I am connecting the new Apple TV to my Outlaw 990, but it appears that I cannot use the DVI connection on the 990 if I want to see the Apple TV menus.

Is my only option to use component video? I have an older Sony XBR TV which does not have DVI inputs and the component inputs are already being used.

Also does anyone know how to install the firmware upgrade without using a Windows based PC? I have not upgraded because I do not have access to a PC laptop. I live in a Mac-only environment (yes, these exist).

Thanks

TG

If your Sony is HDCP compliant (which I'd think it would be), I would hope that an HDMI-to-DVI cable would provide full functionality. If it doesn't, I'd be curious to know why.

You say that the component inputs are all in use - I assume that includes all three of the 990's component inputs such that you can't use the 990's switching to help out?

The firmware loader is a Windows-only app, but I'll have to defer to the Mac experts about any sort of Windows emulation options that would let it run (Boot Camp and an XP partition would certainly do it, of course, but I'm guessing you don't have access to that).

Hi, Gonk

My Sony XBR was purchased about 1996, and only has RGB inputs which are in use. I tried to connect the HDMI-to-DVI cable and there was no picture of the Apple TV. This may be a Apple question but since no one else appears to be having any connection problems based on Apple's boards, I have to assume its something with the Outlaw.

My component inputs on the 990 are mostly all open (only have a DVD and VCR connected as video sources).

So I guess I don't know how the switching on the 990 works.

Since I do have an Intel iMac and can download BootCamp, I would need a full AUTHORIZED version of Windows XP just to install the firmware upgrade afterwards which I would immediately uninstall for safety reasons (viruses).

Thanks for the quick response.

Ah, I missed that ("which does not have DVI inputs" right in front of me) - DVI/HDMI is clearly out of the equation. The DVI connection (and HDMI , since it borrowed DVI's video standard) is purely a digital video connection, and your display's RGB inputs are analog. There's no way to use the AppleTV's HDMI output with your display.

Since you don't have a lot of video sources, you may want to migrate over to using the 990's video switching. Connect the VCR (composite), DVD (component), and AppleTV (component) video outputs to inputs on the 990, then connect the 990's component monitor output to the Sony XBR and leave the Sony on that video input. The 990 can then provide video switching at the same time that it switches audio. It will even transcode the VCR's composite signal to component.

Thanks for splainin to me. I will try that.

Apple TV is up and running and works very very well. iTunes songs sound great through the Outlaw and the picture from TV shows such as Lost are very good (better than VHS, almost DVD-like). The only issue (and this is not unique) is that the Lost episodes play as widescreen on the computer, but the black bars appear on the TV. I believe this is due to resolution requirements (size of screen).

The Outlaw handles the switching flawlessly.

Thanks for the help!

Glad to hear that it's up and running!

You mentioned that the TV is circa 1996, right? That means it's a 4:3 aspect ratio, I'd expect. In that case, I would anticipate black bars for a widescreen show like Lost in order to preserve the aspect ratio - as you say, the size (or more specifically the shape) of the screen requires the bars to avoid stretching vertically or cropping off the sides.

Nope. The bars are along the vertical (left and right) side and not the horizontal (top and bottom) side if this was the case. Some of the iTunes shows view full screen. Lost is the only one that the vertical bars appears. I haven't tried any Season 3 episodes yet - we are watching the whole series from the start. The first season of Lost was one of the first shows available for download and since it was primarily intended to view on video iPods and smaller computer screens, this may not have been taken into consideration.

FYI: Here is the link from Sony on the set

:http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=KV32XBR200®ion_id=1

Thanks

Terry

Weird. One explanation would be that it is a 4:3 source, the AppleTV is set up to work with a widescreen (16:9) display, and the AppleTV is pillarboxing the source. You might check to see what TV type is set up in the AppleTV.

OK, I found a user's manual at Apple's site for the AppleTV, and I'm a little worried about one thing. Everywhere I look, they refer to using the AppleTV with a widescreen TV. The "AppleTV Settings" page lists "TV Resolution" (presumably offering 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i) but doesn't mention aspect ratio or anything that might be TV type. Did Apple actually develop this thing to only work with 16:9 displays? If I'm reading it right, that seems like a pretty weird design decision. I could work around that with my 4:3 HDTV as long as the output is always at an HD resolution, but I'd expect this thing to end up getting used for all sorts of applications beside feeding an HDTV - and those cases could readily include older 4:3 displays.