How can I stream my mkv's, mp4's onto a 4th gen apple tv?

My Cloud OS 3 Personal & Network Attached Storage My Cloud
1

I currently have a 3tb my cloud drive. I would like to purchase a 4th gen apple tv and stream all of my files, mp4’s, mkv’s etc onto the apple tv.

Can i do this and if so what must i do? I’m told an apple tv app called PLEX would work. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

2

The Plex client requires a Plex server. The Plex server will not run on the basic mycloud.

The mycloud includes the twonky dlna media server. If the AppleTV includes a dlna client, you should be able to connect. But that might be a big ‘if’… There’s also the issue of media format support. The solution may be an app. Get googling …

3

The 4th Gen Apple TV does not officially support the MKV format. According to the specifications for the 4th Gen Apple TV (https://support.apple.com/kb/SP724?locale=en_US) the following video formats are supported:

  • H.264 video up to 1080p, 60 frames per second, High or Main Profile level 4.2 or lower
  • H.264 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 by 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

MP4 files should play but to play MKV you have a few choices:

  1. Bulk/batch convert all your MKV files to MP4 files. There are various software programs capable of bulk or batch converting video from one format to another. Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php) is one such free program that can convert from MKV to MP4.

  2. While one can use Plex. Using Plex will require the use of a separate Plex Media Server on the local network. The single bay My Cloud units DO NOT officially support running a Plex Media Server within the My Cloud OS/Firmware. Furthermore because of the low powered hardware used by most all My Cloud devices, even those My Cloud devices that are capable of running Plex add-on module may not properly transcode video from MKV to MP4 so the Apple TV can stream the video. See the following links for more on Plex and NAS support:

Plex NAS Devices and Limitations: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201373823-NAS-Devices-and-Limitations

Plex NAS Compatibility List: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201373803-NAS-Compatibility-List

  1. One may be able to use a media player that has been ported to Apple TV to stream MKV files from the My Cloud. But that is totally up to that ported media player and its capabilities.

How to use VLC to watch any video on Apple TV: http://www.cultofmac.com/406734/how-to-use-vlc-to-watch-any-video-on-apple-tv/

VLC on the Apple TV: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-appletv.html

  1. Or one could stream MKV to their Apple TV using AirPlay or iTunes using a separate device like an iPad that is attached to the same local network.

Note: While the My Cloud does have an embedded iTunes media server, currently that iTunes media server only supports streaming audio files.