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Video compression on Apple TV 4K

I have the original Apple TV 4K, which runs at 4K HDR at 60 hz. I’ve get really bad MPEG pixelation on on Netflix, Amazon Video and YouTube, especially noticeable in scenes with lots of sky. It’s like looking at an old 8-bit video game. The picture is clearly made up of large blocks of colour.

If I watch those same videos on the same TV, but using the native You Tube, Prime Video or Netflix apps on my TV, then the MPEG compression is barely noticeable. So the common factor is the Apple TV.

Any suggestions on how I could fix this? It’s really spoiling my viewing. I love the ease of use of the Apple TV, but the video quality it outputs is poor.

I have the latest version of TVOS.

Posted on Jan 5, 2023 8:37 PM

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6 replies

Jan 5, 2023 11:48 PM in response to Matthew_Brisbane

Do you perhaps have a Hisense TV? They seems more prone to this effect on low noise gradients.

Try tweaking the video settings, such as match frame rate, SDR/HDR.

Also see

Screen/picture quality is off on Hisense U9DG and ATV 4k - Apple Community

Apple tv 4k color banding in dolby vision at 50/60hz with Hisense U8H - Apple Community

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Jan 15, 2023 7:47 PM in response to Matthew_Brisbane

So switching to 4K HDR at 30hz rather than 60hz made a huge difference. The issue does seem to be with 60hz output from the Apple TV.

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Jan 6, 2023 12:36 AM in response to Matthew_Brisbane

How long's the cable? Use 5' or less, might fix.

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Jan 15, 2023 5:04 PM in response to Urquhart1244

Thanks - I'll check it out. My TV is Loewe, but some of the suggestions in that article could be helpful.

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Jan 15, 2023 5:04 PM in response to hcsitas

Thanks - it's about 4 feet long and quite high-grade (the cables cost me $120 each when I bought them.)

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Feb 25, 2023 11:11 PM in response to Matthew_Brisbane

Thank you! This solved it for me, too. Specifically 4K HDR at 30hz rather than 60hz

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Video compression on Apple TV 4K

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