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4K 60fps AirPlay 2?

c14nhl

c14nhl

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
488
232
Edinburgh
The video capture on iPhone is incredible now!

I’m keen to understand how I watch the great video captured on my iPhone via my 4K TV.

I’ve resorted to uploading my video to YouTube but there must be a better way?

Can you use Airplay 2 to stream 4K 60fps to an AppleTV 4K?
 
This is a complaint I've had for a while. Apple's flagship devices that can capture glorious 4K/60 video, have no way to easily view it on their Apple TV 4K's. I have submitted feedback to Apple and encourage you to do the same. Seems like a huge oversight.
 
chrismac2 said:
This is a complaint I've had for a while. Apple's flagship devices that can capture glorious 4K/60 video, have no way to easily view it on their Apple TV 4K's. I have submitted feedback to Apple and encourage you to do the same. Seems like a huge oversight.
Click to expand...
Do you have any facts that support this? How do you know it doesn't? Can you see what format is the stream crossing the network in?
I am curious to know, because on both ends I see 4K60 video and have no way of telling if it might be down-and-then-upscaled along the way.
 
priitv8 said:
Do you think it is specifically downscaled for network and then upscaled back in aTV??
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the content. If it’s  content I don’t think it’s really AirPlaying unless there’s no internet at all. What I mean is if you have an internet connection I think it treats the content like casting does. So basically it’s still playing from  servers so it will be 4K video if the connection can handle it. If the connection can’t handle it or if the internet is down then it’s gonna downscale to 1080p.

All other content is 1080p. At least that’s what I think is going on. But I could be totally wrong.
 
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priitv8 said:
Do you have any facts that support this? How do you know it doesn't? Can you see what format is the stream crossing the network in?
I am curious to know, because on both ends I see 4K60 video and have no way of telling if it might be down-and-then-upscaled along the way.
Click to expand...
If you have an Apple TV 4K, with default settings it is always sending a 4K signal to your TV, regardless of the source material resolution.

Everything I've read states that Airplay is limited to 1080p video. And even my eyes, I can tell that the TV is not showing the original 4k resolution of the video on my phone.

Here's a recent example of what I've read: https://appletoolbox.com/can-iphone-x-xr-or-xs-display-4k-video-on-a-4k-tv/
 
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chrismac2 said:
If you have an Apple TV 4K, with default settings it is always sending a 4K signal to your TV, regardless of the source material resolution.

Everything I've read states that Airplay is limited to 1080p video. And even my eyes, I can tell that the TV is not showing the original 4k resolution of the video on my phone.

Here's a recent example of what I've read: https://appletoolbox.com/can-iphone-x-xr-or-xs-display-4k-video-on-a-4k-tv/
Click to expand...

I just don’t think AirPlay has been redesigned for 4K.
 
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It looks like one alternative is if you have an iPad Pro lying around with the USB-C to HDMI adapter, it can output 4k video at 30fps :)
 
JBaby said:
I just don’t think AirPlay has been redesigned for 4K.
Click to expand...
I was always under the impression that it sends incoming compatible (AVC, these days also HEVC) stream over the net just verbatim.
Does it really re-encode it on the fly? Why?
PS iPhone havs a on-board hardware encoder, but my 2013 MacBook Pro definitely doesn't. Still, I can easily send my 4K home video from iTunes over AirPlay. Even with HDR10. Even with E-AC-3 Atmos. And subtitles.
I bet it would do also Dolby Vision, iTunes also happily ingests such a file, but aTV Computers app resolutely excludes them from the Library listings :(
So I reckon, it just sends the file contents (streams) unaltered.
PS Sending a iPhone camera clip might be another story, as it has quite high bitrate (close to 60MBps from my iP8). Maybe the Photos app takes it down to lesser bitrate or even lesser resolution. 60MBps is way too much for the aTV 4K native decoder. Infuse can handle it.
PPS Watching a stream from iCloud Library definitely is 1080p and comes as such down from the cloud already.
 

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HDFan said:
Does your TV have an option to display the source and display resolutions? It may just be upscaled.
Click to expand...


How would one do this on a 2019 Samsung TV when using ATV or cable box etc? I can't seem to figure it out. Thanks!
 
priitv8 said:
No, aTV 4K sends a 4K 60Hz 4:4:4 image to the TV as seen on the screenshot:
Click to expand...

That is as expected. The Apple TV 4K > TV handshake results in the Apple TV sensing that it is connected to a 4K TV and it adjusts its settings accordingly.

The airplay issue is what resolution is sent to the Apple TV in a pre Big Sur OS. Haven't tested myself but there are a lot of posts saying that it is limited to 1080p. I assume in the example you have given that the Apple TV then upscales.

How this all changes in Big Sur seems to be an open question.
 
winstars said:
How would one do this on a 2019 Samsung TV when using ATV or cable box etc? I can't seem to figure it out. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Pretty straightforward. I just did it for the first time a few days ago.

www.howtogeek.com

How to Unlock Detailed Streaming Statistics on the Apple TV

The Apple TV is great way to get content onto a television, but have you ever wondered whether it's working to its full potential? Here's how to see all the streaming stats you could ever need.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com

The "natural size" will be the actual resolution of the video.
 
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