I'm trying to find a DIY method for setting the optimum black level of my Pioneer 5080 for the Apple TV. High-quality Apple TV source material was lacking until the introduction yesterday of HD rentals, but it has always seemed to me that the Apple TV crushes the hell out of blacks on the SD DVD rips I've viewed.

There are a lot variables unknown to me:

- Can the Apple TV pass BTB over HDMI or component?

- Can the Apple TV pass BTB over component?

- Can Apple TV's supported video formats even store BTB information?

- Yesterday's Apple TV 2.0 software update added YCbCr and Auto to the pre-existing RGB High and RGB Low "HDMI Output" options. I assume these are references to different video levels (computer versus video). The Pioneer 5080 can accept computer or video levels, but is YCbCr inherently better than RGB?

- If I determine that the Apple TV can pass BTB using any combination of the above outputs and/or video level settings, how would I go about getting a reliable pluge pattern on to the Apple TV for testing? I tried making an MP4 clip from a screenshot of DVE's pluge pattern, but BTB didn't even show up in the screenshot.

As you can see, I'm at a loss, but would love to make a couple of tweaks to improve the quality of the picture on this little badboy. Any suggestions?

i put some test pattern images into a photo album on my appletv.

I can cycle through to whatever i need, and yes it's passing BTB info .

I also have mine set to "rgb low" - which puts the black level close to my other components.

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Are you connected via HDMI or component?

HDMI > DVI connection

though i'm sure I remember the component passing BTB too