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ATV digital lag stuttering on new tv

I have had atv2 for about a year now using it on a toshiba 32 in HD flat screen with 720p with no problems.

I recently hooked it up to a new LG 42 in LCD with 1080p. You can see a definite lag or stutter in the video from time to time. It's like when someone makes a quick move on the screen it gets slowed down to a fram by fram look. Thats the only way I can explain it. Its very annoying. The tv works fine with DTV, and the DVD player through HDMI inputs. The lag only shows up with the ATV. Is this some kind of refresh rate problem? Or maybe the HDMI cable isn't fast enough for this tv? Maybe a wifi problem? I just can't imagine what would cause this. Any suggestions would be welcome.

BTW- I am using an Airport Exteme for my wireless router and the ATV is in the same spot it was when it was working fine with the older tv.

Apple TV

Posted on Apr 24, 2012 10:05 PM

27 replies

Apr 28, 2012 6:34 PM in response to AllAboutHomeElectronics

I will try the 720p setting.

Apr 28, 2012 6:43 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I am trying to give him 3 things to help narrow it down

I also sugesst setting the TV back to factory settings / or setting the anti-shuttering setting back to factory

Apr 28, 2012 6:51 PM in response to johnfromcavendish

Personally, if your auto setting is defaulting to 720p, then I don't think setting it manually to 720p will make any difference.

The part that concerns me is that you say this happens with all content. There are several factors that may cause this to happen with some content, but I feel it is unlikely to affect all content.

For example, some TVs struggle with content which is recorded at 24 frames per second, this is generally more noticeable if your output is 50 Hz. However I'm assuming, because you say it happens with all content, that you are not simply playing all 24 frames per second content, and that this is not your problem.

Another factor that can cause this is poorly encoded content. Most content is recorded with a variable data rate, during fast motion scenes the data rate will increase to compensate for the additional information in those scenes. If the data rate is too high at these times, the Apple TV can struggle to render the output in real-time. Once again this only happens on a limited amount of videos, and if you are experiencing this all the time, this is also unlikely to be your problem.

If indeed this occurs with all content, then I'm inclined to think it is a TV setting. I know you say you have been through the TV settings, but it may be worth your while going through them again, paying particular attention to any picture enhancement settings.

Apr 28, 2012 6:54 PM in response to AllAboutHomeElectronics

AllAboutHomeElectronics wrote:

I am trying to give him 3 things to help narrow it down

Narrow it down?

I know you're trying to help, but between those three things, is there really anything left that it could be.

Apr 28, 2012 7:18 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I appreciate both of your inputs and thank you for your help.

This TV has way too many picture settings that can be adjusted. And I just dont know enough about the issue to narrow it down to one particular setting or combination of settings. For instance there is a digital niose filter setting. I'm sure this manipulates the picture somehow. It has anit-judder and anti-blur settings. I have used low, med, high and off with no different result.

I mainly watch netflix, apple tv shows and apple movies, youtube, and vimeo. What I have noticed is that some content is indeed effected more than others now that this has my undivided attention. I thought it was everything, but the more I watch, the more differences I see with content. For instance anything that comes up in 4:3 ratio is smooth with no problems. Older films in 16:9 are only effected slightly, but much less than newer video or higher HD stuff which is just plain annoying to watch. It may very well be the 24 fps that you speak of and by coincidence most of the things I have been watching are just that, 24fps.

I will keep playing with settings for a while and see if I can come up with the magic combination. If it goes away I will post what did it.

Or maybe I just need a generation 3 with the new A5 chip on for this new fancy rig. Arrrrrgggg!

Thanks again for your time and insight.

And if you come up with anymore brainstorms about it please post them.

Apr 28, 2012 7:33 PM in response to johnfromcavendish

For what it's worth, other than a better resolution, I haven't noticed any difference between the Apple TV two and the Apple TV three when it comes to playback. Obviously, in itself the resolution makes quite a difference.

Apr 29, 2012 4:51 AM in response to johnfromcavendish

Apple TV was working fine.

Then

You bought a new LG TV, presumably a model likely a bit more advanced than the prior.

Nothing else changed you wrote.

Would you be willing to post the Model # of the LG TV so we can look at the manual?

Do you have another TV you can use to test the HDMI output of the AppleTV to make sure the HDMI output is still functioning

If nothing else changed its either:

1) a setting in the ATV

2) a setting in the TV

3) The HDMI output on the Apple TV going bad

Would you be willing to post the Model # of the LG TV so we can look at the manual?

Apr 29, 2012 10:04 AM in response to AllAboutHomeElectronics

The LG model # is 42CS570. I unwired the ATV2 and hooked it back up to the old tv (720p screen) and it seems fine. However the old tv is smaller, older, grainyer, and always had a lot of blur (we got used to that) but the video motion was always smooth no matter what the content. Again, this slow motion stuttery lag seems to mostly be happening with newer content on the new tv. Higher resolution stuff. The LG has a great picture. Very clear and detailed. Is it possible the advanced picture maybe in someway be showing a fault that may have always been there?

I still tend to think the answer is in the settings somehow. But like you said if the ATV is going bad no setting changes are gonna make any difference. That is truely the frustrating part. I guess the only true test for that would be to spend another $99 and try a new ATV unit. I just may end up going that direction.

Apr 29, 2012 11:12 AM in response to johnfromcavendish

Sounds like your AppleTV is working just fine

Looking over the TV Owner's Manual now. You are right, the picture setting options are fairly substantial.

Because I don't know exactly what you have or have not done, this is what I would do:

1. Adjust AppleTv to 720 (not auto) and then I would unplug the Apple TV power cord.

2. Turn off the TV, wait a minute, turn it back on and wait another 30 seconds

3. Plug power back into Apple TV (which is plugged into an ETHERNET CABLE )

4. Check picture to see if problem still exists

If problem still exists:

5. Read manual and discover how to reset TV back to factory and see if that fixes the problem

6. Contact LG directly usig their chat, phone or email feature. http://www.lg.com/us/support-product/lg-42CS570#

In my opinion, if you try these things and they don't work, at least when you communicate with the LG tech support people you know you've eliminated a lot of other possibilities.

Apr 29, 2012 11:29 AM in response to AllAboutHomeElectronics

Ok, thanks. I will give it a try. I already contacted LG and they said to turn off the anti-judder feature which has not helped. But I have not persued them further yet.

I'll let you know what happens.

May 14, 2012 9:49 AM in response to johnfromcavendish

Ok so, just an update from two weeks of playing with this issue. I actually tried a new ATV Gen 3 and it does the same thing. LG customer support says its the input device which it probably is. All other input devices look fine. Its come to my attention that this "minor video stutter" (there is a whole other thread on this) may have been there all along but I have only noticed it with a substancially bigger screen with 1080p resolution.

Its definitely content related. Encoding? Decoding? Some programs run smooth. Others do the snow motion stutter every few seconds like some frames have been dropped out. I have messed with every setting on both the tv and the ATV. It makes no differeance it seems. Ethernet cable or wifi, same thing, no difference.

Kind of dissapointing that I can get a great looking HD 1080p picture but the video is not consistantly smooth.

Definitely not a buffering or streaming issue either.

I read a web page ATV review that suggested the ATV was better suited for smaller flat screen tv's because the memory cache was borderline too small for true big sceen HD. I have no idea how much truth there is to this. But it kinda makes sense regarding my experience going from a 32 in screen to a 42 in screen.

If it truely is a limitation of the hardware then no update is going to make any difference I guess.

May 14, 2012 9:51 AM in response to johnfromcavendish

I have larger screens than 42 inch and do not see the problem that you have on them. I still believe you will find it is a setting on your TV, or the TV itself.

ATV digital lag stuttering on new tv