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digduggler

macrumors 6502
Jul 2, 2007
323
77
Yes. I’ve switched back to 4K SDR. The upscaling is better than my tv. Having SDR programming blown out in HDR was not enjoyable. The Apple TV should switch in the fly between modes the set supports.

Same. I think it will get worked out, or maybe content becomes prevalently HDR and I can switch back.
 

Macrecon

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2017
21
4
Before anyone start making their own conclusions, one must understand how HDMI signal transfer works and how apple has done it.
I dont :)
For apple to "convert" and make some sort of "fake" HDR with a SDR fource is possible..
But I would say that is more likely that the SDR signal/video is sent unchanged within the HDR stream. After that is the TVs own "HDR" proccessing (Because you are i fact on a HDR picture mode on the TV) that would tweak the SDR pic further.

I have played a few SDR movies to test and they look very much unchanged, as my TV's HDR mode will (LG B6 mode DV Dark) have a little bit different settings than my normal "Cinema" mode of course the pic will look different. HDR modes on an OLED put brightness/OLED Light to max by default.
Also on a new source (ATV) the default mode is too vivid and with a lot of post processing, dynamic contrast, edge enhancement and on on that one would have to turn off.
 
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loekf

macrumors 6502a
Mar 23, 2015
824
568
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Before anyone start making their own conclusions, one must understand how HDMI signal transfer works and how apple has done it.
I dont :)
For apple to "convert" and make some sort of "fake" HDR with a SDR fource is possible..
But I would say that is more likely that the SDR signal/video is sent unchanged within the HDR stream. After that is the TVs own "HDR" proccessing (Because you are i fact on a HDR picture mode on the TV) that would tweak the SDR pic further.

I have played a few SDR movies to test and they look very much unchanged, as my TV's HDR mode will (LG B6 mode DV Dark) have a little bit different settings than my normal "Cinema" mode of course the pic will look different. HDR modes on an OLED put brightness/OLED Light to max by default.
Also on a new source (ATV) the default mode is too vivid and with a lot of post processing, dynamic contrast, edge enhancement and on on that one would have to turn off.

No, HDR is not a sideband signal, so something sent along the regular video signal. The best explanation (technically) I have found is here:

https://ngcodec.com/news/2015/11/16...-high-dynamic-range-hdr-content-with-hevch265

So Apple is definitely doing something to the UI (incl. games) and non SDR content.

Oh and indeed on TVs you have to turn all picture enhancements off, incl:

- Sharpness
- Noise reduction
- MPEG artifact reduction
- Colour improvements like skintone correction, black stretch etc.

They do more harm than good, they date from the days of analog TV.
 

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,037
640
Estonia
Yes. I’ve switched back to 4K SDR. The upscaling is better than my tv. Having SDR programming blown out in HDR was not enjoyable. The Apple TV should switch in the fly between modes the set supports.
IMHO it should only pass the HDR metadata through, verbatim.
 

Oledlover

macrumors newbie
Sep 24, 2017
13
6
Before anyone start making their own conclusions, one must understand how HDMI signal transfer works and how apple has done it.
I dont :)
For apple to "convert" and make some sort of "fake" HDR with a SDR fource is possible..
But I would say that is more likely that the SDR signal/video is sent unchanged within the HDR stream. After that is the TVs own "HDR" proccessing (Because you are i fact on a HDR picture mode on the TV) that would tweak the SDR pic further.

I have played a few SDR movies to test and they look very much unchanged, as my TV's HDR mode will (LG B6 mode DV Dark) have a little bit different settings than my normal "Cinema" mode of course the pic will look different. HDR modes on an OLED put brightness/OLED Light to max by default.
Also on a new source (ATV) the default mode is too vivid and with a lot of post processing, dynamic contrast, edge enhancement and on on that one would have to turn off.
[doublepost=1506263830][/doublepost]When I had my B6 ISF calibrated the technician explained that no current consumer panel can do rec 2020, so calibration for HDR 10 & Dolby Vision is a best guess.

Having said that, to take advantage of the dynamic range, my calibration mode is HDR Bright and the brightness and OLED light are meant to be at 100% (apparently this isn’t even close to rec 2020). It’s all the other settings, that balance it out - gamma, etc.
Maybe half the dramas People are having is, their panels aren’t calibrated?
 
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richpjr

macrumors 68040
May 9, 2006
3,504
2,252
Yes. I’ve switched back to 4K SDR. The upscaling is better than my tv. Having SDR programming blown out in HDR was not enjoyable. The Apple TV should switch in the fly between modes the set supports.

I think giving the option to lock on a selected setting or switch on the fly would be best.
 

Macrecon

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2017
21
4
[doublepost=1506263830][/doublepost]When I had my B6 ISF calibrated the technician explained that no current consumer panel can do rec 2020, so calibration for HDR 10 & Dolby Vision is a best guess.

Having said that, to take advantage of the dynamic range, my calibration mode is HDR Bright and the brightness and OLED light are meant to be at 100% (apparently this isn’t even close to rec 2020). It’s all the other settings, that balance it out - gamma, etc.
Maybe half the dramas People are having is, their panels aren’t calibrated?

It may be one reason.
I know that the first time i used the ATV, the HDR mode on the tv was set to VIVID and that looks bad even with a UHD player. SDR looked bad, with edge processing and so on. People expect too much, the atv doesn’t care what mode you have on you tv. That is up to you to set propperly. ;)
 
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BrEEdAA

macrumors member
Jun 17, 2010
34
3
Glasgow, UK
Ive been using my Apple TV over the last few days. Switching between SDR & HDR on Netflix, iplayer, Plex and after changing the picture settings on the HDR mode of my tv (hisense m3300) have settled on HDR being on. The picture, for me is always better with HDR on, even for non HDR content. As other folk have said, you need to adjust the picture settings for the HDR mode (colour, brightness, contrast etc) and make sure all the motion smoothing etc is off
 

cyb3rdud3

macrumors 68040
Jun 22, 2014
3,263
2,020
UK
Ive been using my Apple TV over the last few days. Switching between SDR & HDR on Netflix, iplayer, Plex and after changing the picture settings on the HDR mode of my tv (hisense m3300) have settled on HDR being on. The picture, for me is always better with HDR on, even for non HDR content. As other folk have said, you need to adjust the picture settings for the HDR mode (colour, brightness, contrast etc) and make sure all the motion smoothing etc is off


Do any of you actually use this in a home theatre setup or just plugged directly in the TV? The reason for asking is that you wouldn't really want to adjust those settings for one source and then have the others be affected by it....But hey perhaps I'm in the minority to run my 4K setup through home cinema amplifier with surround sound setup and a single connection to my TV...
 

BrEEdAA

macrumors member
Jun 17, 2010
34
3
Glasgow, UK
Do any of you actually use this in a home theatre setup or just plugged directly in the TV? The reason for asking is that you wouldn't really want to adjust those settings for one source and then have the others be affected by it....But hey perhaps I'm in the minority to run my 4K setup through home cinema amplifier with surround sound setup and a single connection to my TV...

I’m running a Onkyo amp, although as it’s only HDMI 1.4 or whatever, the TV outputs audio to it now, all devices are plugged directly into my TV. I should also have noted, I needed to enable enhanced HDMI on my tv to get the best pic, this was also the same as when I hooked up my Xbox one S.
 
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mac.cali

macrumors 65816
Mar 16, 2012
1,448
368
I have mine on 4K sdr. Until my tv plays nice (Samsung ks) the hdr mode dims it out way too much for me. Has anyone had any success with configuration with the ks model?
 

err404

macrumors 68030
Mar 4, 2007
2,525
623
On my KS8000 I have Dynamic Contrast set to med/high and Gamma set to 1/2. I generally don’t like features that alter the image, but many forums for this TV recommend these settings for HDR content, and it does improve the image balance for the Apple TVs SDR content as well.
 

mac.cali

macrumors 65816
Mar 16, 2012
1,448
368
On my KS8000 I have Dynamic Contrast set to med/high and Gamma set to 1/2. I generally don’t like features that alter the image, but many forums for this TV recommend these settings for HDR content, and it does improve the image balance for the Apple TVs SDR content as well.

While hdr mode is on? Do you have uhd color on within the tv settings?
 

andeify

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2012
415
74
UK
I don't think there is a perfect home cinema setup, unless you have a big budget, do a ton of research and go out right now and by all new equipment.

When I got my 4K TV I had to have all my devices connect directly to the TV and then use the HDMI-ARC function to return the 5.1 signal to my AV Receiver. This was because the receiver would not pass through 4K Video.

What was good about this was that having all the devices connected directly to the TV means I can have different settings for each source. I could also use HDMI-CEC to control the receiver with the TV remote.

Sadly in reality the new Samsung TV didn't play nice for long and eventually refused to see the receiver at all. Now I have it connected with an optical cable and have to use 4 Remotes (Ive never been a fan of universal remotes).

Im strongly considering the new Apple TV, I mainly use Plex though and I hear there are a few teething troubles...
 

Packers1958

macrumors 68000
Apr 16, 2017
1,934
2,547
South Dakota
If it's not HDR I switch to SDR. Apple trying to map SDR709 to HDR2020 is wrong. It makes everything look garish. Most tv's do sdr709 fairly well. So if it's SDR, do not have ATV try to convert to HDR. It's fake HDR and it's wrong.
 

NickCostides

macrumors newbie
Sep 24, 2017
3
9
We have to differentiate two things.

1. The upscaling from 1080p to 4k. The Apple TV is doing that quite good. I can't see a difference when I let my LG B6 do the upscaling instead.
2. The upscaling from SDR to HDR. This looks most of the times really awful, in my opinion. The colors and contrast get so unnatural that way.

Therefore my recommendation is turn off forced HDR/DV on any videos. Just if the Video has native HDR/DV put it on.

...you are right on with this explanation.

This is what I wrote on another thread which says the same thing...

I own a Samsung KS8500. Like others, having HDR enabled for all content looks rough. What’s interesting however is that having Apple TV outputting 4K SDR 60hz looks phenomenal. Compared to the awful upscaling from the Nvidia shield and Roku I am thrilled.

If there was only a way to automatically switch based on the content that would be outstanding.
 

Poontaco

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2014
257
180
Until they get it fixed, I'm leaving mine in SDR mode by default, and switching to HDR mode when I'm actually watching an HDR movie.
It's a bit of a pain, but 95% of the content displayed on the Apple TV is SDR anyway, and the fake HDR just looks awful.

Hopefully they add proper switching soon.
 

Craiger

macrumors 6502a
Jul 11, 2007
846
285
I really hope apple changes this. The Apple TV should output whatever the source material is. This goes for frame rate as well. I don't want to watch an SDR 24 fps movie in HDR at 30 fps.
 

RandmTask

macrumors newbie
Aug 26, 2009
14
0
Ive been using my Apple TV over the last few days. Switching between SDR & HDR on Netflix, iplayer, Plex and after changing the picture settings on the HDR mode of my tv (hisense m3300) have settled on HDR being on. The picture, for me is always better with HDR on, even for non HDR content. As other folk have said, you need to adjust the picture settings for the HDR mode (colour, brightness, contrast etc) and make sure all the motion smoothing etc is off

Do you mind sharing your settings? I have just bought aTV 4K for my m3300 and the whole thing looks overexposed in the menus and unwatchably dark in Netflix HDR
 

Spankey

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2007
859
334
NJ
There is no way HDR is "better" for non HDR programming. HDR should be off from the main screen if you plan on watching any SDR programming.
 

Spankey

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2007
859
334
NJ

It does not in individual apps yet unless the apps are updated to change the color space. As of now they haven't been.

As the title says you are no longer forced to watch everything in 4k. Set the Apple TV to 4k SDR if you have a 4k HDR capable set and then Match Content for frame rate and dynamic range. This way SDR programming is played in SDR and the Apple TV will switch to correct frame rate and HDR or DV.
 
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