I have the HD model but the picture quality on my iTunes movie has been average little better than a dvd. Is the 4K model better more like Netflix 4K or Amazon in 4K? I hear another model is coming soon anyway so I could wait
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Apple TV HD
- Thread starter gadget123
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I have two Apple TV HD's and the picture quality with full HD movies is far better than a DVD. A DVD is 720x480 pixels which are "stretched" to 853x480 if it's widescreen format. That is notably different from a native 1920x1080 HD movie. What kind of TV are you using? You should check all your settings on both the TV and AppleTV because the difference should be easily seen.
I have large library of ~1200 ripped and purchased movies at standard definition DVD resolution. They still look pretty good when viewed at a distance, and if it's a good movie I might not be so aware of the difference. But it is certainly there. Unless you have a 4k TV, I don't think an upgrade will help.
I have large library of ~1200 ripped and purchased movies at standard definition DVD resolution. They still look pretty good when viewed at a distance, and if it's a good movie I might not be so aware of the difference. But it is certainly there. Unless you have a 4k TV, I don't think an upgrade will help.
I’ve got it on 1080p on a 4K tv just wondering if I buy another one 4K model would it be closer to a Blu ray?
I think the TV is the important part of the equation since it does the heavy lifting of upconverting the signal to whichever format you select. The ATV is just passing the signal to the TV. Unless you have 4K content to pass, the ATV HD should be as good as the 4K model at passing full HD (1920 x 1080) and below. If you want to view 4K content then you will need the ATV 4K.
BTW, rumors are more often wrong than correct these days, so don’t count on seeing a new ATV 4K model any time soon. It might happen, it might just be more BS from people like Gurman who tend to guess rather than have actual inside information.
BTW, rumors are more often wrong than correct these days, so don’t count on seeing a new ATV 4K model any time soon. It might happen, it might just be more BS from people like Gurman who tend to guess rather than have actual inside information.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
OP w5jck is right.
Basically, source file is the same no matter how far the technology advances. So, for example, if Apple surprised us with an AppleTV 8K or AppleTV 16K, if the source file is 1080p it is still delivering 1080p on either of those hypothetical AppleTVs too. If you had a SD video from a DVD, VHS or similar scan, even an AppleTV 32K could only play whatever the quality of the source file can deliver- it doesn't get better with hardware upgrades.
For your purposes, a newer AppleTV model will simply be slightly faster hardware perhaps with a few features available to the new ones that isn't available on the HD (if there are any-I can't remember).
Now, an AppleTV 4K can substitute 4K video (streams) in place of 1080p if the file has a 4K version and you purchased it from (and stream it from) iTunes store. If so, that would likely be a noticeable improvement on your 4K TV.
However, your posts read to me like you need to recheck AppleTV and maybe iTunes Store settings. You should be able to notice a quality upgrade difference when pushing a 1080p file to your 4K TV. I'm suspecting that Netflix and Amazon apps ARE throwing 1080p to your TV but wonder if iTunes is doing the same. I wonder if maybe you have an iTunes setting locked on SD and that's why it doesn't look as (relatively) good to you. Look in preferences, playback, download options and see what you have checked there...
I'm wondering if you perhaps have "Most Compatible SD (480p)" checked instead of as you see with my own settings. If so, that would explain your description of inferior picture vs. Netflix and Amazon app video.
Basically, source file is the same no matter how far the technology advances. So, for example, if Apple surprised us with an AppleTV 8K or AppleTV 16K, if the source file is 1080p it is still delivering 1080p on either of those hypothetical AppleTVs too. If you had a SD video from a DVD, VHS or similar scan, even an AppleTV 32K could only play whatever the quality of the source file can deliver- it doesn't get better with hardware upgrades.
For your purposes, a newer AppleTV model will simply be slightly faster hardware perhaps with a few features available to the new ones that isn't available on the HD (if there are any-I can't remember).
Now, an AppleTV 4K can substitute 4K video (streams) in place of 1080p if the file has a 4K version and you purchased it from (and stream it from) iTunes store. If so, that would likely be a noticeable improvement on your 4K TV.
However, your posts read to me like you need to recheck AppleTV and maybe iTunes Store settings. You should be able to notice a quality upgrade difference when pushing a 1080p file to your 4K TV. I'm suspecting that Netflix and Amazon apps ARE throwing 1080p to your TV but wonder if iTunes is doing the same. I wonder if maybe you have an iTunes setting locked on SD and that's why it doesn't look as (relatively) good to you. Look in preferences, playback, download options and see what you have checked there...
I'm wondering if you perhaps have "Most Compatible SD (480p)" checked instead of as you see with my own settings. If so, that would explain your description of inferior picture vs. Netflix and Amazon app video.
You won’t find that on an ATVHD,
There are however a couple of possibilities,
Going to Settings then Apps > iTunes Movies and TV Shows and Make sure Video Quality is set to Best Available, if it’s on Good than that’ll be SD.
also make sure Limit Purchases and Rentals to SD is Off.
Another possibility is that the iTunes purchases are only SD to begin with.
@gadget123 what particular iTunes movie are you watching, how did you obtain it and are you sure it’s HD?
Open the Movies app, go to purchases and open the movie, do you see a HD icon on it’s info page?
In answer to your other question, yes you should notice an improvement with an ATV4K, especially with already purchased movies that are available in 4K as you’ll definitely see the bump in image quality with those.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Yes, the image in my post #6 is in the TV app on the Mac to which the AppleTV connects and should look mostly/completely the same if OP is using iTunes on an older version of macOS too.