want to jailbreak. Even if the answer was no, I’m no longer interested in this topic, sorry for wasting your time. ( I sincerely mean that, sometimes text gives you a sarcastic tone, sorry! )

 

[notimp]

You should not need to jailbreak your device. Those programs usually have reverse engineered the Airplay protocol so they act as any Macbook would, initiating the same streaming feature.

Macbooks as well as PCs are open by default, so you don't need to jailbrek those either to install third party programs.


There are some small downsides though.

- first is lag (so its not suitable for gaming), because the video feed usually needs to buffer, and they arent as cutting edge as some nvidia encoding solutions.

- second is framerate mismatch- so most of those streaming solutions will stream your screen at 60fps, while most movies usually play at 24fps, causing - judder (skips while panning), thats actually why I wont use any of those solutions myself

- third is, that your PC has to run all the time, while you are doing something on your TV - and with modern set top boxes, this simply isn't needed anymore (if your usecase is video watching).

(- fourth is, that you have to actually reencode and decode video in realtime, which for many usecases (watching video) simply isn't needed).

(- fifth might be aspect ratio (if your PC sports a 16:10 monitor, and you want to stream on a 16:9 TV, most of those 'PC apps' are "most easy" for the novice user, so resolution switching might be beyond their capabilities. Test several.)
-

So in my case - I have my entire setup set up, so that I can control my Android TV box (not an Apple TV ) from my Macbook, that I can hand over any videolink from my macbook, and then can close it up, have it go into standby and the streaming video is still streaming on the settop box natively.

My solutions depend on Android Set Top boxes running Kodi, and a Macbook Air to navigate.

Imho thats the best solution to tackle this, if you've got the time to go through the 'complicated looking' thread I've linked you (and created in this forum), preferably you also have a rooted android phone, then you can do all of that from your phone and your laptop interchangeably.
-

The second best solution is building a Home Theatre PC, and controlling it via something like Synergy ( https://symless.com/synergy ) from a Laptop of your choice. That way you also don't need to do the useless transcoding (that gives you framerate issues).
-

The solution most people want to use (stream my (smartphone/pc) screen onto my tv settop box) is actually the worst one.

If you'd still want to do that - buying a Steam Link, and a Steam controller would actually be one of the best ways to realize that (when streaming from a PC).

Steam Controller - is actually a freaking great device to control mouse/keyboard of a PC connected to your TV, and a Steam Link is a single purpose device thats all about streaming your PC to your TV screen remotely.

Alternatively you could also use any Android Box with Moonlight (App) installed on it. Especially if your PC sports an nVidia Graphics card. (Nvidia Experience can enable in Home (live video) streaming, thats then accessible via Moonlight.)
-

Going the Airplay to Apple TV route will get tedious over time.

It works though.

 

[tech3475]

Does steam link work on it?

 

[notimp]

Steam Link now also supports Apple TVs I see, as said before, that might be the way to go. (Google how you can set it up to also see your Desktop).

The Steam controller still is worth a thought, and the Steam Link Box would have the benefit that it can 'push through' the Steam Controllers (or a connected keyboard touchpad combo, such as the Logitech K400 plus) without issues (You connect them to the box, and they control your PC). If thats the case on an Apple TV as well - I dont know.

Steam Link compatible, basically means can steam pick up and initiate a live video recording/streaming feature. Today thats basically part of any modern graphics card, if your PC is older - it might be CPU bound.


Steamlink or Moonlight (based on Nvidia Game Streaming) are preferable solutions (for PC live in home streaming), because they are newer and more performance oriented than the (Apple) Airplay protocol bound solutions I linked you first. So its a better 'protocol' (less lag, other detriments still present ).

 

[PokeNev]

Steam Link now also supports Apple TVs I see, as said before, that might be the way to go. (Google how you can set it up to also see your Desktop).

The Steam controller still is worth a thought, and the Steam Link Box would have the benefit that it can 'push through' the Steam Controllers (or a connected keyboard touchpad combo, such as the Logitech K400 plus) without issues (You connect them to the box, and they control your PC). If thats the case on an Apple TV as well - I dont know.

Steam Link compatible, basically means can steam pick up and initiate a live video recording/streaming feature. Today thats basically part of any modern graphics card, if your PC is older - it might be CPU bound.


Steamlink or Moonlight (based on Nvidia Game Streaming) are preferable solutions (for PC live in home streaming), because they are newer and more performance oriented than the (Apple) Airplay protocol bound solutions I linked you first. So its a better 'protocol' (less lag, other detriments still present ).

You can’t download anything on the 3rd gen of Apple TV only 4th gen and beyond

 

[notimp]

I see.

The Airport protocol programs should still work. If the Gen 3 accepts a video mirror stream from any Macbook. As you can tell I dont know the specifics of a Gen 3 Apple TV.

 

[PokeNev]

I see.

The Airport protocol programs should still work. If the Gen 3 accepts a video mirror stream from any Macbook. As you can tell I dont know the specifics of a Gen 3 Apple TV.

My Apple TV doesn’t show up on airparrot though my phone can stream to my Apple TV so I don’t know why it doesn’t work I’ve also tried reflector.

 

[notimp]

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear that. Well, you can find solace in the knowledge, that it wouldnt have been an optimal experience anyhow.

Those are the solutions that would work with some implementation of Airplay. In theory and practice, because thats their business model.

The steamlink box and controller are discontinued by now - but werent a bad solution for what you are trying - its just, that in home streaming was always somehow cluegy to begin with. You should be able to pick them up cheaply, and it is your next best bet. (Just still not the best solution for watching video on your big screen. )

 

[PokeNev]

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear that. Well, you can find solace in the knowledge, that it wouldnt have been an optimal experience anyhow.

Those are the solutions that would work with some implementation of Airplay. In theory and practice, because thats their business model.

The steamlink box and controller are discontinued by now - but werent a bad solution for what you are trying - its just, that in home streaming was always somehow cluegy to begin with. You should be able to pick them up cheaply, and it is your next best bet. (Just still not the best solution for watching video on your big screen. )

I can just stream video from my phone to my tv with no hassle and it plays it fine, is that really a big hassle? For me any video I stream as perfectly clear, no buffering, no lag, and no frames skipped.

 

[notimp]

Air Parrot and Reflector try to realize just that. They use the same protocol your phone does.

Issue here is, that its closed (they reverse engineered it, because they saw people also wanting to do it with PCs as a business model ), and apple can always update the Apple TV doing god knows what.

(They always own/make all hardware and software, and decide on the standards in this case - so ultimately - if they dont want to play ball, they dont have to.)

I can not troubleshoot why exactly it 'dont work' in your case, but neither can anyone else - really, because both the protocol and the endpoint are closed source. "Apple doesnt like it" now is the reasoning to beat.

You can still try around in that 'field of software' (alternativeto.net is a good resource to track down remaining candidates on your own. ) to maybe find something that works - but maybe after streaming your phone to the Apple TV for a little while longer, you'll also come to the conclusion, that this wouldnt be an optimal solution, even if you could do it from a PC anyhow.

What ever you decide on doing, godspeed.

 

[PokeNev]

Air Parrot and Reflector try to realize just that. They use the same protocol your phone does.

Issue here is, that its closed (they reverse engineered it, because they saw people also wanting to do it with PCs as a business model ), and apple can always update the Apple TV doing god knows what.

(They always own/make all hardware and software, and decide on the standards in this case - so ultimately - if they dont want to play ball, they dont have to.)

I can not troubleshoot why exactly it 'dont work' in your case, but neither can anyone else - really, because both the protocol and the endpoint are closed source. "Apple doesnt like it" now is the reasoning to beat.

You can still try around in that 'field of software' (alternativeto.net is a good resource to track down remaining candidates on your own. ) to maybe find something that works - but maybe after streaming your phone to the Apple TV for a little while longer, you'll also come to the conclusion, that this wouldnt be an optimal solution, even if you could do it from a PC anyhow.

What ever you decide on doing, godspeed.

Thank you very much, also how do I close a thread, since the discussion is over I’d like to close it.

 

[notimp]

No - leave it open, I'm not 'support guy' and maybe in the future someone else has a few questions on that. Dont burry - other people can benefit from what you tried. Thats how forums work.

Also, maybe someone else finds an Airplay based solution that works, who knows.

 

[PokeNev]

No - leave it open, I'm not 'support guy' and maybe in the future someone else has a few questions on that. Dont burry - other people can benefit from what you tried. Thats how forums work.

Also, maybe someone else finds an Airplay based solution that works, who knows.

Ok, I’ll leave it open

 

[notimp]

Just successfully streamed my Macbooks screen, via Airplay, to my X9S (Android TV Box), if you're interested. 1080p60 perfect audio sync. Latency probably a few 100ms.

Android program used was this here: http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/happy-cast-v6-5-0-8-for-air-play-mirror.4705/

Screen on the Macbook shrunk to 16:9 aspect ratio while streaming it via Airplay.

Could choose between 30fps and 60fps.

Usability still wasn't the greatest. In terms of how I'd rate the experiences, I'd still stick to my list in the longer posting..

 

[notimp]

Airplay Mirror is useful for reading comics 'n stuff though.

If you have a Macbook - buy an app called Camouflage from the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/camouflage/id445264274

This can automatically put an image overlay over all your icons on the desktop (any app you'll start after that will be put on top of the image, so you are basically covering up all the icons on your desktop with an image). Then set up an Apple-Script like this one to be triggered with a key combination (Quicksilver for Mac ( https://qsapp.com/ ) can do that and is a great alternative to Spotlight (doesnt interfere with Spotlight) as a Launcher as well).

tell application "System Events"
get name of every process whose name is "Camouflage"
if result is not {} then
tell application "System Preferences"
reveal pane id "com.apple.preference.general"
end tell
delay 0.5
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences" to tell window "Allgemein"
click checkbox "Menüleiste automatisch ein- und ausblenden"
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"
tell application "Camouflage"
quit
end tell
else
tell application "System Preferences"
reveal pane id "com.apple.preference.general"
end tell
delay 0.5
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences" to tell window "Allgemein"
click checkbox "Menüleiste automatisch ein- und ausblenden"
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"
tell application "Camouflage"
activate
end tell
end if
end tell

save as a .scrpt make it executable (chmod +x), bind it to a keycombination (that isnt used by anything other on the system, on MacOS thats usualy keycombinations with crtl+ another key).

You have to rewrite the script above (window "Allgemein", checkbox "Menüleiste automatisch ein- und ausblenden" ) if you are not using the German version of MacOS. But what it basically does, is to check if Camouflage is running, and if not, it starts it, and it ventures into Mac System settings to tick a checkbox, that also hides the Mac menubar (will still scroll down on hover over).

So as a result you have an entirely cleaned up screen (image oiverlaying the Desktop icons, menu bar hidden).

If you launch the script again, it will untick the checkbox in system settings, so the menu bar comes back, and it will quit Camouflage, getting you back to your normal desktop.
-

With that cleaned up screen, you might want to launch a cleaned up Google Chrome window in the middle of your screen, which you can do like that:

do shell script "/Applications/Google\\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\\ Chrome --incognito --app=https://www.comixology.com/my-books/ --window-size=900,680 --window-position=233,0"

tell application "Finder"
set screenSize to bounds of window of desktop
set screenWidth to item 3 of screenSize
end tell
tell application "System Events"
set myFrontMost to name of first item of (processes whose frontmost is true)
end tell
try
tell application myFrontMost
set windowSize to bounds of window 1
set windowXl to item 1 of windowSize
set windowYt to item 2 of windowSize
set windowXr to item 3 of windowSize
set windowYb to item 4 of windowSize

set windowWidth to windowXr - windowXl

set bounds of window 1 to {(screenWidth - windowWidth) / 2.0, 45, (screenWidth + windowWidth) / 2.0, 45 + (windowYb - windowYt)}
end tell
end try

(Applescript code to be saved as an .app)

That launches a Google Chrome incognito window on https://www.comixology.com/my-books/ which is 'minimalized' in appearance.

You could then proceed to Airplay Mirror your Mac to you TV (f.e. using the Android .apk linked above and an Android Box under your TV), then use a "use your phone as a mouse" app like:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.necta.wifimousefree

to sit closer to your TV and use your smartphone phone as a trackpad. Works beautifully.
-

Why thats useful.
Any 55" TV currently has enough vertical resolution and hight that you could use it as a comic book reader for a full size page, without flipping the screen by 90° or anything like that. Its actually very, very usable for that usecase.

Tips:
- Use cmd+ (revert with cmd-) on your Google Chrome browser window to set resolution to 200% - if you own a Macbook with a retina display, this will result in a sharper image, that then gets captured and airplayed as a 1080p image to your TV. This is for services, that will scale images to fit screen height or width in Chrome - because scaled size on the TV will be the same, but the resolution (image fidelity) will have increased.
- Go into Energy management on your Mac and set it to never sleep, while plugged in in case thats needed.

Looks like that in the end (this is me using comixology.com (but this works with any online comic service):

if you drag the window size to fit the comic page (scaled to fit height) exactly.

You could also drag it double wide for double pages, if you'd like to, like so:

Also, The Android Wifi Mouse app (for your phone to be used as a trackpad) I've linked above currently doesnt seem to have an 'all black' mode (which definitely is preferable, if your phone has an OLED screen, while you are using it with its screen enabled as a touchpad, for a long time) - but an older version of the app (3.9.2) has.

You can source that from here ( https://apkpure.com/wifi-mouse/com.necta.wifimousefree )
-

So thats a usecase, where screen mirroring finally makes sense for once. (If you dont want to build a HTPC) (You are sitting closer to a 55" (or larger ) screen, so smaller UIs dont matter, and you are using it for image browsing - so the few miliseconds of lag dont come into play that much. Also as you are mostly clicking onto one part of the screen to advance an image - the less than ideal 'phone as a trackpad' experience doesnt matter much either. In fact its pretty 'good enough'.

Also - as you have seen by now, using an Android TV Box, and a Macbook (Air) is much, much more preferable, than using a an Apple TV and a Windows laptop.

(Always invest more money into the 'PC' like device (Laptop), because thats where you want the 'smarts' of a fully fledged OS and a good UI. Android Box under your TV could be comparatively cheap and dumb as a rock (as long as it is android ) and can till be controlled and automated from a Laptop (Mac in my case) - no problem.
-

So finally found a usecase, where Airplay screen mirroring actually makes sense. Is what I'm saying.

Used and tested on a 55" LG 4K OLED. Screen door effect is no issue at all. With 8K screens probably even less so. Airplay will be limited to 1080p in our scenario (using that Android .apk) - but image quality (using 200% page size in Chrome) is more than good enough for this to be a viable usecase. (If you dont have to sit on the floor in front of your TV. For a furniture buying guide, refer to youtube.. )