My 1080p Apple TV intermittently flashes digital snow!

Question

My 1080p Apple TV intermittently flashes digital snow!

My 1080p Apple TV intermittently flashes digital snow, then black and then back to content when running in 1080p. It seems to do this after it warms up. Once it starts up it continues to do this until I shut it down for the night, or switch to 720p. It does not do this at all when set to 720p.

Apple has replaced it once, so it would be odd to have two hardward failures.

I have swapped HDMI ports and cables.

It does this regardless of content and will do it even when just on the menu. It seems to be heat related.

It is connected to 55" 2012 Panasonic 1080P Plasma TV, My 1080p Blu-Ray is fine.

Thoughts

Apple TV (3rd generation)

Posted on May 7, 2012 5:43 PM

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Answer 1

May 7, 2012 5:58 PM in response to Camera Rambler

Welcome to the Apple community.

My first inclination would be to think that it is your HDMI cable. White snow, is regularly caused by only having a standard HDMI cable when a high-speed cable is required. A standard cable is only specified to work with content up to 720p, although on occasions it may well work fine with higher resolution content.

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Answer 2

May 7, 2012 6:24 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Thanks Winston,

But I have swapped 3 hi-speed cables, and again, zero issue with 1080p on the Blu-ray. It is interesting that it will work for nearly 20-30 minutes after it has been asleep, but then starts to act up a little, then more, and then constantly until I switch to 720p or let it sleep. Otherwise it is unwatchable.

The material does not alter it. So if rewind, it still flashes snow, then black and then back to content, but in different places within the programming. Sometimes if it stays black too long the tv will say that their is no HDMI device connected.

I know that sometimes handshake issues have to be resolved between manufactures via firmware updates. The TV has only been on the market here for about 5 weeks.

Any other thoughts?

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Answer 3

May 7, 2012 6:37 PM in response to Camera Rambler

In that case, I would next suspect either the TV or the Apple TV itself. Since you have already replaced the Apple TV once, it's extremely unlikely (but not impossible) that you would encounter the same problem with the second Apple TV.

Are you using the same HDMI port on the TV for your Blu-ray player when you test with that device.

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Answer 4

May 7, 2012 9:41 PM in response to Winston Churchill

The TV has 3 HDMI ports, and the problem happens on all 3 ports. Again, the weird thing is that it is only the 3rd generation 1080P Apple TV, and that is only when it is set at 1080 (which was one of the reasons I upgraded to it).

I was half hopping that others were experiencing the same thing to help nail it down to some weird handshaking issue between the 2012 Panasonic Set and the Apple TV.

Both Panasonic and Apple have notes on it, so I will have to keep checking in with them and watching here.

For what is worth, the Apple TV works perfect with my old 720p 42" Panasonic TV, but then again, it is not sending 1080p when it is connected to it.

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Answer 5

Jul 6, 2012 10:46 AM in response to Camera Rambler

Camera Rambler, did you ever find a fix for your problem? I have basically the same issue, but I've tracked it down to the a/v receiver through which the hdmi signal runs. If I connect the Apple TV straight into my Vizio television, all is fine at 1080p; but if the signal goes through my Onkyo receiver, I lose the picture after a few minutes of warm up. Switching ports doesn't help. A 2nd generation AppleTV works just fine going through the receiver. I hate to have to buy a new receiver just to watch at 1080p!

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Answer 6

Jul 6, 2012 11:59 AM in response to visionist

No, nothing has worked when using 1080p and the Panasonic TV together. 720P, no problem. So I actually think it is the set, which is a bummer. I have not confirmed if it is just mine, or the entire line.

Hopefully it is firmware, or I'll have to deal with returning the set, which is always a hassle.

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Answer 7

Jul 6, 2012 12:13 PM in response to Camera Rambler

Thanks, and yes, bummer. I'm on my 3rd copy of the current AppleTV. It was the fact that my previous model (720p) still works fine that through me off the track. I'd ruled out the cables and the tv. It never occurred to me that it could be the receiver. It's out of warrantee, so I'll need to shop for a new receiver, also a hassle. I hope all this settles down with the gear manufacturers.

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Answer 8

Dec 22, 2012 2:32 PM in response to Camera Rambler

I am having exactly same problem as you, after got the 3rd gen Apple TV

I have a 60 inch Panasonic Plasma TV set (bought it in Dec, 2011), which works fine under 720P, but not 1080P... However, the TV works fine with XBox 360, PS3, and my labtop in 1080p mode.

I have tried couple of cables. No luck!!!

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Answer 9

Dec 22, 2012 5:12 PM in response to allanyong

Hi Allan,

My problems went away after doing a firmware upgrade on the TV. So connect your TV to the web and use the Viera Menu System in the TV to check for updates.

Do the same for your Apple TV too, but mine was fixed after I updated the televisions firmware.

Good luck.

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Answer 10

slackrl

Level 1

50 points

Dec 23, 2012 11:15 PM in response to Camera Rambler

There are still those of us who have TVs that have no new firmware to install from the TV set manufacture.

In my case Mitsubishi 2009 1080p 65 inchTV, WD - C657.

Now this TV works fine with a blu ray, DirecTv HD Sat box 1080p.

So why does the ATV3 have to be so different?

It appears this is still something Apple needs to address by allowing the ATV3 to be HDMI version backward compatible.

Just my 2cents

Any suggestions are welcome

slackrl

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Answer 11

Apr 7, 2013 7:18 AM in response to slackrl

I'm having the same problem with a brand new Sharp Aquos (LC-60LE845U) with the lastest firmware (409U1302231) and Apple TV 3 (model FD199LL/A) with the latest (5.2.1 (6025)) firmware.

I'm watching a Netflix movie for maybe 5 minutes, then the video gets jerky, then we get a "snow" screen for a second or so. Then the video gets jerky again and finally it recovers. But all said about 5 seconds of video is unwatchable. This happens perhaps every 10-20 minutes or so when watching a Netflix movie.

Since I have no problems playing Netflix videos via a Sony Blu-Ray player and the exact same TV, I would tend to say this is an Apple TV problem.

I would be glad to test any reasonable suggestion to get this work properly.

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Answer 12

Tronkos

Level 1

0 points

May 16, 2013 3:45 PM in response to Camera Rambler

Same Problem With Apple TV3 and 1080P, works fine on 720P. New Marantz SR5007, 2 different cables and Philips 55" 7007.

I had apple Tv 2 on the same configuration of Tv and Marantz Receiver... and it was all fine.

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Answer 13

br7250

Level 1

0 points

Sep 12, 2013 5:40 PM in response to Camera Rambler

I've been experiencing the same problem. I will accept this for what it is. If I want to watch TED tv, I will simply use my Chromebox, and if I want to play a DVD, I will use my DVD player. And last, but not least, if I want to play a Blueray DVD, I will use my Blueray player, although I have to plug in an external hard drive in order to make sure that the audio is synchronized with the video. Go figure. I do like my Macbook pro, though. The anodized aluminum case is first class, and the speed is awesome. I don't have the retina display because I didn't think it was worth it, although I hear it is fantastic.

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Answer 14

Apr 5, 2016 3:14 AM in response to Camera Rambler

I know this is an old post, but I am having the same problem with my new Apple TV gen 4 with my Panasonic Viera Plasma TV. I also have a 3rd Gen ATV which has no problems.
I have returned the ATV once, and also been through troubleshooting by telephone with Apple Support.
Having read these posts, I will try updating the firmware in my TV. (The TV is a few years old now, but I don't see any reason to replace it yet).

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Answer 15

May 8, 2012 3:41 AM in response to Camera Rambler

The final step to isolating the issue would be to use the Apple TV with the same cable on another TV that supports 1080p.

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