Apple TV 4K - black image/connection loss?

[joptimus]

Hi!

I have an Apple TV 4K connected to my LG B9 OLED eARC HDMI port using a certified premium HDMI 2.0 cable (20k 5* ratings from Amazon). Length is 2m.
I can enable 4:2:2 and Dolby Vision, but then every once in a while the image turns black briefly, the "HDR" or "Dolby Vision" logo is displayed on the top right corner of the TV and then the image is back.
When I turn both settings off, I have no problem.

Also sometimes I see white pixels flashing on the upper black bar (when viewing content that has a wider aspect ratio than my TV). This was more frequently with my original low quality HDMI cable but even not (rarely) I can see it.

Do I have to try out a dozen cables? What is the premium certified logo for, actually?

BR
John

 

[samevansinworthi]

I have a similar set up.

I am experiencing this since the latest tvOS beta. I swapped out the cable and touch wood, it hasn’t done it since. Might be worth a shot.

 

[waw74]

you don't have to connect the aTV to the eARC port, the appleTV doesn't support ARC at all.
ARC is designed to take audio away from the TV to an external sound device. It transports audio on different pins in the cable than "regular" HDMI audio. So unless the devices on both end of the cable support ARC, nothing happens. It won't hurt anything by using it, but you're not gaining anything. But in the future, if you add a sound bar or receiver, you'll need the ARC port to connect that.
The appleTV just uses regular HDMI audio, which is supported on all ports on the TV.


You'll want to make sure deep color is enabled on the port you're using on the TV, this is a port by port setting.
it's in the picture settings, advanced or additional


I also suggest enabling match rate and range in the aTV's video settings if you haven't.
This will give you the best image, if you don't use those and have the aTV set to Dolby Vision or HDR, then all non-HDR content will be upconveted by the aTV, it can lead to over blown colors (some call it cartoon-ish), since it's just a blanket setting applied to all video, instead of having a human make sure it looks right on a scene by scene basis, which happens when a video is produced in HDR

match rate will give you smoother motion, if you're watching a movie ( 24fps) on the aTV (60fps), it will have to show certain frames longer to make the math work (24 x 2 = 48, leaving 12 frames to fill to reach 60) so it will do 1-1-2-2-2-3-3-4-4-4-5-5, meaning every other frame of the original video is on the screen longer than the others, your eye can definitely see this, especially in long slow panning shots

I leave mine in 4K SDR, it's a little easier on the TV, and the majority of the content I watch is in SDR.
You will have a brief blackout when you start or stop content playing when the aTV and TV re-adjust to the new settings.