Check with the manufacturer if your model TV supports HDR over HDMI from a set-top box.
Check if your TV needs to have its HDMI port configured for 4K HDR input. Some TVs have an “Enhanced” setting for that.
Use one of the HDMI 2.0 ports on your TV (not the HDMI 1.4 port, if also present).
Use HDMI 2.0 (or better) cables: 18 Gbps (or better).
Verify if your TV or Apple TV has software updates available.
Use HDR content to judge the HDR performance. Just setting HDR format output would send SDR content as HDR, resulting in an unnatural look, imho. Instead I would suggest to use the SDR setting, along with Match Dynamic Range, to automatically switch to HDR for HDR content only.