HomeApple TV supports limited file types- even the latest Apple TV 3 decodes 1080p iTunes content as well as YouTube and Netflix streams, it does not support the variety of video formats such as AVI, MKV, WMV, MPG, MTS, M2TS, etc. In order to get these video on your hard drive to play through Apple's set-top box, you need to encode them to Apple TV supported video formats. Here comes up with a question:
What are the best settings for encoding videos to Apple TV?
Some guy in Apple forum says that it should be “H.264, 720p, 5 Mbps, 24 FPS”. As an Apple TV 3 and new iPad user, our customer Tim believes that the best settings should encode his MKV and AVI files to Apple TV playable videos that
1. Preserves best possible video quality (1080p preferred) with best file size.
2. Reproduces Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound from source video.
3. Works well in iTunes and on the new iPad.
Now we have good news for Tim and other Apple TV users wanna convert videos, DVDs and Blu-rays to Apple TV. In Pavtube’s latest update (released on April 28, 2012) 2 new Apple TV have been introduced as optimal encoding settings for black Apple TVs.
- Apple TV 3 Dolby Digital Pass-through (*.m4v)preset - H.264 video profile with AC3 5.1 and AAC stereo (1920x1080)
- Apple TV 2 Dolby Digital Pass-through (*.m4v) preset- H.264 video profile with AC3 5.1 and AAC stereo (1280x720);
The new Apple TV presets lets you export 1080p and 720p M4V with higher video quality and dual audio tracks for the Apple TV 3rd Gen and Apple TV 2nd Gen models. Default presets aim to create videos of iTunes store movie quality, and users can set higher quality up to 10mbps from “Settings” panel. Both AC3 and AAC audio are retained so that you can either let Apple TV pass-through Dolby Digital to A/V receiver to take advantage of your surround sound system, or have Apple TV decodes AAC and exports stereo audio.
Availability of the new Apple TV presets
The Apple TV 3 Dolby Digital Pass-through (*.m4v) and Apple TV 2 Dolby Digital Pass-through (*.m4v) presets are available in Pavtube products for both Windows and Mac platform.
Windows OS
Pavtube Blu-ray Video Converter Ultimate v4.0.9
Pavtube Video Converter v4.0.9
Pavtube MKV Converter v4.0.9
Pavtube DVD Ripper v4.0.9
Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper v4.0.9
Pavtube Blu-ray to Apple Converter v4.0.9
Video DVD Converter Ultimate v4.0.9
Mac OS
Pavtube iMedia Converter v2.0.10
Pavtube Video Converter for Mac v3.0.10
Pavtube MKV Converter for Mac v3.0.10
Pavtube DVD Ripper for Mac v3.0.10
Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper for Mac v3.0.10
Tip 1: Apple TV uses the AC-3 track as a pass-through mode only. For example, it passes data out to an A/V receiver capable of Dolby Digital playback (see how to setup). The AC-3 audio is sent over the HDMI and the optical audio output of Apple TV. When playing in iTunes and on iPad, it plays AAC stereo audio. With an iPad 2 or iPad 3, you can stream video to Apple TV with Dolby Digital sound via Airplay.
Tip 2: Only Apple TV 3rd gen and the new iPad are designed to support 1080p contents. Previous Apple TVs and iPads supports up to 720p video at best.
Tip 3: Stereo audio can not be up-convert to Dolby Digital 5.1. Pavtube converters and rippers export true AC3 5.1 only when the source file contains Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS 5.1/Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD audio. Mostly these are Blu-ray, DVD, MKV, AVI, MP4 media files. Refer to how to rip Blu-ray with AC3 5.1.
