I am a dedicated iOS user, because I have been dedicated Mac User since the 80s.
For years my “television watching“ (who knows what the correct terms are anymore in these days of streaming), has been exclusively closeup, with me using my iPad as a TV screen.
Sick of that, I decided to go for a projector and I quickly ran into the whole business of not being able to mirror the iPad streaming Netflix or Hulu or YouTube or Amazon Prime or pretty much anything else it seems, thereby requiring some other piece of equipment. Seemingly it can be a Roku box or fire stick or a computer or pretty much anything (except an Apple TV it looks like?) which allows the kind of access to the streaming apps that make these streaming apps happy, because apparently streaming on my iPad and then throwing that picture on to the wall with a projector does not make the streaming apps happy. For some reason.
It’s all very strange, but I think I figured out what I need to actually do in order to successfully watch my streamers using a projector: I was going to go for one that has the apps built into it but none of the ones available seem to be very well reviewed so I’m thinking a Roku box?
But I am curious about what the hell is going on here. I read about something called HDCP? Is that right? That is spoken of as the core issue at the heart of this and one piece of equipment is OK and another piece of equipment is not, but I don’t really get it. I get it enough to make it work but I’d like to understand it better.
If you have an iPad and want to move shows from the iPad to the projector, I’d recommend an Apple TV. All the streaming apps run on it natively, and if you want to simply move a video from your iPad to the projector Apple’s Airplay is pretty much seamless and flawless. We use it all the time.
If you want to mirror your iPad, an AppleTV or a Roku would work, but it’s a rather convoluted solution if you just want to watch TV. A Roku connected directly to the projector would work better; the casting option involves two network connections, one from the Internet to your iPad and one from the iPad to your TV device, while a Roku on the TV only involves one. A casting setup is generally not going to be as stable as a direct streaming setup.
HDCP is a copy protection technology encrypts the video stream to prevent someone from streaming to a computer or other device that can save the content (rather than just play it). Devices that don’t support HDCP often don’t work if you connect them to a video source that encrypts the stream with HDCP. I think most modern video devices do support HDCP so this is mainly a problem using very old TVs or things like that.
Whenever I travel, I take an iPad with a lightning-to-HDMI converter ($25 at Amaon) and a long HDMI cable. It’s a super simple way to mirror the iPad and watch all of my streaming stuff on a bigger screen away from home. If your projector is ceiling-mounted this likely wouldn’t be a good solution, but I figured I’d mention it.
Just plug the long cord into the ceiling projector and leave it dangling there in the middle of the living room. Bonus points if you have cats who can spend all day batting the Lightning end until they break it.
Yup, you can use a Fire Stick (among other devices) to stream on your TV, using those same streaming services you’re currently using on your iPad. These devices typically plug into the back of your TV using an HDMI port, and it might be less fussy than trying to project your iPad onto your TV.
If your TV is new enough, you might not even need a separate device; “smart TVs” come with the popular streaming apps already loaded on the TV.
In either case, you’d need to set up the apps (on the device, or on the smart TV) with the specifics of your accounts on those streaming services.
Fire Sticks are pretty inexpensive; their most recent model is $60, and if you don’t need all of the latest bells and whistles, you can get an older and/or refurbished model for $25 to $40
If it’s a projector I’m guessing he’s running the audio through a receiver or perhaps a powered soundbar or something. Projector speakers, if it even has one, are pretty awful.
Our Apple TV plugs into our receiver through one of the HDMI inputs. So does the XBox and BluRay player. The projector connects to the receiver through HDMI out. All the DHCP handshaking is fine. I use a Logitech universal remote to control it all.
I even take the Apple TV travelling instead of the Firestick we have, which is much smaller. I just like it more, and the integration with the Apple ecosystem is great. For example, if you need to type something in an Apple TV app, instead of using the cumbersome remote keyboard you can just type on your phone or iPad.
Projectors in general don’t do the “smart” thing. This is a good thing.
I have used an Apple TV with a very very old projector for a while. (This did require managing HDCP, but this isn’t going to be a problem with anything new.) You can download apps for just about any of the streaming companies to it, so there is generally no issue with access. If you have been using iOS devices, there is some value in staying in the eco-system. (I’m a dyed in the wool Apple fanboi, so it was just the default for me.)
There are a whole raft of nuances and frustrations that you can end up with, depending upon how complicated the setup is. Getting audio working is one of these.
A lot will depend on your projector. It sounds as if you have already bought one, care to say what? And what is the audio setup?
For general TV watching, I don’t like casting since there are more things that can go wrong. I’ll cast once in a while for something specific, but I wouldn’t want to depend on casting for my everyday TV watching. A dedicated device like a Roku or AppleTV will provide an easier and more reliable TV watching experience. Both of those devices can handle iOS casting. The Roku will be cheaper and has a simple user interface. The AppleTV will be more Apple-y with the Apple-like user experience. The Apple home screen is more cable-like in that it shows you content from the apps you have installed and shows you are currently watching. The Roku home screen is just tiles of the apps you have installed.
I am a dedicated iOS user, because I have been dedicated Mac User since the 80s.
For years my “television watching“ (who knows what the correct terms are anymore in these days of streaming), has been exclusively closeup, with me using my iPad as a TV screen.
Sick of that I decided to go for a projector and I quickly ran into the whole business of not being able to mirror the iPad streaming Netflix or Hulu or YouTube or Amazon Prime or pretty much anything else it seems, thereby requiring some other piece of equipment. Seemingly it can be a Roku box or fire stick or a computer or pretty much anything except an Apple TV it looks like… Allows the kind of access to the streaming apps that make these streaming apps happy.
It’s all very strange, but I think I figured out what I need to actually do in order to successfully watch my streamers using a projector (I have elected to get a projector which states that it offers access to these apps itself). But I am virtuous about what the hell is going on here I read about something called HDCP? Is that right? That is the core issue with the heart of this and one piece of equipment is OK and another piece of equipment is not.
HDMI has the ability to say that certain content is copyright protected. If it is, then it can’t be recorded. I wouldn’t think that would affect the projector. I would think it would handle content the same way that a TV does. Just like a TV can have HDMI in, I would guess the projector would work exactly the same. Perhaps you could link the two pieces of equipment in question?
You mention that the projector has the apps built in. While that seems convenient, the apps may not necessarily work all that well. I’m not sure about projectors, but TVs often skimp on the streaming hardware like CPU and memory. The apps may be slow, sluggish, crash, etc. Because of this, on all my TVs, I end up using an external streaming device rather than streaming capability of the TV. The projector may work great for streaming, but if the apps seem clunky, consider getting an external device.
If you want the mods to do something, you have to “flag” your post, not just hope a mod will happen to stroll along. The flag is in the links at the bottom of your posts. I’ll flag it for you.
I’m not iOS, in windows/android speak I think mirroring is called cast.
You know that a flat screen TV will hook right into your wi-fi, right? You may need to by a chromecast dongle/antenna or other wifi antenna that just plugs into the TV.
I admit, I may be completely misunderstanding. Projector?
