I recently purchased a new TV (actually won, but that’s aside from the point). I put the DirecTV receiver on there and it worked like a charm. Then I put the Apple TV on and it appeared to work like a charm. But when the screensaver kicked in, the colors inverted. Sometimes I’d see lines across the screen and other times the Apple TV would get weird and just be blurry. I knew immediately that I was sending it too much. Turns out the new TV couldn’t do less than 1080p and the old Apple TV couldn’t do anything higher than 720p. To confirm, I looked up the serial number. All Apple TVs have Wi-Fi (up to 802.11n), 10/100 Ethernet, optical audio and an Infrared receiver for the remote control. So, here’s some information on model-specific connectivity to your other equipment:
- Early 2012 Model: Model A1427 or A1469, with HDMI that supports 720p or 1080p
- Late 2010 Model: Model A1378, with HDMI supporting 720P
- Early 2007 Mode (Silver): Model A1218, with HDMI supporting 480p and 720p as well as RCA and a built-in 40 or 160GB hard drive
