So my non HDR, old 2016 4K VIzio TV died. and i am going all out and getting a 2020 LG CX OLED TV. But it is web os and not android TV like some others so i wont have ALL the native apps, so i will have to still use my AppleTV for things like HBOMAX and whatever app the LG is missing. I never care much about ATV limitations before because my TV kind of sucked but now i want to get the most out of the content. I read somewhere the Netflix Apple tv APP doesnt do 4K HDR, or does it? Also whats the situation with the Youtube app on Apple TV? i thought in TvOS 14 it was going to have native 4K output. but then they took it out? is that true? what about HDR? does the Apple TV Youtube App output HDR videos correctly? Any other app limitatinos on Apple TV for 4K output and HDR?
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Getting new TV, question about AppleTV app limitations.
- Thread starter kofman13
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What you are buying is a TV with internet connectivity. What you are not buying is a TV that comes with the ability to natively run Netflix, Hulu, and the like for all perpetuity. App support on TVs is a crapshoot at best.
Only the native apps provide the best experience and each one of them is typically written for a specific device first and foremost with all other devices as a second thought. In case you are wondering, apps that run on a television are always a second thought.
You need at least an AppleTV 4K in order to stream 4K content from an AppleTV device. All the previous devices are incapable of it. It's not the TvOS that decides whether you can stream it first, it's the device. So if the TV isn't 4K, no 4K. If the box you are streaming from isn't 4K, no 4K. If the app doesn't support 4K, then no 4K. If your internet connection sucks, then no 4K. And lastly, if the content isn't 4K, then no 4K.
Remember, while 4K is supposedly the format that everyone wants as a minimum, most content isn't actually available in 4K. If the content was never shot in 4K it will never become 4K. The first ever 4K TV was built in 2012... here it is 2020 and still the majority of content is only in 1080p. That is changing yes, but we're also seeing 8K and up devices come out... but again, the day in which content is readily available at that resolution is still a decade or more away.
In a nutshell, your 4K TV is likely upscaling 1080p content most of the time.
Only the native apps provide the best experience and each one of them is typically written for a specific device first and foremost with all other devices as a second thought. In case you are wondering, apps that run on a television are always a second thought.
You need at least an AppleTV 4K in order to stream 4K content from an AppleTV device. All the previous devices are incapable of it. It's not the TvOS that decides whether you can stream it first, it's the device. So if the TV isn't 4K, no 4K. If the box you are streaming from isn't 4K, no 4K. If the app doesn't support 4K, then no 4K. If your internet connection sucks, then no 4K. And lastly, if the content isn't 4K, then no 4K.
Remember, while 4K is supposedly the format that everyone wants as a minimum, most content isn't actually available in 4K. If the content was never shot in 4K it will never become 4K. The first ever 4K TV was built in 2012... here it is 2020 and still the majority of content is only in 1080p. That is changing yes, but we're also seeing 8K and up devices come out... but again, the day in which content is readily available at that resolution is still a decade or more away.
In a nutshell, your 4K TV is likely upscaling 1080p content most of the time.
This isn’t strictly true at all, anything shot on 35mm film already has a higher resolution than 4K.
Some older films were even shot on 70mm film so have an even higher resolution.
You state all the reasons why I did not buy a flashy 4k TV and rather found myself a used mint HD 1080p 50in LG TV and bought a refurbished Apple TV HD. Apps that I want in HD and believe me, PQ is astounding. As soon as this a 4K world, I'll buy a 4K TV. As for an 8K TV, I doubt we'll see that before even 20 years.
I have Apple TV HD on an HD TV and PQ is great. But YouTube app sucks a bit with its limitations. Like free movies with ads that you can watch on the YouTube website, you can't watch on Apple TV YT app. Seems to be something that keeps the app from streaming movies even if they are free. Plus, these movies can't be streamed to APT from YT website but the iPad and iPhone YT app lets you watch movies and stream them to ATV but of course when the device goes to sleep, so does the movie. Go find out why all that fuss. So in a nutshell, only YT website gives you all.