How to stream old movies to Apple TV without a subscription?

Probably possible through Apple Home Sharing. What type of computer? What OS version? If you add compatible media files to the iTunes application (PC or older Mac) (or to modern Mac Apple TV app or Mac Apple Music app, then the Apple TV box can access those media files through the Computers app. The Computers app on the Apple TV box will try to access a Library of media files on a local networked computer, on which Home Sharing service has been activated. The Computers app has tabs for movies, tv shows, music, home videos, photos, and audiobooks. When videos are not specifically tagged as e.g. movies or tv shows, then those video files will be considered home videos.

MP3 files are audio files (not video), and would be compatible.

MOV files can have various types of video (codecs) in it, so that may or may not be compatible. Incompatible files may need conversion before being shareable this way.

MOV files that have H.264 AVC video and AAC audio are compatible.

MOV files that have H.264 AVC video and AC-3 audio are compatible.

MOV files that have MPEG-4 Part 2 video might be compatible with the ‘legacy’ models Apple TV box (A1469 or earlier), but not with the modern models Apple TV box (A1625 or later).

MOV files that have different video and audio codecs are probably not compatible.

Video files benefit from being properly interleaved (short alternating segments of each stream, to make streaming easier with less in-file seeking) and optimized (metadata at the start of the file). That would be a task for the video encoder or a post-processing tool.

Identify your Apple TV model - Apple Support

Find your Apple TV model number - Apple Support

Apple TV (3rd generation) [A1427 or A1469] technical specifications - Apple Support

I don't have an Apple TV account subscription and the media was never purchased via any streaming services

An Apple TV+ subscription or Apple media Store purchase or other commercial streaming service isn’t needed for the above.

An Apple Account is needed for using the Apple TV box, as well as for activating Home Sharing. The Apple Account for Home Sharing should match between the sharing library on the computer and the Home Sharing service on the Apple TV box.

You might investigate Plex. It can create a media server for the library of content on your computer which you can access using an Apple TV app.

tt2

you can't sync media to the appletv box

if your signature is correct and you have the old appletv box from 2013 then you are out of luck

if you really have a newer appletv box with an app store then you can go to app store and download vlc player it will be most formats and from most types of network shares I use UPnP to play my home movies myself

for me I use a synology nas and use vlc player with UPnP to access that, if I did not have a nas then a shared drive on my computers would be an option for vlc player to access too

haven't use plex in a long time but it should work if setup correctly if they changed something in their end then maybe a new setup is required.

HandBrake is an excellent tool for video conversions to .mp4.

From the Presets, I would choose Devices﹥Apple 1080p30 Surround (assuming the source is 1080p or less), and tweak that a bit.

In the Summary tab, I would select ☑ Web Optimized for any video that will be played over a network.

It defaults to 30 fps video, which I would change to Same as source. It defaults to Peak Framerate or Variable Framerate, which I would change to Constant Framerate, unless I knew that the source wasn’t constant.

It defaults to both an AAC and AC3 audio track, but one of those is enough. So you can set one of the tracks to None.

One could save that as a new custom preset.

HandBrake is an excellent tool for video conversions to .mp4.

… when I drag and drop movies in my iTunes / TV and Movie folder it just doesn't take them, its empty, I'm assuming that's how I should add them.

When videos are not specifically tagged as e.g. ‘movies’ or ‘tv shows’, then those video files will be considered ‘home videos’. Look for your content under that tab (both on Mac and on Apple TV).

Fair enough. I've only ever run a local library out of it and haven't checked it lately. Perhaps mine has fallen over too.

tt2