Apple TV 2 Home Sharing depends on Source Device?

So I've been running into an issue with Home Sharing on my Apple TV 2.  This is present on both the 4.2.2 and 4.3.2 firmware. (I own 2 Apple TV 2's. One vanilla and one running FireCore aTV Flash Black)
When attempting to play back video content from my Mac Mini (C2D, 2GB RAM, 2.0Ghz, Mid 2007) I was unable to load any HD content, and SD content was also pretty miserable. I recently discovered this when trying to play Dexter Season 5 HD from my Mac Mini to my Apple TV 2.  Both devices on wi-fi initially.
I tried this both from wired and wireless configurations, I tried switching my Airport Extreme to 5Ghz only, (which my Mac Mini lacks "n"), and no combination of configurations seemed to resolve the issue.
Reluctantly, I decided to try importing the TV Shows to my Macbook Pro (13", 8GB RAM, 2.4Ghz, Mid-2010). What I found was that everything now worked seamlessly.  I tried this wired, wireless, and even went so far as to hook my MBP up to the same network cable my Mac Mini was using to see if it had anything to do with the gigabit switch it was connected to.  In every scenario Home Sharing to my Apple TV 2 from my Macbook Pro worked as designed.
So this got me thinking.  Does the ability/quality to AirPlay/Home Share to the Apple TV 2 depend on the source device?  My CPU nor my RAM on the Mac Mini were ever troubled or maxed out by attempting to stream content to my Apple TV 2. This leads me to believe the only component that could be causing the issue is the GPU. My Mac Mini only has the Intel GMA 950 GPU, my MBP has a NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB.
It makes sense to me that the Apple TV 2 isn't really decoding the video file.  The hardware really isn't there to support decoding video streams. It seems likely to me that the heavy lifting is done by the source device and the transcoded video/audio is simply presented by the ATV2.
Does anyone actually understand the technical workings of AirPlay/Home Sharing?  Perhaps an iOS developer?
If this is the case I'm going to have to start looking to upgrade my Mac Mini.  It's about time anyway, but this would be the final tipping point in my upgrade debate.
P.S.: "Senior" community members who have nothing to contribute should refrain from responding to this thread only to pad their post counts. Legitimate responses only please.

Ok, I'm glad you've said that, now what documentation do you have to back that up? Where in the Apple documentation/support site can you point to backup your claim? Do you tested any configurations that would support your assumptions?
I'd assume that the Apple TV 2 does most of the work, but the evidence I have collected does not support that assumption.
You've just thrown your own response under the bus.  If the video is compressed, and the ATV2 is doing the decompression, you wouldn't need to worry about bandwidth, now would you?
This is EXACTLY why I don't come to the communities/forums anymore.  Every "know-it-all" thinks they have THE answer, but they are just as clueless as everyone else.  The difference being they are chasing a status, and not the true answer to anyone's actual problem or question.
If you would like to continue to dig this hole feel free. I'll take the shovel when you are done.
I've been moderated and banned by this forum before for calling this kind of behaviour out, and I'm sure this will happen yet again.
Does anyone else have documentation, proof, or some other concrete evidence to support how Home Sharing works from a device to the Apple TV 2?

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