Did you know that you can wirelessly mirror the screen of an iPad or iPhone via an Apple TV? Did you know that soon you’ll be able to do the same with your Mac?
Well now you do!
iPads, iPhones and (soon) Macs are all able to wirelessly mirror their displays via an Apple TV and present their displays on any screen, monitor or projector attached to that Apple TV, all you need is a wireless network to connect to and you’re off. It is so easy and so cheap (only $100 for the Apple TV + an HDMI cable) to implement with so many advantages, that any church would be crazy not to connect an Apple TV to a projector or TV.
Read on to find out what you can do with an Apple TV connected to a projector.
What you can do with an Apple TV
As I said, either an iPhone (specifically iPhone 4S), iPad (iPad 2 or new iPad) or Mac (running Mountain Lion) can mirror the display (and audio) via an Apple TV. And by doing so, there are a number of tasks that can be accomplished, and I’ve come up with at least 4 things you could do with an Apple TV.
All of which can be done wirelessly!
1. Wirelessly give a presentation
This is very easy to do. With any presentation software on a Mac (PowerPoint, Keynote), a presentation can be given in Full HD by mirroring the display onto the projector screen. Even better, install Apple’s Keynote on an iPad or iPhone and walk around, device in hand, giving the presentation. Great for preachers who like to be in control of their presentation while walking around the stage.
2. Show video content
As I stated earlier, not only does the Apple TV mirror the display, it also mirrors the audio. So you can easily present any video content from an Apple device on a projector screen. The only consideration to make is that the audio comes out via HDMI with the video, so you would have to make sure that you have an adaptor. Below are two images showing an iPad mirroring its display to an Apple TV, then playing a video. Note how the video takes up the full width of the TV.
3. Demonstrate websites
If your Church has a website that they want to show off, then that is easy to do by mirroring the display onto the screen. You can walk around, wirelessly connected to the Apple TV and use an iPad to show off the website. You can zoom, and scroll around with ease. Almost too much ease.
4. Use any App!
Any App that you have on an iPad, iPhone or Mac can be seen via an Apple TV. This opens an amazing world of possibilities when showing presentation. Imagine using the new Flyover feature in iOS 6 to view the location of your church’s missionary partners. A whole new world of connection! Below is a Bible App being mirrored wirelessly via an Apple TV.
The Drawbacks
Using an Apple TV connected to a projector is not all rosy however. There are some drawbacks, and below are 4 that I could think of.
1. Must be connected to a wireless network
Connecting an Apple Device to an Apple TV can only be done over wifi. And if you don’t have a wireless network then it just won’t work. Also, if you do have a wireless network but it’s not very reliable, then you won’t be able to be certain of a good, consistent connection.
2. Can only mirror display
Unlike a wired connection, you cannot display your presentation on the Apple TV, and presenter notes on your computer at the same time. You can only mirror your display. This means that what you see on your computer, your audience sees on the screen.
3. May need special adaptor for audio
As I stated earlier, the Apple TV outputs audio and video via HDMI, so if you’re video source is not your audio source then you will need an adaptor. But if you are using a large widescreen TV as your display, then you’ll be able to get both audio and video through the one cable.
4. Can only connect to one Apple TV at a time
If your church has multiple displays or projectors, then you’ll need to connect an Apple TV to a central hub, and send the signal out from there. This is because each Apple device can only connect to one Apple TV at a time.
How-To
You now may be wondering how to connect an Apple device to an Apple TV. It’s easy to mirror the display of an iPad or iPhone. Simply double tap the home button, swipe to the right and tap on the button that looks like a triangle poking a rectangle (Airplay), then tap on the Apple TV you want to connect to, and tap airplay. That’s all you need to do assuming that the devices are on the same wireless network.
Watch the video below starting at 4:10 to see how easy it will be to do on a Mac when Mountain Lion is released in July.
[tentblogger-youtube j5BRsh8Dwgg]
Concluding Remarks
If your church has a number of people who use Apple devices to present with, then connecting an Apple TV to a projector or HDTV is a no-brainer. It is so easy to do and so cheap with so many benefits. Imagine being able to walk around the stage while presenting with iPad in hand. It allows for such freedom and control. And with updates constantly coming to these devices, it can only get better.
[Image via nakagawa]
Peter Gowesky says
I love this! What a great idea. I can’t wait for this update. It’s going to be huge! It’s a must have for my house, but I’m thinking that it would be huge for churches too.
Calum Henderson says
I’m honestly surprised that more people haven’t made a big deal of this. Even imagine a guest speaker coming in and not having to worry about connecting up cables. Just connect to the wireless network and go!
Thanks for commenting!
Daniel Merchen says
I love the idea of being able to allow the presenter to display their content, and best of all control their content. However, the deal breaker for me is the haphazard support for 16:9 resolutions. Particularly for those who have made the decision to support 16:9 screens. 4:3 for mirroring, and back and forth to 16:9 for video playback is somewhat distracting in my opinion.
Calum Henderson says
You’re right Daniel. iPad resolutions can be a bit choppy. But if everything is embedded in a keynote presentation then the resolution should be consistent throughout the presentation.
This will of course be different when you can mirror the screen of a Mac. You’ll be able to set the display resolution on your Mac to 16:9 which will mirror perfectly to a widescreen display. Just have to wait until July…
Thanks for the input!
Eric Dye says
I LOVE this idea and Church application!
Calum Henderson says
I think it’s going to be a pretty big deal!
Thanks for the support Eric! 🙂
James Cooper says
I’ve got an AppleTV at home (netflix and mlb.tv!) – the church idea is great! I’ve heard rumours of Apple having big plans (apps?) for ATV – looking forward to what they come up with…
Calum Henderson says
Thanks James!
Yes to Apps on the Apple TV, with the recently updated interface, it seems obvious that they’ll introduce Apps soon.
Paul says
I really wanted to love this and thought it was a great idea. Sadly, iPad and Appletv will not stream video and audio as it is captured. Or at least I and Apple’s support group couldn’t figure out a way to do it.
My purpose was to create a video and audio feed from the iPad to stream to another room for a nursing/cry room. It will stream video just fine, but audio is turned off in the camera app when streaming. Booo!
Calum Henderson says
Sad to hear that 🙁
That would have been a really cool application.
Rich says
I got this all set up today and was very excited. I am disappointed, however, that when I mirror my iPad, it shows up rather small in the middle of the screen. I don’t understand why it wouldn’t show up full size. I’ve found a way to stretch it vertically by messing with the image size on the Apple TV, but there apparently is no way to simply project it at full size even in 4:3 ratio. If anyone figures out why it reduces the size of my mirroring, please let us know!
Calum Henderson says
It could be because your display isn’t widescreen. Would that be the case?
I’ve had difficulties connecting an Apple TV to 4:3 displays. I had to mess around with the zoom on the projector.
Peter Campbell says
I’ve only just started trying this out and had the same issue with a small image on the large 4:3 screen. I played around with the projector’s video settings and found my answer there. I can now display the image full screen.
Aaron says
One amendment to your post: You don’t actually need a wifi connection to mirror your iPad or Macbook Pro. All you need is a wireless network. If your church doesn’t have reliable wifi connection, you can still make it work. Just buy a router, plug it in, and connect all the devices to that router’s signal. You won’t have internet access, but you’ll be able to do everything else you’d want to do. You can mirror your ipad, control your MBP or iMac with an iphone or ipad, etc.
Eric Dye says
Thanks, Aaron!
Calum Henderson says
Hi Aaron,
As I mentioned in my post, all you need is a Wifi (wireless) connection. A wifi connection doesn’t necessitate an internet connection. Wifi doesn’t mean ‘internet’, it just refers to the network. You can of course share an internet connection over a wifi network (which is the most common application for a wifi network), but as you said, you don’t need an internet connection for Airplay to work.
I think the mix up here is over terminology. We agree with each other 🙂
chad says
A third Party App called AirParrot can do the trick of allowing you to connect to multiple ATVs as well as mirror a specific app window or extend your display, which is now also an AirPlay option in the new Mavericks OSX, but not older OSX versions.
Eric Dye says
Yes, James Cooper is a big fan of AirParrot: https://churchm.ag/apple-tv-airparrot/
Bill Smith says
Just curious if there have been any updates on this. We are interested in getting an Apple TV for our church to run announcement, worship, and message slides.