Apple TV Connection to Polk Magnifi MAX not working 4K

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Apple TV Connection to Polk Magnifi MAX not working 4K

I have a problem connecting an Apple TV 4K to a POLK MAGNIFI MAX soundbar, Dolby Atmos is available but the apple tv is purple, after changing the video mode in the settings the colors are ok however there is no 4K resolution available. The soundbar supports on each HDMI IN 4K HDR. The HDMI cable is correct, in connecting directly Apple TV to the TV works ok, but then I have no Dolby Atmos sound.

Soundbard connected HDMI ARC OUT to TV HDMI ARC, Apple TV to Soundbar HDMI 1 IN

Anybody may have encountered a similar problem and can help?

Apple TV 4K

Posted on Dec 2, 2024 2:28 AM

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Answer 1

MLorek Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 3, 2024 4:56 AM in response to MLorek

Ok, I found the solution. The problem was in the TV setting, the audio format was PCM selected, changing it to Dolby Digital solved the problem.

Connection remained as before: TV to HDMI ARC Soundbar, Apple TV HDMI to TV.

On the other hand, a better solution is Dolby Digital? Or DTS Neo 2.5?

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Answer 2

Dec 2, 2024 9:43 AM in response to MLorek

Polk MagniFi Max soundbar

That seems to be a soundbar with all the modern features, including a luxury of 3× HDMI-in and one HDMI-out. Nice.

no 4K resolution available.

Verify that the Apple TV Setting for Chroma is 4:2:0 or 4:2:2, as 4:4:4 may require more bandwidth than the HDMI 2.0b circuitry of the soundbar supports. This wouldn’t affect quality, as ALL streaming video uses 4:2:0 chroma.

The HDMI cable is correct, in connecting directly Apple TV to the TV works ok, but then I have no Dolby Atmos sound.

If the TV has eARC (and configured as such), then it should be able to work that way as well.

Else external eARC adapters [1] [2] are a possibility, but I don’t think you would need that.

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Answer 3

MLorek Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 3, 2024 4:08 AM in response to Urquhart1244

Verify that the Apple TV Setting for Chroma is 4:2:0 or 4:2:2, as 4:4:4 may require more bandwidth than the HDMI 2.0b circuitry of the soundbar supports. This wouldn’t affect quality, as ALL streaming video uses 4:2:0 chroma.

I can't change Chroma because I can't select 4K resolution in this configuration. Chroma is changeable but only with 4K resolution, on both HDMI cables when directly connected to TV 4K resolution is available. Only when plugging the Apple TV into the Soundbar is Full HD.

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Answer 4

Dec 18, 2024 1:59 PM in response to MLorek

a better solution is Dolby Digital? Or DTS Neo 2.5?

Apple TV doesn’t do any flavor of DTS.

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