I apologize in advance for the long response. This has been something I've been obsessing over for a couple of weeks. There is not a clear cut answer out there. I've spoke to both an Apple representative and a Netflix representative, and have read several articles about HDR10 vs Dolby Vision and I have come to the following:
Everything is converted / processed to the HDR format (Dolby Vision / HDR10) that your television can handle when you set up the Apple TV 4K to your television. So if your television only supports HDR10 and you select a title offered only in Dolby Vision (noted by the DV icon) you are not getting the movie shown in the HDR10 (HDR icon) format, you are getting a processed version. As ATV 4K lacks a native / auto-switch function I'm curious how that works on televisions that can display both. Once you set-up ATV 4K to your television it seems to retain a constant signal. For me that signal is 60hz 4K HDR(10), regardless of the content. ATV 4K seems to process all content to the signal you initially set up (unless you manually change it). I figure it is that conversion / processing that is producing the muddy / dark / overblown look many people are complaining about. Everyone seems to understand there is processing / up-conversion going on for HD content, but I don't think most people have cued into the fact that there is some processing going on between the HDR formats.
If someone has a television that can do both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, I wonder if the signal to the television actually changes. Apple has stated the auto-switch function isn't "elegant" and that is why the ATV 4K doesn't do it. To be clear, I would imagine a TV that can do both DV and HDR10 is set up to receive steady 60Hz 4K Dolby Vision signal. What happens when they select Alien Covenant (a title only offered in HDR10)? Does the ATV 4K do some weird Dolby Vision to HDR10 processing for them? How does that title's colors and contrast compare to the native Dolby Vision titles?
The real kicker is the most "HDR" content on the Apple TV 4K is encoded in Dolby Vision (a strange choice as HDR10 is the open source format that most / all HDR televisions are capable of running). There seems to be a few exceptions on the iTunes store. Netflix for some strange reason, who notably authors their content in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, only seems to be offering their content in Dolby Vision for the Apple TV 4K. I've pressed Netflix about that, and didn't receive a clear answer:
| George Netflix |
| Thanks for the input and yes, I was checking here on my side and there are some devices in the case of the Apple TV that it was decided to support Dolby Vision, and we would love to support both of them, however this is not something that we can add if the device will not admit it, now then your TV supports HDR and there could be an enhancement when playing, the HDR itself will turn the image a little bit darker, however not as dark as you mentioned, but for sure you could use a different streaming device, is not what we want of course. |
| You |
So just to be clear. There are not plans to support the HDR format on Apple TV 4K? |
| George Netflix |
| First of all is great to hear that you do not have troubles with the HDR on the TV itself, and as you know we work along with the manufacturers and Netflix does not work like other apps as we work with licensed content there are many things that will need to be inspected, so we need to work with our pals on Apple to introduce certain features, nonetheless we keep track of why our users contact us and is great that you let us know about this, we of course continue to make changes as the time goes by as our goal is to offer as many options as we can, so you can expect to see more improvements, you know that we make updates constantly to the app, you only need to make sure you keep yours up to date. |
The solution for the Netflix problem would be to provide HDR10 options (something they already do on other versions of their apps) for their titles.
The HDR icon and the Dolby Vision icon mean something, and this was reaffirmed by the representative I spoke to at Apple. The HDR icon is for movies authored in HDR10, and the Dolby Vision icon is for movies authored in Dolby Vision. There is no magic switch between the two, as they are competing formats. On the authoring side you can easily produce both hand-in-hand, but once it is locked into the codec your machine has to process one or the other for a pure "HDR" experience.
Personally, my television (Samsung KS8000) only processes HDR10, so my Netflix viewing is lacking through ATV 4K. The movies on iTunes that are authored in HDR10 look great. The movies on iTunes that are Dolby Vision are questionable. Others have suggested changing the dynamic contrast setting on my television, but that is a cheat and a work around. Because, once I view a proper HDR10 movie that idea goes out the window. The picture is overblown. My point is, it isn't some setting with the television; it is how the Apple TV 4K processes the HDR / up conversion of HD content that is the problem. Native switching / auto-switching would go a long way to solve these issues, as would providing authored "HDR" content in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
