Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

Everyone I guess is entitled to their own theories/speculation as to the root cause of the problems.

Mine is that for people with complicated setups (e.g. lots of speakers including height speakers) the ATV 4K Gen 2 is just being pushed too hard and components are being asked to do more than they can handle in a very tight space…maybe things are overheating or there is interference of some sort between the components all running at their maximum limits.

Dont forget that the ATV 4K is doing a lot more processing than a standard streamer that just passes the uncompressed input to an AVR; the ATV 4K has to uncompress the input itself instead of letting the AVR do that, it has to also do all the special audio computations for Apple AirPods, it has to handle HDMI 2.1, and it also has its power supply inside that tiny space.

Maybe it just isn’t capable of doing all it is trying to do for complicated setups.

A few things for you to consider:

1) The ATV4K isn't doing any extra work for a system with lots of speakers compared to a simpler 5.1.2 Atmos system, such as mine, or an Atmos soundbar. The receiver/soundbar is decoding the Atmos metadata and distributing it among the speakers.

2) I quickly ruled out a thermal issue when I had the Atmos problem soon after plugging in the ATV4K, so it had no time to overheat.

3) I am well aware that the ATV4K is doing more than most streamers. Apple chose not to support bitstreaming on these devices, which would have avoided the Atmos problems. My hypothesis has been that the Gen 2 problem is introduced in the creation of the MAT 2.0 Atmos metadata, which would explain why no other audio formats are affected. I have speculated why this might be happening on other posts.

4) If the problem were that the ATV4K is being pushed too hard, then the Gen 1 units should have been the first to suffer the Atmos issues, since the A12 Bionic is significantly more powerful than the A10X Fusion.

First had atmos audio drop outs on Netflix several weeks ago. Atmos has been working fine for more than a year. Last night wile watching Drive to Survive (~50 min) audio dropped out about 10 times. No audio for 3 seconds or so. Netflix seems to be the only app that does this.

Updated Tuesday to 15.4 and no better, so not caused or helped by 15.4. Restarting Netflix app seems to do nothing. Restarting Apple TV also not much help.

I tried eARC with my ATV 4K and there were fewer drops/static etc. with Atmos content but they did still occur.

One reason I bought the ATV 4K was so I could plug it into my Denon and be able to see the volume and audio overlay info that the Denon displayed on the screen, so using eARC wasn’t any better than just using the builtin LG TV apps...actually worse since they didn’t have any audio drops.

I was also hoping the ATV 4K would fix the annoying dropped frames I got with my Roku (which it did)….but the ATMOS audio problems were far more annoying than the occasional dropped frames from the Roku.

ZimFromIRK wrote:

[...]

A passthrough option is the way to go -- I'd rather have my top-of-the-line Denon AVR decoding the signal than the AppleTV.

Yes! I suspect that such an audio bitstream passthrough option in the ATV's Settings would address the majority of complaints in this thread. If true, it's possible Apple's engineers have classified the Atmos issue that folks here are experiencing under "incompatible 3rd-party hardware", since it can be argued that the current "high bandwidth form of Dolby Atmos" is acceptable according to Dolby's specification.

So, I urge folks still following this thread to cast a vote for the passthrough option using Apple's ATV feedback form. It appears they do act upon oft-repeated feature requests (and in this case, implementing the passthrough option may be more straightforward that spinning over the "is it a bug?" or "is it a design flaw?" question presented in this thread :-).

When they had me swap out my Apple TV 4K for a new unit, then had me replace the HDMI cables with ones they approved of, all with zero improvement, then started telling me it was likely my AVR (even though my UHD Blurays and Roku all worked flawlessly with Atmos content), i knew it was looking pretty bleak.

So glad i was able to return my 2nd ATV 4K to Best Buy and get off this train...

Return it and get your money back. It's a nightmare. And don't update the software on your 1st gen to TvOs 15.4 because when I did that my 1st gen began dropping Atmos and it is even worse the the 2nd gen

I'm suffering Netflix Atmos dropouts on my 2021 Apple TV 4k, for me all other streaming services work fine. I swapped over to my original Apple TV4k and the problem disappears.

Does anyone have an idea if Apple/Netflix are working on a fix otherwise I will ditch the Apple TV and move on.

Thanks

Tired of various films and TV show being ruined by audio drops, I sent back the latest Apple TV for a refund, and went back to my previous Apple TV 4K version and the Dolby Atmos works perfectly. Have watched CODA and F1: Drive to Survive without one single audio drop in Atmos.

Dolby people and other creators are aware of the problem. Apple are too cos I told them: I emailed Bernadette Simpao at Apple

bsimpao@apple.com (669) 227-9273, Christine Monaghan at Apple cmonaghan@apple.com (408) 974-8850

Neither of them could be bothered to reply after two attempts.

I'll be waiting till either, you guys say a future update has solved it... or more likely wait for the next generation.

Since upgrading to 15.4.1 my '21 ATV 4K had drop outs for sound in Slow Horses on ATV+ almost every episode. When it happened exiting the episode and resuming seemed to solve it. At least for me. But very frustrating. I'm using the ATV 4K connected up to a Yamaha receiver.

I wish at this point there was an "Advanced" sound option to enable bitstream from ATV 4K -> Receiver so that those who don't care about sound effects or Siri could just get the raw transmission sent through to the receiver. I suspect this would solve this problem (even though Apple should solve it anyway). And yes I know LPCM is supposedly the exact same "feed" just decoded on the ATV.

I'm experiencing this issue, as well, with both an A110 and a 4700H. Very frustrating, Apple. I'm at the end of troubleshooting and have determined it is indeed isolated to the Apple TV 4K/Apple ecosystem.

I want my perfect Apple/Atmos experience back!

Please investigate and resolve this issue soon.

I question how credible those reports are based on the small number of reports I have seen, but it was enough for me to keep my Gen 1 on 15.3. I have no idea what the cause of the Atmos problem is. All I was able to do is figure out some conditions that aggravate the problem, such as high B/W video and Ethernet versus Wi-Fi. I also ruled-out several factors, such as DV, and I think it is safe to say that all the reports of dropouts when streaming only Atmos music are due to the normal blanking of audio by the AVR/Atmos decoder when the audio stream changes formats.

I believe the issue is introduced during the creation of the MAT 2.0 Atmos metadata stream that accompanies the LPCM 5.1 out of the ATV4K. I have posted a lot more on the MartinLogan forum here if you care to read more. Feel free to test out my findings and report back if you agree.

you shouldn't focus too much at the 50Hz. I assume you get the 50Hz info from your AVR or TV. I've read that dts is a 25Hz version on Netflix -they do anything to keep the data rate low. The ATV doubles it up to 50 (tested it on Prime with a Firestick vs. ATV a while ago). I don't know if xcode would show the real incoming frame rate, I don't have a Mac and won't buy one just for this, my PC's running Linux.

The next test could be to force the ATV to output 25Hz (1 Hz more should take that effect). Next could be another Atmos content e.g. from Apple+ (didn't have a dropout myself, from others seldom reported) with forced 60Hz output.

Good post.

I agree that forcing 1080p isn't for everyone. I even said that seating distance, TV 4K upscaling quality, etc., are all factors. I sit 7 feet from a 75" Sony 940E, so I am in the range where 4K makes a difference over 1080p. If I were 10 feet from the screen, a figure I suspect is a more typical viewing distance, I would not be able to see the difference. There are many TV viewing distance charts online to help people people determine if 4K makes a difference. I also have other streaming options that do not have any issues, such as my Gen 1 ATV4K, Roku Ultra, and Sony TV apps (my 2017 Shield doesn't support DV, so not an option), so there would be no reason for me to force 1080p.

I would appreciate if you could test my recommendations (forced 1080p, Wi-Fi) to see if you get similar results, since we have similar setups other than my Sony 940E TV and Denon AVR-X4300H are about 5 years old. I find it curious that some people mirror my results, while others don't.

Btw, I have ruled out DV as a factor. The first season of DtS is not streamed in DV, while season 2 up are. DtS S01E01 is my go-to test episode as it has the most frequent and consistent dropouts due to it being 4K 50Hz. I agree that your observation of the dropouts only at the start of two "The Essex Serpent" episodes is curious. Perhaps that is just random chance. Other than DtS, I find the dropouts to be too infrequent to make meaningful generalizations. I have watched some shows for many hours -- even complete seasons -- without dropouts. I never heard a dropout in "Servant", for example, and I attribute that to low video bandwidth.

Please remember to report this issue to Apple: Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

It’s important to mention the facts:

1. affects appletv 4K gen 2
2. wired ethernet connection
3. atmos enabled
4. Netflix app “Drive to Survive” or “Stranger Things Season 4”.

consistent and repetitive reporting is key.

If your problem isn't specifically the combination I mentioned above, then make sure you give them enough detail - and a way to specifically replicate the problem on your end.