Not sure if I’m being thick or if its apple being **** but wife just bought a movie on iTunes and I can’t play it on the TV!

Plays OK on the macbook but when I connect the HDMI cable and try playing on the TV nothing happens. Cable works as the Mac display is mirrored on the TV OK. If I unplug the cable, works fine and plays on the laptop OK.

Now I may just be missing something but never had this problem playing movies from a windows PC or android tablet via HDMI so is it just apple being awkward or is there a simple fix

Apple digital rights malarkey I’d imagine

Try any old movie in iTunes – import an mp4 or something, and see if that works.

I don’t do much Apple. But I thought itunes was for your computer and Apple tv was for your tv

But that might not help

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/watching-itunes-movies-on-my-tv.1567779/

Yes looks like DRM

Possible work rounds

http://www.wondershare.com/itunes-video/watch-itunes-video-on-tv.html

Hmm – never had that issue before so I doubt it’s DRM related.

Sounds like HDCP problems. We use a Mac mini with a Samsung TV, which works 99% of the time but occasionally has a brief whinge and doesn’t play itunes stuff. Whether HDCP works properly can be dependent on the devices at each end of the cable so can be a bit hit and miss…

HDCP is a load of rubbish, it’s one of those systems which doesn’t even slow down people who really want to nick stuff but is often highly infuriating for people who just want to play stuff they’ve legitimately bought. No wonder people just pirate stuff instead.

I have a dim and distant memory of having this problem myself. I THINK it’s to do with the m4v format, which some devices won’t play – I think the fix for me was just to change the extension to mp4. I think.

We bought a film on iTunes and just assumed we could watch it on our Apple TV box. I’m a useless when it comes to geeking but there’s no way I could get the film on the TV.
Sounds like it wasn’t me just Apple being a bunch of **** again.

It’s probably your TV if you’re trying to play direct from the file. My Samsung TV play’s Apple MP4 (or whatever format it is) no problems, but my older Panasonic doesn’t recognise the format. Same with music off iTunes.

I am guessing that you just need to move the iTunes window onto the tv screen.
When you mirror your tv/laptop screen it is effectively one large/wide screen, and your iTunes panel is probably to the right or left of your laptop screen.
with both on, try moving your mouse sideways to see if it disappears off the edge of one, and appears on the edge of the other. It is possible to set which side the tv is set too, default is left I think. If you see the mouse moving across both screen simply resize the panel, a little smaller as the tv has less pixels, and then drag it across to the tv screen.
That is how I do it with my mac-monitor-projector(which is effectively another monitor/tv screen.
Any thing else I am buggered if I know, sorry.