“I’ve got a large library of H.264 mp4 videos that I have copy them to an external hard drive, and they all work perfectly in iTunes. I recently got an Apple TV 3, and it was working great until I tried to play an older mp4, one of the originals that I had converted, and the ATV 3 claimed that it couldn’t recognize the file format. What gives?”

Although Apple TV support to play MP4 files, you probably have some MP4 files that can’t be read by your Apple TV 3. Is there quick and easy way to resolve this problem? Sure. No matter you are connected via USB, HDMI, or what server you are using, all you need is just this powerful iMedia Converter for Mac (For Windows: Video Converter Ultimate). It is all-in-one software that can deal well with MP4 to Apple TV 3 Conversion. (Read Top 5 Video Converter Ultimate Review)

Key features of this powerful iMedia Converter for Mac:

• Convert a mass of video formats including MP4, AVI, MKV, Tivo, etc. to be compatible with your Apple TV 3.
• Convert Blu-ray/DVD to a mass of video formats for Android, iOS and Windows 8 tablets/phones.
• Convert various video formats to be compatible with FCP (X), iMovie, FCE, Avid, Adobe Premiere pro, etc.
• Directly Copy Blu-ray DVD main movie with original quality.
• Crop the black bar to ensure full screen, set 16:9 or 4:3 as per your needs.
• Add your desired subtitles to the video.
• Convert 6X faster, just like copy speed of hard drive.
• Hands-on editing feature to give best image and performance.

How to convert MP4 to M4V for Apple TV 3 on Mac OS X?

1. Import MP4 files.

First, free download the best MP4 to Apple TV Converter and install on your Mac.

Launch the Mac MP4 to Apple TV Converter, click the icon with a red cross on the top to browse your computer and import MP4 source. Also you can drag and drop the MP4 files into the software directly and in this way you can import multiple mp4 files at one time. Just choose the way you like.

Note: This Mac software also let you import and convert both Blu-ray and DVD. On the top left, you can easily find the icon to load Blu-ray/DVD. If you want to backup or convert Blu-ray/DVD discs for safe storage or playback, hit it to import the discs. Learn more detailed information in how to convert DVD to Apple TV and convert Blu-ray to Apple TV for playing.

Step 2. Choose format for Apple TV.

Hit the “Format” menu you will get many options in the drop-down list. Here you are recommended to directly choose the format under “Apple TV” catalogue, which is made for playback with Apple TV gen 1/2/3.

Note: You can choose to adjust the video and audio parameters including codec, bitrate, channels, etc. However, if you are not good at it, you’d better not change these parameters. Keeping the default settings can give you an output video with good quality.

Step 3. Convert MP4 to Apple TV.

Before conversion, you need to click “Browse” to set the location of output videos in your computer. Now since everything is done, let’s go to start conversion. Click the big “Convert” button to strat converting MP4 to Apple TV 3 M4Vfor playback and then “Open” button will take you to the generated videos.

Throw the converted files in USB or HDMI via PC or Mac and then connect to your TV, you can enjoy it well now. Download free trial version to experience easy-to-operate conversion right now.

Extended reading about Apple TV specifications:

Video formats supported:

H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High or Main Profile level 4.0 or lower, Baseline profile level 3.0 or lower with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640*480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280*720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

Audio formats supported:

HE-AAC (V1), AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through