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Resolved Question

How to stream .avi files from iMac to a TV

Feb 13, 2012 1:49PM PST

<div>I want to stream .avi movies from my Intel iMac to a new LED
TV. There appear to be problems
with using Apple TV altho some suggest that Beamer (beamer-app.com) will do the
job. Does anybody have experience
with Beamer? I have two iMacs
wirelessly networked with an Airport Express. I'm running OS 10.6.8.</div><div>Alternatively, is there a better way to do the job
- perhaps with a second Airport attached to the TV?
</div>

Discussion is locked

fosterpapillon has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Are you sure that the ATV can actually play
Feb 13, 2012 9:02PM PST

AVI files?

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(NT) Ooops, that's ATVFlash.
Feb 13, 2012 9:02PM PST
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I don't have an ATV
Feb 14, 2012 5:24AM PST

Sorry, should have been clearer - I don't have an ATV as I'm still looking for a way to play the files - no point in buying hardware if it's not going to work.

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I have an Apple TV, first version
Feb 14, 2012 9:25AM PST

and with ATVFlash it plays just about any video file that I throw at it, including those marked .avi

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ATVFlash looks very complicated
Feb 14, 2012 1:45PM PST

The ATVFlash site has several pages of arcane instructions for its use. When I fired up Beamer, it immediately reported that it couldn't find an ATV (cos I don't have one) - I'll try it first.

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The instructions for the ATVFlash
Feb 15, 2012 3:39AM PST

are not that arcane.
However, you do need an AppleTV to use it.
The, slightly, complicated part is creating the installer on a USB drive.
Once done, the ATV boots from the drive, installs its program and reboots the ATV.

Let us know how you get on with Beamer

P

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Using Beamer with Apple TV
Feb 17, 2012 9:56AM PST

I've just taken delivery of my Apple TV and set it up. Went to my iMac and opened Beamer - "connected" it says, "drop movie here". I drop an .avi movie and immediately hear it start up on my TV two rooms away - that's what I call great software! Don't even think about using anything else! And it costs a measly seven bucks - that's near enough to free for me!

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Nice one
Feb 17, 2012 11:50PM PST

Care to share the link to the Beamer software?

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While Beamer is nice,
Feb 17, 2012 11:55PM PST

it requires you to start each movie at your Mac.
That's not too much of a problem but not quite as satisfying as surfing through your movie files from the comfort of your couch.

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That's not a problem
Feb 18, 2012 9:37AM PST

I'm happy with Beamer - I don't need to trawl through my files, just play one now and again so it's good.

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URL for Beamer
Feb 18, 2012 9:36AM PST

See <span id="INSERTION_MARKER">beamer-app.com - I gave the link in my initial post.

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You sure did,
Feb 18, 2012 10:59PM PST

I found it after I asked for it and then got side tracked.

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It's not easy to find
Feb 19, 2012 7:50AM PST

I included it initially because it took me forever to find it - searching for "beamer" brings up a million BMW hits on Google so I eventually used "beamer apple tv" and there it was.

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Yes, I found the BMW sites!
Feb 19, 2012 9:37PM PST

good to hear that you are having success with it