ATV Dolby Vision screws up photos’ colors when Airplaying from iPhone/iPad

[subjonas]

I found this out today while trying to Airplay photos to my TV from my iPhone and two of my iPads—all with the same result: the colors were completely off—like purple instead of red, etc. The colors were so off I thought they were inverted (but they weren’t quite).

After monkeying around, I figured out that turning off Dolby Vision in the ATV settings fixed the issue. Turning off meaning switching to HDR or SDR. HDR looked pretty accurate but just more vibrant than the original photo. SDR looked identical to the original photo, which I prefer.

But what’s weird is I’m sure I’ve Airplayed photos to this TV+ATV before (probably multiple times) and I’m sure the photos (and their colors) have always looked exactly as they did on my phone because I remember being impressed at how identical they looked. So I figure it must have been a bug from an update. I’m running 17.5.1 on all my devices. And not sure if it’s relevant but I have an older LG OLED TV, too lazy to look up model number but it’s a good 6+ years old.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[-Gonzo-]

By setting to Dolby Vision or HDR then you’re just forcing something onto those photos that weren’t there in the first place.
Same situation with video content that doesn’t support dynamic range matching.
This is why we generally always say to use the recommended settings of 4KSDR and let the Match Dynamic Range setting take care of when Dolby Vision or HDR is required.

 

[subjonas]

By setting to Dolby Vision or HDR then you’re just forcing something onto those photos that weren’t there in the first place.
Same situation with video content that doesn’t support dynamic range matching.
This is why we generally always say to use the recommended settings of 4KSDR and let the Match Dynamic Range setting take care of when Dolby Vision or HDR is required.

Right, home photos wouldn’t offer Dolby or HDR, but I find a couple things peculiar—I’m not sure why Dolby would mess up the colors that badly (almost inverted) for non Dolby content, but I guess that’s just the result of how the Dolby technology works. Also if the ATV knows what the content it’s playing supports, then I’m not sure why the ATV wouldn’t automatically adjust settings (match dynamic range by default), especially when it knows I’m Airplaying photos from my phone. I also don’t remember ever setting it to Dolby (no one else uses my TV), but if I did, it was a long time ago, so it’s strange I never had the color issue the previous times I‘ve Airplayed photos.

Thanks, I didn’t know about the match setting. That’ll save a lot of hassle. I really don’t know why that isn’t on by default since it definitely seems the most optimal.

 

[priitv8]

Also if the ATV knows what the content it’s playing supports, then I’m not sure why the ATV wouldn’t automatically adjust settings (match dynamic range by default)

As I've understood Apple, it has to do with their user experience standards.
You see, the SDR/HDR/DoVi switching takes some time and creates a black screen on most displays. Keeping the display constantly in single mode eliminates that imperfection. But creates others, indeed.

 

[Jim Lahey]

4K SDR system setting with match dynamic range and frame rate is the only way to roll with ATV.

 

[G5isAlive]

As I've understood Apple, it has to do with their user experience standards.
You see, the SDR/HDR/DoVi switching takes some time and creates a black screen on most displays. Keeping the display constantly in single mode eliminates that imperfection. But creates others, indeed.

I guess this would explain why in the past couple of months (or longer) the delay between my Apple TV starting and my OLED tv being triggered to start has substantially increased. thanks.