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Poor Dolby Vision from Apple TV 4K - Why?
- Thread starter SnippetySnip
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I have been having this same issue with my ATV to my Sony tv. what seems to work for me (for now anyways) when I start a movie and see it, I just go into settings on Apple TV and restart it. then restart the movie and everything fine. it was driving me crazy because all my other devices play DV just fine. spent countless hours messing with this, changing wires, inputs flipping through settings.
...except a lot of "live" 4K (mostly HLG-based) won't "trigger" the HDR being "turned on" if you do this. The ATV continues to have broken HDR on all fronts.
But this is because those apps developers have not implemented the auto dynamic range matching and/or the auto frame rate matching features on their apps, Youtube being a major example of this.
The API to do this has been available for several years now. Its not Apple fault that some devs choose to not take advantage of it.
We just went to OLED. Had a really nice full array LED, but every so often that crushing black would pop up and smash a picture. Drove me nuts. We’ll, not anymore…?Check if you need to enable deep colour on your HDMI port. Also save up for a OLED tv so you can get true blacks
I just registered to this site because i saw this posting since im having the same issue on my Sony 950h. This is the only reason i dont use my apple tv 4k box. I have compared the image quality on the native apps and its by far way better than the ATV4k. Its a bummer and i cant figure it out. If you find out the cause of the issue please let me know. This will make my year.
I sure have! Like the guy who started this thread i have checked everything. Cables, settings, options, inputs. I dont have this issue with the NVIDIA Shield. Its looks great with the Shield. I just cant get over why the ATV4k looks dim and like lower quality.
Using Dolby Vision? The blacks are better. Creates a somewhat darker image. HDR is usually a bit brighter.
I noticed that I seem to have the problem with Eternals. But other Dolby Vision and HDR shows are absolutely identical between my Sony X900H internal apps and Apple TV 4K 2nd gen. There must be some show that is off (or maybe it's the "imax" mastering), or maybe something else. Soundbar is on eARC port 3 and ATV on port 1, port 4 is for the PS5. High speed cable. Don't know
I first noticed a similar issue of blacks flashing or being terribly crushed while watching AntMan and the Wasp recently. I haven't checked between services, but the iMax thing isn't a bad thought...
It is lag I’ve tried cables for days how I know it’s lag I have a tcl R635 mini led and the tv will dim and go bright like a flashing effect be dim then bright dim then bright sdr don’t do this nor does hlg or hdr it’s Dolby vision the Apple TV also goes sluggish when Smtg is playing Dolby vision the fix for me was to get rid of the lag how simple turn on game mode on your tv. Turning on game mode reduces lag on a input and bam instantly fixed my issue the built in Roku or a fire stick he’ll even air playing it don’t cause a issue it’s not my cable I got a 120 dollar cable way over kill but it was making me crazy turning on game mode on the tv fixed mine and several others
Here's an example of the difference between the same Dolby Vision encoded content from the Disney+ app built in to the TV and the Apple TV 4K box, shot in a dark room on my iPhone with the exposure locked.
You can see how much brighter the TV app is (too bright in fact) but these are both using the exact same Dolby Vision settings. Bear in mind that this is an edge-lit LED LCD TV, not an OLED. All picture processing options are turned off, dimming turned off, and it's as direct an output as you can get on this TV, from both sources.
The blacks on the ATV output are blacker but there are constant artefacts jumping around in the dark areas during that intro which are not there on the brighter TV app output.
Similarly, as the Star Wars logo appears and disappears, there is a lot of distracting artefacting present.
What's strange is that the black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the frame are similarly black from both (TV app is still slightly brighter) but the actual content of the frame is so much brighter on the TV app. Once the first live action scene begins things even out a bit more, but there is definitely more detail in the TV app, the blacks are just a bit more crushed overall on the ATV.
You can see how much brighter the TV app is (too bright in fact) but these are both using the exact same Dolby Vision settings. Bear in mind that this is an edge-lit LED LCD TV, not an OLED. All picture processing options are turned off, dimming turned off, and it's as direct an output as you can get on this TV, from both sources.
The blacks on the ATV output are blacker but there are constant artefacts jumping around in the dark areas during that intro which are not there on the brighter TV app output.
Similarly, as the Star Wars logo appears and disappears, there is a lot of distracting artefacting present.
What's strange is that the black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the frame are similarly black from both (TV app is still slightly brighter) but the actual content of the frame is so much brighter on the TV app. Once the first live action scene begins things even out a bit more, but there is definitely more detail in the TV app, the blacks are just a bit more crushed overall on the ATV.
Intersting! This means you need to tune TV settings to match each. ATV seems to be on point whereas TV app could use an adjustment on brightness etc on TV
DV performance is hot garbage with Apple TV 4K. It’s a well known issue. If you use your tv’s own native apps. It looks much better and brighter. I have a Sony 900F led tv and latest gen Apple TV 4K box. I can clearly see the differences using DV between the two.
Run the tv native app and see the brightness difference with DV. It’s noticeably dimmer when using the Apple box. Run them back to back.
I sort of agree with this. While I wouldn't say it's hot garbage, the ATV4k definitely produces a dimmer DV image than the internal apps of my Sony OLED. It's very noticeable when comparing the two but someone just using the ATV may not know there's an issue. There's a lot of info about this on another forum and it seems that Sony TVs and ATV 4k don't always play well together.
I think there's definitely some sort of incompatibility between some (largely LED LCD) TVs and DV from the ATV4K.
Something to do with TV led and player led Dolby Vision perhaps, or the ATV is more tuned to OLED screens.
It's annoying because any upscaled HD SDR content looks sensational on my Panasonic edge-lit LCD TV. HDR10 also looks great, it's just 4K Dolby Vision content. It's less sharp, looks more compressed and appears to have less dynamic range than the equivalent content played in 4K Dolby Vision on a 4K Firestick or via TV apps.
Something to do with TV led and player led Dolby Vision perhaps, or the ATV is more tuned to OLED screens.
It's annoying because any upscaled HD SDR content looks sensational on my Panasonic edge-lit LCD TV. HDR10 also looks great, it's just 4K Dolby Vision content. It's less sharp, looks more compressed and appears to have less dynamic range than the equivalent content played in 4K Dolby Vision on a 4K Firestick or via TV apps.
So who isn't playing nicely - the Apple TV or the TV manufacturer? If it's the manufacturer should the Apple TV have to sense the TV and have special code to handle it? Pretty much impossible given the number of manufacturers and models out there. If it is the TV manufacturer then I suppose if they get enough complaints then they might address it.