El Raton
Level 1 (4 points)
Apple TV

Q: How do I disable HDMI signaling on Apple TV 3?

I've got a problem. I know the Apple TV 3rd gen is not supposed to support HDMI-CEC; however I know for certain that it supports some kind of signaling, as it turns on and off automatically when connected to my Sharp TV set.

 

However, when plugged to my Samsung TV, the Apple TV 3 becomes slow. Half of the clicks in the remote get lost, and you can no longer long-press (white led usually turns off for as long as you press the button, but when connected to the Samsung, it only turns off for half a second and comes back on, regardless of how long you depress the button), which means you can not exit to the main menu (annoying), you can not turn off the Apple TV (bad) and you can not adjust language settings and do chapter navigation (very bad). Even controlling through the Remote app becomes laggy, sometimes you slide the finger three or four times and it takes up to 3 seconds for it to do anything. If I unplug the HDMI cable and wait a couple of seconds then the Apple TV works perfectly fine, but it becomes slow again as soon as I plug it back. Disabling (or enabling) HDMI-CEC support on the TV doesn't do anything.

 

So my question is: what kind of signaling is going on there and how do I turn it off? I sure wish there was an option in the Apple TV menu, but I can't find anything. I don't mind if I have to use a HDMI-DVI adapter and then a DVI-HDMI adapter (because the TV has no DVI input), but would it work? Anyone having this kind of problem?

 

I'm sure it's not 100% Apple TV's fault because it works perfectly fine with 3 out of 4 HDMI-CEC devices in my household, it must be the Samsung TV set. At least it hasn't exploded yet.

Apple TV, Other OS, Apple TV 3rd Gen

Posted on Sep 29, 2016 11:01 AM

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El Raton

Q: How do I disable HDMI signaling on Apple TV 3?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sep 29, 2016 11:13 AM in response to El Raton
    Level 10 (104,380 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 29, 2016 11:13 AM in response to El Raton

    I suspect an issue with the TV or cable, try another port or cable. Something is clearly conflicting with your Apple TV, it may indeed be over HDMI as you suggest but I'm not sure how you can determine that the problem disappears when you remove the HDMI cable, since not only can you not see anything when the HDMI cable is removed but the Apple TV will behave differently when you do.

  • by El Raton,

    El Raton El Raton Sep 29, 2016 11:50 AM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 29, 2016 11:50 AM in response to Winston Churchill

    I indeed suspect there's an issue with the TV's implementation of HDMI-CEC. I need to know if this is indeed HDMI-CEC so that I can search for a similar problem with any other kind of equipment; and if there's a way to disable HDMI-CEC on the Apple TV 3 (I can't find none in the menu), because my crappy TV says it's disabled but it's obviously still doing something. But wherever I ask, everyone says "Apple TV 3 doesn't support CEC".

     

    I'm sure the problem goes away when the HDMI cable is unplugged. See, when you keep any button pressed in the remote, the white led on the Apple TV turns off, and stays off until you release the button, that's the normal behavior. But when the HDMI cable is plugged, this doesn't happen; instead the led turns off for half a second and then turns back on, and your long-press is interpreted as a regular short press. I don't even need to look at the screen, the led gives it away.

     

    So to change language preferences I have to pause the video, unplug the HDMI cable, long press the center button, plug the HDMI cable back and then there's the language options on screen. If I don't unplug the cable, the long press is read as a short press and the playback stops and takes me back to the menu.

     

    For the sake of it, I've tried with many brands of cables (generic, Nintendo, GE, Sony), the results are the same.

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sep 29, 2016 11:56 AM in response to El Raton
    Level 10 (104,380 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 29, 2016 11:56 AM in response to El Raton

    I'm not sure it's CEC per se, but rather an issue with the HDMI card or cable in general, an issue with the cable would be acceptable I guess since you can always swap it out, an issue with the card not so.

  • by El Raton,

    El Raton El Raton Sep 29, 2016 12:31 PM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 29, 2016 12:31 PM in response to Winston Churchill

    I don't think it's a hardware problem in the Apple TV, as it also happened with a new Apple TV 3 set. I just need to know how to disable or somehow bypass CEC support in Apple TV, or block CEC at all between Apple TV and the TV set. Would a HDMI-DVI and a DVI-HDMI adapter work? Doesn't the Apple TV use some kind of DRM?

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sep 29, 2016 12:44 PM in response to El Raton
    Level 10 (104,380 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 29, 2016 12:44 PM in response to El Raton

    No I don't think it's a hardware problem with the Apple TV, I think it could be one with the TV.

     

    CEC is handled in a separate wire in an HDMI cable which isn't available to DVI, so if it is CEC that's the culprit you may well be able to resolve it with your proposed set up.

  • by El Raton,

    El Raton El Raton Sep 29, 2016 3:11 PM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 29, 2016 3:11 PM in response to Winston Churchill

    Indeed, apparently CEC signals travel through pin 13. I'll mod a cable and let you know.