I just bought myself the Apple composite AV cable for my iPod Touch so that I could hook it up to my TV to watch BBC iPlayer programmes. At first I thought the £35 price tag was pretty steep, but seeing as I was at the Apple Store in Glasgow I thought I’d treat myself to something!
On closer inspection though I saw that it isn’t just an AV cable but it also has a USB cable which plugs into a dinky little power supply which comes with both UK and North American power supply connectors, so basically it can be used to charge your iPod and also means that you don’t run out of power whilst watching programmes on it.
Basically the AV cable enables you to watch or listen to any video, audio or images that are on your iPod directly on your TV, this also includes the YouTube application too. Image slideshows can also be viewed via the AV cable.
Those standard features are pretty awesome in themselves but the killer app combo for me is this:
- The BBC offer a version of their iPlayer specifically for the iPod Touch and iPhone
- The AV cable for the iPod Touch / iPhone can play the iPlayer content on your TV
It’s a pretty simple combo but it’s awesome being able to play all the iPlayer content on your TV instead of on your computer. The great thing too is that the iPlayer content via the iPod is actually better quality than the streaming Flash version that you would view on your computer due to it being delivered as H.264 encoded video rather than the Flash ON2 codec that the regular iPlayer uses.
Well, I can’t recommend it enough, the price tag might seem a bit high at first but it’s a high quality cable that provides a power supply and AV connections as well as the ability to use it as a regular USB iPod cable too. If you happen to live in the Uk and have access to the BBC iPlayer then it makes that accessible right in your living room.
The AV Cable is also available for Component video connections too, you can pick one up from the Apple Store online:
~Rick
I had one other thought though, I'm not sure if the iPod Touch and iPhone would work with a regular cable as it does its connection via the Dock connector, whereas a regular cable will plug into the headphone port.
I'll need to try it at home later with my iPod Touch and see if it works! If not then this is another reason to get the proper AV adapter I guess!
Yeah, your right – with the added value of the charger, is not quite so bad… :)
Hi Ben, I'd read that the cables were basically swapped over so yep you could go for the cheaper option of using one of those cables.
I still think the value isn't that bad considering the regular iPod USB power adapter is £19 on its own then the price isn't so bad, if you're going to watch a lot of video via the iPod like I do then you definitely want the power adapter!
ok, so the usb charger bit is quite funky, but, you know that those cables are just reverse wired standard video cables ? – like the ones you get for outputting form a MiniDV cam, you just need to swap the video and one of the stereo channels around and bingo.
ive always hated apples approach to cables, and £35 is prohibitively expensive, especially when you have the ability to lose cables that i do !
:)