Apple TV 4K official (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Yeah it's not about me trying to assign anyone blame (as I said I hold no shares of Apple or HBO so I don't really care who takes it on the chin). I'm just about trying to help troubleshoot where the problem lies. HBO literally issued 3 updates in 5 days that caused and [sort of] fixed this debacle. So depending on which version you have, the fault could lie with HBO or with Apple. Personally, I'd want to know where the problem is because then I know where to trouble shoot.

I don't have the full version numbers of the HBO app but the issue that started it all ended with a .0. They issued a .1 like 2 days later which did not fix it at all. Then a .2 yesterday which at least reverted to the Apple video player.

 

[Edwin-S]

tvOS 14.7 is in public beta at this time and hasn't seen a general release yet, so to get it you have to enable beta updates on your ATV4K:

System -> Software Updates -> Get Beta Updates (On)

Thanks. I started wondering if it had been pushed as a general update after I posted that. I'll wait for the final release. Not really into being an unpaid bug tester.

 

[Carlo_M]

Also to temper my Spatial Audio / Atmos enthusiasm, it's not all sunshine and roses on that front.

I've submitted feedback to Apple to try and fix this. I have confirmed this only happens on my AppleTV Music App, playing my Apple Music subscription Atmos tracks. It does not happen to Lossless (or lower) quality tracks, just to Atmos.

There is a split second pause/delay between tracks. It seems my Denon 4500h has to re-acquire or re-detect the Atmos signal which of course is not instantaneous. For most albums with pauses between tracks this doesn't seem to present an issue. However in albums where one track blends into another--think Beatles Abbey Road, the medley on side two--for those old enough to remember sides--there is now a split second pause as one song transitions to the next. I tested other albums where this phenomenon happens (including the last few songs of Sgt. Peppers) where the albums were not Atmos, they were Lossless, and the pause is not there.

 

[TonyD]

We have an Apple Music topic that is more specific to Apple Music bugs and Likes

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/apple-to-announce-new-lossless-streaming-music-service.282123/unread

Btw I get that skip on Atmos tracks too.
It happens even at the beginning of a record too.

 

[Sam Posten]

Apple Explains How Spatial Audio Head Tracking Will Work on Apple TV

With tvOS 15, Apple is bringing Spatial Audio to the Apple TV when the set-top box is used with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. It has been unclear how...

www.macrumors.com

 

[TonyD]

There are still problems and the functionality of Apple's native player isn't completely there yet.

I installed on one of my first generation ATV4K units the following tvOS 14.7 (18M5533c)

It still doesn't allowed the swipe down nor does it indicate whether it's in 4K or not along with no DV or HDR. I can go forward and backwards as well as turn on subtitles, but that's about it.

IMO, it's still screwed up!

Good mea culpa by HBO Max. If you haven't updated your app, do so. It does restore the functionality of Apple's native player.

What is this about native player and how would one be able to tell the difference on which player Atv is being used?

 

[TonyD]

Does anyone in here use the MLB app on Atv?

A few weeks ago someone mad e a huge change to the app.
You can no longer open the app after a game has started and choose to go live or start from the beginning.

This is a critical problem for someone like me as I rarely watch a game live.
The in,y option is to hit the Watch live button.
Then you have to immediately hit pause without looking at the screen and then rewind as far back as you can without looking at the screen so I don’t see the score.

I don’t even know who to contact about this.
Don’t know if it’s an Apple thing that forces this or if MLB TV has decided this.

Also during games you previously could swipe up in the remote and bring up the innings and then slide to the next innning or any inning. That’s also gone.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Do the current (not the newly announces) ATV4K units support Atmos for the new music service? I would think they would.

Play audio in Dolby Atmos or surround sound on your Apple TV
How to update your Apple TV
What’s new in tvOS 14 for Apple TV

"On Apple TV 4K with the latest version of tvOS, you can play sound in Dolby Atmos"; the tech specs for Apple TV 4K list Atmos and the ones for Apple TV HD do not.

============================

HD Report – How To Get Dolby Atmos on Apple TV 4K
HD Report – List of 4k, HDR, & Dolby Atmos Movies on Apple TV

Note: "because Apple TV 4k uses a high bandwidth form of Dolby Atmos it will not work using ARC connections. That means you can’t have both Dolby Atmos and HDR video at the same time."

 

[Thomas Newton]

MacRumors says that both generations of AppleTV 4K support Dolby Atmos.

MacRumors - Old Apple TV 4K vs. New Apple TV 4K (2nd Gen) Buyer's Guide
"The only difference in terms of video and audio capabilities between the two ‌Apple TV‌ 4K models is support for high framerate HDR."
(Which according to the HD Report article, you can't enable at the same time as Dolby Atmos.)

 

[Carlo_M]

What is this about native player and how would one be able to tell the difference on which player Atv is being used?

I'm not an app dev so I won't explain this perfectly. But essentially Apple TV has a default player for video. Think of it as "Windows Media Player" for Microsoft. So let's say you have a streaming video service and the content is on your servers and you want to create an app for tvOS that allows your subscribers to play your video. And lets assume your video conforms to the standard video and audio codecs that most everyone including Apple uses.

You can write your app and choose to use the standard player that is already part of the tvOS ecosystem that Apple created. It already is guaranteed to work with tvOS and it's various remote and Siri functions. You can basically use that player and wrap your app's "skin" around it, branding it as your own service, and pointing it to your servers and content.

Or if you think you have the programming skills to write a better player (think VLC which I highly prefer to Windows Media Player), you can create that video player and use that. But you better make sure it's as good or better in terms of performance *and* compatibility with tvOS functionality and remote/Siri integration.

HBO did the former at first. Then last week updated the app with the latter, but their home grown video player sucked something awful. So they reverted back in the latest build released a day or two ago.

 

[Tino]

Another Beta update. Same result.

Netflix and Vudu still showing HD labels for 4K content.

 

[Tino]

Another Beta update. Same result.

Netflix and Vudu still showing HD labels for 4K content.

For me that is.

 

[JohnRice]

A big thing a lot of people have been waiting for seems to have slipped through the cracks, unless I missed it somewhere.

Just today I noticed Hulu has content in 5.1 on the ATV. In addition, it has original content like The Handmaid's Tale and Little Fires Everywhere in 4K. The Sunday news shows are still 2 channel, but that's no big deal. Older shows like How I Met Your Mother are 5.1.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A big thing a lot of people have been waiting for seems to have slipped through the cracks, unless I missed it somewhere.

Just today I noticed Hulu has content in 5.1 on the ATV. In addition, it has original content like The Handmaid's Tale and Little Fires Everywhere in 4K. The Sunday news shows are still 2 channel, but that's no big deal. Older shows like How I Met Your Mother are 5.1.

We talked about the Hulu content in 5.1. I'm not sure about the 4K content.

 

[JohnRice]

I didn’t see any mention of it in this thread.

 

[compson]

I didn’t see any mention of it in this thread.

Post 1512 and following
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/apple-tv-4k-official.354146/post-5002434

 

[Sam Posten]

So I thought if I bought a 2021 ATV my ATV+ was extended another year. Was that only a first time buyer thing or am I just off my lazyboy?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think it was only one hardware redemption per account, not year. I just got a new iDevice and a second free year was not offered to me when I set it up.

 

[dpippel]

I got the free year of ATV+ when I bought my new ATV4K, because I'd never redeemed the offer before.

 

[DaveF]

So I thought if I bought a 2021 ATV my ATV+ was extended another year. Was that only a first time buyer thing or am I just off my lazyboy?

I’ve understood it as a new-customer trial promo, not renewed with additional purchases. If you canceled for some duration (3 to 12 months?), then you could maybe get another free trial with a new hardware purchase.

Here it is in the fine print:

1. The 3 months free Apple TV+ offer is not available if you or your Family have previously accepted the Apple TV+ one year free offer.

https://www.apple.com/promo/pdf/EN_US_ATV+_Promo_TandCs.pdf