Any H.264 content from the web can be broadcast over Airplay to your HDTV.

Except that now iOS 4.2 has been released, it doesn’t work that way. Only audio can be streamed from non-Apple apps, which is frankly rubbish.

But there may be a solution.

Erica Sadun of TUAW managed to get a custom video app to send video to an Apple TV, and later Steven Troughton-Smith came up with a one-line solution.

All of which means, although for jailbreakers only, there is very likely to be a solution. Very soon, I would expect to see an app available on Cydia that will allow any video to be sent to an Apple TV.

The only remaining problem, which I didn’t think about in my earlier article, is the resolution. The BBC’s H.264 iPhone and iPad streams were not intended to be scaled up to 32′ TV screens. I’ve played BBC iPlayer content through my TV using a component cable; it looked OK, but not great. A far better solution would be for Apple to allow iPlayer streaming direct on the Apple TV – which would require the Beeb to have another, higher-bitrate H.264 stream that will scale to TV sizes. Or perhaps an iPlayer app, if Apple allows Apple TV apps, and the BBC delivers one.

All done? Good. The crucial part of that article is this:

Any H.264 content from the web can be broadcast over Airplay to your HDTV.

What does that mean? BBC iPlayer comes to Apple TV. Finally.

How come?

Very simply, BBC iPlayer video content for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is encoded in H.264.

Daring Fireball had a little more information to add, namely:

Apps using the built-in media controller views get AirPlay out for free. Apps that don’t (like Hulu) need to roll their own using AVFoundation.

BBC iPlayer on iOS devices uses the built-in media controller. Therefore, it stands to reason that iPlayer played from an iOS device running iOS 4.2 will stream to an Apple TV, and be playable on your television.

Is this a good solution?

That depends on your point of view. It means that not only BBC iPlayer, but any video content on the web that’s encoded in H.264 will be streamable to an Apple TV.

However, it’s a two-box solution, requiring you to have your iOS device streaming the content to your Apple TV. It’s not clear yet if AirPlay will allow streaming in the background – if not, it means your iPhone is effectively locked up while you watch telly.

Wait, there’s more

There are other solutions coming to get web content on your TV, not least Google TV.

I saw earlier today that Sony announced their Bravia TVs will get iPlayer capability built-in, including some existing Bravias. But this does mean hooking it up to your existing home network with a cable.

There’s also the Boxee Box, launching in the UK at the same time as iOS 4.2 will roll out, in November. That is going to feature an app to view BBC content (but will it be iPlayer?), plus ITV and Channel 4, and it’ll play content in non-H.264 format from local network sources.

And don’t forget, YouView, just announced today – featuring Freeview, catch-up TV, High Definition and a personal video recorder (to pause, rewind and record live TV). It was previously known as Project Canvas, and looks very interesting.

But are two boxes are better than one?

It would be much better if Apple had allowed apps on the Apple TV. The BBC could have then built a dedicated iPlayer app for the device, which would have obviated the need to have another device streaming content to the Apple TV.

Two devices just to watch a bit of TV seems overkill, but don’t underestimate the power of easy. Especially if the Beeb actually delivers on their announcement in February that they will be releasing a dedicated iPlayer app for the iPhone.

I’m going to wait for more details to emerge before I decide if I’m going to buy an Apple TV or Boxee Box, or maybe something else. But iPlayer is coming to the TV. About time.

UPDATE: Read this post for AirPlay / iPlayer news since iOS 4.2 was released.

Sponsor’s Message

This post was brought to you by Vodafone Australia, the leader in mobile phone deals.

If the next iPhone could perform all these tasks what would be the point of a dedicated home gaming console such as the Wii, PS3 or XBOX 360? We already know that the 3.0 update will bring seamless multi-player support, painless syncing to 3rd party hardware such as gaming controllers and wireless bluetooth headphones, dance mats, Guitar Hero hardware, etc.

It doesn’t take too much imagination to begin to see how the iPhone (and iPod Touch) could mount a serious challenge to all other Living Room entertainment hardware.

Imagine this scenario.

Transformers 2 has just been released for rental in 720p HD on the iTunes Store. At work you initiate the rental on your new iPhone. Whilst you’re working your iPhone (connected to your work WiFi) is busy performing a background download of the video file. Just before you are due to leave for home you read about the brand new Transformers 2 iPhone and iPod Touch game. You begin the download and prepare for some iPhone gaming on the train home. During your hour long commute you complete the first two levels of the Transformers 2 game that has the look of a top flight PS2 game. On arriving home you plug your iPhone into your large LCD TV via the Mini DisplayPort to HMDI cable and watch Transformers 2 in glorious HD with all your family. After the movie is over you go back to the game, but this time you engage in some multi-player action with a friend who lives 2000 miles away and your son who is upstairs on his iPod Touch.

If you can do all this using just one device that fits in your pocket why would you fork out another £300 for a PS3 or £200 for an XBOX 360?

The iPhone solution means no continual buying of credits, no trips to the local game store, no car journeys to Blockbuster to pick up a Blu-Ray disc, no wasted space under your TV, no annoying fan noise, no scratched discs, no XBOX Live membership fees, no clumsy interface navigation, no trawling through game mags and websites looking for game reviews, no power cables, internet connection cables and controller cables, no positioning of Wii sensor bars, no replacing batteries in your controllers… the list goes on and on.

And what would you sacrifice? The jaw dropping graphical detail of both the XBOX 360 and PS3 and that’s really about it. Of course you could argue that you would miss some the best 5 star games available, but something tells me that if the iPhone did receive such a boost in polygon performance then the high profile 5 star games would not be too far behind.

The most stunning thing about this flight of fancy is that only thing standing between it and reality is hardware. Unlike every other manufacturer that comes to mind, Apple already have all the software components in place; from Quicktime to the App Store, from Mobile OS X to the amazing developer tools, Apple is ready. Only a huge foul-up of epic proportions will stop this from happening with the next 18 months.

Getting the correct software in place is a far larger undertaking than putting the appropriate hardware in place, just ask Microsoft, Nokia, LG and Samsung. For Apple the heavy lifting is already done!