I have discovered and found a possible solution to a problem I have been having with "Home Movies" through the Apple TV app on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPad Pro 2018. I am wondering if I am missing anything, or there is a reason this problem happened.
I have had about 10 mp4 files, categorized as "Home Movies" in Apple TV app, for about 5 years. Originally they showed up in iTunes, now they show up in Apple TV. The problem is this - I have audio but no video! This just started happening within the last few months, as it's been that long since I looked at any of them. I suspect it's iOS 14 but I don't know for sure.
These mp4 files are all downloads of presentations from YouTube. I tried re-downloading 1 or 2 again to see if they were corrupted. I also tried playing them on my Mac in Apple TV, Handbrake, and QuickTime - they all played with no problems. This problem occurs whether I have them categorized as Home Movies or just Movies, in which they show up with commercial movies I have bought.
I suspected a format or encoding problem or bug; here is how they are encoded:
Ctrl-I/info on the file says 640 x 480, AAC, MPEG-4
Handbrake adds H.264, 30 FPS FBR, AAC, Stereo; Filters: Comb detect, Decomb
Apple TV on the Mac adds encoded with LavF 53.18.0, total bit rate 1320 kbps (some of the files are 484kbps)
After trying the things I noted above, as a test I opened one of the files in Handbrake, and encoded it using the preset 'Apple 2160 p60 4K HEVC Surround', video encoder: H.265 (x265). I don't know much about this, I am sure that was overkill as these are simple SD stereo files, but I saw something on an Apple support page recommending H.265. I removed the old file from the movie library, and added the new one, and it works on both iPad and iPhone!
So, I am left with number of questions lol - do I need to do this with the other movies? Is there a better way that I should fix this? Is something in those files not supported any more? Is this a bug I should report? Why did this stop working after years, even on the same iPad?
Thanks for your help!
I have had about 10 mp4 files, categorized as "Home Movies" in Apple TV app, for about 5 years. Originally they showed up in iTunes, now they show up in Apple TV. The problem is this - I have audio but no video! This just started happening within the last few months, as it's been that long since I looked at any of them. I suspect it's iOS 14 but I don't know for sure.
These mp4 files are all downloads of presentations from YouTube. I tried re-downloading 1 or 2 again to see if they were corrupted. I also tried playing them on my Mac in Apple TV, Handbrake, and QuickTime - they all played with no problems. This problem occurs whether I have them categorized as Home Movies or just Movies, in which they show up with commercial movies I have bought.
I suspected a format or encoding problem or bug; here is how they are encoded:
Ctrl-I/info on the file says 640 x 480, AAC, MPEG-4
Handbrake adds H.264, 30 FPS FBR, AAC, Stereo; Filters: Comb detect, Decomb
Apple TV on the Mac adds encoded with LavF 53.18.0, total bit rate 1320 kbps (some of the files are 484kbps)
After trying the things I noted above, as a test I opened one of the files in Handbrake, and encoded it using the preset 'Apple 2160 p60 4K HEVC Surround', video encoder: H.265 (x265). I don't know much about this, I am sure that was overkill as these are simple SD stereo files, but I saw something on an Apple support page recommending H.265. I removed the old file from the movie library, and added the new one, and it works on both iPad and iPhone!
So, I am left with number of questions lol - do I need to do this with the other movies? Is there a better way that I should fix this? Is something in those files not supported any more? Is this a bug I should report? Why did this stop working after years, even on the same iPad?
Thanks for your help!