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Q: 4.3 Flicker Problem
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Mar 10, 2011 9:40 AMby little JOE Frost,I also have this problem with my Magnovox model 32MF605W from about 2004. It's so bad I get a slight headache from just trying to maneuver the menus with all the flickering going on. I have tried to restore the unit completely and no joy.
The theme I'm seeing is a unit that can't do 1080p. In my case, it's a 720p that will also do 1080i, which was working fairly well with the ATV2 until this recent update. I would get occasional flickering/distortion on the boot screen and the first time the home menu screen was loaded, but after that it was fine. NOW, it's stuck at 480p and I also cannot adjust the HDMI setting away from "Auto".
Patiently awaiting for 4.2.1 for the ATV2 -
Mar 10, 2011 9:46 AMby scooter72,I'm having the same problem. It's now an unwatchable brick. Called apple for help but they didn't help and concluded it was a software issue and try a different TV. Um, thanks for nothing! Like I'm going to just go out and buy a new TV because your software wasn't tested. -
Mar 10, 2011 11:09 AMby Waymen,drsnacks wrote:
No. It can "officially" output 720p or 480p if 720p isn't available. You can also use it with a 1080i TV if you have a scaling TV or receiver (outputting 720p scaled to 1080i).
Actually, "officially" it only supports running at 720p. Here is the spec direct from Apple:
"Compatible with high-definition TVs with HDMI and capable of 720p 60/50Hz"
with the footnote:
"Requires HDCP when playing protected content."
However, internally the Apple TV can handle 480p content, but that is scaled and output at a resolution of 1280x720 (or 720p).
If you are getting the ATV2 to output 480p signals then that is outside of the spec (could be some type of diagnostic or test mode or just a fluke). In fact, if it is really running at 480p the GUI would either have to be reformatted or the image would have to be squashed to fit the "normal" 4:3 aspect ratio for 480p (I'm talking about the menu system, etc, not the video content itself).
As for scaling TVs, yes, those should work as long as those TVs can accept 720p inputs. However, in that case the ATV2 is still outputting 720p, so it's not like that means that the ATV2 can operate at 1080i or any resolution other than 720p. -
Mar 10, 2011 11:30 AMby RamonOC,Hey, Steve! I know it's only a hobby, but it was working yesterday and not today for a bunch of your customers! Their hardware didn't change.
It's not about resolution. It's not about the HDMI setting. You guys know how to fix it, because you did before.
Before I go stand in line for an iPad2, it would be nice to know that Apple is going to make it work so I can use all the neat stuff you have just released... -
Mar 10, 2011 12:50 PMby schmeebot,I took my apple tv unit to see a "genius" today about the flickering. He convinced me to buy a new HDMI cable which, of course, did not solve the problem.
Apple must give users the option of reverting back to the previous software version that works. How ridiculous that a software UPDATE should cause so much inconvenience!
PLEASE FIX.
Message was edited by: schmeebot
Message was edited by: schmeebot -
Mar 10, 2011 1:19 PMby CaptainTrips,Personally, I think Apple will fix this in an update. There is nothing to gain by not doing so except a lot of ****** off customers.
Folks have made arguments about what is supported, especially what is noted on a specific Apple webpage. However, what a webpage says is not legally relevant at all as folks are not required to go to this webpage nor sign any EULA based on it. If you purchased from an Apple Store like me, it is even more irrelevant. Now, the box does say:
"Compatible with high-definition television with HDMI capable of 720p video..."
Nowhere does this explicitly say that the TV needs to have a built-in HDMI port. And the "HDMI capable" does not obviate using an HDMI-DVI adapter either.
Additionally, when I bought my Apple TV at the Apple Store, I told the salesperson that my TV has a DVI port. He said no problem as there are converters you can get. He even helped me pick one out from the Amazon website. And at no time did this person mention that this would not be supported. As an agent/representative from Apple, this action itself is implied product support.
I'm not worried about getting a full refund if I choose to go that route as it will be easy to do, but I'd rather have a functioning ATV2. So hopefully Apple is going to be a little more transparent on this matter and get an update released asap. -
Mar 10, 2011 1:47 PMby nadeama,Waymen wrote:
drsnacks wrote:
As for scaling TVs, yes, those should work as long as those TVs can accept 720p inputs. However, in that case the ATV2 is still outputting 720p, so it's not like that means that the ATV2 can operate at 1080i or any resolution other than 720p.
Except that it has never worked properly with scaling TVs. As I mentioned earlier, my TV set can accept 720p input and it then upscales it to 1080i. This is well documented in the TV's instruction manual, and I have tested it with several devices without any problem, except for the Apple TV 2.
When it first came out, Apple TV 2 would only output a 720p signal, but the image was "wobbly" on scaling television sets that don't output at 720p. Then with the 4.1 update, they came up with a sort of half-baked fix where the Apple TV would output at 480p if it detected that your tv can't output 720p. And now with the new update, it still outputs a 480p signal, but somehow things got a bit screwed up and the image "flickers".
It seems the Apple TV 2 can't communicate with TV sets well enough to know which resolutions they can receive, instead of just which resolution they can output. What's infuriating is that pretty much every other HD device out there can output a correct 720p signal to my TV set and it will be upscaled without problem. Why the Apple TV 2 can't do this after several months and 3 firmware revisions is rather puzzling.
