ATV 4k content from most streaming apps is washed out on Sony A8H

Question

ATV 4k content from most streaming apps is washed out on Sony A8H

I have an ATV 4k, latest model, plugged into my Sony A8H HDMI 1 port with an Belkin ultra high speed cable. No other peripherals or pass throughs. ATV model A2843 with tvOS 17.5.1, plugged into Ethernet.

When I try to watch streaming content through the Apple TV (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), the blacks are washed out. I can tell immediately because letterbox bars are gray, whereas they are usually pure black given the OLED display. (I have used the TV for years with no issues using the native apps, but love the ATV interface and speed).

I have tried many settings permutations on the ATV-Dolby, HDR, SDR, all the Chroma variations, and with Match Content Range on and off.

With the ATV on Dolby and Match Content "off", it forces the Dolby effect on content where I don't want it.

With any other settings, - whether ATV on Dolby, HDR or SDR, and Match Content range and frame rate "on", the blacks from the streaming app content via ATV are washed out. The TV display says that it is showing in the native content format - Dolby, HDR, etc. But the blacks are washed out.

I can flip back to the native app to watch the same movie and it looks normal/great. Flip back to the ATV source and it's immediately washed out. Have been using Hulu's Dawn of Planet of the Apes to test, which is 4K but not natively shot or streamed in Dolby Vision.

The exceptions are Apple TV+ content from the TV+ app and Disney+ content. Those show pure blacks and their native formats when match content range is on, including Dolby vision.

So the issue appears to be something about the handling of certain streaming apps’ content, not the match content settings.

thank you for any help!!

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 17

Posted on Aug 4, 2024 6:04 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 5, 2024 2:13 PM in response to hcsitas

I'm glad this board has a sense of humor!

As it happens, resetting the TV to factory settings appears to have resolved the issue. Thank you anyway.

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Answer 2

hcsitas

Level 6

13,970 points

Aug 5, 2024 7:09 AM in response to Nicholas Gerry-Bullard

Cable isn’t ruled out as suspect unless you test with 3’ or shorter. Give it a go?

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Answer 3

hcsitas

Level 6

13,970 points

Aug 5, 2024 12:29 PM in response to Nicholas Gerry-Bullard

“have read”, “they say”, “does reliably”, “some” - I find these arguments a bit, err, washed out 😁.

Ruling out a long cable costs nothing, so let’s get past that first. Look forward to your next update.

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Answer 4

hcsitas

Level 6

13,970 points

Aug 5, 2024 8:50 PM in response to Nicholas Gerry-Bullard

Great! Thanks for updating.

I would nevertheless consider a short cable setup because resolution differences are not easily detectable to the human eye - can and often are faked using techno-gimmicks.

Separately, it’s plain common sense that longer cables will have higher bit error rates. Which is why none of the Apple Support documentation show cables longer than 1m - that’s when engineers back off and cable marketeers step in 😉 🍻

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Answer 5

Aug 5, 2024 6:35 AM in response to hcsitas

6 feet. I don’t believe that’s the issue as content from the TV+ app shows fine.

Also- with content that shows the washed out blacks, I also notice some flickering or pulsing in the gray letterbox bars. This is with “match frame rate” ON.

There was one interesting exception to this pattern. I started a Netflix show shot in Dolby video from the Apple TV. The letterbox bars showed gray and it was generally washed out. I switched over to the TV’s native Netflix app and watch the same content, and it looked normal. The TV display showed as Netflix calibrated mode. Then as an experiment I switched back to the Apple TV stream and that time the blacks came through normally and the TV display showed the format as Dolby Vision. This is with match content range on the Apple TV set to 4K SDR.

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Answer 6

Aug 5, 2024 11:35 AM in response to hcsitas

Thank you for the suggestion, but I can’t easily get the ATV within 3 feet of the TV. Moreover why would some content look immaculate if the cable was the problem? And why would Apple sell a 6 foot cable to go with the Apple TV?

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Answer 7

Aug 5, 2024 12:17 PM in response to hcsitas

Thank you, I will look into it. However, I have read the articles available about cable length and (1) they say under 6 feet, not under 3 feet; (2) the ATV does reliably send 4k Dolby Vision to the TV from some apps; (3) the blacks are washed out in some Dolby Vision and non-Dolby Vision content, depending entirely on which streaming app is the source of the content.

While I go about trying to find a 3 foot cable and changing my setup, are there any other suggestions that would logically track more to the streaming app / software side of things, which seems to be the problem?

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