Netflix Dolby Atmos problems with new Apple TV 4k

Hi All,

I don’t think it’s the cables. I believe it happens because the AppleTV 4K has problem supporting Atmos with Dolby Vision at 60Hz. Reduced the Dolby FPS to 50 Hz and it went away. I need more tests to verify though. Very sad that Apple let things come to this. It ruined my whole viewing experience on Netflix.

I have my 1080p projector hooked up with a Pioneer receiver. You should try watching 'Extraction' on NF with ATV 4K...It's a nightmare in my case. The video quality goes poor so many times during the movie & the surround sound isn't appealing either.

Last week, I updated all my HDMI cables to Zeskit Maya 48gbps hoping that it would improve the poor video quality, but no luck.

I think you are right about some titles on NF are worse than the others when it comes to ATV's ability to decode atmos as well as maintaining an HD image. I would have blamed my setup if I hadn't tried the same movie (Extraction) on the Windows 10 NF app. It's a day & night difference in both video & atmos quality on the windows app.

Thanks for introducing me to "Drive to Survive", it revived my passion for the F1 :) In my case, I had no audio/video glitches with "Drive to Survive".

All in all, ATV 4K NF app is hot garbage. We can sum up that no matter what one's setup is, most (if not all) users are facing audio (atmos) and video issues randomly. Living in 2021, what a disgrace on both NF & apple's part !!

I have stopped watching NF on ATV 4k, & have to keep switching between windows & ATV sources for different streamings. What a mess!

Can we assume that since you are using a non-4K projector as your display that you have set your Apple TV 4K to 1080p/60 SDR? Because, of course, sending a 4K signal to an HD only device will result in issues as you describe.

Standard HD uses much less bandwidth as 4K HDR/Dolby Vision and you do not need 48gbps certified cables. Are you sure you know what you are doing?

Yes, that's exactly what I have on my ATV: 1080p/60 SDR. My projector is 10+ ft. apart from the receiver & hence there have always been occasional signal drops, so I ended up upgrading the cables regardless. If I can, I'll update the photos depicting the difference between the ATV & NF app on windows of the same title.

I'm not having any trouble with the video quality, but my 4K TV (2016 vintage 75" Sony XBR940D) doesn't have Dolby Vision, just HDR-10. It's also at the end of a long HDMI run (equipment is in a separate room) and that's never been a problem either. In my case, it's just the audio that stutters (when it happens, it sounds kind of like a propeller going faster and faster), and it might just be a Denon thing. However, I have no problems playing Atmos Blu-Rays through it and don't recall the problem on any other streaming service. I'll be watching the new "Matrix" movie tomorrow on HBO Max and hopefully it's in Atmos/Dolby Vision so that might be interesting. As I said, switching the AppleTV to 5.1 completely solves the audio problem.

As a test, I connected a ChromeCast with GoogleTV to the Denon and tried "Drive to Survive" using that and it played fine, but I was not offered Atmos. I was hoping that might be a solution. Seems like we need a variety of streamers to solve these problems.

Glad you're enjoying "Drive to Survive". It's a great equipment demo and fantastically entertaining. My son convinced us to start watching F1 just this year and got us addicted (he went to all three days in Austin -- expensive hobby).

I'll see if I can figure out how to report an AppleTV 4K bug.

Hello,

I think from tvOS 15.0 or 15.1I have got problems too with audio drops on Netflix (only Atmos format). I tested HDMI connection on ATV and it is OK. I have got good 48Gbps HDMI cables. I have got sonos arc and panasonic hz1000 tv. Problem is only on Netflix, Apple TV streaming app is OK with Atmos. Have any of you found a solution yet?

I also have audio issues when I listen to Atmos programs on Netflix or the Apple TV app with my Apple TV 4K connected to my Denon AVR 6700h; I replaced the cables with 48Gbps ones with no luck. I finally discovered that if I connect the Apple TV 4K to my LG C9 and use eARC the problems seem to go away. It’s only if I connect the Apple TV 4K to my Denon (any input) that I have the problem (though I seem to have to reboot the 4K after switching to the TV input to get the 4K working smoothly again after the audio issues start up).

A Roku streamer has no issues with the same cable when plugged into the same input on my Denon.

The fact that eARC solves the issue seems to prove it’s a software not a hardware issue.

Change! On Apple TV + app the audio drops too!! Only Atmos. Maybe the problem is not on Apple TV Or Netflix app but in Sonos Arc firmware. I will try to play movie from television native app directly to Sonos.

I had one dropout/propeller sound today watching "The Matrix" on HBO Max in Atmos. Just one, while it happens much more often with Netflix. Backing up 30 seconds played the same section again without audio problems. My 2016 Sony TV only has ARC, not E-ARC so I can't connect the AppleTV that way -- the only way to get Atmos from streaming is to connect the Apple TV directly to the Denon 8500HA's HDMI input. Since there are reports of Sonos having the same problem (and I think someone mentioned Yamaha), that pretty much points to the AppleTV instead of the receiver.

I started having these issues the moment I installed my Atmos height speakers for my 5.1.2 home theater system. Every 10-15 mins the audio drops out for about 10 seconds.

The ATV is connected straight into the HT receiver. No ARC or eARC shenanigans. The HDMI port on the receiver is in enhanced high bandwidth mode. We're using 8K HDMI cables for everything. No wifi either, the ATV is hard wired via ethernet to a 300Mbps fiber connection.

What fixed the problem was disabling Atmos in the ATV settings and falling back to regular surround which meant losing all Atmos information.

This is clearly a TV OS issue and it's very disappointing. I bought this premium device just to watch Dolby Vision Atmos content.

I also now have seen the issue a few times when using e-ARC, though not nearly as often as when the Apple TV4k is directly attached to my Denon avr6700H hdmi ports. It’s always during Dolby Atmos though.

I assume they will fix it eventually but it does suck that I don’t have these issues on my much cheaper Roku or when using the LG built in apps.

I too have had this problem. Just updated software and it has improved to shorter bursts of the audio drop outs but still occurs. Like everyone else, never an issue with the old 4K Apple TV. Obviously an Apple TV issue which should be good news since this means Apple can probably fix it via software update.

I have this problem too with my new Apple TV 4K 2021 and Netflix. When watching content with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos I often get random audio dropouts. Have been trying to figure out what’s causing it. My ATV is hooked up to a Marantz-receiver with short 48Gbit-cables. So far I haven’t noticed it with other streaming apps like Disney+ or HBO Max. And I also have no problem watching Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos-content on Netflix through my Nvidia Shield TV Pro. If this is a software problem with Apple TV or Netflix I hope they can fix it soon.

Opened a case with Apple and they believe it’s a hardware issue; I decided to exchange it for a brand new one at Best Buy since I was within the return/exchange time period (instead of waiting for Apple to replace it with another unit under warranty); I will test the new one out and soon see I guess whether in my case it was indeed a hardware issue.