The More You Know is an ongoing series of posts which highlight features of the Apple TV and how to use them. This is our first TMYK post about the Apple TV 2G.

With Apple TV (2nd generation), you can configure your Screen Saver to use your photos by enabling photo sharing in iTunes 10.0.1 or later, then pointing to iPhoto, Aperture, or a folder of your choice.

To use your photos with Apple TV (2nd generation) Screen Saver, first make sure your Home Sharing account is enabled with the same Apple ID on both your Apple TV and your computer. Then follow these steps:

1. Open iTunes 10.0.1 or later.
2. In iTunes, from the Advanced menu choose Choose Photos to Share….
3. Enable the option to Share Photos, and then select the iPhoto, Aperture, or a folder you would like the Apple TV (2nd generation) screensaver to use images from.
4. On your Apple TV (2nd generation) , go to Settings > Screen Saver > Photos
5. Select your computer.
6. Select the folder or Event that you want the Apple TV Screen Saver to use photos from.
7. To confirm: On your Apple TV, go back to the previous screen by pressing the menu button on your Apple remote, then select the Preview option to see which photos are being used.

If you are sharing your personal photos from iPhoto, Apple TV (2nd generation) may take some time before recognizing any changes made to your photos within iPhoto. To accelerate getting modified photos or Events to your Apple TV, quit iPhoto after completing your changes and then open it again. If you’ve created new Events in iPhoto, make sure that they are selected in iTunes in the “Photo Sharing Preference” window.

It’s been while since we’ve published one of our “The More You Know” posts, and with our new dedication to Apple movie content, we thought we’ve start the series off again with a little information on iTunes Store movie rental usage rights. If you’ve ever wondered how long you have before you rental expires, or if you can transfer a rental from your Apple TV to your computer, read below.

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• You have 30 days to watch the movie after the download completes. You can start watching the movie while it is still downloading.

• Once you’ve started to watch the movie, you have 24 hours to finish watching the movie (even if you start watching before the download is complete). You can watch the movie as many times as you want within this 24-hour period.

• The rented movie will expire when either the 30 day or 24-hour limit is reached. Once the rental expires, the movie is automatically deleted. You must re-rent and download the movie to view it after your rented movie has expired.

• You can move the movie between devices as many times as you wish during the rental period, but the movie can only be played on one device at a time. If you rent the movie on your Apple TV, it is not transferable to any other device and you must watch it on your Apple TV.

• On your device, the time remaining for you to finish watching the movie appears near the movie title.

• You can only play your rented movies on the computer you rented it from and only if it is authorized to play your iTunes Store purchases and rentals.

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For more The More You Know posts head over to our section of the same name.

Have you ever wondered what it means for that little light in the front of your Apple TV to be blinking and changing colors? Below is a list of actions that your light might be indicating.

1. If the Status light is solid white, your Apple TV is on.

2. If the Status light is off, your Apple TV is off or in Standby Mode

3. If the Status light is blinking Amber, your Apple TV is starting up

4. If the Status light flashes white once, your Apple TV is accepting a command from the remote

5. If the Status light flashes amber once, your Apple TV is rejecting a command from the remote (you’ve paired a remote with Apple TV but you’re using a remote that’s not paired).

6. If the Status light alternates between white and amber, your Apple TV is having issues, refer to this Service FAQ

If your new to the Apple TV, you may be wondering how is it you turn the box off? If you haven’t discovered the fact that this little box runs kind of hot, you will. The short answer to this question is there is no way to turn it off, unless you unplug it completely. What Apple did though was include a Standby Mode, which is a way to turn it off without turning it off. To put Apple TV in standby mode, select Settings > Standby from the main menu, or If you are on the main menu, you can also press Play/Pause on the Apple Remote for about three seconds to put Apple TV in Standby Mode. Below is a list of things your Apple TV might be doing in Standby Mode, which will give you an idea of why it doesn’t cut power completely.

1. The hard drive spins down when not syncing or downloading content.

2. Video displays black even though video output remains active.

3. Audio does not play.

4. Download of any content (rented or purchased) from the iTunes Store continues uninterrupted.

5. Apple TV continues to appear in the iTunes device list, allowing you to view synced content.

6. Network connections remain active and Apple TV continues to appear in the iTunes device list, allowing you to sync content.

7. The fan continues to operate.

8. If the Apple TV is in standby mode during a sync operation, content continues to write to the hard drive.

With Germany being added to the list of countries which can now buy or rent movies from the iTunes Store, I thought it might be important to review what iTunes content is available for what countries.

If you click on the thumbnail below you will see a break down of available content by country. This table is directly from Apple’s support page. Remember, high-definition content is not available in all regions. If an item is available in high-definition, you’ll see an HD logo.

As an original 40gb Apple TV model owner, I often think of how awesome it would be if I was able to plug in an external USB hard drive to that USB port on the back of the Apple TV, especially with HD movie purchases now available. So if it’s not possible to plug in an external USB hard drive or any other USB device, why did Apple even put it there?

Officially, the USB port on the back of the Apple TV is only used for service and diagnostics. A USB keyboard, mouse, hard drive, or any other device will not be recognized by Apple TV.

Unofficially there are hacks to enable the USB port for external storage, but how about Apple making it easy and just enabling the USB port for things other then service and diagnostics in their next update.