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How to get YouTube on my Apple TV to play HDR?

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richard371

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
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I have an LG OLED 65. I have the 4K Apple TV set to SDR, match content etc. When I play apps that use dolby vision I get the banner on the top right that says dolby vision. I cannot get the HDR banner to show up on any HDR videos using YouTube app. When I go to quality settings it does not have HDR as an option.

Thanks
 
Richard, I had the EXACT same question on the exact same day as you! Here's to hoping someone can help us both out. 🙏
 
I am researching this too. My answer is the Apple TV does not support HDR. The only accurate way is turning on stats for nerds in your Youtube app. If it says color: bt.709 then you are out of luck.
 
richard371 said:
I have an LG OLED 65. I have the 4K Apple TV set to SDR, match content etc. When I play apps that use dolby vision I get the banner on the top right that says dolby vision. I cannot get the HDR banner to show up on any HDR videos using YouTube app. When I go to quality settings it does not have HDR as an option.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Are you trying this on 2021 Apple TV 4K? Older Apple TV 4K is not capable of VP9 Profile 2, which has HDR.
 
All the marketing just says 4K YouTube. Can you point to any marketing that suggests the new ATV supports HDR in YouTube?
 
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Even the 2017 4K Apple TV supports Dolby vision and hdr. It’s YouTube app that doesn’t but does on the new one.
 
richard371 said:
I have an LG OLED 65. I have the 4K Apple TV set to SDR, match content etc. When I play apps that use dolby vision I get the banner on the top right that says dolby vision. I cannot get the HDR banner to show up on any HDR videos using YouTube app. When I go to quality settings it does not have HDR as an option.

Thanks
Click to expand...
As a test, switch from 4K SDR to 4K HDR on the Apple TV and try YT…
 
aloper said:
As a test, switch from 4K SDR to 4K HDR on the Apple TV and try YT…
Click to expand...
But that puts the tv in full hdr for all I can tell even the golden girls will be in hdr. so how do I tell if YouTube is playing true hdr
 
kiranmk2 said:
All the marketing just says 4K YouTube. Can you point to any marketing that suggests the new ATV supports HDR in YouTube?
Click to expand...
Says so on the Apple TV 4K info page
CA9F8DC8-DE01-42F6-832A-C157531DE984.jpeg

www.apple.com

Apple TV 4K

Apple TV 4K features our best audio & video quality. Dolby Vision, HDR10+ & Dolby Atmos. Works seamlessly with Apple devices, services & smart home.
www.apple.com
 
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aloper said:
As a test, switch from 4K SDR to 4K HDR on the Apple TV and try YT…
Click to expand...
Based on my experiments, it looks like YouTube for tvOS can play HDR, but only when you set video output from SDR to HDR or Dolby Vision. In other words, the app does not support match dynamic range setting.

To me, this is a deal breaker as I prefer to set default video output to 4K SDR 60Hz with dynamic range match and dynamic frame rate turn on.

Perhaps this will be fixed on the next YouTube and/or tvOS updates.
 
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nutmac said:
Based on my experiments, it looks like YouTube for tvOS can play HDR, but only when you set video output from SDR to HDR or Dolby Vision. In other words, the app does not support match dynamic range setting.

To me, this is a deal breaker as I prefer to set default video output to 4K SDR 60Hz with dynamic range match and dynamic frame rate turn on.

Perhaps this will be fixed on the next YouTube and/or tvOS updates.
Click to expand...
I'm with you. Can anyone confirm whether, on the 2021 ATV4K, YouTube content automatically displays in HDR for applicable content without requiring the user to set HDR as the default output for everything on the ATV?
 
TooManyNotes said:
I'm with you. Can anyone confirm whether, on the 2021 ATV4K, YouTube content automatically displays in HDR for applicable content without requiring the user to set HDR as the default output for everything on the ATV?
Click to expand...
The Youtube app an ATV will not do HDR period. If it did you would see HDR under quality settings for the HDR video you're playing like on the iPhone.
 
richard371 said:
The Youtube app an ATV will not do HDR period. If it did you would see HDR under quality settings for the HDR video you're playing like on the iPhone.
Click to expand...

According to HDTVTest the YT app does do HDR but you have to set it manually in the ATV video settings, it doesn't work from within the app.
 
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rpe33 said:
According to HDTVTest the YT app does do HDR but you have to set it manually in the ATV video settings, it doesn't work from within the app.
Click to expand...
I think Vincent is mistaken .. not seeing HDR in the YouTube app.
 
fljoemon said:
I think Vincent is mistaken .. not seeing HDR in the YouTube app.
Click to expand...
Right. Apple TV 4K does a decent job with fake HDR. Since I do not see "HDR" in quality setting nor "bt2020" in stats for nerds window, we are not getting HDR from YouTube. Hopefully, the app will be updated soon.
 
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Google for some reason has decided to sabotage its own Apple TV Youtube app and does not allow it to support HDR. You have an LG OLED, I suggest you use the built in LG Youtube Web OS app as it supports HDR.
 
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darthbane2k said:
Google for some reason has decided to sabotage its own Apple TV Youtube app and does not allow it to support HDR. You have an LG OLED, I suggest you use the built in LG Youtube Web OS app as it supports HDR.
Click to expand...
Yes but it doesn’t do 4k60 according to the stats in the YouTube app.
 
The latest YouTube update has finally added support for Match Dynamic Range option. In other words, you can now use Apple TV in 4K SDR mode with Match Dynamic Range option turned on and YouTube will properly switch to SDR or HDR10.
 
nutmac said:
The latest YouTube update has finally added support for Match Dynamic Range option. In other words, you can now use Apple TV in 4K SDR mode with Match Dynamic Range option turned on and YouTube will properly switch to SDR or HDR10.
Click to expand...
This is of course only applicable to the 2nd Gen ATV4K.
 
nutmac said:
Right. Apple TV 4K does a decent job with fake HDR. Since I do not see "HDR" in quality setting nor "bt2020" in stats for nerds window, we are not getting HDR from YouTube. Hopefully, the app will be updated soon.
Click to expand...
This is correct. The HDR is being processed by the ATV and is not native to the YouTube app which does not support HDR on either ATV 4k.
 
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