Apple TV 4K official (2 Viewers)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yes, it can be annoying, but most TV series have played with no issues. Even DS9 played fine for the first 10 episodes, and appears to be back on track after a few episodes. Batman: The Animated Series season 1 was the worst, as once this happened it never corrected itself.

So glad that most series-on-disc sets come w/ Vudu DCs, instead of iTunes (though some used to be w/ both), if they come w/ any DCs at all, including that Batman: The Animated Series set, which I did finally buy late last spring (while enough available disc sets were still including the DCs even though they officially expired, but still worked)...

OTOH, I haven't gotten around to checking out the new UI changes for Vudu, so maybe I'll change my tune about that before too long...

_Man_

 

[Carlo_M]

Well after a year or so of owning ATV4Kv2...for whatever reason the dreaded "random glitch/dropouts" of the Atmos signal on Netflix just crept up. Maybe I've always had it and just never noticed because I haven't watched much Atmos on Netflix on my ATV. First there's not a ton of content that I watch with it, and second the last time I watched those shows (Stranger Things) it was prior to buying the ATV and I was using my TV's native Netflix app. Looks like I'm back to doing that until this is resolved.

And yes I've done all the troubleshooting, swapping cables (Monoprice certified 4K, Zeskit 8K), etc. And all my other 4K+Atmos movies (primarily on Disney+ but also on HBO Max) play flawlessly. It's just 4K+Atmos on Netflix.

 

[Carlo_M]

I hesitate to even post this because Kuo has such a mixed track record. But given how:

• I'm now experience the Atmos/Netflix issue
• Have a long-standing beef with Apple's implementation of Atmos/Spatial music on ATV (first second is always missing on initial play, gapless playback is not supported)
• Hi-res lossless is still not supported on the latest ATV4Kv2 (this one's a real headscratcher)

I'm hoping against hope that 1) this rumor is true, and 2) that maybe new hardware will address the issues above.

Kuo: New Apple TV to Launch in Second Half of 2022, Lower Price Possible

Apple plans to launch a new version of the Apple TV in the second half of 2022, according to well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a tweet today, Kuo...

www.macrumors.com

 

[DaveF]

That would be a little annoying since I just bought two 4K Apple TV the past six months.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I hesitate to even post this because Kuo has such a mixed track record. But given how:

• I'm now experience the Atmos/Netflix issue
• Have a long-standing beef with Apple's implementation of Atmos/Spatial music on ATV (first second is always missing on initial play, gapless playback is not supported)
• Hi-res lossless is still not supported on the latest ATV4Kv2 (this one's a real headscratcher)

I'm hoping against hope that 1) this rumor is true, and 2) that maybe new hardware will address the issues above.

Kuo: New Apple TV to Launch in Second Half of 2022, Lower Price Possible

Apple plans to launch a new version of the Apple TV in the second half of 2022, according to well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a tweet today, Kuo...

www.macrumors.com

I haven't been using my ATV4Kv2 to stream music other than a little bit a good while back. Wasn't aware there's any issue of not supporting hi-res lossless. IF it's an issue, I'd think this should be addressed via software update, no? Don't see why there needs to be another hardware update for that -- I certainly wouldn't expect any so soon given how low priority the ATV line seems to be for Apple... and most people feel the old ATV4Kv1 was/is still good enough already... Maybe if there's some big development re: gaming perhaps, but otherwise...

Anyway, I probably need to set up a small 2ndary monitor to use mainly for streaming music via my ATV4K in my HT setup. Don't wanna haveta fire up the big PJ everytime just to stream some music. Had been streaming music via DTS Play-Fi (mainly from my PC to my Anthem prepro) instead, but seem to get too much random audio dropouts that way...

RE: Atmos, I've basically given up on going Atmos for the foreseeable future (due to some big changes in my situation), so that hasn't mattered to me at all...

_Man_

 

[Carlo_M]

IF it's an issue, I'd think this should be addressed via software update, no? Don't see why there needs to be another hardware update for that -- I certainly wouldn't expect any so soon given how low priority the ATV line seems to be for Apple... and most people feel the old ATV4Kv1 was/is still good enough already... Maybe if there's some big development re: gaming perhaps, but otherwise...

To confirm it doesn't support, check here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212183 - specifically this bullet point under how to play lossless for Apple TV:

Select or unselect Lossless. Apple TV 4K currently doesn’t support Hi-Res Lossless (sample rates greater than 48 kHz).

You would *think* it wouldn't be hard to implement HRL on ATV4K. Just like you'd think they could implement gapless playback on Atmos/Spatial Audio tracks. And while it may not be "top of mind" for Apple software engineers, we're now over a year into its release. At that rate, and with the resources Apple has as a nearly $3T company...by now surely someone could have solved one of those issues (which I consistently report as well as also rally awareness of it in their official support forums).

With their push now on Apple TV+ as a service and original programming, it wouldn't surprise me if they accelerated ATV hardware releases. No I don't think it will get to an annual release cycle like iDevices. But it won't be the 4 years it took between ATV4K and v.2. If we take "later this year" to mean late fall, that will be a year and a half since the previous release, which admittedly seems slightly accelerated to me. I'd expect maybe a 2 year gap between, depending on emerging codecs and standards to support. A big reason to put out a product that quickly would be to address some issues that the previous device couldn't, since the v2 does so much well outside of those bugs I've pointed out.

The other reason would be to put out a cheaper product (which the rumor seems to point toward). But I'm hoping that while creating this cheaper product, they somehow re-jigger the internal components to be able to address the bugs. Either way, we'll see.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

IF hi-res lossless support (and/or gapless Atmos/spatial-audio playback) will be added w/ the release of a new ATV4K (of whatever actual hardware specs), given Apple's track record, I would think it's more likely they just want the software enhancement to be done/released as part of a bigger, more promotable/marketable campaign (probably alongside a big-ish tvOS update/release) that they can add this as another bulletpoint for all the great reasons to go (or stay) w/ Apple solutions (whether you're currently buying new devices or not).

I don't see any plausible, actual hardware limitations in the current ATV4K preventing hi-res lossless support -- it's not even likely a real issue for the 1st gen ATV4K's hardware either. It just seems they simply haven't gotten around to it because it's simply too low priority for them so far (and there's probably just not that much market demand)...

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

Pretty sure all AV limitations of Apple TV are self inflicted. The hardware is super capable. It could be the ultimate box to meet the dreams of all mainstream and niche enthusiasts.

But Apple doesn’t care.

So I own both an Nvidia Shield for HTPC use, and AppleTV for subscription streaming.

 

[DaveF]

I can‘t get Dolby Vision to work on my appletv. I’ve got brand new 8K mono price hdmi cables connectin 4K appletv to Denon 760 to Sony 950H. I‘m going into one of the Denon 8K ports (a late discovery). But it won’t enable.

I’m at a loss. I don’t care much but I’ve now spent an extra $30 on cables I don’t need if I can’t do DV and wasted a couple hours of my life on this. <sigh>

 

[DaveF]

Can’t do 4:2:2 Chroma either.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Make sure you’re set to 4K SDR and enable match dynamic range and frame rate. You shouldn’t have any trouble with chroma 4:2:2 either unless your display doesn’t support it. All of my ATV4K boxes are set this way and they all work perfectly.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I’ll also note my HT ATV4K runs through my Denon S750H and passes DV fine.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Also make sure the 4K Signal Format on the Denon is set to “Enhanced”.

 

[DaveF]

Just found and did that. Tried Enhanced and 8K Enhanced. Doesnt work.

Tried switching to 4K SDR, but that didn’t enable DV either.

 

[DaveF]

And now it’s working. I was checking the Sony TV settings — HDMI has to be set for Enhanced as well. It was, but I turned on Enhanced for all inputs, and now it works.

I don’t know how/why but I have access to all the things.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Any chance you can bypass the Denon completely and connect directly to the display? This will allow you to eliminate the Denon or name it as the culprit.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Just saw your last post when I posted. Glad you got it fixed. Enjoy!!!

 

[DaveF]

Also:

4K SDR with Match Content and 4:4:4 Chroma

4K HDR and the screen brightness is boosted
4K Dolby Vision and the screen brightness is boosted (maybe more) and match content is disabled.

It appears the right format for all-purpose is 4K SDR with Match Content (Range & Frame Rate). But you should manually toggle DV and Chroma to make sure they’re available.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Unless you’re using your TV as a computer monitor, Chroma 4:4:4 is useless.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It appears the right format for all-purpose is 4K SDR with Match Content (Range & Frame Rate).

That’s correct. That will allow the AppleTV to display HDR and Dolby Vision when it is part of the content being viewed, but will not force it to convert non-HDR material into HDR (which can look ghastly at times). It’ll also allow different frame rates if your TV supports it - for instance, native 25fps productions from the UK like Netflix’s versions of Great British Bake Off will play at that frame rate instead of being converted to 30fps.