Dear all.

Most probably this has been answered before although I couldn't find it.

I just got an Apple TV from a friend to make some test in order to change over the Western Digital (that will be used in another room).

I tried to install it on the composite video with the 3 RCA however it seems that Apple TV has three different ones and BV as only one (std Yellow one).

Any chance that I'm missing something (Forgotten adaptor?)

Now that I connected the only one that gives a signal on the TV it is naturally Black and White (good old days!!!!)

Any help is much appreciated.

Best regards

Spiros

Hi Spiros!,

The problem is that the AppleTV is only providing Component (digital) output and your BV3 is an old school analog TV that has Scart/Composite inputs.

The BV3 is an excellent TV ( I have one myself connected to the aTV) and there are two ways ( as far as I know) to fix this :

1. Get an adaptor (which usually is expensive if you want a good one and its probably going to make your picture less "sharp" or "clear"
     There is one,  that is probably better than the ones I have tested, at www.svideo.com

2. This is the solution I am using instead ..and it works great!. Get the software hack from www.atvflash.com and install it on your aTV
    You simply attach the yellow composite video to the green component video output on the aTV and then you activate the composite
    software on the aTV that comes with "aTVflash" (and a lot of other enhancements too).  Somehow it turns the component output into
    composite!  I wonder why Apple didnt make it this way originally...it works perfectly. The only thing is that you have to activate composite
    colour when you have rebooted the aTV but apart from that..the picture quality is stunning!

Good luck!

Peter

Hi Peter,

Thank you very much for the links!!!!

Indeed atvflash seems to be the right choice and will go for this.

Just one small detail I need. From what I saw on the website, no where it is mentioned that there is a component to composite switch. I really have no doubt about it but most probably it is in the "others" not mentioned.

May I assume that you used the standard composite cable?

Many thanks for all the support.

Best regards

Spiros 

Hello Peter.

I did install the atvflash and I can confirm it is an excellent tool!!!!!

However although I did install the Composite software still I get a black and white picture (after several reboots as well).

Do you remember if you did something else too or was it automatically confirgured?

Many thanks in advance for your input.

Best regards

Spiros

Hello again Spiros,

I also had to mess around a bit before I understood how it worked.. I read in your post above that you have installed the "TV/Composite" package, right?

Next step is to activate it. To do that you go to the "Utilities" menu and the choose the "Composite .kext" which you find in the bottom.
( I am not currently at home to see exactly how it looks, since i dont have my aTV with me.)  When you click on it, you should see the frame around the word turning blue (takes a second) , and VOILA...there is colour.

There is a forum at atvflash that explains this, but it is not exactly correct since I think it shows the menues with different names. Its probably from an earlier version, but have a look, maybe it will help you anyway:

http://wiki.atvflash.com/index.php?title=Composite_Video

So, in short:

1. Install the composite software package ( you already done that, right)

2. Activate it in the Nitro TV "Utilities" menu.

3 Do NOT reboot..when you reboot it goes back to black /white again and you have to go to the "utilities" menu again and click on composite to activate it..

Good luck!! :-) Wish you a colourful new year!

/Peter

Magic!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter thank you very much for the tip.

It worked perfectly.

Happy and Healthy New Year

>Get the software hack from www.atvflash.com and install it on yourApple TV

wow -  what a super tip, thanks for that Peter

Peter ( London )

Thanks!

I am happy it worked fine for you too..I just love my BV 3..still cant see any reason for me to upgrade to
LCD or Plasma since the picture quality on a BV 3 is still outstanding..Since 32 inch is big enough for me and I dont need to hang it on a wall, I think its the best TV yet..  

But, it was kind of frustrating not being able to use an Apple TV, until i found atvflash. 
I tried several converters and they all gave such a blurry picture and extra hardware and cables that I didnt want.
I think atvflash should really promote the composite option more..I guess there is a big market for them..

btw, I am in Sweden, nice to be connected here at Beoworld, I have a few things to share and also ask about…This is a great forum!!

/Peter 

you are most welcome Peter, we are now over 10,000 Beoworlders all over the world 

a very happy new year to you

Dear Peter,

You are more than welcome. Beoworld is the largest B&O Forum world wide and the biggest source of information as well. Worth being a gold member as you will find it extremely useful in the future!!!!!

Just a small explanation if you have the time! I already have quite a few videos in Avi and other formats. However these cannot be copied from itunes to Apple TV thus not being able to watch. How do you manage this? 

Best regards

Spiros

Spiros, Thank you!

Well, the AppleTV and the iTunes concept is a very "closed system" which is good on a way since its always in sync and for me, using a Mac and iPods and Iphone its easy to use and pick and choose what to sync and to which device.

BUT, as you already have figured out, If you want to play other formats and sync it onto your aTV you have to convert the files to a proper iTunes/Quicktime format like .mov or .m4v. To do that, I prefer using an excellent free software called Handbrake (www.handbrake.fr) which also can rip DVDs into Apple TV and/or iPod formats. As I also make promotion videos in AVCDHD format, and I convert them with VoltaicHD from Shedworx (http://www.shedworx.com/voltaichd) which is fast and gives a brilliant result

However, since you now have installed aTV flash, you can actually play movies in other formats too ( .avi, AVCHD, and raw copies of DVDs. etc.) but you can not sync it through iTunes. Instead you have to keep them on another harddrive (ethernet or usb) and stream them from there. Use the NitoTV that comes with aTV flash go to the "Network" menu to set up and connection to a network sharepoint.

Lots of interesting tips and tricks with aTV can be found here also: http://forum.atvflash.com/index.php

Good luck!

Peter

I see you have a solution now but for what its worth and for anyone else who is interested - I've used this box as a converter to RGB Scart for my AppleTV connected to my BV3-32 and it works perfectly.

http://www.js-technology.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=52&osCsid=c2795175d2d4e7588356ac92ac18e7ff

Chris.

Hi Chris,

Many thanks for the link. Seems very interesting however this solution adds another cable and another plug................

But it's good to know since other products might be added that do not have the ATVflash features!

Best regards

Spiros

Hi Chris,

Thanks for posting about your converter. Its good to know that there are some converters that actually gives a good picture! ( I tried 4 different converters in the price range of 50-60 Euros, and all of them just gave a blurry picture)

Your converter is perhaps also great when you want to connect a new MacBook or Mac Mini with mini-display port, which as far as I know, you can not connect to an analog TV that has only Composite without converting the signal.

Of course using the minidisplay port to VGA or DVI-D convererter cable is needed too connect to the converter box..

Best regards,

Peter   

Hi Everybody!

Just to let you all know who uses the aTVFlash and the Composite plugin on your Apple TV:

You may have discovered that there is a bug when you choose "add to rc.local" to get the composite color switched on automatically after reboot.
At least I have never managed to get that to work. I always had to switch it back on manually by clicking on it after reboot and when i tried "add to rc.local" it will not come back in colour unless I reinstalled the whole package.

BUT…Yesterday they have released an updated version of NitoTV that works! In the menu there is now also an option called "create a startup item", so when having color enabled, just choose that option..and now you have color permanently enabled!

To update NitoTV, simply go to the "Maintenance" -> "Manage Plugins" menu from your Apple TV main menu and update NitoTV.

 Good luck!

/Peter

Update done!!!

Thanks for the tip!

Best regards

Spiros