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Curious .. what TVOS are you guys on? I am on TVOS 14.5 and Netflix & HBOMax seem to be playing 4k HDR and DolbyVision content properly.
 
So I’ve done more testing with the developer HUD and it really seems to be a labeling issue. The drop-down menu says HD but it streams in 4K with Dolby Vision. Took some pics to illustrate:


Also tested a show which is 4K but not HDR/Dolby vision and same result, streams in 4K.
 
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How bizarre with the tests you guys are running because I genuinely feel the quality that is showing on mine isn’t 4K.
 
Probably - But it might be that the Apple TV. Upscales the HD source to 4K. Hard to know for sure before Apple or Netflix comment.

I believe it is a display bug. On my unit with Developer HUD display enabled, HUD display when playing DV or HD10 content on Netflix and Amazon Prime shows DV or HD10 data while streaming, not HD SDR. Info screen does show HD as reported.
BTW, my unit is set as follows: 4k SDR, match frame rate & content enabled.
 
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How do you check what quality something is playing? I wanted to test mine out but could not figure out how to see the quality.
 
How do you check what quality something is playing? I wanted to test mine out but could not figure out how to see the quality.

You have to enable Developer mode on Apple TV. You can Google how to do this. Requires installing Xcode on a Mac and connecting app to Apple TV with both on same network.
 
But it doesn't "upscale" to DV if you are using "match content"

Jason

True. But I don’t think there’s been a debate about Dolby vision. DV can be used on 1080p material as well as 4K. So not sure how much that tells us

I believe it is a display bug. On my unit with Developer HUD display enabled, HUD display when playing DV or HD10 content on Netflix and Amazon Prime shows DV or HD10 data while streaming, not HD SDR. Info screen does show HD as reported.
BTW, my unit is set as follows: 4k SDR, match frame rate & content enabled.

Yes I’ve done these tests myself and found the same result using the same settings you are. But the question remains if the developer hud takes into consideration whether or not the Apple TV upscales the content or not. My thinking is the value ‘natural size’ should be what the Apple TV is receiving from the service but I can’t be sure.
 
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So, here we are a week after the 2021 ATV4K launch, and the HD / 4K / HDR stream quality issue / label issue remains. I know, there's a controversy over whether or not these new little hockey pucks are actually streaming and displaying 4K / UHD, or if its a HUD labeling issue. Are they actually maligned HD models placed in the consumer pool by mistake? I'm on the fence - image is excellent but erroneous HUD 'HD' label sux. I've telephone Apple twice - both times clueless but very polite tier 1 techs would only spout the litany of 'check your hdmi cable, check your settings . . . ', but no acknowledgment of wide spread problem.

I then ordered a second identical 2021 ATV4K 64GB device, hoping that, 'no, couldn't receive two defunct models in a row', and it would function with a proper HUD. But, reading MikeyP's post about trying their 'new' second ATV4K provided by a brick and mortar Apple store and observing no change in the problem, I hesitate to unseal the second ATV4K package if it's just going to continue to display bogus HUD info.

Tried beta firmware 14.7 as well - same-o same-o. How hard is this defect burned in to these guys?

I think that what 'we' may be seeing is that 'we' ATV4K users are truly becoming another family of Apple's hardware orphans -- took Apple what, 4 years, to come up with a model that is just slightly an upgrade over an existing model, and upon shipping, contained the HUD bug. A week after launch and Apple continues to deny a problem. Steve's hobby . . .

Perhaps Apple has to again be publicly held to account over this pre-release bug, of if it's a 'feature', to explain it.

MAKE SOME NOISE

Edit: cross-posted here because Apple 'edited' it when posted on Apple's 'Support Communities' web presence. What is with that?
 
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I just did a very unscientific test of playing the same sequence of 4K movie (no Dolby vision or such, just 4K) first using the built in Netflix app on my LG OLED and then using the Apple TV 4K. I did this several times and while the difference to my eyes wasn’t huge I did feel the built in Netflix app showed a better imagine. Starting to think this might be a bigger issue than expected. On the fence about using my return window now.
 
It is a bit ridiculous now that their new 4K product isn’t showing 4K and it still hasn’t been sorted a week later.
 
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Netflix is indeed showing HD upscaled to UHD.

picture is soft conpared to the build in netflix app on my Samsung.

I guess the app is not updated to recognize the new Apple TV as 4K device or something.
 
Netflix is indeed showing HD upscaled to UHD.

picture is soft conpared to the build in netflix app on my Samsung.

I guess the app is not updated to recognize the new Apple TV as 4K device or something.
You have no evidential proof that is what’s actually happening.

So is that the same for 4K/DV movies that you’ve purchased directly from Apple? Because they’re showing as HD in the drop down menu.

I’ve been watching Netflix and it looks stunning, no softness at all.

Also, given that Atmos playback is determined as part of a 4K EDID, I don’t think an upscaled HD stream will carry Atmos.

Jason
 
You have no evidential proof that is what’s actually happening.

So is that the same for 4K/DV movies that you’ve purchased directly from Apple? Because they’re showing as HD in the drop down menu.

I’ve been watching Netflix and it looks stunning, no softness at all.

Also, given that Atmos playback is determined as part of a 4K EDID, I don’t think an upscaled HD stream will carry Atmos.

Jason
I don’t purchase movies 😊
And yes Netflix on the new Apple TV looks soft compared to the one in Samsung.

disney is fine in 4K.
 
So where is everyone at with this issue? Return windows are closing rather soon and still not a word from Apple. Given the relative high price of the Apple TV I’m not quite sure I can justify keeping a device where I don’t actually know if it does what it promises to do. What are everyone’s thoughts on it?
 
So where is everyone at with this issue? Return windows are closing rather soon and still not a word from Apple. Given the relative high price of the Apple TV I’m not quite sure I can justify keeping a device where I don’t actually know if it does what it promises to do. What are everyone’s thoughts on it?
So rather than conjecture and people jumping to the wrong conclusions. Read this.

It is simply a flagging issue. It is doing everything it should. No fault, nothing wrong. It is just a label that is wrong

 
So rather than conjecture and people jumping to the wrong conclusions. Read this.

It is simply a flagging issue. It is doing everything it should. No fault, nothing wrong. It is just a label that is wrong


I'm not convinced though. I’ve enabled the developer HUD myself and done the same tests. However, just watching 10-15 minutes of the same show using the built in Netflix app and the Apple TV I could tell that the built in Netflix app had better picture quality just by looking at it. Not a huge difference, but a difference.

We still don’t know if the Apple TV upscales to 4K or if it natively showing us 4K. Apple need to address this.
 
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