Bad Noise Apple TV 4K

[OCrossland]

Hey guys,

Purchased my Apple TV 4K alongside my new 65" LG C7 4K HDR OLED TV and couldn't wait to get the two paired up together.

I'm loving my TV, PS4 Pro is working excellent with it with the built in WebOS and then comes Apple TV 4K...

The aerial backgrounds looks incredible and the menu is super-crisp but when I come to watch a film on the Apple TV, I get terrible noise issues. So far I watched Wonder Woman in 4K with horrible, really noticeable issues with light colours and then La La Land, again, bad noise issues on bright colours, especially blues.

I have the Apple TV 4K running in Dolby Vision. All my HDMI's are brand new and the same HDMI works with my PS4 Pro fine. I've tried 4K HDR 60Hz, 4K Dolby Vision 50Hz and 4K HDR 50Hz but nothing is working. It's worth noting that my PS4 has no issues with noise at all. Netflix also has noise issues but doesn't seem as bad.

Just wondering if you guys could give me and advise or if anyone else with an LG OLED is having the same problems?

Thanks,
Oliver

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This crowd is quick to blame any problems on everything but Apple equipment, including the user if possible (are you highly electromagnetic?). However, this actually does sound like it may be a TV issue. Your description makes it sound like the "horrible sound" accompanies "bright colors."

First thing to try because it's very easy: switch to another "HDMI in" jack and replay one of the parts of either movie where this happened. Does it happen on another jack?

#2. Try a different HDMI cable- just to rule out a cable issue. Same issue?

#3. Do you have any other source of video to feed that TV other than TV? Disc player? SATT or Cable? Watch some content from any other source and see if the same problem occurs. Cartoons can be a good source of bright colors. If it does, the TV has some problem.

#4. If you don't have some other source of video, can you borrow one from a friend? Most ideal would be a Blu Ray disc player and then rent Wonder Woman or LaLa and play the very same scenes. Again, if you hear the bad sounds, that points hard at the TV having some issue.

#5. Try some of the calibration videos via YouTube. Use the video calibration options and see if bright white/blue causes the bad sounds too.

#6. Go into your TV's video settings and see if a mode like "Dynamic" is on. Dynamic (and similar) are typically set by the manufacturers to make the TV extra bright in TV showrooms. Basically everything is cranked up much higher than normal trying to stand out vs. many other sets on a showroom floor. Change the mode to "standard" or similar and try to problematic scenes again. Still hear the bad sounds? (even if you don't, I'm not sure I'd keep this TV as the Dynamic setting should not yield audio issues).

#7 Go into your TV's audio settings. Any kind of mode set there- maybe some kind of mode with the word "booster" in it? If so, try setting that to "normal" or similar and try the scenes again.

#8 Take your TV over to a friend's house, hook it up to their TV and watch those scenes on their TV. Same sound problems? If so, that starts pointing some potential back to the TV. If it repeats on their different TV, go to another friend's home and try again. Another repeat of bad sound and I head for Apple to swap out this TV.

Basically, the game with any such problems is ruling out each part to narrow in on where the problem actually lies. Based on your description, I'm guessing the TV has a problem. But if you try the above, you can confirm that guess or find that it is one of your cables, or even the TV itself.

I hope this helps.

 

[vince22]

Hey guys,

Purchased my Apple TV 4K alongside my new 65" LG C7 4K HDR OLED TV and couldn't wait to get the two paired up together.

I'm loving my TV, PS4 Pro is working excellent with it with the built in WebOS and then comes Apple TV 4K...

The aerial backgrounds looks incredible and the menu is super-crisp but when I come to watch a film on the Apple TV, I get terrible noise issues. So far I watched Wonder Woman in 4K with horrible, really noticeable issues with light colours and then La La Land, again, bad noise issues on bright colours, especially blues.

I have the Apple TV 4K running in Dolby Vision. All my HDMI's are brand new and the same HDMI works with my PS4 Pro fine. I've tried 4K HDR 60Hz, 4K Dolby Vision 50Hz and 4K HDR 50Hz but nothing is working. It's worth noting that my PS4 has no issues with noise at all. Netflix also has noise issues but doesn't seem as bad.

Just wondering if you guys could give me and advise or if anyone else with an LG OLED is having the same problems?

Thanks,
Oliver

I don't think you will get similar picture quality from your PS4 pro running 4K physical disk and compare it to atv4k streaming device.

 

[iMac-Do-You?]

Your description makes it sound like the "horrible sound" accompanies "bright colors."

I'm pretty sure they mean picture "noise" (graining, artefacts), rather than sound "noise"...

 

[OCrossland]

This crowd is quick to blame any problems on everything but Apple equipment, including the user if possible (are you highly electromagnetic?). However, this actually does sound like it may be a TV issue. Your description makes it sound like the "horrible sound" accompanies "bright colors."

Really appreciate the help and I maybe should of been more specific with my wording, I meant picture noise, where certain colours are fuzzy and low quality.

I don't think you will get similar picture quality from your PS4 pro running 4K physical disk and compare it to atv4k streaming device.

I agree, 100%, however, the noise is embarrassing. I got all my friends over to watch Wonder Woman in 4K and none of us could believe the issue. I just can't make my mind up whether it's the TV or ATV4K not talking to the telly properly. I've reset the pictures settings and tried again but just cannot get the quality of the films to WOW me.

I'm pretty sure they mean picture "noise" (graining, artefacts), rather than sound "noise"...

Sure did!

 

[shakopeemn]

The LG OLED needs to have each input that is sending HDR or Dolby Vision set to "high color" to process the signal.

Best,
Shak.

Hey guys,

Purchased my Apple TV 4K alongside my new 65" LG C7 4K HDR OLED TV and couldn't wait to get the two paired up together.

I'm loving my TV, PS4 Pro is working excellent with it with the built in WebOS and then comes Apple TV 4K...

The aerial backgrounds looks incredible and the menu is super-crisp but when I come to watch a film on the Apple TV, I get terrible noise issues. So far I watched Wonder Woman in 4K with horrible, really noticeable issues with light colours and then La La Land, again, bad noise issues on bright colours, especially blues.

I have the Apple TV 4K running in Dolby Vision. All my HDMI's are brand new and the same HDMI works with my PS4 Pro fine. I've tried 4K HDR 60Hz, 4K Dolby Vision 50Hz and 4K HDR 50Hz but nothing is working. It's worth noting that my PS4 has no issues with noise at all. Netflix also has noise issues but doesn't seem as bad.

Just wondering if you guys could give me and advise or if anyone else with an LG OLED is having the same problems?

Thanks,
Oliver

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Really appreciate the help and I maybe should of been more specific with my wording, I meant picture noise, where certain colours are fuzzy and low quality.

Oh sorry, I saw a situation where very bright scenes caused a buzz and thought you might be hearing the same. Nevertheless, visual noise can still be pinned down by working through the same steps. It's still a matter of narrowing it down to new TV vs. TV vs. cable.

And since it's visual noise, I'm no longer biased against the TV as a first guess. But if you can rent WW or Lala on disc and maybe use that Playstation or have/borrow a disc player to run the same scenes, you can isolate the problem to either the player ( TV) or the new TV... after simply trying a different cable.

And #6 might be THE solution without having to jump through any testing hoops.

 

[brentsg]

The "noise" may just be film grain, and perhaps it's film-specific. It can be accentuated by settings like sharpness on the TV. Often when people are chasing "WOW" from film sources, they're looking for something other than the look of the actual film.

 

[OCrossland]

The "noise" may just be film grain, and perhaps it's film-specific. It can be accentuated by settings like sharpness on the TV. Often when people are chasing "WOW" from film sources, they're looking for something other than the look of the actual film.

Hmm, not sure! I'm sure a film like Wonder Woman wouldn't have a crackling noise issue like this as it's really noticeable. It appears in both WW and La La Land. Haven't had the time to try another film just yet.

The LG OLED needs to have each input that is sending HDR or Dolby Vision set to "high color" to process the signal.

Best,
Shak.

Will give this a try and let you know the outcome! I've messed around with the settings quite a bit but will check to see what the HDMI's are pumping out at.

 

[mark levy]

Both a friend and I have the exact same issue.
I have a LG 4K HDR and my friend has a Panasonic 4K HDR
Seems to be a combination of bade encoding on behalf of the film company (Warner Bros are the worst) and the way AppleTV then processes the picture. I have compared the UHD blurry of The Martian with the iTunes version and the noise level is very evident in the iTunes version. I know that one is more compressed than the other, but the grainy noise renders some film almost unwatchable.
I also have Logan on iTunes and UHD blu ray. The iTunes version isn't too bad, there is still some noise, but it is not too noticeable. The main culprits seem to be Warner Bros as stated above.

The noise is evident from the trailers.

Also the same content on Netflix have completely different grain levels when views through the AppleTV4K compared the the TV's built in Netflix app.

I have made sure all my TV settings are global.
See these two screen shots showing he difference is noise from the TV's Netflix and the AppleTV 4K. (note these are not screen grabs but photos, so are in no way scientific, but do show the difference in quality)

I have also included a short video showing Blade Runner 4K. This was actually difficult to watch as the noise was so bad.

 

[priitv8]

I also have Logan on iTunes and UHD blu ray. The iTunes version isn't too bad, there is still some noise, but it is not too noticeable. The main culprits seem to be Warner Bros as stated above.

Have you checked (on the HUD) what resolution stream are you actually receiving?
Looks like heavily upscaled picture to my eye.
aTV 4K always upscales content to 3840x2160 no matter what is fed to it.

 

[mark levy]

Have you checked (on the HUD) what resolution stream are you actually receiving?
Looks like heavily upscaled picture to my eye.
aTV 4K always upscales content to 3840x2160 no matter what is fed to it.

Thanks for your suggestion. How would I check the HUD?

 

[Colonel Badger]

I would potentially also try connecting your iTunes account to Movies Anywhere and then attempting to play the same movie via VUDU @ UHD. If your TV also has a built in Vudu app you can try that too, to compare.

This will allow you to rule our iTunes compression vs Ultra Violet as well as potentially ATV vs TV

 

[priitv8]

Thanks for your suggestion. How would I check the HUD?

You will need Xcode and follow the instructions presented in this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ruly-delivering-4k-hdr.2073222/#post-25138706

PS Contrary to the post I refer to, macOS High Sierra is not a requirement. Worked fine on Sierra as well.
[doublepost=1508507677][/doublepost]

This will allow you to rule our iTunes compression vs Ultra Violet as well as potentially ATV vs TV

It is not just about iTunes compression. They use adaptive bitrate streaming (ie bitrate and frame size vary depending on network conditions). So even looking the same movie at 2 different times does not guarantee you will get the same stream.
I would assume any streaming service in 2017 uses one or another method of adaptive streaming.

 

[kurriss]

You will need Xcode and follow the instructions presented in this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ruly-delivering-4k-hdr.2073222/#post-25138706

PS Contrary to the post I refer to, macOS High Sierra is not a requirement. Worked fine on Sierra as well.
[doublepost=1508507677][/doublepost]It is not just about iTunes compression. They use adaptive bitrate streaming (ie bitrate and frame size vary depending on network conditions). So even looking the same movie at 2 different times does not guarantee you will get the same stream.
I would assume any streaming service in 2017 uses one or another method of adaptive streaming.

Both a friend and I have the exact same issue.
I have a LG 4K HDR and my friend has a Panasonic 4K HDR
Seems to be a combination of bade encoding on behalf of the film company (Warner Bros are the worst) and the way AppleTV then processes the picture. I have compared the UHD blurry of The Martian with the iTunes version and the noise level is very evident in the iTunes version. I know that one is more compressed than the other, but the grainy noise renders some film almost unwatchable.
I also have Logan on iTunes and UHD blu ray. The iTunes version isn't too bad, there is still some noise, but it is not too noticeable. The main culprits seem to be Warner Bros as stated above.

The noise is evident from the trailers.

Also the same content on Netflix have completely different grain levels when views through the AppleTV4K compared the the TV's built in Netflix app.

I have made sure all my TV settings are global.
See these two screen shots showing he difference is noise from the TV's Netflix and the AppleTV 4K. (note these are not screen grabs but photos, so are in no way scientific, but do show the difference in quality)

I have also included a short video showing Blade Runner 4K. This was actually difficult to watch as the noise was so bad.

View attachment 726345 View attachment 726344

View attachment 726344View attachment 726345

Ya, I have a 65" c7 and LG UP875 UHD player and the 4K Final Cut Blade Runner, and I get the same crappy results. Reducing sharpness helps a bit. Also, some other content does it as well (BattleStar Galatica '04), while other content looks great (Last Tycoon).

So, whether using UHD streaming from Amazon (50mbps bandwidth), or hard wired with the DVD player, some content looks terrible, while other content looks pretty good.

Amazon has a 4k bird (wildlife) video, that looks exceptional.
Initially, though it didn't look that great because I was running the TV thru wifi, (25mbps), but, I switched to the TV's ethernet connection, in conjunction with TP-Link powerline ethernet adapters, which boosted my bandwidth from the web to 50Mbps, and this sharpened up the picture, for this video, considerably.

Because I have the noise issue on some content, while other content looks great, regardless of whether I am using the DVD player, or streaming, the cause is probably the way the content was originally mastered. Pretty disappointing really.

Just to be certain, to rule out a bad panel, I will bring my DVD player and blade runner 4k over to a friend's house (he has a B7A) and see if it looks the same.

**and I have the input for the DVD player set to high color**

 

[the_narc_2000]

@OCrossland, did you ever get this resolved? I have the same issue with my new Vizio 4K TV and the Apple TV 4K... humming/buzzing when bright pictures are displayed. Doesn't happen with my Switch or built-in Vizio apps.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

@OCrossland, did you ever get this resolved? I have the same issue with my new Vizio 4K TV and the Apple TV 4K... humming/buzzing when bright pictures are displayed. Doesn't happen with my Switch or built-in Vizio apps.

What HDMI cable are you using? Are you using the Belkin Apple tested HDMI lead? It's amazing how the wrong HDMI lead will truly affect the performance of the Apple TV 4K hence why I always recommend to go with the HDMI lead from the Apple store.

 

[brentsg]

What HDMI cable are you using? Are you using the Belkin Apple tested HDMI lead? It's amazing how the wrong HDMI lead will truly affect the performance of the Apple TV 4K hence why I always recommend to go with the HDMI lead from the Apple store.

There's an HDMI certification process to ensure that you get a good cable. The answer isn't buying a cable from the Apple store.

Premium High Speed HDMI® Cable

Premium HDMI Cable Certification Program, HDMI cables for their 4K/UltraHD products that may include features such as 4K@60Hz, BT.2020 and HDR. Trust the cable with the label; HDMI 2.1b

www.hdmi.org