wappinghigh Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I never really understood why the EV AppleTV driver doesn't really integrate as well with current AppleTV's (the pucks) as it did with Apple TV 1. Even after reading the EV website.Recently I found this clear to understand explanation: The AppleTV 1, a base-station sized gray box from several years back, had some really excellent support for IP control going all the way into album art and many other features. The interface was entirely undocumented, so any access to it was at one’s own peril, but nevertheless the interface existed and was accessible.Then, along came AppleTV 2, (and now AppleTV 3), the black hockey puck. Apple TV 2 in mid-2010. And now the newly released AppleTV3. The new box was entirely locked down. The old interface was gone, replaced with an encrypted protocol that is not currently published. It is not believed to be feasible to reverse engineer said protocol given the encryption, and this is why nothing provides any control over the current AppleTV via IP. Of course, both AppleTV versions can be well controlled via the infrared interface for it.Because of this strange dichotomy where the old version provided more control functionality than the new version and the fact that the AppleTV 1 is no longer available, it seems impractical to attempt to implement IP support for AppleTV. Despite it being a wonderful product in many other ways, the AppleTV 2 (and now AppleTV 3) is uniquely poor at integrating with home theater environments until Apple decides perhaps in a future version that it should re-introduce control functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 So, whats your question? The communication is encrypted, and unless that changes we can use other Apple devices (ex. airport extreme) or other media players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Not a question. Just a good explanation why itunes movies (even those with DRM still attached) that reside on the HDD of an AppleTV 1, can be "seen" by Composer and be used to "populate" the Control4 media library that exists on navigator, and then can be "played" by C4 straight off the Apple TV HDD's. But that you can't do *just* that (the same) off the AppleTV 2 or 3...(because it doesn't have a HDD), and Apple have encrypted the IP driver of the new AppleTV's....And using the EV driver to "play" itunes movies straight out of an itunes library has the very same "problem"..Thats all.. You need a phD to understand this stuff soemtimes :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 oh ok. yeah I agree, its crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalcore Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 yep. one of the few apple products that offers less than its predecessors, and got worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdepaola Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 I don't think it got worse at all but my home is an Apple home. I enjoy that I can now stream all of my content from the cloud and don't need to have a computer running. I really want to see the integration of the ATV II with the Mirage Media Server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalcore Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I always get the latest Apple gear. Except for the Apple TV. I have two Apple TV1's and the Apple TV2/3 is the first Apple product I didn't jump on when it came out.I think it did get worse. In the sense that you can do everything with Apple TV1 that a ATV2 or ATV3 can do. But the Apple TV1 is an actual media player AND streaming device. Where as Apple TV2/3 are just streaming devices. With AppleTV1 you have more options, copy everything to the internal HD, play 1080p (which atv3 can now do), stream, airplay, component out, digital audio out, analog rca out etc. etc. Including better IP support. It actually even a small little computer. And has even been hacked to run Mac Apps. More importantly, you don't need to have a computer or IOS device to play content. It is an actual dedicated media player. Apple TV2/3 is just an output device. Or in other words an "iTunes to HDMI converter". If you have content on your laptop, and your laptop leaves the house with you. No one else can play that content. With AppleTV1, you can copy that content over to the AppleTV1 and it lives there. Or, you can stream it. But with streaming, bandwidth is an issue. Having the option for local media is always better. Streaming isn't always a good thing. Especially in more commercial and multi-user environments. It kills your network and you have to compress your content in order to fit the bandwidth available. Which limits quality and zones. Buffering, packets, negotiating...I will eventually get an ATV3, but it will also get a dedicated Mac Mini to accompany it as the dedicated media player. Apple TV1 gave us all the streaming capability of ATV2/3 AND Local Media storage AND was the media player itself. Which is why the EV drivers are so different. AppleTV1 supports more IP protocols AND is an actual media player. AppleTV2/3 requires iTunes/Airplay running on a Mac/PC or an IOS device as the player. Not much different than an Airport Express, but with HDMI output. So EV has to control a computer or IOS device to play the content which has Apple specific Airplay protocols. Apple TV1 is a more traditional player device.But anyway... its a done deal. I really wish the new AppleTV3 would support an internal HD or external HD. Now its just a streaming device. When you have components that support Airplay, then you really don't even need an ATV2/3.Its a good product. But I think an ATV 1 was better overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neter66 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 If you have content on your laptop, and your laptop leaves the house with you. No one else can play that content.That is not 100% correct. You can play any content you have ever purchased with your iTunes account. You do not need a laptop / computer in your house. All content can stream from the Internet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not as big of a fan of the v2/v3 as the original, but with the latest versions, you are not left high and dry if your computer walks out the door. Plus, the additional features make it very worthwhile. One of the best features of the new devices is their ability to do screen mirroring. We regularly mirror our iPads to the family room tv. I also mirror my Mac mini screen to the same tv. When my wife is looking at a website and wants to show me, she mirrors to the tv, shows me what she wants, and then turns off mirroring. Just the other day we used the mirroring when the grandparents came over. My daughter's dance practice was earlier in the day. My wife recorded it on her iPhone. Grandma comes over, iPhone mirroring goes on, and grandma is watching my daughter on a 60" tv in 3 clicks. I also bring an ATV2 with us when we travel. It hooks up to the hotel tvs in 2 seconds flat. The iPad mirrors iTunes content that it has stored on it. The kids can watch all their content while we are in the hotel, and we don't have to pay $15 for a movie, or force them watch the hotel information channel. Thanks,D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdepaola Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 You do not need a computer or ios device running to play your iTunes library, everything in your iTunes library. I'll agree though that IP contro would be nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettB0727 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 This is intriguing, but I haven't looked into much details if it opens up the possibility of a driver. It definitely makes AppleTV a little more appealing.http://firecore.com/atvflash-black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Apparently (I think), the EV driver will run an AppleTV with the Firecore interface installed. But it still remains IR control as far as I am aware... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettB0727 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Apparently (I think), the EV driver will run an AppleTV with the Firecore interface installed. But it still remains IR control as far as I am aware...Haha, I don't see any reason why someone would pay so much for an "IR driver" when the free "Mac IR driver" will work just fine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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