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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Apple TV 4K

Just got mine connected. Looks amazing. Very nice upgrade to my 2nd gen AppleTV. Have not played with 24Hz stuff yet...
 
If you want your SDR to look good, you need to manually turn off HDR otherwise they map SDR into HDR to avoid a mode switch. Current HDR displays don’t have much in the way of calibration for HDR. For those that don’t calibrate, it may also be dimmer since you are locked to 100 nit SDR instead of 200-300 nit.

Microsoft has done the same thing with Windows 10, but at least Xbox One does it correctly, except for Netflix on Xbox. They do the same thing by mapping SDR into HDR.

Apple has always inserted a progressive telecine style pattern during playback to play 24p at 60p. This is done by everyone except Blu-ray. Again, avoids a mode switch.
 
Stacey Spears said:
If you want your SDR to look good, you need to manually turn off HDR otherwise they map SDR into HDR to avoid a mode switch. Current HDR displays don’t have much in the way of calibration for HDR.
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Doh, is this buried in a menu? Ordered one but it hasn't arrived yet.
 
To further squirt lemon juice in your eye, the 4K content upgrade deal that Apple cut with studios is apparently only covering 4K streaming titles. If you want to download 4K versions, you have to pay for those.
 
Stacey Spears said:
If you want your SDR to look good, you need to manually turn off HDR otherwise they map SDR into HDR to avoid a mode switch. Current HDR displays don’t have much in the way of calibration for HDR. For those that don’t calibrate, it may also be dimmer since you are locked to 100 nit SDR instead of 200-300 nit.
Click to expand...

Ugh... Turn the HDR off on the new AppleTV (select a mode without). Not sure what Apple is thinking, everything is saturated to the nines and looks cartoony. The aerial screen savers look totally CG in a bright, happy, Disney sort of way. And it’s inconsistent. Some stuff looks absolutely fantastic, some is cartoony. No calibration standards or references for studios submitting their 4K HDR media. Seeing a bit of this with 4K BluRay, but so far much more consistent.

Apple’s telecine algorithm actually works quite well, probably about the best out there. Still not as good as native 24fps, but most people will never notice.

All things considered, I think they did a great job with the new AppleTV unit. All my nit-picky complaints are issues that 99% of normal people will not even think of or have an issue with.
 
Alex Walker said:
Anybody know of a reliable way to encode 4K HDR content that can be added to an iTunes library and played back on the 4K Apple TV via home share?
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You'd need a pro-grade encoder that supports HDR10, like Scenarist ATEME Titan. Beamr could work too.
 
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Blair S. Paulsen said:
Assuming that you are going the UHD BluRay disc route in search of higher picture quality, why would you want a cheap player? I have the OPPO 203 and highly recommend it. One of many things I like about it; the output signal is strong enough to push UHD through HDMI cables that fail on other UHD sources (DirecTV Genie, I'm looking at you).

BTW, many HDMI cables that claim to be UHD/4K capable are, in fact, not. They aren't cheap, but I strongly recommend fiber optic HDMI cables for anything over 2 meters.

Cheers - #19
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I was looking at getting a 12' High-Speed 4K HDMI cable from Belkin. Where do you get optical ones?
 
Optical ones are expensive, if you are running 20’ or less, no need for optical. Even then, no issues if you have a properly powered source. Key Digital makes a great signal booster and repeater that supports full 4K with HDCP 2.2 if you need it.

I’m using these from Sewell Direct to feed my Sony 4K projector. And a second zone. No hiccups at all. Can run full 4K 60Hz 4:4:4 / Dolby Vision / HDR10. They are connected to the outputs on a Yamaha RX-A2070 receiver. My 4K sources are the new AppleTV, OPPO 203 and 4K HDMI 1.4 out of my DirecTV Genie. I have a RedRay player too, but it has never played nice with anything other than a few stand-alone 4K displays, so it doesn’t count for anything other than a deluxe door stop at this point.
 
I have also used these optical fiber ones recently for a client installation of a Sony 635 4K projector. Perfect. I would recommend if you’re going 25’ or more.

https://sewelldirect.com/light-link-50ft
 
The optical cables are pricey. Glad to hear Jeff has had good results with his copper HDMI cables from Sewell Direct, but be aware that many people I know have had headaches with copper over 3 meters. I wish you the best, but highly recommend you only buy from sellers who will replace or refund.

My setup is similar to Jeff's, though my AVR is an ARCAM 550. Never could get my DTV Genie to play nice above 1080. The OPPO 203 and Roku Ultra both do UHD/4K just fine. I should note that my Sony 600ES does not natively support HDCP 2.2 so I had to put an HD Fury Integral ($200ish) in line on the output side to get around it.

Cheers - #19
 
Blair, Sony 600ES does indeed support HDCP 2.2 on input #2, not on input #1.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Optical ones are expensive, if you are running 20’ or less, no need for optical. Even then, no issues if you have a properly powered source. Key Digital makes a great signal booster and repeater that supports full 4K with HDCP 2.2 if you need it.

I’m using these from Sewell Direct to feed my Sony 4K projector. And a second zone. No hiccups at all. Can run full 4K 60Hz 4:4:4 / Dolby Vision / HDR10. They are connected to the outputs on a Yamaha RX-A2070 receiver. My 4K sources are the new AppleTV, OPPO 203 and 4K HDMI 1.4 out of my DirecTV Genie. I have a RedRay player too, but it has never played nice with anything other than a few stand-alone 4K displays, so it doesn’t count for anything other than a deluxe door stop at this point.
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Thanks Jeff. You just saved me from having to buy Belkin 12' High-Speed HDMI

I'm setting up an AppleTV 4K and a laptop feed of 4K 60Hz 4:4:4: via a Club3D Display port to HDMI adapter (http://www.club-3d.com/en/detail/2366/displayportt-1.2-to-hdmit-2.0-uhd-active-adapter/) on an AKiTiO Thunder3 Quad Mini case (https://www.akitio.com/portable-storage/akitio-thunder3-quad-mini).
 
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Blair S. Paulsen said:
I got mine in December of 2014 and I don't think it supports HDCP 2.2 on any input. Perhaps there is a F/W update? IAC, I appreciate the note and will investigate.

Cheers - #19
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You should be on firmware v1.100 and it fully supports HDCP 2.2 on input #2. I still own a 600ES myself and have moved it to an office installation and put a 635ES in my screening room only recently. I’ve run several HDCP 2.2 sources to it. That said, I know all these projectors inside and out. In a literal sense as I’ve serviced and rebuilt several over the past few years from the 300, 600, 1000ES thru the current models.
 
David Battistella said:
hey Jeff,

Thanks for the info. Of course they would add 4K and remove something like optical audio not fully understanding that this device is the "portal" for people who have wav files served to the Apple TV via their iTunes library. Anyway, its seems that for serious viewing or listening there need to be another solution.

I sorta want my vinyl and CDs back anyway. Convenience comes with a price and it is usually quality.

David
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David, I still have my vinyl playing. Never never lost that ability over the years, even after I stopped using my Pre-amp and started an AppleTV movie library from a Mac Mini.

Rega_0577.jpg
Rega-Planar2_4829.jpg
 
Living in a third world country (Germany), I'm happy if I get a downstream of 8mbit here - so yeah, Netflix under DVD quality is all I see.

4k, HDR = pipe dream

Edit: just saw, that Apple streams 4k HDR wit only 8mbit.
WTF? that's about 10% of the data rate, you get on an UHD Bluray disk.
No wonder folks complaining about the bad image quality,
and that the HD/SDR version of the same film looks better.
 
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