Did you know that in just few months Apple sold over a million movies from iTunes? It is important to know that you can watch movies downloaded from iTunes just if you play them on your iPod, Mac or PC, TV (if your Mac or PC is attached to your TV), or play them from your iPod on your TV (with the help of the video output connector that iPod has). Apples’ TV aim is to connect Macs and PCs in order to have fun when watching our favorite videos on our best HDTV home theatre. How can I connect my Apple TV to my old TV for example? How does Apple TV really work? Is there something that I need in order to make the connections between these 2 devices? How can I connect Apple TV to a standard CRT TV that just didn’t heard about HD?
First of all I would like to talk a little about S-Video. Known as Separate Video or Y/C this is an analog video signal that has in its composition both the color and the luminance, but in two separate signals. These two signals form two types of videos: composite and component video. The composite video displays low quality pictures. Component videos display high quality pictures. S-Video doesn’t carry audio signal. Its standard definition video (component video) is between 480i and 576i resolution. Apple TV source that uses component video and also HD, DVD Players and other different sources need an Apple TV converter in order to convert the signal into an S-Video or even a composite video signal.
This converter is the most important device that you need to use if you want to connect your Apple TV to other devices such as DVD recorders or Standard TVs. The role of this converter is to decode the component signal, which is as I’ve already mentioned a high quality signal, into a proper signal. This converter detects NTSC and PAL signal. This “must have” product is important for S-Video inputs doesn’t have to be configured or set by the user.
Each user just has to make the correct connection between the two sources: Apple TV and TV for example. What are the correct steps to do the connection between your Apple TV and a device with an S-Video input? First you have to make the connection, using a component video cable, between a video source and this marvelous converter. Be careful to connect red to red, green to green and blue with the blue connector (the so called RCA connectors).
Secondly you need to make the connection between your standard TV or your projector and the convertor using an S-Video cable. In case you need the composite video for output connects the yellow RCA between them. You also have to change to NTSC or PAL resolution on your Apple TV. For that go to Settings and select the “TV resolution” feature. This is all! In addition I should mention the fact that in case you have the possibility to change the video output format from your video source you should set it at even 50Hz for PAL standard or 60 Hz for NTSC.