Apple TV Plus content no longer plays in Dolby Vision

This isn't a cable problem, it's a problem on Apple's end.

Meanwhile, for the third week in a row, "The Morning Show" plays in Dolby Vision in Australia, but doesn't everywhere else. The show's different title in Australia presumably means it has to be encoded separately, and whatever is screwing up the encoding of everything else isn't affecting that show in Australia. And yes, it streams in Dolby Vision just fine with my existing high speed HDMI cable.

I'm completely puzzled about why it's taking Apple so long to fix this. Their brand new flagship streaming service, which sells itself on quality, is streaming sub-par versions of most of its shows for no explainable reason, and has done so for three weeks.

I would have thought the various shows' producers would have been on the phone to Apple about this already, for example. Imagine going to all that trouble to grade your show in Dolby Vision and then see consecutive episodes released without it.

I’m finding that the DV aspect cut out after I’ve watched a few episodes of SEE, TMS and FAMK. The other shows on Apple TV+ appear to have retained their DV aspect (so far). I’ve called and explained this to Apple and their person said I wasn’t alone (which made me feel a wee bit better) and that they were on it. Hope so cuz I’m a fan of DV.

Basically I have the same problem here with an LG C9 OLED TV.

Trailers play in 4K Dolby Vision via Air Play 2, the actual videos only in HD with SDR.

For god sakes Apple, you have so little ATV+ content and still manage to screw up big time?!

This problem has nothing to do with Netflix - if you're seeing content from other streaming apps not playing in Dolby Vision when it should, that'll be down to another issue somewhere in your setup (HDMI cables, TV input settings etc).

This problem is happening for people that usually get Dolby Vision on everything that supports it, but are finding that this particular Apple TV+ content does not play in Dolby Vision any more. It's an Apple problem, not a user problem.

No this never happens with Netflix. Netflix always works fine it’s an Apple Problem! Very disappointed in AppleTV+ as the picture was breathtaking at launch. Now, without Dolby Vision it’s just like 4k standard content. The incredible richness in lighting, colors and contrast has disappeared since they broke DV support.

I originally reported this issue to Apple on 22nd November. Since then I’ve had three follow up calls from Apple support, had my case switched from Apple TV to iTunes Store content and explained multiple times the situation. After all this they have yet to acknowledge that there is a problem that has been reported by other users. I’ve even provided links to other reports of the issue but have been told that they cannot open links due the lockdown of their equipment.

I was rather enjoying For All Mankind but haven’t watched episode four onwards due to the lack of Dolby Vision playback on my OLED TV. If I wasn’t utilising the free years trial and was paying for the service I would be demanding my money back.

All I want is someone at Apple to acknowledge the issue and say that they are working on a resolution.

The German IT portal heise.de asked Apple for a statement on the 22nd and still didn't get an answer:

https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Apple-TV-Dolby-Vision-Fassungen-der-Hauptserien-verschwunden-4594964.html

So it's not just you, even the press doesn't get any statements.

It is very likely that Apple withdrew all ATV+ DV content because some users had problems with it.

That can happen. But what bothers me is that there is no official information from Apple. Not even a simple statement like "we're aware of the problem and are working on it".

In case Apple reads this: you are currently doing everything you can to destroy the reputation of Apple TV+ even before it is properly established in the market.

I wouldn't pay a single cent for ATV+ right now and wouldn't recommend it to anyone either.

Do your homework! You can't afford such a thing at the moment, with the few contents that are offered and the basic functions that ATV+ are missing but every other established streaming platform has.

It's been a week and still no resolution from Apple. I wasted over an hour yesterday before I suspected the issue was an Apple problem and not mine and then I found this thread.

Apple doesn't have glitches anymore. They simply have an absurd policy to meet a self imposed deadline to rush new software every year. The result is the buggiest software Apple has ever produced. I used to assume a problem was mine. Now I assume any problem I find is Apple's issue and it will take a long time to both convince them it's their problem and then to get it fixed. Apple is no longer the company I fell in love with years ago. It's now a company I no longer trust to deliver functional and reliable software/hardware. Apple should simply be ashamed of themselves for what they have done to their customers.

I won't watch anymore Plus programs until the DV problem is fixed. If I didn't have it for free for a year, I'd cancel right now.

"It’s also happening with Netflix, when you play something with Dolby vision, turns to hdr"

That is simply not true with regard to the Apple TV Plus DV issue. Maybe you have some incorrect settings in your system, but I have no problems with DV with Netflix or any DV enabled movies I own. This is simply an Apple TV Plus problem that either they are unaware of (not surprising) or simply have no desire to fix or are unable to fix. After all, Apple is already planning for new feature for next year's slew of "enhanced" buggy software and therefore does not have the time to fix their recently introduced bugs.

My confidence in Apple is at an all time low. This would never have happened with Steve Jobs. Tim Cook needs to go.

I just noticed today that nothing on Apple TV Plus is in HDR. It was working even a week ago but not now. I definitely think fishy things are happening. For instance I read an article about Disney plus wrapping their content to trigger the HDR flag on the TV but it's not actually in HDR or dolby vision. The people did a test on the contrast ratio of the black and white and found that its not HDR at all. This is disturbing since it makes the TV think it's HDR therefore changing the backlight and contrast settings which will shorten the life of the TV. Disney seems to be ignoring this since the issue has not been fixed or even addressed. I wonder if Apple is going to do the same thing.

Agreed, they are lost without Steve Jobs! Sad how this company is greed controlled nowadays! Im deep into apple ecosystem and everything is getting worse with each “update” its getting to a point that Im reconsidering ever buying anything else from them! Apple tv plus is a big no go for me from this experience! All my apple tv movies work fine with DV! Netflix works fine! Apple tv plus is a sham! Not recommended! Im glad im on my 7days trial so I know what to do next!

It's highly unlikely that Apple deliberately disabled Dolby Vision for supposed user complaints on some displays - because they have not disabled it across the board. "DIckinson" still streams in Dolby Vision, and like I've mentioned above, new episodes of "The Morning Show" in Australia continue to be in Dolby Vision as well, presumably because they have to be seperately encoded due to the title change.

Perhaps they made some change intended to tweak compatibility on third-party devices running the TV app, and in the process have broken Dolby Vision support on their own Apple TV 4K device.

We can only speculate, but either there's literally nobody paying attention to quality control at Apple TV+ or nobody who works there actually uses the service. I cannot believe that Apple isn't aware of this problem by now, after *three weeks* of complaints.

I'm surprised the US tech sites haven't cottoned on to this either.

As I’ve stated on a few occasions....I called Apple Support and spoke to a supervisor dude. After a kenghty hold he said he found that I wasn’t alone with this issue and that they’d get in it. That was two weeks ago.

NeonKitten wrote:

It's highly unlikely that Apple deliberately disabled Dolby Vision for supposed user complaints on some displays - because they have not disabled it across the board. "DIckinson" still streams in Dolby Vision, and like I've mentioned above, new episodes of "The Morning Show" in Australia continue to be in Dolby Vision as well, presumably because they have to be seperately encoded due to the title change.

This may be the case for the Apple TV 4K, but not a single show plays in Dolby Vision via AirPlay2 anymore. As mentioned: the trailers of the ATV+ shows still play in Dolby Vision without any problems.

I'm surprised the US tech sites haven't cottoned on to this either.

I don't get this either.

"Still do not work, I have already made 3 reports and I also reported this forum.

Today I have a phone appointment with an apple engineer.

let's see what they tell me this time."

Terrific. I spoke with an upper level tech support for a 1/2 hour yesterday. Really got no where.

Please let us know what they say after your conversation. If it wasn't for the free year, I would cancel apple tv plus in a heartbeat. Yet, I still can't bring myself to watch the shows now, knowing how superb they looked with DV. The conversion to HDR10 just doesn't satisfy.