I have been comparing Apple TV v.3 to VUDU on my Blu-Ray player. On a 65-inch Panasonic plasma TV, the Apple TV content color looks very washed out (especially flesh tones) compared to VUDU and Blu-Ray.
Are there any settings or tweaks or fixes to help? Will the streaming device or the iTunes 1080p content itself ever get upgraded with regard to bitrates and compression algorithms to improve the resolution?
Apple TV (3rd generation), iOS 5.1.1
As this is a user forum no one can comment on future updates
On Apple TV is HD, where u see 1080 and 720.
Point taken -- so my question, rather than "will there be upgrades," is: it technically possible for Apple to upgrade existing files and streaming devicesto improve video quality in the future, or are the current 1080p files the ones that will be used forever?
Your comparisons are unreasonable. Blu-ray video has a data rate of 40 Mb per second, all but a handful of users could actually stream content at that data rates and watch it without a significant delay.
Hey Winston, read my post carefully before calling my comparisons unreasonable. I compared the content to VUDU HDX, which is streaming at rates commonly available to most wired houses, and VUDU 1080p quality is significantly better than iTunes. The colors are richer and the tones have more gradation. I know that the file sizes and data rates of Blu-Ray are untouchable. I'm simply wondering if iTunes content can get better, at least comparable to VUDU. VUDU deals with all the same streaming and compression issues as iTunes. So can iTunes get better? Not sure why this is such a confusing question.
I've never seen VUDU, I can only rely on the various comparisons that have been done by various researchers which in almost all cases I have seen give the edge to iTunes, which contradicts your observations. Have you tried adjusting your HDMI out settings.
I'm experiencing the same problem. When Apple TV mirroring is on, the image on my little computer screen is MUCH better than on the TV - and it's not because the monitor has better resolution. I've examined this closely, and you can tell that the refresh rate is much slower on the TV, and that it must be using fewer colors (the grays look like big blocks on the TV, but all is smooth on the monitor.
I've gone through the Displays settings on the computer, and the Apple TV settings via the TV, and I can't find a way to change the compression settings. The Apple TV is set to 1080p, 60Hz, but the compression quality needs to be fixed. Is there a fix now? We got the Apple TV in Jan 2013.
The OP was referring to streaming iTunes content directly, mirroring is different. The issue may be related to your local network. Have you checked for interference ? What other activity is occurring on the network ? Where is the device in relation to the router?
With regard to my original post, I changed the output from Auto to RGB High, and that fixed the color issue. It's still not Blu-Ray quality, but it's now at least comparable to Vudu. Vudu still has a better bitrate, and does a better job at preserving the look of film grain, but maybe the next version of ATV with h.265 will see an incremental improvement in PQ.
@Algreg, That's great! Where do you change that output? Is that on the computer, or on the AppleTV, and how do you get there? Thanks!
On the ATV, go to: Settings > Audio & Video > HDMI Output > RGB High
Why does itunes 1080p video look washed out?
