Apple TV 3 + Streaming = sound out of sync

How do you have your aTV set up? Is it:

1. Simply HDMI straight to TV?
2. aTV HDMI into receiver/amplifier and then HDMI to TV for just video with sound out through home theatre speakers?
3. aTV HDMI to TV and aTV optical out to receiver/amplifier?
4. other combination not referenced above?

Also what brands of equipment are you using?

Unless we know what your setup is it is hard to try and troubleshoot.

For the record, I have my aTV3 going HDMI to Denon receiver and then HDMI to Panasonic VT50 with sound out from the receiver to my speaker setup and I have none of the issues you describe.

I too am having this issue--mostly when I'm streaming Dish Anywhere with Mavericks from my Macbook Pro '12 to ATV3 and my ATV3 is hooked up to my Panasonic ST60 via HDMI. It's then send to my stereo receiver via HDMI, I do believe (MAY be digital optic cable-can't recall exactly how I ended up setting it up). I don't notice the issue when I stream Dish Anywhere from my iPad 2, so I'm guessing maybe it has something to do with Mavericks? Maybe a new release will clean it up?!

@otago:

He mentioned restarting the appletv fixes the delay. How does that point to the receiver?

At the very least wouldn't network latency be a more likely culprit?

I have the same issue and if it's not because of the wifi latency it's a problem with the device itself. Restarting does fix the problem, so I feel the device itself is creating the synchronization issue. Also when considering that the network utilization doesn't change much during the time it takes for the device to reboot (although I can't be sure because apply disabled snmp on the airport 892.11ac routers, but that's just another source of frustration).

Is there a bug report open with apple?

Otago Lad said:

How do you have your aTV set up? Is it:

1. Simply HDMI straight to TV?
2. aTV HDMI into receiver/amplifier and then HDMI to TV for just video with sound out through home theatre speakers?
3. aTV HDMI to TV and aTV optical out to receiver/amplifier?
4. other combination not referenced above?

Also what brands of equipment are you using?

Unless we know what your setup is it is hard to try and troubleshoot.

For the record, I have my aTV3 going HDMI to Denon receiver and then HDMI to Panasonic VT50 with sound out from the receiver to my speaker setup and I have none of the issues you describe.

Click to expand...

Same problem here. The sound goes out of sync after a while and only a restart fixes the issue. I have reset network settings, did a restore. I have the Apple TV run hdmi to Samsung 1080p tv. I use an apple time capsule as my wifi.

Did anyone ever figure this out? I have the same problem from all sources, Apple TV, PS3, AirPlay from an MacBook Air, and cable.

I have all wired devices connected by HDMI to the TV and the digital optical from TV to Panasonic SC-HTB350 speaker system.

The sound gradually goes out of sync, lagging noticeably after about 45 minutes. I have checked that it's not the speaker system by turning up the TV speakers after about 90 minutes. Both are in sync at this point and lagging the picture.

I can't see anything in the TV menus that would cause this. I have the TV set-up using settings posted here: http://forums.cnet.com/7723-19410_102-590736/panasonic-tc-p55st60-picture-settings/

This turns off most picture processing, as far as I can see, but either way audio is lagging picture, so that's not the issue.

As with the previous posters, resetting the source solves the problem temporarily. Resetting the TV or speakers, or both, makes no difference.

Sky Blue said:

Recently got a new TV and a new ATV3 to go with it. I've had an ATV2 before and had no issues.

With the new ATV3, anything that I stream (netflix, hulu, hbo go) goes out of sync after a while. The only workaround is to restart the Apple TV, then it's fine again.

Any one else seen this? Any fixes?

Click to expand...

Same here, even Netflix loses sync after a while. I just reset the box like you do - in my case I even do it each evening.

And I thought it was just me....

Coincidentally, and weirdly, I got the audio to sync yesterday over Airplay. After 90 minutes it was still in sync. Here's what happened:

I tried to use Airplay from the MacBook Air to stream a video in Safari. It was being buggy - no mouse cursor on the TV. I tried mirroring on and off, Airplay on/off, all the usual steps.

Then the MBA crashed and wouldn't boot again. I had to do a reinstall of OSX to recover it. After that Airplay worked fine and the audio stayed in sync for the first time from any source since I bought the TV over a year ago.

I also emailed Panasonic with the problem last week. Here's their response, which I haven't tried yet because of the above fix from one source at least:

Based on the information provided we recommend you reset the television back to factory settings.

To reset the television please do the following:

1. Press and hold the "VOL- the television and the "MENU" button the remote control for
Approximately 5 to 10 seconds.

2. The television will display a "SELF CHECK" message

3. Press and hold the "TV POWER" button the television until unit shutdown

4. Power television back on where you will be prompted to do a first time setup

Click to expand...

I'll give that a go if it's still lagging on other sources. I did notice audio sync was one of the items in the latest firmware update for the TV, so maybe it needs a factory reset after updating the firmware.

I replaced my Apple TV 2 with a 3 recently. Everything else stayed the same: TV, router, HDMI connection, etc.

While I had absolutely no issues with the aTV 2, I started noticing the A/V sync issue since getting the 3. It tends to appear when the aTV has been in use for a while and gets worse as the movie progresses.

A full reboot of the aTV seems to solve the problem, but, really, is that what we should do in the middle of a movie?

I encourage all of you to go to apple.com/feedback and let them know about this. I'm really disappointed and am considering switching to a Roku or similar, although I would miss the airplay.

thekayman said:

I replaced my Apple TV 2 with a 3 recently. Everything else stayed the same: TV, router, HDMI connection, etc.

While I had absolutely no issues with the aTV 2, I started noticing the A/V sync issue since getting the 3. It tends to appear when the aTV has been in use for a while and gets worse as the movie progresses.

A full reboot of the aTV seems to solve the problem, but, really, is that what we should do in the middle of a movie?

I encourage all of you to go to apple.com/feedback and let them know about this. I'm really disappointed and am considering switching to a Roku or similar, although I would miss the airplay.

Click to expand...

I also have this problem with an Apple TV 3 connected directly to a Panasonic ST60 Plasma. The amount of time it takes to go out of sync varies, but I've determined over the many months I've had the problem that it's actually a slight lag that builds over time. It's really just getting worse and worse until you happen to notice it.

There's also a much easier fix than having to restart the Apple TV ... pause what you're watching, power of your TV, and power it back on again. This apparently does a new HDMI handshake and the lag is gone. (Suggests a problem in the way HDMI was implemented.) I've also found that switching inputs can help. Both far faster than resetting the Apple TV.

I can't understand why this has gone on for so long without a fix from Apple. Maybe it's a hardware-level issue. It's bad enough that when I know I'm going to binge-watch a show, I'll use my PS4 instead, even though the beginning of shows is blurrier while it buffers (Apple TV tends to get better quality at the outset).

SuperRob said:

I also have this problem with an Apple TV 3 connected directly to a Panasonic ST60 Plasma.

Click to expand...

I happen to have the same tv model. Could it be that the aTV 3 doesn't play nice with the ST60? But then, I had zero issues with the aTV 2 on the same tv....

Out-of-sync audio. My mortal enemy...

... if I'd bought an AppleTV and discovered that this was an issue, I'd have had a stroke. Lucky escape.

I know, extremely annoying....

But the quick switching of inputs does seem to work. Thanks for the tip!

My father has this with his ATV3, complains about it. And his is plugged into gigabit ethernet, with a 100/100 fiber connection.

My ATV2 doesn't have any issues like this, and it's also wired in, but to only a measily 18/1.5 UVerse link.

Menel said:

My father has this with his ATV3, complains about it. And his is plugged into gigabit ethernet, with a 100/100 fiber connection.

My ATV2 doesn't have any issues like this, and it's also wired in, but to only a measily 18/1.5 UVerse link.

Click to expand...

what TV model? the network doesn't seem to be a factor in all this.

thekayman said:

what TV model? the network doesn't seem to be a factor in all this.

Click to expand...

His is Samsung
Mine is LG.

So this is not isolated to a particular TV brand or model.

Let them know:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

7.0.3 out lip sync still there

Panasonic ST60 Plasma with gradually worsening lag as well. No problems with other devices like Amazon FireTV for example, and AppleTV worked fine with previous TV. The easiest fix for me has been changing input to something else and then quickly back (for which ST60 remote has a handy back button).

Same here. System slowly goes out of sync especially when you are changing apps (I.e. youtube, iTunes, local content). Restarting the ATV3 fixes the issue for a while. The TV is a Panasonic ST60.

Sky Blue said:

Recently got a new TV and a new ATV3 to go with it. I've had an ATV2 before and had no issues.

With the new ATV3, anything that I stream (netflix, hulu, hbo go) goes out of sync after a while. The only workaround is to restart the Apple TV, then it's fine again.

Any one else seen this? Any fixes?

Click to expand...

Had the same issue, try changing your wifi router channel from automatic to one specific channel. Worked for me.

Sky Blue said:

Recently got a new TV and a new ATV3 to go with it. I've had an ATV2 before and had no issues.

With the new ATV3, anything that I stream (netflix, hulu, hbo go) goes out of sync after a while. The only workaround is to restart the Apple TV, then it's fine again.

Any one else seen this? Any fixes?

Click to expand...

Never had this issue with my 3rd gen. One of the two of them is on Wi-fi and never has that issue either..