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Apple TV 4k not working on LG TV

T

toontra

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 6, 2003
272
6
London UK
I've had the Apple TV box working fine on a Dell monitor for a couple of years. Today I tried it on my New LG OLED TV to see how it looked.

Nothing - black screen. I tried 3 different HDMI ports on the LG, all of which work fine with other devices. Tried 3 different HDMI cables, again all of which are known to work.

The Apple TV is definitely powered on OK.

I'm totally baffled. Any ideas?
 
The Dell monitor probably is using a different refresh rate that the LG TV doesn't support. Reconnect the Dell monitor and reset the video settings to defaults and then try connecting the LG TV again afterwards. Hopefully this will work and you can avoid doing a factory reset.
 
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MacManiac76 said:
The Dell monitor probably is using a different refresh rate that the LG TV doesn't support. Reconnect the Dell monitor and reset the video settings to defaults and then try connecting the LG TV again afterwards. Hopefully this will work and you can avoid doing a factory reset.
Click to expand...
Many thanks. Will test later.
 
toontra said:
I've had the Apple TV box working fine on a Dell monitor for a couple of years. Today I tried it on my New LG OLED TV to see how it looked.

Nothing - black screen. I tried 3 different HDMI ports on the LG, all of which work fine with other devices. Tried 3 different HDMI cables, again all of which are known to work.

The Apple TV is definitely powered on OK.

I'm totally baffled. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
By default LG has 4K HDR10 capability disabled, you have to enable it for whatever HDMI port you use.

Example from a older OLED
LG refers to this setting as HDMI ULTRA HD Deep Color, and it is typically found in the LG menu under All Settings / General / HDMI ULTRA HD Deep Color. Please ensure that this is set to On for the HDMI input your UHD Blu ray player is connected to.
 
Tried both of the above without luck.

Re-attached to the Dell & reset video settings to default (still working fine on the Dell).

Went into the LG settings and made sure all HDMI ports had Ultra HD enabled.

Still black screen.... ??
 
Some questions that may be helpful in solving your problem:
* Did you Connect the ATV to the TV, using the LG's "Device Connector" selection of the "Settings" screen? If not, that's the first step in letting the TV know what is where.
* Which HDMI port did you select to watch on the TV? Just plugging-in to a port does not select it. One must either use the "Home" button on the LG's remote, then select the port via the "Home Dashboard" screen, or have "Quick Access" mapped to a numeric button and use that.
* Do your TV's internal apps and channels display properly? If so, that's a good sign that everything else will work when set up correctly.
Best wishes on this.
 
Last edited:
Is this an Apple TV 4K model? If so, what are the specs of the HDMI cables you have tried. Are they rated at 18Gbps or higher?
 
Thanks for the replies!

There isn't a Device Connector anywhere in the setting on this TV.
There is an input selector button on the remote which shows the active HDMI ports. It shows that something is connected to whichever port I plug it into, just no picture when selected.
The Virgin TV box connected to HDMI 1 works fine and always has. Other devices work fine when connected to all other ports (e.g. MacBook Pro)
LG internal channels work fine.
I've tried several HDMI cables. Not sure of the exact specs but they're all quite new and all of which work fine on other devices, and with the ATV on the Dell.
 
I've got a 2019 LG e9. It's used with a 2021 ATV4K box plugged into HDMI port 2 for the LG's eARC audio output back to the ATV4K's airplay2 homepods. It's worked with no problems; also through HDMI port 1 prior to LG's adoption of airplay2. I let you know this because . . .

. . . the routine I use is to sleep everything when finished watching TV, using the Siri remote; one tap does it. All goes dark and the LG's red 'sleep' indicator pulses under the panel. When I use the Siri remote to exit sleep, the first thing that happens is the LG panel displays 'HDMI 2 - Apple TV' for a second or two, indicating that it sees the ATV4K as the input device, then the ATV4K home screen appears.

Qs for you: confirm you're using an ATV4K or 2021ATV4K, and when you power on or wake, does the LG display an info tag or icon at the lower left part of the screen showing 'HDMI2 - Apple TV' ? Have you tried to reset the ATV4K; can you without being able to access its user interface?
 
It's an ATV4K.
When I power on or wake there isn't an on-screen pop-up saying a device has been connected (as happens when I connect the MacBook for example).
I haven't tried a full reset of the ATV4K as yet. Can't do it from the LG screen but would be able to from the Dell. I was hoping to avoid this if possible as I have a lot of apps (mainly cycle VR ones with quite complicated BT connection settings, etc)
 
toontra said:
It's an ATV4K.
When I power on or wake there isn't an on-screen pop-up saying a device has been connected (as happens when I connect the MacBook for example).
I haven't tried a full reset of the ATV4K as yet. Can't do it from the LG screen but would be able to from the Dell. I was hoping to avoid this if possible as I have a lot of apps (mainly cycle VR ones with quite complicated BT connection settings, etc)
Click to expand...
This might work.

How to Fix an Apple TV with a Blank Screen

Some Apple TV users have encountered blank screens with their Apple TV. To fix this, you should restart your TV or restore the Apple TV to its factory settings. Need to know how? We have you covered. Here's how to fix an Apple TV with a blank screen: Steps: 1. Restart your Apple TV: a. At...
forums.tomsguide.com forums.tomsguide.com
 
I had this happen once and it was the video chroma setting on the Apple TV. I had done some messing around on another TV and set the chroma to 4:4:4 but when I went to hook it back up to the previous TV the HDMI cable couldn't support it so it just blacked screened. Did a hard reset on the ATV, went back to change it to 4:4:4 and realized the option wasn't there so that was the culprit. Trashed that cable, which was old, and been good since.
 
toontra said:
It's an ATV4K.
When I power on or wake there isn't an on-screen pop-up saying a device has been connected (as happens when I connect the MacBook for example).
I haven't tried a full reset of the ATV4K as yet. Can't do it from the LG screen but would be able to from the Dell. I was hoping to avoid this if possible as I have a lot of apps (mainly cycle VR ones with quite complicated BT connection settings, etc)
Click to expand...
Don't ever do a "full reset" unless everything else has failed to work. I'm sure the other poster meant to say "restart", which is totally different from a reset. If the ATV is working with the Dell monitor, then there is NO need to "reset" it. To restart it without using the menus, since you cannot see them on a blank screen, just unplug the ATV, wait about 20 seconds, then replug it in. Never full reset anything unless you want to spend hours re-entering all the setup BS you have to enter.
 
Personally, I think the issue is almost certainly with the way the LG TV is set up. Obviously the ATV works, as does the LG TV, but they they won't play nicely with each other. I would try putting all the ATV video/audio settings back to their "out of the box" defaults. Clearly the ATVs work with many different TV brands, so the issue is getting your TV and ATV to communicate.

And I know this sounds harsh, but read the damn user manual for the LG TV. We tend to not do that and spend hours trying to resolve issues, then finally turn to the manual and find a resolution. Unfortunately many manuals are written by non-native English speakers and thus you have to try to interpret Chinenglish or Japanglish or whatever, but quite often they do have the information you need to resolve issues.
 
w5jck said:
And I know this sounds harsh, but read the damn user manual for the LG TV.
Click to expand...
:D Indeed.

I think you're right about the issue being a weird communication problem between the ATV and LG. Never had an issue with plug-and-play devices and monitors before so a bit puzzling.

I'm going to try another TV first then if all else fails I'll read the manual!

Thanks.
 
toontra said:
Thanks for the replies!

There isn't a Device Connector anywhere in the setting on this TV.
There is an input selector button on the remote which shows the active HDMI ports. It shows that something is connected to whichever port I plug it into, just no picture when selected.
The Virgin TV box connected to HDMI 1 works fine and always has. Other devices work fine when connected to all other ports (e.g. MacBook Pro)
LG internal channels work fine.
I've tried several HDMI cables. Not sure of the exact specs but they're all quite new and all of which work fine on other devices, and with the ATV on the Dell.
Click to expand...
I assume that you have a C1, as it is the newest model. Look in your Users Guide for "Using Home Dashboard". Look for "Connecting External Devices".
 
mhmercer said:
I assume that you have a C1, as it is the newest model. Look in your Users Guide for "Using Home Dashboard". Look for "Connecting External Devices".
Click to expand...
Thanks. I've downloaded the manual and found the chapter on Connecting External Devices. Will check it out later.
 
Wondering if your LG is a smart unit with the Apple App built into it. My unit that I bought around 6 months does. I also have the standalone ATV 4K that is plugged into one of the HDMI ports. I've NEVER liked the ATV remotes and I've had most of the models since the ATV came out several years ago so I generally use the built-in Apple TV App.

FWIW, I had a previous LG 65 OLED that crapped out just after 5 years and couldn't be fixed for a reasonable fee. Hence, the new 65 OLED. The 1st one cost $4300 and I shopped several places for that price. The recent one was $2000 and better than the old one.
 
Yes, it does have the Apple TV app. However, I want to get BT Sport working and that's not available on the Apple app. Also, annoyingly, there isn't a BT Sport app for LG TV's. However there is one for the ATV 4K and it works fine, so that was my plan as a work-around.
 
Well, I've explored the Home Dashboard setting and there's nothing there to help. The settings are all about getting things connected to the universal remote, which is irrelevant at this stage.

One thing I noticed - when selecting the HDMI input with the ATV connected, the LG screen dims noticeably, and when highlighting any other port with working devices connected the screen brightens again. This happens even when swapping the ports - always dims the port with ATV connected.

BTW I connected the ATV to another TV. Works fine! This is clearly an LG issue.

Puzzled.
 
toontra said:
Well, I've explored the Home Dashboard setting and there's nothing there to help. The settings are all about getting things connected to the universal remote, which is irrelevant at this stage.

One thing I noticed - when selecting the HDMI input with the ATV connected, the LG screen dims noticeably, and when highlighting any other port with working devices connected the screen brightens again. This happens even when swapping the ports - always dims the port with ATV connected.

BTW I connected the ATV to another TV. Works fine! This is clearly an LG issue.

Puzzled.
Click to expand...
I mean I have a LG CX and C1 with zero issues using two separate ATV’s. Personally, I would start from scratch making sure the only thing plugged into your TV is the ATV then factory reset the TV to see what happens. Call LG tech support if all else fails.
 
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toontra said:
...BTW I connected the ATV to another TV. Works fine! This is clearly an LG issue.

Puzzled.
Click to expand...
It could, and likely is, some setting either on the LG TV or the ATV that is causing the issue. I'm not familiar with LG TVs, although I’m old enough to remember when they were Zenith way back in the 1970s. So I can’t recommend anything on the LG TV side of the issue to try other than looking at the manual and trying to interpret the Koreanglish which it is written in (translated from).

I always say only do an ATV full reset if all else fails. But perhaps you are there now. If you are not averse to temporarily hooking the ATV up to a different TV for a while, you can do a full reset to ensure there are no weird settings left on it by returning it to factory settings. Unfortunately, that means you will have to set it up again and enter all your passwords for Apple ID and every app, which is why I tend to say only do this as a last resort because it is time consuming and a PITA. I would NOT reset the LG TV at this time though because it seems to be working with other streaming devices so I would only reset the ATV first. The ATV is designed to connect with all major brands of TVs right out of the box, so a full reset will hopefully correct any setting that is causing an issue.
 
toontra said:
Well, I've explored the Home Dashboard setting and there's nothing there to help. The settings are all about getting things connected to the universal remote, which is irrelevant at this stage.

One thing I noticed - when selecting the HDMI input with the ATV connected, the LG screen dims noticeably, and when highlighting any other port with working devices connected the screen brightens again. This happens even when swapping the ports - always dims the port with ATV connected.

BTW I connected the ATV to another TV. Works fine! This is clearly an LG issue.

Puzzled.
Click to expand...
I got a LG C1 OLED TV about 2 months ago and it's working fine with my 1st gen ATV4k ... do you have any devices that you can connect to HDMI that actually work? cables can be tricky ...
 
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