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Apple TV owners' thread. FAQ in first post

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#1 · (Edited)
Last notable change 20-Sep-2023 (Recent changed marked with |)

This thread is for all versions of the Apple TV but naturally the discussion tends to focus on current models. Blue text in [] is a link.
With the release of tvOS 12.2 Apple rebranded the ATV (4th generation) as the ATV HD.
With the release of the 2021 ATV4K (model id AppleTV11,1) Apple rebranded the discontinued ATV4K the AppleTV 4K first generation and the 2021 model is called second generation.

On 20-April-2021 Apple introduced the "2nd" generation AppleTV 4K and discontinued sales of what is now called the 1st generation. Notable changes include HDMI 2.1 (no details provided), increasing the input HDR streaming frame rate maximum to 60fps and a new remote.

On 19-October-2022 Apple introduced the "3rd" generation AppleTV 4K and discontinued sales of the prior version. Notable changes include a Wi-Fi only version that doesn't have Thread, a gigabit Ethernet + Wi-Fi version that supports Thread and HDR10+ video support. Apple has an HDR support document [HT208074] that notes that HDR10+ is limited to the 3rd generation. [Flatpanel HD review]

Not all movies migrated via redemption to Apple will be in UHD even if the source is UHD.

Apple TV manuals can be found here: [Apple TV manuals/guides]
The ATV2g/3g update document is here: [About software Updates 2g/3g]
The ATV4x tvOS 9,10 update document (archived) is here: [About 4g updates]
The ATV4x tvOS 11 support document is here: [About Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD (4th generation) updates]
The ATV specifications:
[Apple Software Releases]
[Apple Feedback page]
[Apple System Status page]

With iOS17+tvOS17 Apple added a degree of recovery for "bricked" devices that don't have an external USB port. See HT213828 [If your TV shows an iPhone next to an Apple TV]

Apps on the ATV should be considered the responsibility of the author not Apple. Application capability varies from device to device for various, generally undisclosed, reasons but the competitive relationships between Apple, Amazon and Google result in various rendering issues. HDR (10 or DV) and Atmos are not reliably available in Prime Video. These issues are well know and not limited to the ATV.

|Summary of ATV4K audio.
  • Many owners find the output of the ATV4K low. If your AVR supports per-input volume consider increasing that for the ATV. Also be sure compression (Reduce Loud Sounds) is off.
  • The Apple TV as of tvOS 17.3 does NOT support pass-through bit streams. Atmos is sent as Dolby Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission (Dolby MAT) via LPCM. If Dolby Atmos is off the E-AC-3 audio is sent without metadata.
  • Some services limit 4K/Atmos to video chains with a 4K display/EDID. E.g. Apple, Amazon, MoviesAnywhere and Netflix pass Atmos to 2K displays. Note that this is not affected by the Video Format setting but the actual display hardware.
  • Apple sends multi-channel audio out as LPCM channels. Dolby Digital 5.1 output is [re-encoded from the LPCM channels]. This [tvOS device support] chart provides some insight (E-AC3/JOC [joint object coding] refers to input stream decoding). Note that Apple changed the audio options in tvOS 12 as part of Atmos support. What was previously Auto or Best Quality is now Change Format off.
  • As implied above when selecting Dolby AC-3 (5.1) the ATV4K decodes the incoming (E-)AC-3 bitstream to LPCM performs local audio management and the encodes the LPCM to AC-3.
  • Not all apps are 4K or 5.1/7.1. Many apps are limited to HD and stereo.

Summary of ATV4K video format settings
The video format controls the ATV Home screen (the UI).
If Match Range and Match Rate are enabled the ATV4K will change range (SDR/HDR/DoVi) and rate (24/25/30/60) to match the content specification.
If either or both of the Match settings are off the ATV4K will force content to match the UI setting.
Some apps may not honor the Match settings.
So well-behaved apps will send the canonical 4K@24/DoVi for Dolby Vision content even though the UI is set to 4K@60/SDR.

Things to know:

  • Most of the conversation is about the most recent models which at this time are the Apple TV 4K generations.
  • |The ATV4K 2nd generation and 3rd generation Ethernet+Wi-Fi support Thread and act as Thread routers. Since Thread is an IPv6 protocol there will be router-like IPv6 traffic from an ATV4K2gen (and a HomePod mini).
  • How to use the click-pad Siri remote: Control what’s playing on Apple TV. Note that you might have to rest your finger on the clickpad ring to show the scrubbing indicator. This feature is not supported in all apps (e.g. Disney+ circa 2022).
  • Apple uses variations on Apple and TV to represent multiple items.
    AppleTV(Nth gen) or AppleTV4HD/AppleTV4K is the hardware. Apple TV (styled tv in a tvOS Home page icon) is a consolidation app that runs on multiple Apple devices and various third-party hardware (e.g. Samsung, Roku, LG etc.) -- the various devices have similar but not identical capabilities and none are currently as capable as the AppleTV set-top box. Apple TV+ (stylized tv+) is a streaming provider for Apple purchased/produced content. Apple TV Channels (styled tv channels) is set of streaming services well integrated into tv. A humorously exaggerated (with some minor errors) version of this can be found [here] -- the title is a play on [Turtles all the way down]. The [Apple TV page] at apple.com provides more direct insight.
  • Amazon's Prime Video assets are inconsistent and unreliable on the ATV4K. This has been reported to Amazon many times to no apparent effect.
  • The Quick Start option is found in Apps / iTunes Movies and TV Shows... Turning off Quick Start forces Apple content to HD content. Hence no UHD, HDR, Atmos or E-AC-3.
  • The Match options will do content frame rate and or dynamic range matching if the app and content support that feature. There is no resolution matching.
  • Per [Guidelines for Apple TV 4K Development] "Dolby Vision and HDR10 content can play at up to 30 fps. SDR content can play at up to 60 fps.". At launch the 2021 ATV4K supports HLS (streams) up to 4K@60/HDR. Note that this is unrelated to the change from HDMI 2.0 to HDMI 2.1.
  • If you set the UI default (Video Format) to other than SDR some (defective) SDR apps will request conversion to HDR. Some defective apps will match range but not rate. Some defective apps (e.g. Peacock) have complex rules for selecting the stream. There is no list of these defective apps but @mutelight [started a list in a Google sheet].
  • Because defective apps are largely SDR-only the recommended default/UI setting is 4K/60Hz/SDR/RGB High. Use 50Hz rather than 60Hz if the bulk of your SDR content is 25Hz. 50/60Hz is recommended for a smoother UI, it's a matter of preference not technical recommendation.
  • This [developer video] summarizes the operation of Match.
  • Apple and Netflix (and perhaps others) have 4K, 2K, HDR and SDR assets. Which asset is streamed is controlled by combinations of settings. Which combination does what may not be obvious and the Developer HUD is the best/only way to see the stream codecs, resolution, bandwidth and other (HLS/RFC8216) parameters and debug information.
  • See [this post] for information about the HUD/HLS display. [This is the referenced Stack Overflow article]. You will need the current Xcode(possibly beta) release (and a Mac). Apple's instructions are at the bottom of this page: [Pair Mac to Apple TV]
  • Bit depth and chroma compression cannot be directly controlled for HDR content. There are chroma choices for the UI which will be honored by some SDR content.
  • The [Aerial screen saver] (two links) is 4K@30/SDR or 4K@30/DV converted if necessary to the default video format.
  • By default the foreground is slightly transparent. This can look like a discoloration in control pages.
  • To disable foreground transparency set General / Accessibility / Increase Contrast / Reduce Transparency to on.
  • Not all apps are 4K or 5.1/7.1. Many apps are limited to HD and stereo.
  • Some services limit 4K/Atmos to video chains with a 4K display/EDID. E.g. Apple, Amazon, MoviesAnywhere and Netflix pass Atmos to 2K displays but Vudu does not.
  • Amazon does not make it easy to distinguish SDR and HDR versions of shows but the TV app will select the best version for at least some content.
  • Apple sends multi-channel audio out as LPCM channels. Dolby Digital 5.1 output is [re-encoded from the LPCM channels]. This [tvOS device support] chart provides some insight (E-AC3/JOC [joint object coding] refers to input stream decoding). Note that Apple changed the audio options in tvOS 12 as part of Atmos support. What was previously Auto or Best Quality is now Change Format off. Many owners find the output of the ATV4K low. If your AVR supports per-input volume consider increasing that for the ATV. Also be sure compression (Reduce Loud Sounds) is off. When selecting Dolby AC-3 (5.1) the ATV4K decodes the incoming (E-)AC-3 bitstream to LPCM performs local audio management and the encodes the LPCM to AC-3.
  • The Apple TV as of tvOS 16.2 doesn't support pass-through bit streams. Atmos is sent as Dolby Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission (Dolby MAT) via LPCM.
  • Movies imported into Apple may show UHD but play in HD. If you purchased the movie from Apple contact iTunes support.
  • If you didn't purchase the UHD version of an imported movie you can purchase it from Apple as a gift and redeem the code.
  • Apple credentials can be connected to the Paramount+ app at the [cbs/apple] link. You may need to a mobile device to complete the sign-in.
  • As of tvOS 13.2 the Library tab in the TV app has a section that lists all UHD/HDR titles.
  • Apple has a public beta program] [discussed in its own thread[] which, while not risk-free, sometimes supports in-demand features (e.g. Match, Sony DV support, Atmos, 24.0fps).
  • Note that being in the Beta program increases the number of updates and hence the chance of failure. If you "brick" (apple.com/restore error) an out-of-warranty ATV4K Apple should give you a replacement unit. Call support to arrange this. Previously they would give you a discount on a new replacement that has a 90 day warranty.
  • A Siri remote and the Remote app have unique functions (voice/trackpad/HOME) but Apple has a [scheme for universal IR remotes] for the ATV4/4K which covers most actions including the HOME/TV button. As of tvOS 12 Apple provides an IP based remote control interface. Crestron and Control4 have announced products that use this interface.
  • As of Feb-2018 the Harmony ATV4 "power off" command sequence (long press play/pause) is wrong. It now triggers the output selector screen.

Cable testing with an ATV4K.

The table attached from Acoustic Frontiers lists bandwidth requirements for legal HDMI 2.0a formats. See also the attached HDMI 2.0 4K chroma format support graph.
In the table below 2K is 1080p. 600MHz (593) pixel clock is 18Gbs (17.8). Typically there won't be a chroma choice. You cannot select bit depth.
Selecting a video format with [Match] on sets the Home screen, most of the UI and the Aerial screen saver to the selected format. With Match off almost all content is forced to the selected format. The values listed here are from an HDFury DIVA connected between an AVR and display. After the acceptance test page and some period of displaying the UI play protected content (an Apple movie in 4K) to check HDCP. Thirty seconds should be sufficient but longer is better. Note that as of tvOS 12 the HDMI test has been renamed from Check Cable to Check HDMI Connection and sends two minutes of video at the maximum bandwidth advertised by your video chain.
Code:
Format     Chroma  Pixel clock
480p60/SDR 444  8b  27MHz
2K@24/SDR  444  8b  74MHz
2K@60/SDR  444  8b 148MHz
4K@24/SDR  444  8b 297MHz
4K@24/HDR  422 12b 297MHz
4K@60/SDR  420  8b 297MHz
4K@60/HDR  420 10b 371MHz
4K@60/SDR  444 12b 593MHz
4K@60/HDR  422 12b 593MHz

[Harmony
Codes for the IR ATV interface -- collated by @m_snow
Home [sends long Menu not Home]
Skip Back Skip Forward
Pair UnPair
Reboot
Video Mode
Back
Direction Down/Direction Left/Direction Right/Direction Up
Fast Forward/Rewind
Menu
Pause
Play
Select
Stop

Harmony also supports Bluetooth instead of IR using the ATV4/4K keyboard interface. This device supports the ATV Home button.
— Manufacturer: Harmony Beta
— Model: Test Apple TV
Dealing with Faults and Issues
  • If you're running beta code use the public beta thread.
  • Assume the ATV4K is working correctly.
  • Use the provided remote control and if it's behaving oddly or the IR LED is blinking then reboot the remote.
  • Set the Video format to 2K@24 SDR or 4K@24 SDR
  • Turn off transparency.
  • Set audio to Best Quality Available (older tvOS) or Convert off (current tvOS).
  • Verify your cables. As of tvOS 12 Check HDMI replaces Check Cable and is always available.
  • Make sure your AVR and or display accepts 10b/12b and wide color gamut.
  • Connect the ATV4K directly to the display if you expect to get HDR but you aren't.
  • Test various formats working from low bandwidth (1080p) to high bandwidth (4K@60)
  • If you've done a cable test and followed these steps please post the results and the details of your video chain if you're going to post a request for assistance.
Amazon Prime Video
Search this thread for Amazon or Prime Video for previous discussions/complaints many and varied issues.

How to leave the beta program ATV4K
At this time (Spring 2018 in the northern hemisphere) you can only install the current release of tvOS or a release that is considered newer. You cannot downgrade tvOS on the ATV4. An example:
  • 11.2.6 is installed.
  • 11.3b6 public beta is available.
  • 11.3 is available.
You can update to 11.3 or you can set Get Beta Updates (GBU) on and update to 11.3b6. If you do either upgrade you cannot revert to 11.2.6. You can switch between the two versions because if GBU is on 11.3b6 is considered the current release and if GBU is off 11.3 is the current release. Enrolling in the public beta is simply setting GBU on and un-enroll means set GBU off. If you're in the developer program and you want to switch to commercial releases don't forget to remove the dev profile. You have to restart between each change but the ATV4K should do that automatically.

For other questions regarding tvOS public betas please check the [ATV public beta] thread.
Notes about Atmos:
Atmos support was released with tvOS 12. Apple is using an updated proprietary LPCM based system developed by Dolby called Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission [V2] (MAT 2.x) for the console market that allows mixing local audio and generating Atmos in real-time. Dolby provides SDR [Atmos demo clips] in MP4 format. These can be imported into a Home Sharing Apple library and played with the tvOS Computer app without any further processing. Note that the links come and go -- try the demo link or search for dolby-atmos-trailer_ if they've moved. If you have any issues with Atmos it's crucial that you test with known good files since not all video chains will process MAT 2.x.

Posted in the public beta thread:
|The FlatpanelsHD review of the gen 3 has a table of all three 4K models.
Apple TV 4K power consumption from the Apple TV 4K Environmental Report
Power Consumption for Apple TV 4K gen 3 @ 115V
Sleep/Network standby: 0.49W
Streaming 4K movies: 2.35W
Streaming 4K HDR movies: 2.31W
Power supply efficiency: 88.3%

Finally: I recommend [Steve Yedlin's*] [meditation on the perceptual relevance of spatial fidelity] regarding the importance of post-production in the visual quality of a motion picture. Spoiler: resolution is a red herring and "real or fake 4K" sites are pointless (as at least one admits).

*DoP Star Wars: The Last Jedi


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#2 · (Edited)
Apple doesn't often talk about the Apple TV but they issued a press release on 21-Dec-2010 about breaking the million unit barrier at the end of 2010.

Tim Cook disclosed that the Apple TV and related iTunes sales were over $1 billion in 2013. “It’s a little more difficult to call it a hobby these days”

On 30-October-2015 the Apple TV 4th generation (ATV5,3) was made available for retail sales. It shipped with tvOS 9.0 (13T396).
On 20-April-2021 the Apple TV 4K 5th generation with a new (no longer Siri branded) remote was announced for order on 30-April-2021.

And in a suprising move Apple released Apple TV Software 7.2.2, OS Build Version 8.4.2 for the ATV3

On 20-April-2021 Apple introduced the "6th" generation AppleTV 4K and discontinued sales of the 5th generation. Notable changes include HDMI 2.1 (no details provided), increasing the HDR streaming frame rate maximum to 60fps and a new remote.

In November 2022 Apple introduced "7th" generation Apple TV known as AppleTV 4K 3rd generation. Notable improvements include support for HLG HDR.
 
#3 ·
When is BestBuy supposed to have the ATV in stock? I've gone over four decades without owning an Apple product. And amazingly, the ATV might be the first Apple product I buy.
 
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Reactions: LeonSKennedy
#4 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronwt /forum/post/19243493


When is BestBuy supposed to have the ATV in stock?

Seems to be the question of the day however I expect a delay since they haven't made the fuss they made over the old ATV. I suppose they could be worried about scheduling difficulties with the introduction of the Revue but that seems a bit odd (to me).
 
#5 ·
My order is now "Prepared for Shipment". It seems likely that Apple will make the initial shipping estimate even though delivery dates seem quite variable.

I now have an estimated delivery date of 1-Oct and the parcel is in Hong Kong.
 
#7 ·
I'm reposting several things from other threads here, so that those of us who actually have an honest appreciation for what the new aTV brings to the table can have an intelligent discussion about it.


Here are a few new links for anyone interested. Spoiler alert: None of these seem to contain any significant info that we didn't already know...


* A review by Fox news' Clayton Morris:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/...ve-jobs-hobby/

There *is* a very positive bit of new info (if true) in the article. It states:
Quote:
Apple told me the company has opened [AirPlay] to third-party developers, and that's where my imagination runs wild.

* A review by PC Mag's Tim Gideon. This one's only slightly better. Based on some of the wording used, he gives the impression that he actually used it, but it's completely devoid of any specifics (e.g., how long it took for a Netflix movie to start, how the PQ compared to other Netflix devices). I'm guessing that what he actually got was a personal hands-on demonstration by an Apple rep. I'll give him positive points for expressing something which I pointed out (I believe in the other aTV thread in this forum), which is that the smart way to rent movies/shows seems to be to purchase them on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and then stream them to your aTV, because if you purchase them on your aTV you can't move them to your portable device (or watch them on a different aTV in your house):
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369826,00.asp


* Apple has the user manual online now:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/...etup_Guide.pdf


I read the whole thing. In typical Apple fashion, it's super-short with no screenshots, and doesn't cover every possible menu option. In fact, it's more of a set-up/troubleshooting guide, really. So no real revelations here. But one statement which might be of concern to some people is on page 28 (in the troubleshooting section) where if someone's TV screen appears fuzzy or black, it states, "Make sure your HDTV supports 720p video." This would suggest that the new aTV is not capable of upscaling 720p to 1080p, so you'll have to let your TV do that. This would also suggest that it won't display photos in anything above 720p, which seems especially lame, IMO.


Now let's talk about apps. I expect them to come, but I'm actually starting to rethink the whole concept. I'm not so certain that we're going to see an aTV app store. I suspect that Apple will enhance the aTV and add new functionality to it over time. Perhaps we'll see Hulu Plus or Pandora added. That's hard to say, because on the one hand they offer services that compete with iTunes TV and music rentals, but then Apple is partnering with Netflix and that competes with iTunes movie rentals, so who knows. And maybe Apple will add in a way to see your local weather and even some local news.


But apps that you download which are optimized for the TV? While I was thinking they'd go that route, here's an alternative which could happen instead: You download/store your aTV-capable apps on your iPod/iPhone/iPad instead. Maybe these will be games which you're already playing on your iPhone. The developer later comes out with a new version with aTV capabilities. Maybe you when you say that you want to play it on your aTV, the app gets uploaded to the aTV's limited storage space, displays on screen, and your iPhone's display changes so as to just display just use your iPhone/iPod Touch as a controller. Or maybe the app runs on the iPhone/iPod Touch with its own full UI and display, but streams other stuff to the aTV display. The common theme here, though, is that you're not downloading the apps via an aTV store, rather you're downloading iOS apps onto your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad which just happen to have an aTV component. The aTV component may be the *main* component for some of these apps, but you'll still need a portable iOS device. This is actually great cross-pollenation. More of the existing iOS device owners will want to buy an aTV for this added functionality, while some aTV owners who don't currently own an iOS device will buy one as a result.


As pcmd has stated before, I think the AirPlay thing (combined with the huge userbase of iOS-device owners and huge library of iOS apps) has the potential to really make the aTV a must-have device when compared to other streamers. If Apple allows 3rd party devs to add AirPlay support to their apps, it won't matter as much if the aTV itself doesn't have Hulu Plus or MLB.TV or if those services add AirPlay support to their existing iOS apps.


One gripe I have with the aTV is that the included remote can't control your TV/Receiver's power or volume. I know that a lot of us will probably make use of our iPhone/iPod Touch to control the aTV, which also won't control power or volume. But I know that when my family goes to use the aTV, they'll want to use a regular remote, so it would have been nice if they had offered even the simplest of TV control buttons on the stock remote.
 
#8 ·
Engadget's Joshual Topolsky has published a brief but interesting review of the ATV-2g. I found the best bit was a comparison of two frame grabs of what appears to be closeup of an eyelid etc. as a comparison of PQ of the ATV versus the new Roku (a somewhat obvious competitor).


Some good, some bad. None of my real questions answered.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, nothing really new there, except for the up-close PQ comparison (which actually seems a bit odd since I'm not really seeing the blockiness in the Roku pic that he claims is there, and several others replying to that review seem to feel that the Roku pic looks better). I'd love to see several more direct PQ comparisons.


I think Josh (and so many of the Apple-haters replying there) also failed to appreciate that the target market for this device is the huge market of existing iOS device owners (over 120 million iOS devices sold). IMO, if you have any iOS device, this pretty much becomes a must-have accessory. If you don't already own one, then it's still a pretty good dedicated Netflix streamer (and occasional movie/show renter) and/or, depending on your needs, a music streamer.


I think Apple's doing a good job of appealing to the average consumer market. I could see someone like my father, who currently doesn't own any Apple products and is pretty unsavvy in terms of technology, appreciating the ease of use of finding neat shows to watch on Netflix, streaming music, viewing photos, etc. People like this will learn about it from their iOS device owning children/siblings/friends.


Yeah, I wish it supported streaming full-bitrate 1080p out of the box, but it doesn't. So I've either got to plan to transcode my Blu-rays down to 720p via Handbrake, or keep a separate streamer on hand for that one purpose and use the aTV for everything else. If I want to keep things as cheap as possible, I could see maybe getting one WDTV Live box which I cart around to a couple of different rooms (if necessary) to watch my latest Blu-ray rip (before I've had a chance to downconvert it). Or, if I don't care about lugging around something bigger, I can already do that by lugging around my one existing Blu-ray player.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bodosom /forum/post/19221719


I'm not sure there's enough interest among ATV but I'm starting a thread anyway.

It's not quantity that matters! The ATV is only a part of the Apple approach to the media problem. It's an ongoing process. If the process seems interesting then you get on the train. Otherwise you keep bouncing from best at any time to best. The problem with getting the best media player at any given point is that it may not integrate well with a process that evolves.


Anyway, I suspect there are enough of us interested in the ATV as well as those who love to dislike it



philip
 
#11 ·
"Yeah, nothing really new there, except for the up-close PQ comparison (which actually seems a bit odd since I'm not really seeing the blockiness in the Roku pic that he claims is there, and several others replying to that review seem to feel that the Roku pic looks better). I'd love to see several more direct PQ comparisons."


The picture sucks, but the point is that the Roku is banding/posterizing where the AppleTV looks to be dithering more effectively. How this looks to humans on a full-sized screen, I don't know. But posterization is generally very offputting when visible.
 
#12 ·
Things that are annoying about ATV-2g:

- So far it's a bit unstable.

- Having to use Home Sharing.

- Having to use the remote to enter the Home Sharing password.

- Audio Video Controls are essentially gone. Scaling is uninteresting but color space control is useful. It seems unlikely the media/hdmi interface can't do scaling. We'll have to see if Apple turns it on in later firmware.


As speculated it buffers/caches locally streamed video as seen in the attached horrid screen photos. It takes about a minute to buffer 48 minutes (an episode of Mad Men) of 720p video and I'd guess the flash is used as a circular buffer which maximizes cacheing and probably does some flash leveling.


Apple "recommends" two screen saver styles for plasma televisions. The set of options for the "screen saver" is a bit reduced compared to ATV-1g although slide shows are the same.


I rented a $.99 special to see how long it takes to start (about a minute on 3Mb down) and what happens when you skip around. FF/REW becomes a slideshow. After a bit it switches from full screen to a native sized window. Sometimes when you stop it immediately begins playback other times there's a delay. It looks like the goal is to have smooth playback (naturally) and everything is in service to that so FF/REW "works" but there's a price to pay. I haven't looked at bandwidth usage while doing any of this but SD looks like SD and the experience seems reasonably fluid given minimal experience.


I downloaded 80 seconds of HD (Glee preview). Initially it reported 6 minutes until ready but shifted to 1 minute after about a minute. According to the progress thermometer it was about 85% downloaded at that point.


I expect many changes in the UI and in capabilities.


The box is smaller than you expect. It seems ridiculous.

 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bodosom /forum/post/19265766


Things that are annoying about ATV-2g:

- So far it's a bit unstable.

More details please.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bodosom /forum/post/19265766


- Having to use Home Sharing.

Why do you feel this is a problem?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bodosom /forum/post/19265766


As speculated it buffers/caches locally streamed video as seen in the attached horrid screen photos. It takes about a minute to buffer 48 minutes (an episode of Mad Men) of 720p video and I'd guess the flash is used as a circular buffer which maximizes cacheing and probably does some flash leveling..

This is a file you already had stored on your server, right? And is this over WiFi or ethernet? Shouldn't this file be about 1GB? It's hard to believe that it can transfer 1GB in a minute. That would be over 100 Mb/s.


Quote:
Originally Posted by bodosom /forum/post/19265882


I download 1:20 of HD (Glee preview). Initially it reported 6 minutes until ready but shifted to 1 minute after about a minute. According to the progress thermometer it was about 85% downloaded at that point.

...

Now this is what I expected. An hour delay to start watching 44 minutes of HD. The estimates are a bit conservative but 1.5G is 1.5G.

First you say that you're able to start watching a 1hr 20min HD show in about 2 mins, and then that you have an hour delay for some other HD show of shorter length (44 mins). What am I missing here?
 
#17 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by srauly /forum/post/19265964


This is a file you already had stored on your server, right? And is this over WiFi or ethernet? Shouldn't this file be about 1GB? It's hard to believe that it can transfer 1GB in a minute. That would be over 100 Mb/s.

That's transferring 1.5GB over 1G ethernet. No WiFi here.
 
#18 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by srauly /forum/post/19265964


More details please.

Regarding stability. First it zoomed the video so I could only see the upper left corner then the WiFi remote froze and the IR remote became almost unusable. It also did something that made my AVR stop passing audio from that HDMI port.


About Home Sharing: I used to be able to link a library by entering a four digit code. Now I have to enter the Home Sharing password using the on-screen keyboard and you have to do that before you can use the Remote app.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bodosom /forum/post/19265972


That's transferring 1.5GB over 1G ethernet. No WiFi here.

The new (and old) aTV does not have Gigabit ethernet. 100Mb/s max, which should probably equate to about half that number (60Mb/s, maybe?) for actual performance.
 
#20 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by srauly /forum/post/19265964


First you say that you're able to start watching a 1hr 20min HD show in about 2 mins, and then that you have an hour delay for some other HD show of shorter length (44 mins). What am I missing here?

My bad, it was an 80 second (1:20) preview of an episode not the 44 minute episode.
 
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