Quick Guide
- You can use a digital AV/RCA adapter or VGA adapter to connect your Apple TV to a TV without an HDMI cable.
- You can use a Scart connector or DVI adapter to connect TV with Apple TV.
Apple TV is one of the most advanced streaming devices in the market that converts any ordinary TV into an ultimate entertainment hub. You can connect your Apple TV to the HDMI port of your TV to use the Apple TV. However, if your TV doesn’t have an HDMI port, you need some extra adapters like an AV adapter or VGA/RCA adapter to connect your Apple TV. In this guide, I will show you all the possible ways to connect your Apple TV box to your TV in case your TV doesn’t have an HDMI port.
How to Connect Apple TV to TV Without HDMI
You need any of the following adapters to connect your Apple TV to a TV without an HDMI port.
- VGA adapter
- AV/RCA adapter
- DVI adapter
- Scart connector
Pre-Requisites
There are specific prerequisites with which you can connect your Apple TV box to your TV.
- High-definition TV (1080p or higher)
- Apple TV Box
- HDMI cable cord
- Any one of the above-mentioned adapter
- Cables for adapters
- USB power jack.
How to Connect Apple TV to TV Without Direct HDMI
You can connect your Apple TV to the TV without using the HDMI cable with the following means.
VGA Adapter
VGA refers to the Video Graphics Array (VGA) cable employed to carry visual display data. A VGA cable set constitutes a cable and a connector at each end. The 4th generation Apple TV doesn’t support powering to HDMI. However, you can use a USB cable to power the VGA adapter cable to make it work with Apple TV. You can use this VGA cable if your TV is VGA compatible. You can connect an Apple TV using an active HDMI to a VGA adaptor. However, most devices include HDCP on the HDMI signal, which leads to issues while watching copyrighted content. Also, you need a 3.5mm male-to-male cable to connect the audio slot in the adaptor to receive the audio signals from the Apple TV.
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RCA/AV Adapter
When you have an old TV version that only has RCA or AV ports and color-coded ports, use AV or RCA cables along with standard HDMI cables. The RCA connector, also known as the RCA Phono connector, is widely used to carry audio and video signals on old TVs. You can connect an Apple TV to a TV with RCA ports using an HDMI to RCA active adapter. Like VGA, the RCA adapter is powered by an extra power source through USB. These RCA adaptors support upscaling up to 1080 Pixels. RCA adapters do not support videos with resolution and refresh rates higher than 1080P. However, these cables extract audio, and you don’t need any extra cable to transmit the audio.
DVI Adapter
You can also use a DVI adapter to connect Apple TV to your TV if it has a DVI port. DVI refers to Digital Visual Interface and is a unique adapter that carries both analog and digital signals and offers a better picture quality than VGA adapters. With a DVI converter, you do not need any active HDMI to DVI converter box as all DVI connectors except DVI-A support digital signals and work similarly to HDMI. You can use a cheaper physical HDMI to DVI adapter instead of an expensive converter box to match your TV and Apple TV’s ports, including audio ports.
SCART Connector
SCART is an analog connector that uses a 21-pin connection to handle standard-definition video signals. It is a bidirectional connector between two AV devices for data transmission. To transmit data using SCART, you must use a powered adapter to convert the digital signal from the HDMI port to an analog signal.
How to Connect Apple TV to TV using Adaptor
You can use any of the above cables to connect your Apple TV to your TV using the simple steps below.
1. Connect the one-side HDMI cord to the HDMI input jack on the back of the Apple TV Box.
2. Plug in the other side of the HDMI cable to the input port of the respective adapter supported by your TV.
3. Insert one end of the audio & video cables into the ports on the backside of the adapter.
4. Now, put the other end of the audio & video cables to the Apple TV ports.
5. Then, plugin the bigger end of the USB cable to the power source and the tiny end of the USB cable to the USB port available on the adapter you are using.
6. Upon connecting Apple TV to your TV, you can turn on your Apple TV to find the suitable option in the input menu to stream it to your TV.
You can pair your Apple TV box with any of your High-definition TVs by using the above-mentioned adapter to bring the same quality in audio and video. However, many of the users have reported a video distortion issue when they try connecting Apple TV to older HDTVs. So, while attempting to use Apple TV on older TV models, ensure that your TV is compatible with the adapter you were using.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can connect multiple HDMI devices on your TV with one HDMI port TV by using an HDMI splitter device.
No. You can’t connect Apple TV with USB, as the Apple TV 4K does not support USB ports. Also, the USB port available on the older models is used only for resetting the TV to factory settings.
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