Why is Netflix so poor on ATV?

Ipadlover29 · Mar 30, 2012

Also having streaming issues with atv3

I've had my atv3 for 2 weeks now and everything works great except Netflix streaming. I had an atv2 before this one and it had no issues with netflix. I'm guessing I probably got defective unit. Gonna get an exchange today. All other Netflix devices work fine on my 32 Mbps connection. I've tried all the recommended fixs (restoring atv3, changing Netflix account settings, changing router settings, etc)

Kinda wish I kept the atv2 it didn't have any issues and was jailbroken.

bnazza · Mar 30, 2012

A quick way to tell if it is your network is to take the AppleTV round to a friends house and see how it performs there. If you do that a couple of times and never can get HD content then it seems like it would confirm its a problem with your ATV3

CSpackler · Mar 31, 2012

You could try streaming Netflix to your home computer in HD quality. That'd give you a pretty good idea if it was your connection.

steve dave · Mar 31, 2012

CSpackler said:
You could try streaming Netflix to your home computer in HD quality. That'd give you a pretty good idea if it was your connection.

I think that is the point. I get HD just fine on my Xbox, TV, Blu-ray player, and 1080p on my ps3. But could NEVER get anything but SD on the apple tv.

darster · Mar 31, 2012

steve dave said:
I think that is the point. I get HD just fine on my Xbox, TV, Blu-ray player, and 1080p on my ps3. But could NEVER get anything but SD on the apple tv.

Personally I think ATV3 has issues with adaptive streaming. MLB is going with adaptive streaming this year, and I have noticed issues with the ATV3 at times with MLB HD that none of my other devices have. At times during the broadcast, the colors will be inverted for a short time. Blacks become white, etc. Only does this with the ATV3 on MLB, and not any other streaming service on ATV3.

Studio Dweller · Mar 31, 2012

I picked up an Apple TV (3rd gen) last night and took the suggestion of logging into to my Netflix account and setting my streaming quality to best. I'm pretty picky when it comes to image quality (TV is professionally calibrated) and Netflix streaming was very good. It's not a blu-ray, but certainly as good as it looks on my PS3 and very watchable.

The Apple TV is connected wirelessly (802.11n) to an Apple Airport Extreme (current gen) and my internet connection is a Comcast cable modem where I typically get 20+ Mbps download.

Cheffy Dave · Mar 31, 2012

Irishman said:
I think you're getting carried away and piling on a problem that hasn't been properly diagnosed, truth to tell. Firstly, Netflix doesn't feature movie trailers on the ATV, so you couldn't have viewed it there. (I don't know if Netflix on Roku does or not - I don't know what would be the point as you already get a la carte). Trailers are designed to entice you to buy or rent a title, which is why I'm thinking you had to have viewed it on something other than Netflix.

It couldn't be that you're trolling, could it?

as I said in my post, the trailer viewed on ROKU, was a trailer that is Available on Amazon movies, anything for rent, you can see the trailer before you buy, same as Apple. I own both a ROKU box as well as an ATV. Movies from Amazon via Roku look better than ATV movies. Netflix on Roku to my eyes, beats Netflix on ATV. I am not a TROLL son!

Trailers are available on ATV as well as Amazon/Roku, all I was saying was Trailers look better on Roku as does Netflix

Sedulous · Mar 31, 2012

I don't see much difference between the ATV and other players. It would be good to have a less subjective measure than "I think it looks better on 'x' than 'y'".

P0stalTek · Apr 1, 2012

striker33 said:
After spending 2 hours on the phone to Apple and Netflix, it turns out my ATV3 is limiting the bandwidth for Netflix streaming only. Netflix cant do anything about it on their end, and Apple don't know what is causing the issue.

I'll update later on any fix or solution to the problem, should someone have similar problems down the line.

Seems to be a very rare problem. Along with my returned iPad, its been a very bad month for buying Apple products.

Why always me?

----------

Refer to my post above, and you will see the irony.

Excuse me while I get my violin.

P.s. If you are offended by my previous post, I'd suggest crying elsewhere.

Not offended at all. Was just trying to illustrate that you may be right but clearly you were unwilling to listen to any suggestions besides the ones you wanted.

I do not get offended on the interwebs

That said, I have a Roku XS so I wasn't trying to say I know what is up with the ATV3, just that people asking for help should be open to it.

striker33 · Apr 1, 2012

P0stalTek said:
Not offended at all. Was just trying to illustrate that you may be right but clearly you were unwilling to listen to any suggestions besides the ones you wanted.

I do not get offended on the interwebs

That said, I have a Roku XS so I wasn't trying to say I know what is up with the ATV3, just that people asking for help should be open to it.

I was perfectly willing.

Having loads of people tell me its my internet is not a suggest and is just plain ignorant.

But oh well. Still waiting on Apple to give me a call back, doesnt look too great.

striker33 · Apr 1, 2012

Ipadlover29 said:
I've had my atv3 for 2 weeks now and everything works great except Netflix streaming. I had an atv2 before this one and it had no issues with netflix. I'm guessing I probably got defective unit. Gonna get an exchange today. All other Netflix devices work fine on my 32 Mbps connection. I've tried all the recommended fixs (restoring atv3, changing Netflix account settings, changing router settings, etc)

Kinda wish I kept the atv2 it didn't have any issues and was jailbroken.

How was your exchange? Is the new unit working ok?

Irishman · Apr 2, 2012

Cheffy Dave said:
as I said in my post, the trailer viewed on ROKU, was a trailer that is Available on Amazon movies, anything for rent, you can see the trailer before you buy, same as Apple. I own both a ROKU box as well as an ATV. Movies from Amazon via Roku look better than ATV movies. Netflix on Roku to my eyes, beats Netflix on ATV. I am not a TROLL son! Trailers are available on ATV as well as Amazon/Roku, all I was saying was Trailers look better on Roku as does Netflix

Apples to oranges, son, not to mention off-topic.

whooleytoo · Apr 2, 2012

I don't know if there's one issue here or several. IME, I've been using Netflix for just a few weeks (since it launched here in Ireland); and watched several HD movies with no problems.

But in the last couple of weeks I've been having slight problems - any HD TV episodes I play will have 2 or 3 stalls & buffering (I have a 30Mbps connection), and occasionally the audio suddenly jumps 2 or 3 seconds out of sync with the video. I haven't seen these issues with other video on the ATV (Vimeo, Youtube, iTunes trailers), though I don't watch long videos on those so it's not a perfect comparison.

Ipadlover29 · Apr 2, 2012

striker33 said:
How was your exchange? Is the new unit working ok?

I ended up returning it and getting an atv2 refurb online instead. Atv 2 is cheaper, easier to jailbreak and I don't really need the 1080p at this point.

vtstarck · Apr 2, 2012

Ipadlover29 said:
I've had my atv3 for 2 weeks now and everything works great except Netflix streaming. I had an atv2 before this one and it had no issues with netflix. I'm guessing I probably got defective unit. Gonna get an exchange today. All other Netflix devices work fine on my 32 Mbps connection. I've tried all the recommended fixs (restoring atv3, changing Netflix account settings, changing router settings, etc)

Kinda wish I kept the atv2 it didn't have any issues and was jailbroken.

I'm having this EXACT issue. I generally get between 25-35 Mbps down and all other content on my Apple TV works fine. I try to watch something on Netflix and it stops and starts constantly throughout. I've also switched back to my Apple TV 2nd generation and it can stream the same Netflix content without problem.

darster · Apr 2, 2012

If you have a micro usb cable, connect the ATV3 to iTunes on your computer and restore as new. With the ATV3 you have to also plug into power outlet to do this, whereas with the ATV2 you do not.

striker33 · Apr 2, 2012

darster said:
If you have a micro usb cable, connect the ATV3 to iTunes on your computer and restore as new. With the ATV3 you have to also plug into power outlet to do this, whereas with the ATV2 you do not.

Will that not just achieve the same result as restoring via the OS on the ATV3?

alphaod · Apr 2, 2012

My NetFlix streams usually looks like s*** the first few minutes and then it gradually improves to excellent quality.

darster · Apr 2, 2012

striker33 said:
Will that not just achieve the same result as restoring via the OS on the ATV3?

It probably does. But whenever i have problems with iPad, iPhone or ATV that I can't resolve, restoring through iTunes seems to do a better job.

striker33 · Apr 2, 2012

darster said:
It probably does. But whenever i have problems with iPad, iPhone or ATV that I can't resolve, restoring through iTunes seems to do a better job.

I'll give it a try anyway, thanks for the suggestion.

If it doesnt work I'll most likely be returning it tomorrow anyway, pending the callback from one of the engineers at Apple.

Ipadlover29 · Apr 2, 2012

vtstarck said:
I'm having this EXACT issue. I generally get between 25-35 Mbps down and all other content on my Apple TV works fine. I try to watch something on Netflix and it stops and starts constantly throughout. I've also switched back to my Apple TV 2nd generation and it can stream the same Netflix content without problem.

In my case I didn't have any buffering issues. But the picture quality was really bad. I watched the exact same content on many other Netflix devices and there was no issues with them. I think there is an issue some atv 3's and Netflix. There seems to be a bunch of threads about on apple discussions forums also. Personally there is no need for the 1080p version unless your going to use iTunes for content. All other sources like air play, Netflix , podcasts, you tube don't benefit from 1080p yet.

striker33 · Apr 2, 2012

Ipadlover29 said:
In my case I didn't have any buffering issues. But the picture quality was really bad. I watched the exact same content on many other Netflix devices and there was no issues with them. I think there is an issue some atv 3's and Netflix. There seems to be a bunch of threads about on apple discussions forums also. Personally there is no need for the 1080p version unless your going to use iTunes for content. All other sources like air play, Netflix , podcasts, you tube don't benefit from 1080p yet.

Doesnt Netflix do 1080p streaming? I know its very compressed, as all streamed content is, but there should still be a difference.

Ipadlover29 · Apr 2, 2012

striker33 said:
Doesnt Netflix do 1080p streaming? I know its very compressed, as all streamed content is, but there should still be a difference.

I think it does but very few 1080p titles are available. I didn't see any labeled 1080p like in iTunes. Most HD content on Netflix is 720p from what I understand.

striker33 · Apr 2, 2012

Ipadlover29 said:
I think it does but very few 1080p titles are available. I didn't see any labeled 1080p like in iTunes. Most HD content on Netflix is 720p from what I understand.

Well from what I've seen on my PS3, its either 1080p or SD, and I think the ATV3 was updated to support the 1080p streams. But who knows.

Its still early days yet. I'd be happy with 720p, if my ATV actually streamed it!

Ipadlover29 · Apr 2, 2012

striker33 said:
Well from what I've seen on my PS3, its either 1080p or SD, and I think the ATV3 was updated to support the 1080p streams. But who knows.

Its still early days yet. I'd be happy with 720p, if my ATV actually streamed it!

I'm sure the 1080p content for Netflix will increase greatly especially since apple is in the game now. What kind of issues were you experiencing? In my case I was getting artifacts and pixelation but no real streaming or buffering issues. The picture quality was horrible when compared to my atv2 or Sony blu ray players.

Why is Netflix so poor on ATV?

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