10 Useful iPad Tips and Tricks for enjoying movies and TV shows

Attachment 22750

1. Home Sharing – Push iPad music and videos to iPhone & PC/Mac display
Requirements: iPhone/ iPod Touch 4/ computer with iTunes installed, home network

First, turn on Home Sharing in iTunes (Advanced menu) and on your iPad (Settings > Music/Video and enter your Apple ID). Next, launch the Music or Video app on your iPad. In the Music app, tap the "More" button at the bottom, find the little house with "Shared" next to it. Tap on that and then on one of the Shared Libraries. It might take a few seconds to update, but then you can listen to all of that Library's media on your iPad. For video, tap the Shared tab at the top of the screen.

For details:
iPad and Mac Mirroring ? How to stream Video from Mac to iPad and Vice Versa?

2. AirPlay - Stream movies, photos and music to HDTV via Apple TV
Requirements: Apple TV 2nd Gen/3rd Gen, HDTV, home network

Whenever you see the AirPlay icon on your iPad it means you can stream whatever media you're viewing to your Apple TV, which is usually connected to your living room TV. All you need to do is tap the AirPlay icon (which looks like a rectangle with a triangle in it) and it starts playing automatically.

For details:
How to use AirPlay Mirroring to Stream iPad Movies to HDTV?

3. Video Mirroring – Watch iPad movie on an HDTV or projector
Requirements: Apple Digital AV Adapter, HDMI compatible HDTV or projector, HDMI cable

You can connect the iPad 2 and new iPad to your HD television using Apple's Digital AV Adapter (which connects from your 30-pin Dock adaptor to a HDMI port) or a plain old Apple VGA Adaptor. Both are available from the Apple Store. The iPad 2 and new iPad support video mirroring, so your entire Home screen will appear on the TV, not just the videos you play.

For details:
How to Mirror your new iPad/iPad 2 Screen on HDTV or Projector via HDMI connection?）


4. iCloud – Access iTunes movies and TV shows wirelessly
Requirements: iTunes, unblocking network

iCloud allows you to synchronize your entire iTunes music collection, your photo collection from iPhoto, your documents from iWork, and productivity apps with all of your compatible devices. On your iPad, go to Settings > Store, and select the Videos you want download, and then click the cloud button to download the video to your iPad. Your iPad can be set to automatically download purchased movies and TV shows wirelessly, and there’s no need to connect iPad to computer again.

5. iTunes – Transfer local videos to iPad via iTunes
Requirements: Computer with iTunes installed

You can not only sync purchased movies and TV shows from iTunes to iPad, but also add local videos to iTunes movie library and transfer them to the new iPad for playback. Taking iPad along with movies filled in seems a good idea for frequent travelers.

For details:
Syncing with iTunes ? how to sync movies from iTunes to the iPad?


6. iPad Movie Apps – Keep in touch with latest movie trailers and funny videos
Requirements: unblocking network, Netflix /Hulu / Movies by Flixster (optional)

Other than iPad's built-in YouTube and iTunes online movie store, there are plenty third-party movie apps for you to watch movies on iPad. Netflix and Hulu Plus both deliver up-to-date on-demanding movies and TV shows. To keep in touch with latest movie trailers and reviews, the freeware Movies by Flixster should be your choice.

7. iPad Video Converter/DVD Ripper – Turn everything into iPad movie collections
Requirements: computer, iPad Video Converter/DVD Ripper (optional)

Since iTunes is picky to local file types, it is better to get an iPad Video Converter app that converts and compress avi, wmv, mkv, etc videos to iPad optimized H.264 .mp4 format. For people who would like simply upload various sources (Blu-Ray, DVD, MP4, etc.) to the iPad rather than take a portable DVD player on flight, the Blu-ray Video Converter Ultimate is a reliable app for you to convert and watch the movie on the iPad on the road.

For details:
The New iPad 3 MKV Converter ? How to Play MKV video on The New iPad 3?

8. iPad Video Downloader – Get your favorite videos downloaded to iPad
Requirements: unblocking network, Video Downloader/ iDownloader Pro Free (optional)

You can browse videos from major video sites and download favorite videos to iPad on the fly. Get
Video Downloader or iDownloader Pro Free from App store, and both can detect the video that you’re playing. Just access the video you wanted like you normally would, you should get a prompt asking you whether you want to download the video or just view it within the browser. The video downloader even downloads and plays flash videos.

9. Flex: Player - Play any video on iPad without subtitle support
Requirements: Flex Player (free app)

If you’ve downloaded videos in AVI, MPEG, VOB, MKV, FLV format, which are not supported by the iPad’s built-in standard video player, the Flex Player is right what you need. The app includes full-screen playback mode and external subtitle support- just name your external subtitle file with the same name as the video. DVD subtitles is also supported.

10. iPad Camera Connection Kit – Import videos to iPad from Camera
Requirements: iPad Camera Connection Kit

For photographers that would like to watch or edit video on iPad, the iPad Camera Connection Kit (which is available at Apple Store) gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera: using your camera’s USB cable or directly from an SD card. iPad and the Camera Connection Kit support standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW, along with SD and HD video formats, including H.264 and MPEG-4.

Learn more:
Pavtube iPad 3 Column