TV is a major part of people's daily lives. People gather together around the big screens to watch big shows and big events. But traditional television cannot meet people's growing demand. The pace of life is getting quicker and quicker, and people require some innovative ways to connect the big screens. Integrating apps with television is a popular trend right now. People would like to search what they want to watch on the big screens. This is the main reason why Apple TV comes into being.

"I've got some HD movies and Blu-ray movies, and now I want to play these HD movies and Blu-ray movies via Apple TV. How could I play the Blu-ray movies on Apple TV? It won't receive Blu-ray movies directly."

First unveiled in 2006 and then undated several times, Apple TV is a digital media player and a micro console developed by Apple Inc., and it is a small network appliance and entertainment device that can receive digital data from a number of sources and stream it to a capable TV for playing on the TV screen.

Way 1: How to Indirectly Stream Blu-Ray to Apple TV via Converting?

Apple TV is a digital media receiver created by Apple Inc., which is designed to acess digital content from the iOS devices, or any Mac OS X or Windows-based computer running to a high-definition widescreen television. If you want to play Blu-ray movies on Apple TV, a professional Blu-ray to Apple TV converter is necessary to convert Blu-ray to Apple TV video formats like MP4, MOV and M4V. Leawo Blu-ray Ripper for Mac helps you convert Blu-ray to Apple TV, Apple TV MPEG4/H.264 video formats. After converting Blu-ray to Apple TV video formats, you can stream Blu-ray to Apple TV in an indirect way by streaming Blu-ray now in Apple TV compatible video formats to Apple TV. The guide below would show you how to convert Blu-ray to Apple TV compatible video on Mac and then play Blu-ray movies via Apple TV. Check the details below:

    Preparation work:

  • 1. Download and install Leawo Blu-ray Ripper for Mac (If you're using Windows comptuer, you could turn to Leawo Blu-ray Ripper).
    • Leawo Blu-ray Ripper
    • Leawo Blu-ray Ripper

      ☉ Decrypt and rip Blu-ray/DVD discs with disc protection and region code
      ☉ Convert Blu-ray/DVD to MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLV, and other 180+ HD/SD formats
      ☉ Convert Blu-ray/DVD main movie to videos for space saving
      ☉ Convert 2D Blu-ray/DVD movies to 3D movies with 6 different 3D effects
      ☉ Fast conversion with NVIDIA CUDA, AMD APP and Intel Quick Sync acceleration technologies

  • 2. Network connection is required.
  • 3. Mac computer with BD drive.

Guide on how to convert Blu-ray to Apple TV video formats on Mac:

Step 1: Load Source Blu-ray File

Load Source Blu-ray File

Launch the professional Blu-ray to Apple TV converter, click "Add Blu-ray/DVD" button to load source Blu-ray movies.

Step 2: Set output settings

Set output settings

Click the drop-down box on the left side of the big "Convert" button and then select "Change" option to enter "Profile" frame and choose desired video format from "Format" section. You could select Apple TV video formats like MOV/MP4 from "Format" group, or "Apple TV" directly from"Device" group.

optional settings

Optional settings: Click "Edit" button on the drop-down box to adjust Video Codec, Audio Codec, Bit Rate, Video Resolution, Frame Rate, Sample Rate, Aspect Ratio, and Audio Channel.

Step 3: Start converting

Start converting

Return to the main interface and then click the green "Convert" button on the sub-menu bar to call out a sidebar, where you need to set output directory and click the bottom "Convert" button at the bottom to start Blu-ray to Apple TV conversion.

After getting Apple TV video formats, then you can save these video files to the USB, inert the USB to the Apple TV USB port for playback. In fact, you also can save the video files to external hard drive or upload the video to NAS for streaming, like: Synology DiskStation DS1515+, WD, QNAP, etc.

Way 2: How to Directly Stream Blu-Ray to Apple TV without Converting?

The method discussed above both requires the time-consuming task of converting Blu-ray to Apple TV before streaming Blu-ray to Apple TV. Here I would like to suggest a better way for you to stream Blu-ray to Apple TV yet without converting. In order to bypass the complicated process of Blu-ray ripping, we need to take good advantage of a third-party program, VLC Media Player.

As for copyright protection, Apple won't allow Blu-ray streaming if Blu-ray player on Mac is used, so it is wise to employ a piece of third-party software. Like what is stated above, VLC media player, a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player, will greatly function. Being a powerful program, VLC player is well compatible with all platform, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, iOS, Android and so on. Most importantly, it is a totally free program. Free download and install VLC media player beforehand, and then we can begin to stream Blu-ray to Apple TV for watching Blu-ray directly on Apple TV.

In the following guide, I am to take VLC player Mac version as an example to elaborate the process of streaming Blu-ray.

vlc-player-for-dvd-streaming

After the installation of VLC player on your MacBook, launch it, go to "File" > "Open Disc" in VLC and open your Blu-ray disc, like what is showed as illustrated. When the Blu-ray disc is opened, the Blu-ray video will be played on VLC player. The next step is Airplay Mirroring setting. By hitting "System Preferences" > "Displays", you can enable Airplay Mirroring. Please bear in mind that during mirroring or streaming process, your MacBook and Apple TV must connect to the same network such as WiFi. Then VLC window will be showed on your large-screen HDTV, which means video and audio is streamed to your TV.

Way 3: How to Stream Blu-Ray to Apple TV with Blu-ray Player?

Apart from streaming Blu-ray file, there are lots of people fond of collecting Blu-ray discs. If you own a bundle of Blu-ray collection, you can also make use of Blu-ray player hardware to stream Blu-ray to Apple TV. Connect it to Apple TV, inset the Blu-ray disc, open the TV, you can enjoy the Blu-ray movies quickly. For beginners to Apple TV, refer to these steps:

Step 1: Connect the Blu-ray player to Apple TV via a HDMI cable. How HDMI port looks like will be shown in the following picture.

Step 2: Insert the Blu-ray disc you want to watch to the Blu-ray player.

Step 3: Reboot HDMI/DVI device and wait about 30 seconds, then switch on this player.

Step 4: Open the Apple TV and you can enjoy the Blu-ray movies smoothly.

Way 4: How to Stream Blu-Ray to Apple TV with Mac?

Paying for a Blu-ray player is expensive, especially when you are looking for some 4K or 8K Blu-ray player. If buying a Blu-ray player is over your budget and don’t want to pay any money on Blu-ray player, playing Blu-ray Movie on Apple TV with your Mac is the best choice you are looking for.

Step 1: First of all, connect television and Apple TV by the HDMI cable, and make sure your Mac accesses the same Wi-Fi as Apple TV. Then open the 'System Preferences' of your Mac, and find 'Displays' there.

Step 2: Then you can open the Airplay. Change the 'Airplay Mirroring' from 'Off' to 'Office Apple TV', and it will connect automatically. Wait for a while, your Mac and widescreen TV will be connected.

Step 3: Then you need to download a Mac Blu-ray Player, and then drag its icon to your Application folder. After installing Mac Blu-ray Player, you can go to "Launchpad" and click on its icon to launch the program. The simplified main interface will reduce certain misoperations. You can see two buttons there: Open File and Open Disc.

  • Leawo Blu-ray Player
  • Leawo Blu-ray Player

    Region-free Blu-ray player software to play Blu-ray disc and DVD disc for free, regardless of disc protection and region restriction.
    Play 4K FLV videos, 4K MKV videos, 4K MP4 videos, etc. without quality loss.
    Play 1080P videos, 720P videos with lossless quality.

Step 4: Insert a disc into the drive and click "Open Disc", or click "Open File" to choose a local media file to wait for the program automatically start.

Related Tips for Streaming Blu-Ray to Apple TV

  • 1. What are necessary to stream Blu-ray to Apple TV?
    Not all iOS devices and MacBooks support Airplay Mirroring. In order to stream video and audio via Airplay Mirroring, we need to prepare two things beforehand. On one hand, an Apple TV (2nd generation or later) is required to receive the video and audio. On the other, an iOS device or MacBook is necessary for sending the video and audio. That's to say, to get the function of Airplay Mirroring, we need to prepare a sender and a receiver.
  • 2. Is internet connection necessary to stream Blu-ray to Apple TV?
    Yes, it is, and the sender and the receiver must connect to the same network, like the same WiFi.
  • 3. What devices can function well as a sender?
    As for sender, the devices accepatable can be divided into two major parts: iOS devices and MacBooks. iOS devices including iPhone 4s or later, iPad 2 or later, iPad mini or later and iPod touch (5th generation), and Mac running Mountain Lion or higher such as iMac (Mid 2011 or newer), Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer), MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer) can all be employed as sender.
  • 4. What devices can function well as a receiver?
    As for receiver, the first generation of Apple TV is not acceptable while the 2nd or later generation can function well.