ATV 4 won't play my movies that play on ATV 3

I've been using Handbrake for years. Never an issue with my ATV3. I decide to upgrade to a 4 and the same videos that played fine now don't load. All finger point at the ATV. I've unhooked the new ATV, plugged in the old one and its business as usual.

"Virtually no one else has had this problem"? Have you not read this thread?! I suppose it's more enjoyable to air your pompositity about rather than supply helpful insight.

I've literally performed an A to B comparison. Subject A (the newest ATV, updated to the latest os) does not perform to the level that Subject B (the ATV3) does. Conclusion, the new Apple TVs either lack or prohibit certain formats.

The new one will be going back.

Elan01 wrote:

"Virtually no one else has had this problem"? Have you not read this thread?! I suppose it's more enjoyable to air your pompositity about rather than supply helpful insight.

Clearly, you haven't read it (properly) or else you wouldn't have asked if I had since I've participated in it.

Once again you have demonstrated the need for you to think (at least a little) before you burst into a tantrum and start blaming others, there are 5 people in this thread (yes, count them - virtually no one) complaining that the Apple TV 4 doesn't read the same formats as the Apple TV 3 did, I'm sure there might be another 5 or 6 somewhere but it's really quite insignificant given that tens of millions of Apple TV's have been sold over nearly 2 years.

The Apple TV 4 plays the formats that Apple claims it does, additionally I also know that it will play conversions made using handbrake if done properly, if they don't for you, it's because you chose to make (or perhaps didn't think and just went ahead anyway) non-standard conversions. Either way, return it if that's what you want to do.

Are the files that you're having trouble with in the .mp4 format? There's a known issue involving MPEG-4 files that is likely to be a bug of some sort. I have .mp4 files that worked normally on an ATV 2nd gen, as well as in OS X and in the Videos app on iOS, but don't work with the ATV 4th gen. Some people have said that using the Plex app solves the issue with .mp4 files, but I haven't tried it myself. Also, there should be a tvOS update coming out soon and it's possible it might contain a fix for this issue.

I'm having the same problem too. I have about 500 movies that I've converted using a dvd ripper program. The ripper program has been updated to support the new ATV. So my old and the new dvd's that I'm ripping still won't play on the new ATV. I'm looking for a fix to this too. Please advise.

If you're doing any new rips from DVD, use the .m4v format. That will definitely work with the 4th gen Apple TV. You can also go under File/Create New Version/Create iPad or Apple TV Version to convert .mp4 files to .m4v. That will create an additional version of your rip in an .m4v format. I'm not suggesting you try and convert your entire library that way, just for files that you want to watch now. Odds are that a near term update to tvOS could clear up the compatibility issue with .mp4 files.

It's not that the Apple TV can't play .mp4's per se, I have plenty and they all play. I suspect it's your conversion software that didn't stick to the rules when you used it.

Normally I would say you are right but I've got some that do work and some that don't. Looking at the files and they are pretty much the same.

There is another thread that sounds like the same issue. It's related to the encoding of those files. There is hope it will be patched but only Apple can say for certain

Apple TV (4th Gen) won't play iTunes content from library

Normally I would say you are right but I've got some that do work and some that don't.

Then it sounds as though that's exactly what you are saying. 😉

gr8fl4295 wrote:

...UGH, Apple!

I suspect you won't get very far unless you are prepared to consider it might be your conversion software.

Personally I use QuickTime, MPEGStreamclip or Compressor