Apple TV Jerky image

I've never felt AppleTVs give motion quite as smooth as DVD or Blu Ray but subjectively ATV3 is better than earlier versions.

Apart from that do check your TV Settings - Autmoatic picture enhancement 'features' especially those that generate extra frames and motion compensation/prediction cam adversely effect smoothness and are worth disabling to see if they are the culprit.

AC

I have a similar jerky image when I download standard definition TV shows on Netflix ( these are usually old British TV shows ). I don't get a jerky image when I download HD TV shows or movies on Netflix. Anyone else have this issue with Netflix.

I recently got an AppleTV, third generation, primarily for viewing movies on Netflix. On a very few have I had the jerky or stuttering problem others have experienced. This appears to be a problem with the ATV as I can view the same program on an iPad running the latest iOS or via the built in Ethernet adapter on the TV. I prefer using the ATV because it is much more responsive when reviewing available programs/movies but the jerky playback is very annoyning. As previously mentioned, I only noticed on a few movies but it would be nice to not have the problem at all. This is not a Netflix issue as far as I can tell since it plays back fine on other devices. It is not an Internet download speed issue either since the majority of my Netflix movies play fine. When I do find a movie with the problem, it is consitent with that particular item. I did try manually changing the DNS server entry on the ATV to 8.8.8.8 as suggested by others but this has had no material affect. Interesting problem that I hope Apple addresses.

I discovered that my jerkiness problem was caused by a picture enhancement tool on my Sony Bravia TV. It was called CineMotion . When I turned this option to off on my TV the jerkiness stopped.

Many of the picture enhancement options on modern TVs can actually be detrimental as they interpolate frames but don't walays get it right.

With respect to Netflix I've noticed in recent days in UK my AppleTV is extremely jerky on SD content in a way it hasn't been previously.

AC

Good suggestion which I just tried but it didn't help.

Alley_Cat, the programs I have seen the problem with were in SD and from the UK. We have been watching a lot of British shows since getting the ATV a couple of months ago and had not seen any issues. Last week, I noticed the problem on an older movie, circa early 70s and wrote it off to poor quality. Then we watched a BBC produced show this weekend from 2005 and both episodes exhibited the jery problem. We could view the same program via the Bravialink adapter that came with the TV with no jerky issues. This seems to be an issue with the ATV when viewing some Netflix content. Really prefer the ATV but not if the shows are unwatchable. Hopefully this can be resolved.

I've noticed odd things with Netflix - occasionally I've had episodes that just refuse to stream and stop/start but other things play fine. It's weird.

I'm reasonably sure the DNS issue only applies to Apple's servers and would assume Netflci servers are separate.

Send feedback to AppleTV techs here:

Apple - Apple TV - Feedback

The problems that I cured by turning off the CineMotion enhancement tool on my Sony were exactly as described above. That is, the jerkiness only occurred on SD British TV shows. I'm pretty sure that if you check your TV's settings and turn off any picture enhancements tools it should solve the problem. I found there were two on the Sony. One is called "Motion Enhancer" and turning tihis off did not help. The other one was "CineMotion" and turning this one off did the trick. Make sure that when you change the settings you are on the correct input channel for you Apple TV HDMI cable and not the channel for your regular TV. Good luck. Cheers.

Thanks for the suggestion. The one I tried was Motion Enhancer. I will dig out my Sony manual and check on the CineMotion. Would be great if this turned out to be the fix.

Thanks!

Texnboots,

Thank you very much for the CineMotion suggestion. That indeed fixed the issue. I had totally forgotten about this feature.

Texnboots,

Thank you very much for the CineMotion suggestion. That indeed fixed the issue. I had totally forgotten about this feature.

I, too, would like to thank Texnboots! It was the CineMotion on my XBR that was ruining my Top Gear experience. Thanks for sharing your solution! 😉