UK ATV2 Users - 60Hz issues

Bought a new AppleTV 2 today. It automatically outputs its signal at 60Hz, not 50Hz. The menus and movie trailers play fine on my Samsung 720P TV. However, trying to play any PAL encoded video (25fps) results in a very jerky picture. On AppleTV 1 you corrected this by setting the signal to 720P - 50Hz. However, with the AppleTV 2, you cannot set this, so you always get a 60Hz signal. This seems to be a major clanger. As a result its going back as none of my video collection is watchable. Has anyone else experienced or solved this issue?

Apple Support states that the device only outputs a 60Hz signal, despite their own website showing 50/60Hz on the specifications page. For what its worth I've raised it as a bug with Apple. If they don't fix it I shall have to explore some other route like Boxee Box etc, as there is no way forward. A shame as I love the Apple TV.

Thanks for your response. I've been doing a lot of reading around this issue, in particular similar issues with other devices.

The conclusion I have come too is that my Samsung LE40R87BD is capable of displaying PAL60. So it looks like the AppleTV is sensing the maximum refresh rate possible by my TV and defaulting to that. Until Apple make the mode selectable like the old AppleTV, then the only option seems to be switching off PAL60 in the TV settings. The only problem with this is you can't! However I have found the hidden service menu which has lots of additional options, and I am going to wade through to see if I can find anything relevant. I will post anything I find.

Yes, PAL60 is a standard. The AppleTV 2 can do 50Hz, but it displays the max frequency your TV can display (either 50 or 60 Hz as per the AppleTV 2 specs).

My TV supports PAL50 and PAL60, so AppleTV 2 decides 60Hz is best for me ..... which it isn't. After much tinkering it seems it is not possible to turn off PAL60 support on my TV, so I have to wait until enough people complain to Apple and they offer mode selection as per the 1st gen device.

Kilamite said:

File a bug report directly.

Click to expand...

Done

Nermal said:

The TV can and is handling 60 Hz. The problem is that 25 fps content can't be "stretched" to 60 Hz. Going from 25 to 50 means doubling each frame, but 25 to 60 is going to add jerkiness. That's the problem; the Apple TV isn't outputting at 50 Hz even though the specs say that it supports 50 Hz output.

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Spot on. The TV is handling the 60Hz signal just fine, the menus are sharp and display perfect. Movie trailers work fine from Apple too. Your right, it is stretching my 25fps content giving the appearance of stuttering.

If I plug it into a TV not capable of PAL60, it outputs at 50Hz just like Apple say. The problem is you cannot select the frequency.

I am thinking of buying an ATV2 again to test. Since returning my first one I have three things to try...

1) New ATV2 update today (4.2.1).
2) Enable Game Mode for HDMI input.
3) Samsung TV specific - turn off the following parameters in the Service Menu: hotplug and hotplugctr.

Has anyone else experiencing this issue managed to resolve it?