I purchased an Apple TV 4th Generation for a Samsung HD TV (720p) I have in my bedroom. Yesterday I watched the first movie on it ("mother!") which I rented from iTunes movies. I really was expecting a better quality resolution at least like the one I get on my cable TV provider's HD channels, but no... I just found it to be too grainy, almost like standard. Maybe something's wrong with the settings? I didn't change anything, it's all default. Or was it the movie itself? I will watch Netflix and Prime Video to compare later on today.
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Apple TV 4th Generation video quality
- Thread starter rmoliv
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
There's a lot of variables not shared in your post. Did you rent the HD version of the movie or the SD version? Is your 
TV connected directly to your TV or going through something else that might be using SD settings? Is the connections via HDMI cables or something else?
I just visited some relatives who had several 1080p HD sets in their home. Picture looks poor. I took a look at the connections and the cable company had connected the box with RG6 cable instead of HDMI. Thus, they were watching analog SD video on an HD set. Swap the cable to HDMI and the picture became HD.
It's also possible that that particular movie was just shot in such a way that higher resolution doesn't make it look very good. Your experiments with Netflix & Prime should give you enough of a content multi-sampling to find some well-shot video. You might also try movie trailers which generally look great in HD. If you have an iPhone, shoot some video yourself at 1080p or 4K, drop it into iTunes and then stream it to your TV via yourTV- that should also look really good.
If you happen to have a blu ray player and at least one movie disc, hook it up and look at some of that movie. Then hop into the iTunes rental store, locate the same movie and watch the (free) trailer to see if the picture looks comparable.
TV connected directly to your TV or going through something else that might be using SD settings? Is the connections via HDMI cables or something else?I just visited some relatives who had several 1080p HD sets in their home. Picture looks poor. I took a look at the connections and the cable company had connected the box with RG6 cable instead of HDMI. Thus, they were watching analog SD video on an HD set. Swap the cable to HDMI and the picture became HD.
It's also possible that that particular movie was just shot in such a way that higher resolution doesn't make it look very good. Your experiments with Netflix & Prime should give you enough of a content multi-sampling to find some well-shot video. You might also try movie trailers which generally look great in HD. If you have an iPhone, shoot some video yourself at 1080p or 4K, drop it into iTunes and then stream it to your TV via your
TV- that should also look really good.If you happen to have a blu ray player and at least one movie disc, hook it up and look at some of that movie. Then hop into the iTunes rental store, locate the same movie and watch the (free) trailer to see if the picture looks comparable.
Thanks for your help. The Apple TV is directly connected to the TV through a HDMI cable I bought from the Apple Store. I think it was the movie itself (even though I rented the HD version!) because I've just rented "Dunkirk" and watched a few trailers and the quality is definitely high definition. By the way I called Apple to complain and they refunded me that rental which was a nice gesture.
Very interesting! It's a brand new movie in 4K DV BUT I've just checked the trailer as it's a pre order in the UK and YUK IT'S SO GRAINY!!!!!!!!! EVEN THE TRAILER! Must be the way the film is intended but things like that really do not impress me - had it been an old film I could understand due to HEVC not coping well with film grain - tends to put film grain on steroids!!! But this way a new film trailer in HD h264.
BTW That film looks super scary
BTW That film looks super scary
That film must be grainy on purpose, as it appears to have been shot with a 16mm film camera.
It's not scary, but a disturbing movie.
A refresher on biblical lessons is advised prior to watching, to understand the allegory.
http://realorfake4k.com/my-product/mother/
It's not scary, but a disturbing movie.
A refresher on biblical lessons is advised prior to watching, to understand the allegory.
http://realorfake4k.com/my-product/mother/
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Like most 32" TVs it has a 720p (or better, 768p) display. But it is also true that far too much 1080p content looks grain, and that should have little to do with the resolution. The previews in iTunes are generally speaking.. Ugly. YouTube on ATV 4K is unwatchable. And then, even some 4K content from Netflix is grainy!