ATV2 judder/jittery playback on new Samsung LED HDTV

I get the exact same problem with my series 6 Samsung TV. My ATV1 works perfectly but the exact same content played back on my ATV2 has micro stutter and judder every few seconds, even using the latest firmware that allows you to set the output frequency the problem is the same.

My advise, hack the ATV2 and use XBMC or PLEX, they both work fine, meaning it's not the hardware it's just apples crappy software that judders and stutters.

Good to hear that someone else is getting this. I also am getting a little 'jitter' every now and then with my ATV2 and Samsung 6530. Although i think it's a new (ish) problem as i'm sure this was not happening before.
I wonder if it's something to do with the tv upscaling to 1080? some kind of processing stutter?

Umm.... Your 1080p upscaling theory got me thinking, so I did some tests.

ATV1 set to 1080p so no scaling occurs on the TV end = Perfect smooth playback
ATV1 set to 720p so the TV does the scaling = Micro judder on playback

ATV2 will only output 720p so the TV does the scaling = Micro judder on playback

Umm.... Very strange so it seems to only judder when the device is set to 720p and the TV has to do the upscaling maybe a problem with the video scaler in the Samsung TV?

Now test number 2, I took a video file and loaded it on to my PS3.

PS3 set to output 1080p so no scaling occurs on the TV end = Perfect smooth playback
PS3 set to output 720p so the TV does the scaling = Perfect smooth playback

So not the TV's scaler after all, maybe a problem with the way Apple output 720p video? Aghhh..........

Been looking into this a little too. What do you have the Motion Plus set to? If set to custom i think you can set judder etc? i'm not at home at the moment, so can't check myself. I do know that i have set my motion plus to clear when watching Sky etc, just can't remember what i have for my ATV2.

At least between us we have narrowed it down a little

There's no Motion Plus on my set, only some crap called Movie Plus which I never use anyway, but I've tried all it's settings and it makes no difference

Ah right, what model do you have?

One confusing thing is your settings for (everything including) dejudder/auto motion plus are input-specific. So, you have to do all your settings over for each input (TV, DVD, ATV). It's possible that the auto motion settings on that input are still on. I've found that my Samsung doesn't have the processing power to handle its own auto motion settings at times. The screen will start skipping/jumping while it tries to keep up with the video its outputting.

In the end, I suggest shutting off auto motion plus on ALL inputs.

Woollie said:

Ah right, what model do you have?

Click to expand...

It's a Samsung Series 6 A650.

For some stupid reasons all new TV do not accept 720/24p. 720 is only allowed to run at 60/50 frames. I presume your source is 24 (23,976) frames, then TV is trying to display 60 or worse (like Panasonic - 50) frames when connected to Apple TV. A lot of calculations and sound catching up for TV set - this is why it jitters. The simplest way would be allow ATV upscale to 1080.

Shame the ATV2 does not have that option

With any luck the ATV3 will have not only 1080p but 1080p24, which has never been available on any version of the ATV. That will significantly improve playback quality even for 720p video, which on the iTunes Store is almost always 720p24. And yes, it's kind of a shame that 720p24 has never been part of the HDMI spec, but hopefully it won't matter for much longer.

That said, the ATV2 seems to pull down 720p24 to 720p60 fine most of the time, so it's weird that the Samsung has a particular problem with it. I can't help thinking there's some Motion Plus setting somewhere that's activating when it shouldn't be (especially since Game Mode, which bypasses the Samsung's video processing, eliminates the problem).

I just came here to start a new thread about this very subject, but looks like I don't have to

I've got two Samsung TVs...one older, one new (a 46" and a 32"). I'm just starting to rip my Blu-Ray collection, and trying to do so in a manner that is "future-proof" (1080p). I want the video to be as close to possible as the original, while still realizing that the ATV will still downstream it to 720p. However, it seems neither of my TVs (both with AppleTV) are able to play these movies smoothly. On the computer, they are gorgeous.

In reading through this thread, it seems my only option for now may be to rip my movies, and wait for the ATV3, which will hopefully have increased capabilities. I certainly don't want to create lower-quality rips, just for the sake of being able to watch them on ATV. Or, get some other device, which I'd prefer not to do.

Hello all,

I'm a first time Apple TV owner as of last week when I picked up a new ATV3. I'm seeing all the same issues detailed here, but I had figured it was an early-adopter problem with the ATV3 - until I came here looking for answers.

So sadly I can report that these long running issues with Samsung TV's are still there with the ATV3. I've fiddled all the settings and it is impossible to make video run as smoothly as a DVD, or even a ripped AVI plugged into the side of the TV on a USB stick. On full screen panning it chunks badly on standard setting, and chunks a little when set up as discussed in this forum.

The TV is a Samsung UA32D6000SM with latest software.

It's bad enough that it's put me off investing any more cash in my iTunes video library - but finding al alternate legal source for new release Movies and TV shows in Australia is tricky.

Any suggestions?

Celtan said:

Hello all,

I'm a first time Apple TV owner as of last week when I picked up a new ATV3. I'm seeing all the same issues detailed here, but I had figured it was an early-adopter problem with the ATV3 - until I came here looking for answers.

So sadly I can report that these long running issues with Samsung TV's are still there with the ATV3. I've fiddled all the settings and it is impossible to make video run as smoothly as a DVD, or even a ripped AVI plugged into the side of the TV on a USB stick. On full screen panning it chunks badly on standard setting, and chunks a little when set up as discussed in this forum.

The TV is a Samsung UA32D6000SM with latest software.

It's bad enough that it's put me off investing any more cash in my iTunes video library - but finding al alternate legal source for new release Movies and TV shows in Australia is tricky.

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Sad to hear this. I haven't tried any Blu-Ray rips with the new ATV3 just yet, probably will this weekend. Both of my TVs are Samsung, so not too optimistic at this point.

ATV3 + Samsung: Game Mode is an acceptable workaround

Celtan said:

Hello all,

I'm a first time Apple TV owner as of last week when I picked up a new ATV3. I'm seeing all the same issues detailed here, but I had figured it was an early-adopter problem with the ATV3 - until I came here looking for answers.

So sadly I can report that these long running issues with Samsung TV's are still there with the ATV3. I've fiddled all the settings and it is impossible to make video run as smoothly as a DVD, or even a ripped AVI plugged into the side of the TV on a USB stick. On full screen panning it chunks badly on standard setting, and chunks a little when set up as discussed in this forum.

The TV is a Samsung UA32D6000SM with latest software.

It's bad enough that it's put me off investing any more cash in my iTunes video library - but finding al alternate legal source for new release Movies and TV shows in Australia is tricky.

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I'm in almost the exact same situation - I think the same generation of Samsung TV (40 inch), and also a first time buyer in Australia of the ATV3.

The problem is solved if you selection "Game Mode" - while you get smooth video from all sources, the tradeoff is that you don't get the image enhancements, which give slightly warmer colours and some noise reduction. However, I find these are pretty minor compared to the benefit from constant quality and stable motion.

[Game Mode is selected from the green MENU button - select SYSTEM and then the GENERAL submenu. This will let you select GAME MODE and turn it on. The TV should remember the setting for that HDMI input port.]

Overall, I find the quality of the ATV3, when streaming 720p and especially 1080p, to be quite excellent. I have a US iTunes account (much better and cheaper than the Australian iTunes store), and buy cards online. There's an considerable amount of free 1080p content (lots of pilot episodes of new shows are free), and paying US$2.99 for fresh 1080p episodes of shows that I can come back and stream anytime, even after I've deleted the download - I like it very much! With a reasonable ADSL connection (14Mbps download sync) I can stream 1080p content with only about a 5 second buffer at the start, and all this from Australia (Sydney).

I have a Samsung LN52A650 and am getting stuttering video when paired with my Apple TV. Setting the TV to game mode had no effect. This is about to drive me up a wall.

Check the refresh rate. I was getting stuttering and found ATV was outputting 50hz. Change it to 60.

CSpackler said:

Check the refresh rate. I was getting stuttering and found ATV was outputting 50hz. Change it to 60.

Click to expand...

It was set to Auto so I explicitly set it to 60Hz. Still stuttering.

By the way, I'm experiencing the stutter on an Apple TV 3 connected to a Samsung LCD as well as an Apple TV 2 connected to a Panasonic plasma, so it's not unique to the TV.

So, I'm thinking I may have been having a problem different from those of you here. At least, with the ATV3, I'm not having the same problem I was having with the ATV2 with Blu-Ray rips. I ripped a new copy of WALL-E the other day (which on my ATV2 looked crappy), and I think it looks comparable to the Blu-Ray now. Much smoother, not jumpy.

Samsung UN60D7000 with ATV3. I'm just now experiencing stuttering while watching the new George Harrison "Living in the Material World". Other iCloud stored purchases stream fine, but for some time this one is a mess. I watched the first half of the show last night and it was smooth and beautiful. Now today I resumed at the half-way point, and it is just terrible to watch with the jumpy video. I'm wondering if this is just an Apple server problem. Regardless, it's very irritating since there is no way to store that show on the ATV3 and stream locally. UGH!

I think this worked

I found this on another forum. Set Samsung Auto Motion Plus to "Clear" NOT off. I also set my AppleTV (v2) TV resolution to 720p - 60 hz. Tried it last night on a DVD I ripped with Handbrake and streamed it from my iMac. Finally stopped the jitter. I think I saw one or two stray hiccups during the entire movie. But that's WAY better than the glitch every 4 or 5 seconds before.