Categories
Apple TV

How to hook up your Apple TV to a computer monitor

Is it possible to hook up an Apple TV to a computer monitor? Absolutely. One of the really cool things with the Apple TV is the ability to hook it up to a computer monitor. That is exactly what I did with my 24inch Samsung monitor.

Important: Your computer monitor must be HDCP compliant for Apple TV to work. I wasn’t sure if my Samsung 2433 BW monitor was. So it was a gamble, but it worked.

Apple TV to computer monitor
Here's my setup

What you need:

1. Apple TV

2. WiFi or DSL internet connection

3. HDCP Compliant Monitor with an HDMI or DVI input.

4. If your monitor only has a DVI input (like mine) you will need an HDMI to DVI converter as well.

5. HDMI cable

6. If you monitor does not have speakers (most don’t). A stereo/amp with an optic input (for sound).

7. An optic cable.

Instructions to hook it up:

1. Connect your Apple TV to your Computer monitor with an HDMI cable. ( I used a DVI to HDMI adapter here on my monitor as well )

Apple TV to Computer Monitor with HDMI cable

2. Plug your Apple TV power cable and computer monitor in and power both of them on. You should see Apple TV loading on your monitor when you power it on. If you don’t see it, make sure your computer monitor is plugged in and powered on as well.

3. Make sure your internet connection is working.

4. Follow the Apple TV instructions setup instructions on your computer monitor

5. To have sound, connect your Apple TV to your stereo with your optic cable. (If you haven’t used an optic cable before, make sure you remove the caps on the ends of the cable before plugging them in).

Optic cable connecting Apple TV to stereo amp

6. Set your stereo to play music from the correct input.

Congratulations you are finished! Now all you have to do is enjoy your new Apple TV by watching some videos, playing music or streaming content from your iPad and iPhone.

Categories
Reviews

Apple TV. Is it everything I had hoped it was?

Having toyed with the idea of hooking up my Samsung monitor as a TV for a the last few months, yesterday I took the next step and purchased an Apple TV. Was it everything I had hoped it was?

Is Apple TV all that it is hope to be

Not exactly. The name Apple TV had conjured up ideas and hopes of the first truly interactive web home interactive tv viewing experience. I thought with Apple computing tied with the traditional concept of TV something amazing lay in waiting. Sadly it did not live up to its name. To my dismay, despite the fact that it is hooked up to WiFi, Apple has not given it the Safari browser. That was my first huge disappointment.

However, I consoled myself, at least it is advertised to connect to apps from my iPhone via airplay. Eagerly I began playing with my iPhone apps to see how they would connect. It did not turn out to be nearly as AirPlay friendly as it was advertised. Even Safari didn’t work with AirPlay. Perhaps they plan for that in the future but as of right now it does not work. Some apps did allow me to stream video to Apple TV, such as Crackle, TED Talks, and VEVO. However my favorite TV watching apps CityTV and Global TV do not. Which kind of defeats the whole point of an interactive TV.

There are some pluses, playing music from my home computer’s shared library is very cool. And airplay seamlessly lets me play music from my iPhone to the Apple TV.

Overall I will still use the music sharing, whatever video sharing I am able, and the video rental features. Hopefully with the upcoming release of OS X Mountain Lion in the summer I will be able to use my browser from my computer on the TV. Then we will be taking a big step forward for mankind. Until then I can only hold my breath. If you were intrigued by the idea of plugging the Apple TV into a computer monitor I have posted my setup here.