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Risco

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 22, 2010
1,961
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United Kingdom
Just noticed a bunch of my movies have been upgraded to 4K HDR on my iPhone. However while Star Trek 2009 is 4K on my phone, it’s only HD on Apple TV?

Why is this?
 
"To stream high-quality video formats, you need a fast Internet connection. Apple recommends a minimum speed of 25 Mbps for 4K streaming. If your Internet connection isn't fast enough, your Apple devices automatically switch the video quality to a lower-quality version."

 
At the start of the pandemic, some of the 4k DV movies in my library were definitely playing in HD DV. These included the Tom Cruise 6-film Mission Impossible series and Mad Max Fury Road.
 
I know that V for Vendetta was showing as HD but played in 4k DV.

Start playing the movie and swipe down to see the actual playback resolution.
When I swipe down It only shows Chapters, Audio, etc. Are you running latest tvOS?
 
Ok, couple of months later and still the issue persists. I am now certain the resolution is incorrect as have loaded Xcode on to my MacBook and paired it to my Apple TV.

I can now enable developer mode which allows me to show bitrate and resolution. I have included pics for Star Trek and Jurassic Park, both of which should be 4k. For comparison I have also included Bab Boys 3 which is true 4k. As you can see natural size is far from 4k.



IMG_0410.jpegIMG_0411.jpegIMG_0412.jpeg
 
Where are you looking on your iPhone? Depending on where you look, it will show the highest resolution available rather than the resolution for your streaming rights.

Log into iTunes on you iPhone, search the iTunes Store for Star Trek 2009. If you see an option to buy the movie, then you do not have 4k streaming rights.
 

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Where are you looking on your iPhone? Depending on where you look, it will show the highest resolution available rather than the resolution for your streaming rights.

Log into iTunes on you iPhone, search the iTunes Store for Star Trek 2009. If you see an option to buy the movie, then you do not have 4k streaming rights.
Thanks, just did this and I can buy it. How strange and also annoying, why upgrade it to HDR but not give me 4k? Just checked Jaws and also Jurassic Park, both of which give me the option to buy on iPhone. However on my Apple TV, it just gives an option to play but not to buy if I search?

Surely this is bug?
 
Same thing for me and Inception.

I have it on my iPhone but my AppleTV App on PS4 has it at 720p, not too sure what's going on
 
Same thing for me and Inception.

I have it on my iPhone but my AppleTV App on PS4 has it at 720p, not too sure what's going on
You can only get Inception 4k as a direct purchase from iTunes or have the movie in 4k from another retailer and that retailer is connected to port Movies Anywhere and iTunes.

Inception is a Warner release and Warner has not included iTunes redemption codes with their discs for years.
 

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Thanks, just did this and I can buy it. How strange and also annoying, why upgrade it to HDR but not give me 4k? Just checked Jaws and also Jurassic Park, both of which give me the option to buy on iPhone. However on my Apple TV, it just gives an option to play but not to buy if I search?

Surely this is bug?
Did you redeem a code to get the movie in iTunes? If yes, it was probably a XML code which gives SD. iTunes does not upgrade SD redemptions to 4k.
 
You can only get Inception 4k as a direct purchase from iTunes or have the movie in 4k from another retailer and that retailer is connected to port Movies Anywhere and iTunes.

Inception is a Warner release and Warner has not included iTunes redemption codes with their discs for years.

That’s what I did though. I bought it from iTunes a while back
 
It's possible the 4k release was given a different movie ID from the one you purchased which means your version won't get a free upgrade.
Has anyone ever been able to fix this? The thing is, my Star Trek (2009) is still HD after all these years and I can't even buy it in 4K on Apple TV, since it's not even listed as available to me in 4K. Whenever I select that title, it just defaults back to the HD version. However, if I go to my iPad, or access Apple TV on my M1 Mac, it lists the 4K version (although it plays in HD on the Mac because of my monitor).

This is on my Canadian account. If I go to my US account, it's available to me for purchase in 4K. However, I don't want to rebuy on my US account, since that's a secondary account which I usually don't use. (The main reason for my US account is to access my Google Play titles through Movies Anywhere.)
 
Has anyone ever been able to fix this? The thing is, my Star Trek (2009) is still HD after all these years and I can't even buy it in 4K on Apple TV, since it's not even listed as available to me in 4K. Whenever I select that title, it just defaults back to the HD version. However, if I go to my iPad, or access Apple TV on my M1 Mac, it lists the 4K version (although it plays in HD on the Mac because of my monitor).

This is on my Canadian account. If I go to my US account, it's available to me for purchase in 4K. However, I don't want to rebuy on my US account, since that's a secondary account which I usually don't use. (The main reason for my US account is to access my Google Play titles through Movies Anywhere.)
When you play Start Trek on a 4k device such as the AppleTV, it plays in HD sdr?

Did you get the movie through a digital code from a disc or direct purchase from iTunes?

When you bring up there movie in iTunes, it shows you own HD rights?
 

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When you play Start Trek on a 4k device such as the AppleTV, it plays in HD sdr?

Did you get the movie through a digital code from a disc or direct purchase from iTunes?

When you bring up there movie in iTunes, it shows you own HD rights?
Yes digital code redemption from Star Trek Blu-Ray and it plays in HD SDR on Apple TV 4K box.

On Apple TV 4K box the description shows HD only but on Mac the description shows 4K in Apple TV app. In fact, on Apple TV 4K box, there is no 4K option at all that I can even pay for, unless I switch to a secondary account that doesn’t already have the purchased version.
 
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Yes digital code redemption from Star Trek Blu-Ray and it plays in HD SDR on Apple TV 4K box.

On Apple TV 4K box the description shows HD only but on Mac the description shows 4K in Apple TV app. In fact, on Apple TV 4K box, there is no 4K option at all that I can even pay for, unless I switch to a secondary account that doesn’t already have the purchased version.
If you got the movie from a XML code code that was included with a dvd or Blu-ray, it may have redeemed SD at the time. Apple will give free SD to HD upgrades for some movies; however, Apple only gives free 4k upgrades for codes that granted HD rights at the time of redemption.

BTW, the AppleTV app will often show you the highest resolution available for the movie from the iTunes Store rather than streaming resolution associated with the movie. The only way to confirm the movie's streaming resolution is to bring up the movie in the iTunes app on a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or AppleTV or play the movie and bring up the movie info.
 
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If you got the movie from a XML code code that was included with a dvd or Blu-ray, it may have redeemed SD at the time. Apple will give free SD to HD upgrades for some movies; however, Apple only gives free 4k upgrades for codes that granted HD rights at the time of redemption.

BTW, the AppleTV app will often show you the highest resolution available for the movie from the iTunes Store rather than streaming resolution associated with the movie. The only way to confirm the movie's streaming resolution is to bring up the movie in the iTunes app on a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or AppleTV or play the movie and bring up the movie info.
The point is there is no way to access that 4K version at all. In this scenario, it's simply not available, not even for purchase. There is no HD to 4K upgrade path.
 
The point is there is no way to access that 4K version at all. In this scenario, it's simply not available, not even for purchase. There is no HD to 4K upgrade path.
If you have the movie in HD, you cannot do a direct purchase to get the 4k version. You need to gift the movie to yourself using the iTunes app on an iPad or iPhone.

If you have the movie in SD, iTunes will allow you to re-purchase the movie in a higher resolution without having to use the gift option.

Please send me a PM. Thanks.
 
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