Level 1

0 points

Wobbly picture with ATV2 - anyone else?

I got my new Apple TV gen 2 today and hooked it up in place of the old one. The picture was wavy. I removed the HDMI switch from the equation, no dice. I swapped cables, no dice.

The only issue I can think of (besides bad hardware) is that I use an HDMI->DVI cable for the last leg to my TV. It's not a converter, it is fully HDCP aware, and it works fine with ATV G1 and a Roku for Netflix HD streaming.

Unfortunately I don't have a different TV to check this out with at the moment.

Is anyone else having this problem?

iMac 20", Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Sep 29, 2010 11:00 AM

204 replies

Oct 7, 2010 7:23 PM in response to jitterysquid

OK people.
I have worked with ATV2 now since I bought it 4 days ago. Guess what , the picture *****. Weave and sea-sicking motion of the objects on the screen is disgraceful. What the heck is this about.

Yes I have Sony TV with DVI, but what the heck does that matter ???? it supports 720p and 1080i and yes it uses DVI.

I have most if not all apple products known to man, but this one is wasting too much of my time.

Apple, fix this problem, otherwise our confidence in APPLE Company will be affected.

I wish I had not ordered this device. I have changed multiple cables, and connections and HDMI switches . Very frustrated.

chriso89

Level 1

0 points

Oct 8, 2010 2:32 AM in response to jitterysquid

is it doing this in movies? or just the menu?

Oct 8, 2010 2:31 PM in response to chriso89

Never got past the menu artifacts and wobble. Horrid.
Will try a movie.

What a real drag, especially since clicking on "Accessories" in the store from the ATV area lead me directly to a HDMI>DVI cable. Which of course I bought.

Oct 8, 2010 3:19 PM in response to chriso89

Both, all images displayed

chriso89

Level 1

0 points

Oct 8, 2010 3:59 PM in response to jitterysquid

get mye apple tv tomorow. hope it will work on my panasonic plasma th-42px81 🙂 if not i will buy the old apple tv.

is this a problem with the apple tv or the tv?

Oct 8, 2010 4:24 PM in response to chriso89

Yep. Movies too.

@sigh

jitterysquid Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 9, 2010 4:20 AM in response to jitterysquid

I got my replacement ATV2 today. As I expected, it did not help. I immediately returned it to the Apple Store.

I believe most of our guesses thus far have been correct: The ATV2 is not negotiating properly with the sink (the TV) what resolution it is capable of putting out. It's OK that it only does 720p, it is just not saying so to the TV when it gets the EDID information from the TV. Older TVs capable of 480i/480p/720p/1080i are probably defaulting to 1080i (or something other than 720p) in the absence of this information.

The form factor of the digital input is a red herring and just something Apple latched on to avoid addressing the problem: http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/faq.aspx#31

I'm the original poster of this question, and I'm done for now. I will continue using my Roku + ATV1 for the time being. If anyone wants to rattle some chains, I think one of the best avenues of attack might be to get the HDMI working group to poke Apple, since they are using the HDMI trademark to brand their product and that implies adhering to ... something.

Oct 9, 2010 5:29 AM in response to jitterysquid

Thanks Jitterysquid. I agree with your asertion thatit is probably the lack of EDID or any signaling that the resolution being sent is 720p. My DHCP Sony, while being able to display 720p, defaults to 1080i. Thanks for posting that HDMI.org link, it is pretty telling. Good luck to you.

I encourage the rest of us to continue discussing this and looking for a solution. If anyone knows how to adjust The default resolution in a Sony's service menu, please advise.

chriso89

Level 1

0 points

Oct 9, 2010 6:33 AM in response to ringonbob

my panasonic th-42px81 support all formats. 720p/1080i/p. will it work on my tv?

rye-guy

Level 1

9 points

Oct 9, 2010 6:56 AM in response to jitterysquid

Updated my 7 year old DVI sony to a Samsung C540 plasma. Night and day difference in picture quality, size, and the price was about 1/2 to 1/3 other options (not to mention 1/5 the price I paid for old sony).

My ATV2 works perfectly now with HDMI. Took back all the different HDMI to DVI cords I tried and got a refund.

It was time to upgrade and this was a great excuse.

I'd have a LOT less problem with what Apple did if they put "Will not work with DVI" on the box and website description. At least people can then make an informed decision.

Ah well, early Christmas/late anniversary present for the family.

chriso89

Level 1

0 points

Oct 9, 2010 7:02 AM in response to jitterysquid

so, the people with thi problem haas an old tv or use a hdmi - dvi cable?

bek66

Level 1

0 points

Oct 9, 2010 7:27 AM in response to jitterysquid

I have a 5+ year old Mitsubishi 62" rear projection DLP that has only one DVI input, no HDMI and does not support 720 resolution, 1080i only. I have several HDMI devices, so I use my Yamaha receiver's HDMI switching function, using an HDMI cable with DVI converter to connect it to the TV. No other device has a problem displaying the image properly. ATV2 displays the "wobbly" image.

I called Apple Support Thursday night. He explained to me the ATV2 has these requirements in the tech specs:

1) 720p
2) strict HDMI cable, no DVI convert. Essentially, TV must support HDMI input.
3) Direct connection to TV, no switch

I apparently am violating all 3 of these. So, Apple will not "guarantee" the image quality. From what it looks like on this thread, some folks have been able to work-around it, but I'd gather the work-arounds won't be universal. Forcing my Yamaha to force up-convert to 1080i didn't help me, but helped someone else.

Bryan

Gentile

Level 1

18 points

Oct 9, 2010 7:36 AM in response to Can Crusher Bill

I wonder if this switchbox would work for me?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&pid=5557&seq=1&format=2

I have an older Samsung HDTV monitor that only does 480p or 1080i and has a DVI connection. It has RCA digital audio connectors. Currently I get no video signal when I use a HDMI to DVI cable.

How would this setup work?

Do you connect the Apple TV to the switchbox input by an HDMI cord? Then use a HDMI to DVI cable to send to the TV DVI?

Is a RCA audio cord then sent from the switchbox to the RCA audio port on the TV?

This might be worth a try.

Message was edited by: Gentile

bstrohl

Level 1

4 points

Oct 9, 2010 7:57 AM in response to jitterysquid

I got my first ATV and hooked up with HDMI cable to my Vizio. No issues.

I got my second ATV and hooked up with HDMI > DVI adapter to my Sony Grand Wega (Sony KF-50WE610). I see the wavy picture and read through this discussion. Seems this is an Apple problem, so maybe we should ALL email Aple and email consumer websites like iLounge and Engadget to get publicity on this issue. Maybe that will force Apple's hand. Maybe email Steve Jobs directly as it seems others were doing that when the iPhone 4 came out and it got his attention.

Also, I noticed on my Vizio that the picture is automatically widescreen, but on the Sony it is letterbox. Any thoughts on that or a fix (for those other Sony Wega users)??

Oct 9, 2010 12:00 PM in response to bstrohl

I finally got my ATV2 to work with my Fujitsu Plasma by messing with the input settings! Just a simple HDMI - DVI adapter from Monoprice. Picture looked great - no waves/ lines - correct resolution! Then I connected the optical audio cable to my receiver and no sound?! Tried all the digital audio settings on the ATV (on off or auto) nothing. It's going back today - I'm tired of messing with it.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Wobbly picture with ATV2 - anyone else?