I can’t play the Apple TV app on my Bravia tv. The picture becomes very pixelated/unwatchable. No issues with internet, all other streaming apps work fine. One work around has been to limit to SD but still some pixelation occurs. Have also tried uninstalling and reinstalling app, still occurs. Any thoughts?
BRAVIA4KGBATV3,
Hi All,
Many thanks to behickey for pointing out that Update Automatically doesn't always do what is implied and that a manual update to the latest appropriate firmware for your Sony Bravia may fix the Apple TV pixel problem - it fixed mine. Here is my story. My Sony TV is a KD-75x780f (2018 model from Costco). Step 1 - Hit HELP button on Sony remote. The existing software version appears on the upper right of the screen underneath the model number. Mine was PKG6.6555xxxx. Write that down. Step 2 - Using the internet, navigate to Sony.com. Step 3 - Choose Business & Products. Step 4 - Choose Electronics. Step 5 - Choose Consumer Electronics. Step 6 - Choose TV & Home Theater. Step 7 - Choose Smart TVs. Step 8 - Choose Product Technical Support. Step 9 - Search for KD-75x750f (obviously you would search for your model). After Step 9 I was at the KD-75x780f Model Support Page. Step 10 - navigate to the Downloads tab. Appearing on my laptop, once I hit the download tab, was a Firmware Update v6.7220. There was an option to view all applicable models for this Update and mine was among them. Step 11 - download the update file. Step 12 - follow the instructions on the download page for methods to manually install the update.
Remember the number you wrote down in Step 1? PKG6.6555xxxx (for me). The new downloaded software for my TV was PKG6.7220xxxx. Because my current software was clearly out of date I used the USB method to update my software (it is described on the download page). It was pretty simple. I copied the downloaded update from my laptop to a USB thumb drive. I plugged the USB thumb drive into the back of my TV. The TV recognized the drive and did the rest. The software update took about 20 minutes. Afterwards when I hit the HELP button on the remote the software version displayed as PKG6.7220xxxx.
Most importantly - Apple TV now works perfectly! Total time (once I knew what to do) was about an hour.
This worked for me. I thought I had automatic updates on, I did not. Forced update and all is well!
Forced the system update, and this solved the problem! Thank you
I followed the advice along this thread and updated the Sony software. Apple TV is now working well
Try the Sony recommended sytem update. It worked for me and solved the problem
Hurray the tv update fixed our AppleTV pixel problem. It was difficult to find in the system. It was in the About and it was a fifteen minute update.
I’m not sure what “forcing an update” means but I toggled off automatic software download and did a software update and it did help with the pixelation but I still got better results with “limit to sd playback”.
Apple app>settings>limit playback to sd
On my Sony Bravia that works the best.
If you want to try to manually update then go to
HomeScreen>Settings>Device
Preferences>About>System software update>toggle off Automatic software download>software update.
You can also leave Automatic software download toggled on and just select software update but I did both without completely eliminating the pixelation problem.
If anyone finds something I missed or did incorrectly I love to hear about it.
i think I found a way to fix it.
goto you Apple TV settings - limit play back to SD make sure this is on. This actually fixed the pixelled movie streaming that on Apple TV had the issue with. I turned the tv on and off, cleared cache on all the apps on my Sony Bravia, restarted the router as well which didn’t fix it. I also turned off the Share Apple TV app analytics as well. Hope this helps
I witnessed something similar. The video is sharp for a moment, then gets more and more glitchy over a few seconds, then gets sharp again. It looks like a compression issue, which gets reset anytime a new keyframe comes in.
Forcing the Sony Bravia software update fixes the problem
Yeah, that’s not a fix. That’s lowering the video quality. I have a 4K TV that works with every other app and streaming service on it in 4K with zero problems. Apple TV+ is a pixelated mess in HD, no matter what movie I play. I sell and install AV systems and Sony TVs. I have hardwired gigabit Ethernet, and 300Mb Comcast Business bandwidth. There should be no buffering or steaming issues. This is a MAJOR problem with the Apple TV app
I can verify that the latest update from Sony fix this on my television. Was just watching it all pixelated 30 minutes ago now it's crystal clear.
Actually. thinking about this again -pixellated is probably the wrong word because that just implies a drop in picture quality but a discernable picture still remains. This problem is more like parts of the picture turning to random noise. It looks almost like a screen refresh/stream compression problem because the messed up part (which could be say the bottom half of the screen) will stay messed up until a movie scene changes and an entire picture refresh is forced. Not a very technical description but I am trying to say that this problem makes AppleTV unwatchable. I am currently on a free trial, so I won't be paying for AppleTV at the end of the trial period.
I've tired ALL the suggestions and it still looks terrible.
ALL as in SD, update software on Sony,I am at my wits end. I do have a Samsung that works and everything else(Netflix/Hulu etc) works fine on the Sony. It has to be the Apple app.
Any more ideas????
Thanks for that tip. Tried streaming Bad Sisters tonight. First time user of the Apple TV app. We have a Sony Bravia 4K. Picture was totally pixelated and unwatchable. Never had problems with Netflix, Stan or when streaming Foxtel or free streaming apps. Took your advice and adjusted Apple app to play SD and able to watch entire episode with only one very small blip for a few seconds. Ok for this show but won’t be happy to watch HD or UHD movies on Apple if this is the only fix!
Installed the app today having discovered it was now available in the Google store. Couldn’t find it a few months ago when I first looked.
This is happening to me too on a Sony TV. Even with the SD workaround, the pixellation makes stuff unwatchable. I have several other streaming services working without a problem so there is nothing wrong with my set-up. This is indeed a major and embarrassing problem with Apple TV. I am surprised there isn't more about this on the Internet.
Apple TV app pixelated on Sony Bravia Android Tv
