4K YouTube question

[Loke2112]

Hello,

I am trying to decide what to get. I love using the YouTube app on my 3rd generation Apple TV with the remote app so I can use voice search. The Roku app keyboard won't allow me to do that with my Roku but ATV doesn't support 4K video??? I was told the newer Rokus search YouTube but I have yet to find proof. Any help would be so appreciated.

 

[rolandhurt31]

Hello,

I am trying to decide what to get. I love using the YouTube app on my 3rd generation Apple TV with the remote app so I can use voice search. The Roku app keyboard won't allow me to do that with my Roku but ATV doesn't support 4K video??? I was told the newer Rokus search YouTube but I have yet to find proof. Any help would be so appreciated.

The New ATV supports 4K, but it doesn't support the 4K codec that Google use for YouTube. I'd choose the ATV over Roku any day.

Roland

 

[Sakurambo-kun]

Hello,

I am trying to decide what to get. I love using the YouTube app on my 3rd generation Apple TV with the remote app so I can use voice search. The Roku app keyboard won't allow me to do that with my Roku but ATV doesn't support 4K video??? I was told the newer Rokus search YouTube but I have yet to find proof. Any help would be so appreciated.

4K Youtube is a bit of an oddity. It uses VP9 which Apple don't support, and I imagine they never will. YouTube HDR needs either HDR10 (which Apple do support, but the ATV YT app doesn't) or HLG (no Apple support).

You could get an NVidia Shield as that supports VP9 and HDR10, but it doesn't support HLG and the Android TV YT app (which is written by Google) doesn't support HDR10 or VP9.

I'm not sure what Roku support but if you haven't used a Roku before I'd watch some videos before you buy. They're very basic and no frills. That may not bother you, but I always found them to be rather joyless things to live with.

Another thing to consider is that the recently released YT app for the Apple TV isn't very good. It's functionally and visually the same as the Android TV YT app from about 6 months ago (the current one is rather better), but it's really laggy and feels like a web app. The Android TV YT app is much, much snappier.

 

[Loke2112]

Thank you for the replies. I am seriously considering an LG that has its on Web OS built in. It states that it supports YouTube in 4K. My other dilemma is I like to search YouTube with my voice via the Apple remote app and that doesn't work on the Roku app and I doubt it will with Web OS but I could be wrong.

I agree the ATV experience although I don't own the new one looks amazing. Just can't seem to have exactly what I want.

 

[archer75]

4k is overrated. Especially youtube. It's HDR that makes all the difference. But there's very little of that on youtube. I have many streaming devices and prefer using the ATV4k over them. I do have an LG OLED and an Nvidia Shield and many others.

 

[Loke2112]

4k is overrated. Especially youtube. It's HDR that makes all the difference. But there's very little of that on youtube. I have many streaming devices and prefer using the ATV4k over them. I do have an LG OLED and an Nvidia Shield and many others.

Thank you Archer I have read the same thing. I picked up an ATV 4K and an LG OLED> I want to see how the Web OS holds up before I open the ATV. I was able to search YouTube via voice at the store.

 

[archer75]

Thank you Archer I have read the same thing. I picked up an ATV 4K and an LG OLED> I want to see how the Web OS holds up before I open the ATV. I was able to search YouTube via voice at the store.

LG web os is probably the best built in smart tv OS i've ever used. It's fast, quality is good and apps are updated regularly. I'd have no problem using it except I want better audio than the tv provides so I use streaming devices for that.

 

[Sakurambo-kun]

Thank you for the replies. I am seriously considering an LG that has its on Web OS built in. It states that it supports YouTube in 4K. My other dilemma is I like to search YouTube with my voice via the Apple remote app and that doesn't work on the Roku app and I doubt it will with Web OS but I could be wrong.

I agree the ATV experience although I don't own the new one looks amazing. Just can't seem to have exactly what I want.

I have an LG B7. The YouTube app for it supports 4K, HDR10, and HLG. It's the older YT interface rather than the new one Android TV has, but that's not really a big issue. Voice search works in all apps and whilst it's a little clunky, it works well enough.

The TV has a fantastic picture which utterly destroys any LCD, but LG's build quality is poor and LG also don't honour warranty claims at all, at least here in the UK. They wriggle and squirm to get out of paying for repairs and endlessly delay until customers just give up. Their customer service, even by UK standards (which are notoriously low) is abysmal.

 

[archer75]

I have an LG B7. The YouTube app for it supports 4K, HDR10, and HLG. It's the older YT interface rather than the new one Android TV has, but that's not really a big issue. Voice search works in all apps and whilst it's a little clunky, it works well enough.

The TV has a fantastic picture which utterly destroys any LCD, but LG's build quality is poor and LG also don't honour warranty claims at all, at least here in the UK. They wriggle and squirm to get out of paying for repairs and endlessly delay until customers just give up. Their customer service, even by UK standards (which are notoriously low) is abysmal.

I don't know if it's different for tv's but we recently bought an LG washer and dryer and had a problem with the dryer. Repair guy was out the next day. Turns out it was our fault but they repaired it for free under warranty anyways. No hassles. Super easy.

 

[StarShot]

IMO, at this time 4K is mostly a waste of time on youtube. One demo flick after another. IF you want 4K, IMO the main way to go is Amazon Video and NetFlix. There is a surcharge on NetFlix though. DTV has almost all rental movies in 4K, but almost nothing else.

I watch Amazon and Netflix both directly via the LG app or from within Apple TV 4K. Since I don't see them together, I can't really compare the video.

 

[Loke2112]

LG web os is probably the best built in smart tv OS i've ever used. It's fast, quality is good and apps are updated regularly. I'd have no problem using it except I want better audio than the tv provides so I use streaming devices for that.

I spent the last few hours plus last night testing it out. I have zero desire to open the ATV, I'd rather return it along with the over priced HDMI I knew I shouldn't have agreed to purchase in the first place. Monoprice here I come. Speaking of audio I will finally be getting a digital to analog audio converter so I can use my external Adcom amp to power my good old Klipsch 4.2's for better sound watching music on the new TV since I don't have an analog out. Thanks for your help.

 

[Sakurambo-kun]

I don't know if it's different for tv's but we recently bought an LG washer and dryer and had a problem with the dryer. Repair guy was out the next day. Turns out it was our fault but they repaired it for free under warranty anyways. No hassles. Super easy.

Maybe just a UK thing. Customer service here is absolutely terrible pretty much across the board (Apple and Amazon are exceptions), and yet despite those low standards, LG's support is so awful it really stood out.

 

[Loke2112]

Maybe just a UK thing. Customer service here is absolutely terrible pretty much across the board (Apple and Amazon are exceptions), and yet despite those low standards, LG's support is so awful it really stood out.

Sorry to hear about your service issues. I didn’t get the bestbuy extended warranty. I have the one year parts and labor let’s hope I never need it. The OLED is simply amazing coming from an 8 year old plasma.

 

[Michelasso]

4k is overrated. Especially youtube. It's HDR that makes all the difference.

I disagree. YouTube 1080p videos may look like crap due to the compression. Having them at 4K one gets a much better bitrate. This is an example:

$ youtube-dl -F ABVWMT5QRVk | grep -e 1080 -e 2160
WARNING: unable to extract uploader nickname
335          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 HDR 3114k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 44.56MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 3193k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 42.30MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 4399k , avc1.640028, 30fps, video only, 64.99MiB
303          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 4791k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 67.81MiB
299          mp4        1920x1080  1080p60 5802k , avc1.64002a, 60fps, video only, 84.78MiB
337          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 HDR 19530k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 307.91MiB
313          webm       3840x2160  2160p 21140k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 297.30MiB
315          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 29272k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 428.81MiB

The first number (In "k") after the resolution is the bitrate. At 2160p is usually more than 4 times higher.

 

[Sakurambo-kun]

I disagree. YouTube 1080p videos may look like crap due to the compression. Having them at 4K one gets a much better bitrate. This is an example:

$ youtube-dl -F ABVWMT5QRVk | grep -e 1080 -e 2160
WARNING: unable to extract uploader nickname
335          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 HDR 3114k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 44.56MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 3193k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 42.30MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 4399k , avc1.640028, 30fps, video only, 64.99MiB
303          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 4791k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 67.81MiB
299          mp4        1920x1080  1080p60 5802k , avc1.64002a, 60fps, video only, 84.78MiB
337          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 HDR 19530k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 307.91MiB
313          webm       3840x2160  2160p 21140k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 297.30MiB
315          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 29272k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 428.81MiB

The first number (In "k") after the resolution is the bitrate. At 2160p is usually more than 4 times higher.

That's a good point. The same is very much true for iTunes releases. Most "4K" iTunes movies are actually just upscales (the same is true on UHD Blu-ray), but the much higher bit-rate makes a noticeable difference.

 

[archer75]

I disagree. YouTube 1080p videos may look like crap due to the compression. Having them at 4K one gets a much better bitrate. This is an example:

$ youtube-dl -F ABVWMT5QRVk | grep -e 1080 -e 2160
WARNING: unable to extract uploader nickname
335          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 HDR 3114k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 44.56MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 3193k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 42.30MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 4399k , avc1.640028, 30fps, video only, 64.99MiB
303          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 4791k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 67.81MiB
299          mp4        1920x1080  1080p60 5802k , avc1.64002a, 60fps, video only, 84.78MiB
337          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 HDR 19530k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 307.91MiB
313          webm       3840x2160  2160p 21140k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 297.30MiB
315          webm       3840x2160  2160p60 29272k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 428.81MiB

The first number (In "k") after the resolution is the bitrate. At 2160p is usually more than 4 times higher.

sure, the bitrate is higher. But can you actually see it? For most people they can't actually see a difference.
I have no issue with 1080p videos. They look great to me. Does 4k look better? Sometimes. But it's not worlds different. Does someones vlog look better in 4k? Not really. No I need product reviews in 4k? No.
I still stand by my original statement. And not just for youtube but all content. HDR is what really matters. Not 4k.

 

[Michelasso]

sure, the bitrate is higher. But can you actually see it? For most people they can't actually see a difference.
I have no issue with 1080p videos. They look great to me. Does 4k look better? Sometimes. But it's not worlds different. Does someones vlog look better in 4k? Not really. No I need product reviews in 4k? No.
I still stand by my original statement. And not just for youtube but all content. HDR is what really matters. Not 4k.

Well... Honestly I do see the difference switching from the YouTube in the ATV4k and the native YouTube app on my 4K TV (which being a Bravia has the HDR broken, though). Maybe not always, but there are plenty of videos where the 1080p version is full of artefacts, perfectly visible on my 40" screen. Instead I usually see little difference between a 1080p HEVC version of a movie and its 4K HEVC equivalent. Unless I stick my nose to the display, sure!!

One notable exception, but that's also HDR (confirming your point) and remastered for 4K, is Blade Runner. Although half of the scenes are visibly old. Some CGI looks remastered, though. The difference is like night and day.