Spectrum app blurry on Apple TV

I have been having this same issue. When I first started using the Spectrum tv app on my Apple TV several months ago I had no issues. Unfortunely, in the last month while watching live tv the picture has been very blury and it will freeze often. It has gotten to the point that's its unwatchable. As a test I have installed the app on 4 different approved and compatabe streaming devices and the Spectrum tv app is blury and and freezes on them as well. The issue is not with my internet speed since I average 168.5 Mbps download, and 10.6 Mbps upload speeds which more than enough. I do not experiance any performace or quality issues with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBOMax, Disney+, Paramount+, or even the free streaming services Philo, Pluto, and Xumo. So I should not be having these issues with the paid Spectrum tv app. In reseraching this issue online it seems that this is a known issue which is experieced by many, many users. I have follwed and tried the suggestions of 1. Force-quit the app, then relaunch and try again. 2. If the issue persists, force-quit the app, restart the device, then relaunch and try again. 3. If the issue still persists, delete the app, re-download and try again. 4. Update the streaming devices. Needless to say none of these steps fixed the issue. When speaking to Spectrum they say the issue is with apple and I should call them. I then expalin to the support tech that I have spectrum tv installed on other compatable devices such as Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox One, and Amazon devices and I experiance the same poor guality on all of them. The tech then puts me on hold for more than 15 mins just to come back and say they will have to look into it and call me back within the hour. To this day I have never been called back. When I finally called back they said they had no record of my call or issue. Its ridiculus that Spectrum keeps saying the issue is with all the compatable streaming devices and not with their app. I finally had enough with spectrum and their app and I have switched to Hulu + Live TV and it works perfectly. I also tried Youtube Live TV and they worked great too. Yes, it does cost a little more, but it's better than paying for a service that doesn't work. It's ridiculus that this is a known issue and Spectrum has done nothig to fix the issue. I am so glad I switched.

My Apple TV 4K is set to 4K SDR and the Frame Rate and Dynamic Range Matching is ON. Watching a local cable channel on the Spectrum app and pulling up the information on my Denon AVR I get 4K60, Color Space YCbCr 4:4:4:4, and the picture quality is fine. Some people may default their Apple TV settings to 4KHDR or 4K Dolby Vision which means it would try to upscale whatever the source is. I personally have found that upscaling can be problematic, especially lower resolution content.

Try this for any misbehaving app:

• Force-quit the app, then relaunch and try again.
• If the issue persists, force-quit the app, restart the device, then relaunch and try again.
• If the issue still persists, delete the app, re-download and try again.
• If the issue still persists, then contact the app developer for further assistance.

Hollywoodbeach2022 wrote:

I’ve contacted spectrum and they said it’s not on their end. While on the phone with them I tried it on my iPhone and a roku device and no issues only when using the Apple TV’s. Also all the trouble shooting tips you provided I’ve tried and it didn’t solve it. The worst part is when using the cloud dvr in spectrum it freezes and is really pixilated.

At best, Spectrum is in denial about the inconsistent and poor video quality on their Cloud DVR service. They could even say, truthfully, that there's nothing wrong with their software or cable Internet service without admitting that their cDVR system is compressing video too aggressively in order to save on storage costs. They do appear unwilling to admit that their cDVR video compression system just isn't very good and there's simply nothing their tech support people can do about it. It's sad that they point the finger at 3rd-party devices that are being forced to render their poorly-compressed video using their app. Like I said before, garbage in; garbage out.

A simple Google search will reveal many Spectrum cloud DVR quality complaints involving Chromecast, Roku and other devices as well as the perfectly-good Apple TV 4K devices Spectrum is reselling.

Video compression is really complicated with many, many factors involved. Poor results vary by content (quality of source, level of action, etc), and compression method/parameters. Poorly-compressed video contains visible artifacts (flaws) that may look pixelated or worse with rapid scene changes causing lost frames or "freezes". Also, a DVR system needs to compress video in realtime, whereas compressing a movie for on-demand access can take all the time it needs to execute the highly complex algorithms used in higher quality video compression.

The flaws in some poorly compressed video may look OK on a small screen (like an iPhone) or even a 40" HD TV, but scale those flaws up to a 65" UHD/4K TV and the flaws are magnified over 400% and more obvious (there's also a generational problem, like a photocopy of a photocopy, in upscaling algorithms working on poorly-compressed content).

Sorry for geeking out, but I hope this helps some Spectrum customers understand what's going on with blurry/pixelated video via the cloud DVR service when things look OK while viewing the live TV and on-demand streams.

Spectrum!?!? Dern near killed 'um!

Sorry.

I think it's a case of garbage in, garbage out. I'm not a spectrum customer, but a quick search indicates that they don't offer UHD/4K streaming as part of their TV service - most reviews/discussions about them report 720p (highly compressed) and talk about poor quality (regardless of streaming media device). Their ISP service may be fine... IDK.

FWIW, their web site says nothing about video quality or streaming resolution (usually an indicator of nothing to brag about). While it appears Spectrum's offering some sort of ATV4K bundle deal with a special "Spectrum remote", that still doesn't speak to the quality of what they stream out to their app users.

wfin73 wrote:

I've been having this same problem with my 4K box. Spectrum DVR quality is terrible, especially if I'm watching a recorded show while another is being recorded. If I go to the on demand version of it, it's crystal clear, but lose the ability to fast forward through commercials. All other apps are perfect quality (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) I've tried the usual unplugging, resetting, etc. to no avail. I'll see what my video settings are at, maybe taking it off 4K will help. Spectrum was no help and told me to call Apple for support.

That’s almost amusing. Spectrum wants Apple to help you overcome Spectrum’s (apparent) over-aggressive compression on stored content and/or their insufficient DVR service infrastructure/Internet bandwidth provisioning?

In other words, I’m afraid your problem is visible while using your Apple TV 4K, but its not a problem with the ATV4K itself.

I was able to eliminate the blurry spectrum video by boosting my internet signal strength. Apparently a marginally weak internet signal can result in a blurry picture. I just plugged the booster (signal extender) into my router and configured it. Then, back in "Settings" on my Apple TV Box, I chose the internet associated with the booster, which is a stronger signal than my other internet. All of a sudden, blurry picture went away. Now I have a sharp picture.

Your ATV4K is doing the upscaling if you've got your Video Format set to 4K SDR. The "Match Content" setting seems to only affect dynamic range (color) and frame rate. I verified this by turning on Range and Frame Rate matching (I've got my Format set to 4K HDR) and then watching a program that I know to be 1080p SDR. The ATV4K's output was 2160p SDR.

Edit: Also, very few local channels are broadcasting at ATSC 3.0 (4K aka "NextGen") yet. And I'll bet you a dollar that Spectrum has not implemented the infrastructure yet to pass it along once they all do - particularly since stations will continue to support ATSC 1.0 ("HD") for at least another decade. Also, Spectrum isn't bragging about it :-).

From what I can see, the ATV4K does very respectable upscaling. Dynamic range is still pretty squirley for device compatibility (HDR10+ and Dolby Vision in particular).

I’ve contacted spectrum and they said it’s not on their end. While on the phone with them I tried it on my iPhone and a roku device and no issues only when using the Apple TV’s. Also all the trouble shooting tips you provided I’ve tried and it didn’t solve it. The worst part is when using the cloud dvr in spectrum it freezes and is really pixilated.

Have this issue with spectrum tv app and have done all the resets and dealt with app technicians several times over several months. No resolve but their IT techs have worked with me with more enthusiasm than any other department. It doesn't hardly do it or is better when I watch live streaming on iPad or iPhone or iMac but worse on apple tv box? Spectrum tech says the live streaming uses more power to run than other apps. Time to try another streaming service but wondering if other live streaming apps will do the same? Any one running other live streaming apps have this problem?

I’ve had the same problem since day one. Doesn’t matter what we try. I can’t decide if I should quit spectrum and cut the cord or quit my Apple TV and buy a new streaming device. But something with apple and spectrum has never worked and after over a year of trying, I’m done.

Funny, I use the Spectrum app on my Apple TV 4K 2021 -> Denon AVR -> Sony 65” 4K and the display is magnificent, not blurry at all. I actually have two Apple TVs that run the Spectrum app and both pictures are fine. Of course Spectrum now includes an Apple TV for rent or purchase with the Choice streaming package.

Bottom line, I don't know what your problems are but it’s not the Apple TV and it’s not the Spectrum app. They both work beautifully together.

Good to hear, @lkrupp!

Question: does their app indicate what resolution their various on-demand programs are encoded to? As they're a "Cable TV" provider, it would make sense that their DVR service would merely store the ATSC 1.0 data streams... if I recall that means 1080i or 720p with minimal compression (enough "HD" data to scale up reasonably).