As I type this, I am working on a 13-inch MacBook Pro in a room with a 100-inch HDTV and killer sound system just over there. The screen is so big I could still see my desktop with the same clarity from the 12 or so feet away I am from it, as I can with the built-in screen here on my lap. I also use this computer to give presentations a lot, and often need to hook it up to projectors for demos. I also have a need to demo iOS software, so I could use a way to show that off as well. In this Pointers, we'll show you various ways of accomplishing these and related goals.
The bottom line here is how to get what's on your Mac or iOS device screen onto another screen, preferably with both vision
and sound. Since we are about a week away from the release of the latest Apple TV, let's get that out of the way first: the Apple TV is the most elegant way to connect iOS devices and Macs to other screens (that are not directly connected to secondary monitors), thanks to AirPlay. There are other situations where there are other solutions, and even some that
require other solutions, but if you're going for the least-hassle factor, you want an Apple TV.
From Apple device to HDTV
It would seem obvious that Apple should license AirPlay technology to the makers of HDTVs as they have to the makers of audio receivers, but for whatever reason -- and that reason probably has something to do with the amount of control of the experience Apple wants to have -- that hasn't happened yet. So in the meantime, you can either connect a wire to your iOS or Mac device and plug it into the inputs of your TV, creating a large and significant tripping hazard, or you can buy an Apple TV. The former method can be a bit cheaper than the latter, but wireless trumps wired every time in our book.
Another problem with the wired solution is that, depending on whether your Mac is of a certain age and depending on whether you have the right adapters and cables, you may or may not get sound through the HDMI connection, thus requiring another wire to go to your HDTV's sound input or receiver. You can also officially guarantee that at some point, an animal or human is going to accidentally pull those wires hard by tripping over them, pulling down your HDTV or pulling your Mac off the sofa or table and causing a lot of damage, possibly to themselves as well.
Because I give a lot of presentations, I don't always know what equipment I'm going to be working with when I arrive at a school or office complex. Increasingly, it's not projectors; it's large HDTVs. Since I don't carry an Apple TV everywhere I go (yet) and usually have the computer set up close to the screen, I often use a direct wired connection: a mini-DVI to HDMI adapter for my MacBook Pro, and a largish Bluetooth speaker for sound, since mini-DVI to HDMI doesn't carry audio. I also have a Lightning-to-HDMI adapter for directly connecting iOS devices, but I often use another technique, which we'll discuss in a bit. If you've got a a newer machine, a Thunderbolt to HDMI connector works better than this setup, and cuts down on devices you have to carry.
The Apple TV, by contrast, could barely be simpler to set up: plug the unit into power, connect it by HDMI to the TV, set it to join a local Wi-Fi network, and that's essentially it. An AirPlay menu on the Mac's menubar or in the iOS device's Control Center connects your device to it, and AirPlay either mirrors your screen or grabs the video (and audio) from the app you have running.
Bad Wi-Fi isn't a problem, if you're properly equipped. Travel routers can be set up for a private Wi-Fi network. They can grab the terribly slow Internet connection, and use it to feed your computer, while nearly the full bandwidth of the little network you just set up for your own nefarious purposes can be used for the Airplay stream. Need to do this a lot? Velcro the two devices together.
Google's Chromecast or an assortment of Roku devices can also be made to work with Macs and iOS devices, it should be mentioned, but neither use AirPlay. Either non-Apple solution is less versatile for iOS users, but both can have the advantage of being cheaper and possibly smaller than an Apple TV, model depending.
From Apple device to a projector
I still do often find myself having to connect my equipment to a projector. Once again, an Apple TV directly connected to the projector makes this easy -- sound and video from iOS devices or Macs, not a problem. Plus, that Bluetooth speaker can come in handy: projector speakers or "computer speakers" that are often part-and-parcel of the installed hardware can often be too low a volume for an audience of more than a dozen or so people. I'm currently using the
UE Megaboom speaker, and it has been been fine for crowds up to 100, depending on the acoustics of the room.
If there's no Apple TV handy, you will need a way to connect your Mac to the projector, using a dizzying array of adapters. If you haven't pre-scouted the location, you should have a way to connect to HDMI, DVI, and VGA, and bring audio along for the ride.
The Mac can also act as a "relay" for getting your iOS devices up on the screen, but you'll need a third-party program to handle this. I use a program called
Reflector 2 for this, because I am running iOS 9 on my iOS devices, and it has been updated to deal with the changes Apple made to AirPlay with that release. It is also available for Windows and Linux if you need to use a PC.
The way it works is by, essentially, tricking your iOS devices into thinking they are sending video and audio to an Apple TV, when in fact it's just going to the Mac. The program on the Mac then shows the output of the device (either the screen or whatever app you are running), either full-screen or in a window shaped to look like the device you're using. This is also handy for
recording iOS output for product demos and such, since the program has built-in recording controls (you can even broadcast direct to YouTube from an iOS device). If you need to demo an Android device, Reflector can also be a fake "Google cast" receiver in the same way it fakes being an AirPlay receiver.
Reflector costs $15, about the same price as its main competitor, X-Mirage. I've used both, and both are good. However, X-Mirage hasn't yet been updated to handle iOS 9, and Reflector has become more flexible, so Reflector it is.
To sum up, a frequent presenter needs to bring a few tools with them for "just in case" the facility where you are presenting doesn't have everything you need -- if you can, scout out the location and available assets before the day of the presentation. While professional presenters often bring their own projector and even screen, even occasional business presenters should have on hand at least a set of various adapter cables (including VGA, DVI, mini-DVI/Thunderbolt, and HDMI adapters), a Bluetooth or set of connectable speakers loud enough to handle a high-school gym, and a Mac notebook or Mac mini with a copy of Reflector -- or an Apple TV.
Apple to high-quality audio setup
Sometimes its not as much about the visual and more about the audio -- a lot of HDTVs are connected to high-end audio setups, so it's not enough to be able to just send the video and audio to the TV, you may need to send the audio to a separate device. There are multiple options available, but here's three of the easiest.
In many cases, the audio setup is connected directly to the TV, so there's nothing much for you to do -- the sound from the device travels through the HDMI cable (if its rated for that) to the TV, when then sends the audio to the receiver. Another easy option, if that one isn't available, is to use AirPlay for the audio to the receiver -- many if not most newish (since 2012) receivers boast AirPlay compatibility. Apple licenses AirPlay audio quite widely, so if you're purchasing a receiver or soundbar for yourself, check to see it has AirPlay compatibility (such units will often have wide support for a variety of wireless standards as well).
There's also the aforementioned Bluetooth speaker option, though you can expect a big of latency between video and a Bluetooth speaker that can cause sync issues, sometimes, depending on your playback app of choice. This is important for a movie, not at all an issue if you're just using an A/V setup to listen to music. Finally, there's the headphone jack of your Mac or iOS device; this can either be hard-wired to the receiver (assuming its too old for AirPlay), or you can buy a small Bluetooth device that connects by wire to the receiver but adds Bluetooth capability,
such as this one from Belkin for around $30 to give it wireless capability it didn't have before.
Most Macs made in the Intel era have a headphone jack that can double as optical audio out, but you may need a TOSlink adapter to connect that quality of audio to a receiver that can do 5.1 or 7.1 sound. The best solution for you depends on what you need the high-quality sound reproduction to do.
Sadly, the latest Apple TV has dropped the optical audio out jack in favor of audio over HDMI, which is an acceptable substitute in most cases, but an omission for those who want optical multichannel. The third-generation Apple TV still has the jack and will be available for some time to come, so grab one if this is important to your movie or presentation setup.
In conclusion, I'd like to thank...
This article skims the surface of the basics of presentations using Apple hardware. Keep in mind that there are always problems that need to be overcome in the venue, and issues that need to be solved on the spot, and they're never the same, so a pre-scout is
vital for seamless execution. However, presentations today are ridiculously easier to get going then they were even as recently as four years ago. HDMI is nearly ubiquitous, and that generally covers the gamut of connection points. If you want to get really fancy, there are wireless HDMI transmitters, but this is an added, and unnecessary expense -- a third-generation Apple TV is always cheaper than wireless HDMI, and solves nearly every connectivity issue, even if you throw in the cost of a travel router.
-- Charles Martin, with contributions from Mike Wuerthele
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