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gregburbidge

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 2, 2009
30
0
My new apply tv looks like I'm watching a vcr tape I recorded in the 80's. I can watch a file on my old apple tv and everything looks fine. But when I watch the same file on my new atv it looks terrible. Even the screen saver photos look a lot grainier, and the sides of the images on the screen saver are nowhere close to sharp. It just looks terrible all around. The menu screen looks grainy too. Exact same cable as the old atv. Nothing else has changed.

Has anyone else had this problem or know what to do? I called apple and they had no idea. They suggested a new cable. But the cable works fine with the other atv.
 

CWallace

macrumors G4
Aug 17, 2007
11,961
10,617
Seattle, WA
Have you checked your output settings on the :apple:tv to make sure they're correct for the tv (720p, 1080i, 1080p)?

Also, are you connecting the new and old :apple:tv to the same input on your TV? If not, there may be settings differences for each input. Try the old :apple:tv on the same input with the same cable as the new :apple:tv and see if it looks as "bad".
 

LouieSamman

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2008
909
9
Orlando, Florida
Quality on my Apple TV is great! Much better quality than VCR.

I have fast internet so it works perfectly at a high quality.

Determine the cause from your wifi internet or talk to an employee at an Apple Retail Store.
 

jamesarm97

macrumors 65816
Sep 29, 2006
1,090
116
I can't even spell V C R. Mine is great. HD looking video for most stuff. The podcast I have been watching are great quality also.
 

Damian.

macrumors regular
Jan 3, 2009
157
26
Have you checked your output settings on the :apple:tv to make sure they're correct for the tv (720p, 1080i, 1080p)?

Also, are you connecting the new and old :apple:tv to the same input on your TV? If not, there may be settings differences for each input. Try the old :apple:tv on the same input with the same cable as the new :apple:tv and see if it looks as "bad".

CWallace was the only one who gave a useful answer.
Check your resolution. It may be on 480/576/p/i.
It has nothing to do with the internet connection since his menu and screensaver are showing the same quality.
 

mchalebk

macrumors 6502a
Feb 4, 2008
819
0
I thought I read that you can't select the output resolution on the new AppleTV (like you could with the old). Apparently, it communicates via HDMI with the display device and sets the resolution accordingly.
 

spatlese44

macrumors 6502
Dec 13, 2007
460
107
Milwaukee
CWallace was the only one who gave a useful answer.
Check your resolution. It may be on 480/576/p/i.
It has nothing to do with the internet connection since his menu and screensaver are showing the same quality.

Sound advice. I also thought that your TV might be smart enough to discern different devices connected and reset picture defaults for the new device. Unlikely that this would have as dramatic an effect as you describe.

And BTW, digital video signals don't "break". At worst, they freeze occasionally or stop working altogether.
 

mstrze

macrumors 68000
Nov 6, 2009
1,915
0
Yes, this has nothing to do with connection speeds if you are having the issue on the menus and screen saver pictures.

Cable doesn't sound like the issue either, since the digital output should give you a pure version of what the graphics card is spitting out. Especially since the cable worked fine for your previous ATV.

My guess is there is something internal that is wrong if your menus and pictures are 'grainy' and VCR-esque. What you are describing sounds a bit like video noise? Maybe a subdued form of it?
 

gregburbidge

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 2, 2009
30
0
I forgot to follow up on this. Sorry! I took it to my neighbors and it looked awesome. I never could find a way to change the settings on the ATV2. So with both my ATV1 that looked great and the ATV2 that looked terrible I did the only logical thing I could think of -- I bought a new tv.

The Sony Store had a sale on their display model LEDLCD tv's. $600 for a "46 tv. I believe that included the extended warranty. The ATV2 looks much better on my far larger tv. And when I bought the tv I entered a draw for a sony google tv - and WON! Granted it was a 26" tv, but I sold it on ebay and almost covered the entire cost of the 46" tv I bought.

Steve Jobs must have been smiling down at me.
 
Last edited:

gregburbidge

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 2, 2009
30
0
If you're tube tv has an hdmi input I will totally take it. and maybe pay you $56 instead of $46.
 
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