Apple TV 4k - select 4k purchases defaulting to HD

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Apple TV 4k - select 4k purchases defaulting to HD

Hello,

Has anyone else seen this issue:

I have an Apple TV 4k.
I have a 4k Dolby Vision Television.
I have a movie library with 4k movies.
I recently purchased 4k movies.
Most of the titles clearly show that I own the 4k version of the video yet:
- A small handful of movies only play HD when using the TV or Movies App from the Apple TV 4k.
- These same movies will play in Vudu or Movies Anywhere as 4k Dolby Vision or 4k HDR.
- These movies are all Star Wars (Fox), Star Wars (Disney), and 2 of the 9 Harry Potter films.
- Other Disney flicks play 4k Dolby Vision fine though.
- I checked my receipts and I purchased the 4k version.
- It's only a select few films. (I guess Avengers was upgraded. Awesome.)
This has been going on for a few months and I thought it was isolated to Harry Potter.
I have reset the device, changed cables, have all my patches and OS upgrades.
There is no correlation as to when I purchased them. Example, MCU films all got upgraded and play fine. I bought Star Wars tonight and it doesn't play in 4k even though it says I own it.
I just tested same Star Wars Ep4 from the iPhone Xr via Airplay and it will play in 4k Dolby Vision.
Rogue One was purchased in HD before the recent upgrade. It plays HD on Apple TV but I can stream it in 4k Dolby Vision from the iPhone. (Guess they updated my older purchases)

What gives? Anyone else see this?

Thanks,

Jorge

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 12

Posted on Oct 5, 2020 6:41 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

jlopez.chicago Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 6, 2020 8:01 AM in response to Urquhart1244

Well this is NOT HELPFUL because I stated that:

I have an Apple TV 4k.
I have a 4k Dolby Vision Television.
A small handful of movies only play HD when using the TV or Movies App from the Apple TV 4k.
These same movies will play in Vudu or Movies Anywhere as 4k Dolby Vision or 4k HDR. (Testing in another app)
Other Disney flicks play 4k Dolby Vision fine though. (There is no rhyme or reason)
I checked my receipts and I purchased the 4k version. (It must be offered in 4k if it shows the icon for 4k and dolby vision)
This has been going on for a few months and I thought it was isolated to Harry Potter.
I just tested same Star Wars Ep4 from the iPhone Xr via Airplay and it will play in 4k Dolby Vision. (Purchased in 4k Dolby Vision)
Rogue One was purchased in HD before the recent upgrade. It plays HD on Apple TV but I can stream it in 4k Dolby Vision from the iPhone. (Guess they updated my older purchases)

Has anyone else seen this? What gives?

Thanks,

Jorge

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Answer 2

Oct 22, 2020 12:04 PM in response to jlopez.chicago

I was able to fix this somehow. I did several things but I think the last thing I tried was this:

Go to Settings > Apps > iTunes Movies and TV Shows
Make sure Video Quality is set to "Best Available"
Make sure Quick Start is set to "On"
Play the Movie from the Apple TV App or the iTunes Movie app.

Now they all seem to work fine.

I had already done these things:

Changed the cable.
Went to Video and Audio > Format and tested the various settings here.
Went to Video and Audio > Match Content turned those off or on.
Went to Video and Audio > Check HDMI Connection.
Went to Video and Audio > Reset the video settings.

I hope this helps!

Jorge

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Answer 3

Oct 22, 2020 11:09 AM in response to jlopez.chicago

Ok now it is starting to spread on the same device. More movies that I've not only purchased in 4k, but viewed in 4k, are playing in HD.

Recap: Movies that I have purchased through iTunes in 4k, or 4k Dolby Vision, are defaulting to HD. The most recent movie was Atomic Blonde as well as Avengers: Endgame. Remember I said that Endgame was playing to 4k Dolby Vision? Not anymore.

If I stream the same movie from my phone over Airplay to the same AppleTV and Television, the movie will play in 4k HDR or 4k Dolby Vision.
If I play this movie in the AppleTV Vudu App, it plays in 4k Dolby Vision.
If I switch to Roku and use the AppleTV App, it will play in 4K Dolby Vision.
If I play the movie from AppleTV Prime App, it plays in Prime's 4k HDR (I don't think they support Dolby Vision yet)
Netflix will play 4k HDR and 4k Dolby Vision movies fine, so I know it's not the TV or the Apple TV

This is so weird. Could it be limited space on the Apple TV? Has anyone noticed this?

Jorge

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Answer 4

Oct 6, 2020 3:59 AM in response to jlopez.chicago

The movies in the Movies app or the TV app will be the resolution and dynamic range as offered in the iTunes Store, if purchased in the iTunes Store. For reciprocal services, i.e. linked from purchases elsewhere, upgrades are not offered. If you purchased it as HD there, then you do not qualify for the 4K version as it would be when directly purchased from the iTunes Store.

Connect your Apple ID to your Movies Anywhere account - Apple Support

About 4K, HDR, or Dolby Vision versions

• If you buy an eligible movie from a Movies Anywhere reciprocal service* in 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos, you will be able to watch a matching quality version from the iTunes Store (as long as the same movie is available in 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos from the iTunes Store).

• If you buy an eligible movie from a Movies Anywhere reciprocal service* in HD, you will be able to watch the HD version from the iTunes Store. (These movies will not be upgraded to 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos, even if the iTunes Store has the movie in those formats.)

• If you buy an eligible movie from the iTunes Store in 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos, you will be able to watch a matching quality version from a Movies Anywhere reciprocal service* (as long the same movie is available in 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos from the reciprocal service).*

• If you buy an eligible movie from the iTunes Store in HD that is later upgraded to 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos, you might not be able to watch the matching higher-quality version through a Movies Anywhere reciprocal service* (but you will still be able to watch the HD version).

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Apple TV 4k - select 4k purchases defaulting to HD

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