Q: No Dolby Digital Apple TV 3 firmware 6.1 (6698.99.16)

I highly doubt they are re-encoding everything. That makes little to no sense considering Airplaying from the Netfix app to the ATV yields DD. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple's update "broke" something and there's a bunch of internal finger-pointing going on between Apple and Netflix while we users suffer the loss of a feature - that's if each party has even received enough complains to even look into this. Certainly, however, there are Apple employees who have noticed the recent loss of DD on Netflix on ATV and have initiated an investigation. Or, maybe they all use Roku boxes at home?

+1

Maybe Amazon's new streaming video receiver, Amazon Fire TV, which includes Netflix, will spur Apple to get a quick fix to the 6.1 update bug, and even produce the next gen Apple TV.

I LIKE competition!

I've downgraded mine to iOS 6.1.4 (which I think is 5.x in AppleTV terms) - it's the only version of the old software still being signed by Apple.  Simply plug a Micro USB into the ATV and your computer, download the firmware (you can find this), power up the ATV and Option-Click on "Restore" in iTunes (or PC equivalent....ALT maybe?) when you see the ATV appear.  Just like the iPhone.

This will restore 5.1 sound (I really can't live without it!).  Interestingly, all the titles still say "HD" so the change from SuperHD is unrelated.  Dolby Digital back on with Netflix so all good.

I have had netflix for over two months and I find it hard to find one or two good movies per weekend

What are you guys watching that you can't live without dd 5.1 ?

I have been switching to Pro Logic II and I am surviving

pebulus wrote:

 

I've downgraded mine to iOS 6.1.4 (which I think is 5.x in AppleTV terms) - it's the only version of the old software still being signed by Apple.

This works for the ATV 3 from 2012, but not the newest one from 2013.

Of course you didn't get the SuperHD logo back with that downgrade. After all, it's just a little image that the Netflix app loads from a web server.

I believe that Netflix intentionally replaced it with a neutral HD logo. Maybe because they figured that since the ATV can't even play their best stream quality (which is 4K now), calling regular 1080p streams "super" is somewhat rediculous.

dmorris145 wrote:

 

I have had netflix for over two months and I find it hard to find one or two good movies per weekend

What are you guys watching that you can't live without dd 5.1 ?

I have been switching to Pro Logic II and I am surviving

DD 5.1 is 6 discreet audio channels. PLII takes 2 discreet audio channels and extracts extra channels. It's one step above "simulated surround sound". Even though the casual listener probably can't tell much difference short of an A-B comparison between 5.1 and PLII, there IS a difference. Plus, I prefer to keep my amplifier in "auto" mode and let it route the sound based on the source. If you "override" the amplifier and force it to PLII mode, it will try and turn ALL sources into PLII - even those that aren't intended to be heard in surround sound.

zroger73 wrote:

 

dmorris145 wrote:

 

I have had netflix for over two months and I find it hard to find one or two good movies per weekend

What are you guys watching that you can't live without dd 5.1 ?

I have been switching to Pro Logic II and I am surviving

DD 5.1 is 6 discreet audio channels. PLII takes 2 discreet audio channels and extracts extra channels. It's one step above "simulated surround sound". Even though the casual listener probably can't tell much difference short of an A-B comparison between 5.1 and PLII, there IS a difference. Plus, I prefer to keep my amplifier in "auto" mode and let it route the sound based on the source. If you "override" the amplifier and force it to PLII mode, it will try and turn ALL sources into PLII - even those that aren't intended to be heard in surround sound.

Exactly. Even non audiophiles can discern the difference between 2 channels and 6. Also, if anyone is going to go through the trouble of having a home theater, they are going to notice the difference this bug has caused. It's really annoying and I hope it's fixed soon.

I'm thinking that the SuperHD is streamed at a higher bit rate than their regular HD stream but still at 1080p, which does provide a sharper, more detailed PQ.

I hope that Apple s/w can get this sorted out. I can still get SuperHD on my Panny built-in app (as stated earlier) but I much prefer the snappy response of the ATV GUI.

Is there anything we can do right now, apart from leaving feedback and hope for the best?

Does anybody think dolby digital will ever work again?

I'm guessing it won't be till the next software revision. Doesn't seem like something Apple would rush to fix unfortunately.

Not necessarily. Apple can change apps 'on the fly' within the Apple TV. That's how sometimes new apps appear without a software update.

I think the fault lies with Netflix (most likely) messing up the included app, rather than Apple changing things.

Well, i don't think that's the case. Users in this thread posted that dolby digital still works like a charm with older firmware.

But until there's any kind of official statement (which we probably won't see anytime soon), it's all just guessing.

I hear what you're saying (and you could well be right) but there's also every possiblility that an 'app' can install different versions for different firmwares. It's just fancy HTML-esque wrapper after all.