Wobbly picture with ATV2 - anyone else?

The switcher won't suddenly make your TV support 720p. In fact it seems to have the effect of enforcing and fixing up 720p. The wobbly picture on TVs that don't support 720p has to be the ATV accidentally going to a different resolution, poorly.

I kept trying and trying in vain. . .the only way to get a picture from the switcher to the tv was to plug the hdmi-dvi cable into the apple tv then unplug and plug into the switcher! And even then it was still a wobbly picture! I managed to get sound working intermittently through the audio jack. . .but this switcher "sucked" in my opinion since the apple tv was better at pushing a wobbly signal to the tv through the cord. Anyone who says it worked must have had it work by accident. . .or it must have been working before. The switcher will do nothing to the signal that will make it better in my experience--just worse. At least if I could get a video signal out of the switcher I would be able to use it to get the audio-rca--but alas, that was not the case as the audio was intermittent and the video non-existant from the switcher to the tv.

Junk.

What resolutions does your TV support? Make and Model?

My tv is rear projection. . .supports 1080i

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-PT-53WX53-Widescreen-HD-Ready-Projection/dp/B000 09YAHK

Paid $2500 for the television and I like it a lot.

I looked into HDFury3 type plug but that is $299. . .getting close to the cost of a new tv here.

Okay all. . .after a lot of digging and wasting of money I have come up with an answer to my Query of connecting the Appletv2 to older tv's.

If you want to use the AppleTV2, you need:

1. You need a scaler of some sort to convert 720p to 1080i since your TV doesn’t accept 720p. If it does accept 720p then you should be good to go with only #2 below (NOTE: hdmi-dvi is not good enough even if you have 720p--you will still have the wobble).

2. Some way to defeat HDCP (HD copy protection) unless your TV supports HDCP. If not you need to convert HDMI component. Most old tv's do not support HDCP.

Here is how one guy did it:

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23836

Either way it won't be cheap.

hdmi-dvi will not defeat the HDCP.

Better to sell the old tv and buy a new one. . .IMO

Don't waste your time on this problem. . .if your tv is projection and 1080i you are SOL unless you want to invest about $400-$600.

Message was edited by: seagonus

Message was edited by: seagonus

Message was edited by: seagonus

One other way to do it it seems. . .buy a receiver that supports 1080i upscaling (the key is that it upscales to what your tv requires--mine needs 1080i or 480p). As long as your DVI input is HDCP compliant then the correct signal should go through your receiver via hdmi-dvi cable and be correct for your tv.

I suppose you could connect it via component outs from the receiver too. . .but I don't know how/if that would work.

I've read all the posts and finally decided I had to do something drastic. I replaced my 6-year-old 1080i Panasonic with a brand spanking new TC-P58VT25. Best $2280 I ever spent. My ATV2 picture doesn't wobble any more, but now I don't want to watch no stinking 720p content either. Thank god for my PS3, and what a lovely surprise to find that Super Stardust HD has 3DTV support as a free upgrade.

Apple is not off the hook though. It's a disgrace that they won't even explain why they dropped 1080i support, let alone come out with a fix. And what's up with no 1080p support?

I don't think A4 chip can handle up to 1080p nor it can decode movies at that resolution. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

I found myself looking at new receivers the other day. . .then I shook my head and came to my senses. . .*HERE I WAS WILLING TO SPEND UP TO $1000 TO SOLVE A PROBLEM CREATED BY A $150 BLACK BOX!!! JUST SO I COULD CANCEL CABLE. . .THE SAVINGS ON THE CABLE BILL WOULD HAVE TAKEN 2 YEARS TO PAY FOR THE HARDWARE UPGRADES I NEEDED TO USE APPLE TV ON BOTH MY HOUSEHOLD TV'S.*

I will keep the Appletv for my upstairs television, but I will not cancel cable or buy another Appletv for downstairs until Steve and crew do something to make the Appletv a bit more compliant to older technologies.

Bring on the 1080i firmware/software fix (if that is even possible I don't know).

JustReel Films wrote:
I don't think A4 chip can handle up to 1080p nor it can decode movies at that resolution. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

I thought I was reaching. Maybe Apple stopped supporting 1080i because it's as expensive to stream as 1080p? That would also explain why they've been deathly quiet about this topic.

I have a Sony kv32hs510 using a HDMI-DVI cable and the picture is terrible. I've had several TIVOs that look fantastic including the current DirecTV HR21-100. I can switch resolution with my DirecTV reciever.

Time to return my Apple TV.

Wow, am I glad I stumbled onto this discuassion. I was all set to get an ATV2 monday. I have a Toshiba DLP 50" and my only inputs are DVI and components. I was planning on using the HDMI-DVI cable I now use wth my DVD player. You guys just saved me a lot of hair pulling. Bummer, the ATV2 seemed cool. Man, it's always something....

Update:

I just bought a $600 receiver to see if the signal would be improved--A NEW RECEIVER DID NOT improve the picture--still wobbly!

There is clearly an issue with the Appletv2 signal and I think the problem is in the HZ. . .even after up conversion through a receiver to 1080i same wobbly pic through the HDMI-DVI cable.

It's possible that my TV is to blame, but a similar signal through a computer via DVI is fine.

Hoping for a hack or a software update to allow resolution or HZ switching.

Once again! If you have a wobbly picture THERE IS NO CHEAP FIX!!! The only thing I have not tried is a specialty converter and the HD Fury. . .see this thread:

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=273777

This equipment will run you around $600 or more. . .better buy a new TV.

[quote]I thought I was reaching. Maybe Apple stopped supporting 1080i because it's as expensive to stream as 1080p? That would also explain why they've been deathly quiet about this topic.[/quote]

Nah - the old AppleTV didn't support 1080i streaming either; it was limited to 720p source material just like the new one. The difference was it would upscale and output 1080i, while the new model is limited to 720p for both input and output.

No idea why they would drop the capability to output 1080i, as the A4 chip has the horsepower to do it. Guess I will continue to hope for someone to figure out how to enable 1080i out on a jailbroken model...