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negativzero

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 19, 2011
564
55
I subscribe to Netflix and use it to watch shows on my Mac with no problems getting HD or Super HD quality. I just bought a 3rd gen Apple TV however and video quality seems to never go above SD.

Anyone experience this? I need help in solving this.
 

NMF

macrumors 6502a
Oct 27, 2011
885
21
Is you Apple TV connected over wifi, with your Mac plugged in via ethernet? It sounds like a bandwidth issue to me.
 

spencecb

Suspended
Nov 20, 2003
1,187
215
The 1080p version of the AppleTV is listed as a device that supports Super HD.
 

negativzero

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 19, 2011
564
55
Try House of Cards, it's available in Super HD on an Apple TV 3.
House of Cards streams in HD on my Mac, but SD on my Apple TV. I also tried Netflix on a Samsung Smart TV in my sister's room and it too streams in HD.
It depends on your internet provider. Some are playing nice with netflix, some are not.
How on earth can it be my internet provider when I can clearly stream HD on another device.
 

waw74

macrumors 601
May 27, 2008
4,668
938
I subscribe to Netflix and use it to watch shows on my Mac with no problems getting HD or Super HD quality.

no, you don't
superHD isn't available on the mac.

Netflix now offers Super HD streaming on the following devices:

Sony PlayStation 3
Apple TV with 1080p
Roku with 1080p*
Nintendo Wii U
Windows 8 App
TiVo Premiere DVR
Blu-Ray Players, Smart TV's, Home Theaters, and Streaming Players with existing Netflix 1080p support*

More devices coming soon!

How on earth can it be my internet provider when I can clearly stream HD on another device.

for superHD netflix wants to use their own connection from their servers to the internet providers. some of the providers (mainly time warner) aren't playing saying the network will already handle the bandwidth.
regular HD (1080) is available to everyone.
check superHD compatibility here (the above list is also linked at the bottom of this page)

------

how do you know it's streaming in SD?
just by how the image looks? or are you seeing a quality somewhere?
 

negativzero

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 19, 2011
564
55
no, you don't
superHD isn't available on the mac.





for superHD netflix wants to use their own connection from their servers to the internet providers. some of the providers (mainly time warner) aren't playing saying the network will already handle the bandwidth.
regular HD (1080) is available to everyone.
check superHD compatibility here (the above list is also linked at the bottom of this page)

------

how do you know it's streaming in SD?
just by how the image looks? or are you seeing a quality somewhere?

Technical differences of SuperHD aside, the Apple TV is streaming in SD.

I've said above, I tried Netflix on my Mac, a Samsung Smart TV and the Apple TV, and the differences between the Smart TV and Apple TV are noticeable, even with the Apple TV plugged into the same Smart TV playing the same episode. On the Smart TV, it is definitely HD quality and the lines and edges are sharp, whereas on the Apple TV, the picture looks like it was recorded on a 1980s VHS and looks pixellated or blurred.
 

steve-p

macrumors 68000
Oct 14, 2008
1,740
42
Newbury, UK
Super HD works great for me on ATV. Have you tried rebooting your router in case it's having a funny five minutes? That fixed some streaming problems I had with ATV last year.
 
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