Wobbly picture with ATV2 - anyone else?

I agree with your assessment. Although if I force my Tivo to send 720p it looks flawless, when atv sends its signal, the TV thinks it is sending something else entirely and attempts to convert it to 1080i or 520p (which are its two "native" resolutions).

But the Tivo thing proves it is capable of handling a 720p signal...

clafournaise wrote:
My TV doesn't support 720p at all.

Meanwhile, the ATV2 supposedly outputting 720p is merely wobbly and though it is no fun to watch, it is entirely readable.

So I don't understand what signal is coming out of the ATV2 that is "sort of" readable. There's something else going on other than "Your TV doesn't support 720p".

+1

clafournaise wrote:
Is it a fair summary to this thread that everyone having wobbly picture problems EITHER:

1) Has a TV that doesn't support 720p, AND/OR
2) Is using an HDMI to DVI bridge device?

Just for further clarification on point one, *a TV that doesn't support 720p with an HDMI connection*.

Same model Sony, same issue!
HDMI >DVI cables worked fine with the ATV1, and wavy lines/no audio with the ATV2

Talking to Sony live support (very nice for a Sunday) they stated that it's possible to run HDMI > component into the back of the Media receiver (MBD-XBR950L). Sony PS3 has those cables so I'll look to put $20 towards finding out if that's true and post the result here.
Talking to Apple live support they indicate that the requirements for HDMI ready displays is in the literature.....and that HDMI> component cables will work but that there may be a loss of quality.

To confuse the matter many people, as in this forum, are saying that a convert is needed, something that's easily as expensive as the ATV2, and something I'm not to crazy about doing.

I'll find some cables and post the results here...
Thanks to everyone for posting...

I am having the same issue. I have a Sony Grand Wega 60 inch. I went out today and bought a DVI - HDMI and its wavy :/ Has to be the apple tv because I went back to best buy traded the cable in for a new one and it was still wavy. Also it is not wavy with my XBOX 360.

avid_dk wrote:

clafournaise wrote:
Is it a fair summary to this thread that everyone having wobbly picture problems EITHER:

1) Has a TV that doesn't support 720p, AND/OR
2) Is using an HDMI to DVI bridge device?

Just for further clarification on point one, *a TV that doesn't support 720p with an HDMI connection*.

Yes to #2 but NO to #1. I've sent 720p signals to my DVI input many times. I've done it with computers where I set the resolution myself (both Linux and Windows PCs) and I've done it with a DirecTV receiver where you can select the resolution of the output signal to anything from 480p up to 1080p (I used it as both 720p and 1080i at times and both worked fine).

So, I get the wavy lines and my TV does support 720p.

I'm going to spend some time, see if I can consult with someone that knows more about these signals and what might cause this artifact. I'm fairly certain that attempting to play a 720p signal on a TV that only supports 1080i would result in either a black screen or a truly unviewable video. You can see from my Youtube clip that this is quite viewable. My gut says that we have a signal timing issue. I've had analog signals hooked up to projectors before and observed something similar when the timing of the signal was outside that supported/expected by the device.

Also, despite the fact that the video is digital I'm pretty sure there's still some pretty basic video signal timing parameters necessary to keep the devices in sync (front-back porch pixels, blanking lines, etc) and if one of those was non-standard then it's possible we'd get something that was close to correct but would not be rendered perfectly on our TV because it was slightly out-of-sync. But I'm talking way over my head here! I have only a passing practical knowledge of these things and can't say for certain any of it applies in this situation.

Seth

All,

For those of us with modern receivers, I tried something that worked last night. I have an older panasonic plasma that was experiencing the same wavy video issues. But last night I forced my receiver to convert the 720p signal from the apple tv to 1080i and it fixed it. You may need to restart the apple tv and/or the receiver. Check your manual on how to get your receiver to do the conversion.

no. my TV is 720p capable natively. my tuner can also scale all kinds of inputs (including analog inputs) to 720p or 1080i (perhaps even 1080p).

@clafournaise - I'm an exception. My TV's default is 720p, and it has an HDMI port, not DVI. It is an early HDMI port (1.0/1.1) that doesn't do sound, but it is definitely 720p HDMI.

I'll also point out that the old AppleTV (ATV1) isalready putting out a 720P signal that's being read correctly, +through an HDMI > DVI cable+ by our Sony display.
That's what the General settings on the ATV1 say at least.

I was also never aware that the AppleTV or my Media receiver can be reset to accept a different signal from a new device. I'll look into this.
thanks,
D

having same problem wavy lines my TV is Panasonic TH-42PX20 (7 years old) all my other TVs displayed fine. We better wait and see what apple have to say about this, my directtv does not now either on the TV at 720p.
Solution that I found was a scaler but it is like $250+ kind not wanting to spend the money.

I have the same issue with ATV2 connected to Sony KF-42WE610, 1080i and 720p, i use HDMI > DVI cable, DVI end connected to TV. Tried multiple cables. I have a wobbly picture. Is there any solution??

According to Apple support ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2599593&tstart=0) the only solutions are:
1. return your apple tv
2. get a new tv

:-\

However, I have to believe that this is a bug in their firmware and it will (eventually) be fixed...

I'm returning my ATV2 today.

I've got no confidence Apple is going to address this problem in a timely (eg, within my 14 day return window) manner. Apple has a long history of using their customers as unwitting beta testers when it comes to releasing not-quite-ready-for-release hardware (and then denying responsibility for any problems that then crop up until they are finally forced, kicking and screaming, to do so). As a result, I have a history of not early adopting Apple hardware - I always wait until the 2nd or 3rd generation. I made an exception this time - and got burned for it. Live and learn.

Just to clear the air about what they will "support" as Apple starts triangulating rather than solving this issue:

*the problem is NOT the use of a HDMI-DVI cable.

(Mine has the error on both an old and a high-end new HDMI-HDMI cable connected to my TV - and does NOT get the error connected to two different Dell monitors with a HDMI-DVI-D cable. Besides, as has been noted, HDMI-DVI-D cables are pin-to-pin identical except for the connector shape and lack of audio. Ironically, I bought mine at the Apple Store.)

**the problem is NOT the use of older native 1080i televisions per se.

(Many people in this string have reported other 720p devices working fine on those same TVs, and - as many have noted - an actual 720p-1080i mismatch would result in a totally un-sync'd and unviewable screen, not in the gentle wave/wobble we are seeing. Also, the wave/wobble is reported on a few 720p TVs that fully meet the theoretical spec.)

QED: This is an Apple problem, for Apple to fix... NOT for Apple to provide unhelpul and misleading support "talking points" around. I'll probably still buy one of these little babies once they actually work, because they are really cool... but for now... back to Cupertino you go!

And, in other news...

Remember when we dedicated Apple users used to laugh at other companies for rolling out with great fanfare products and features that were light years behind what we had with Apple stuff already? Those days are behind us friends... looks like more and more, Apple will be the one getting laughed at:

http://www.google.com/tv/