Apple TV 4K Random HDMI Signal Loss

Guess I might retort to you, Mr. Churchill, that you are the one affected by the issue, it is very much not an insignificant problem. The investment in a 65in LG OLED TV, high-end sound bar, brackets, in wall wiring, mounting, and ATV 4k is substantial. To then have to get up several times during a program to unplug and replug your HDMI cable into the ATV is pretty infuriating. That's why these threads exist: to help frustrated users hopefully share potential solutions. If you are unaffected, why bother reading this thread, much less taking the time to comment?

It might be a software problem ,or maybe not. It had only been doing it for a short time on my system. Then yesterday I pulled out a different HDMI cable, that is different from my generic cables. It has GE stamped on the finger grabs.

Been working perfectly ever since.

The Random singnal loss on DolbyVision titles come from Apple’s improper conversion to HDR10 from DolbyVision for non-dolbyvision displays.

HDR10 is supposed to have static metadata for the entire title. That’s the main difference between the two HDR formats.

Even though the AppleTV correctly determines that a display is not DolbyVision compatible, it still sends dynamic metadata to those displays. Many displays just have a brightness pop at those changes. Some dropout audio or have pops. Others, like Sony projectors drop picture.

Here’s a YouTube video that shows the problem causing Audio dropouts. I get image dropouts at the same spots in thsee clips.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JULpgiwn_nY

I’ve spent more than the cost of an AppleTV on various cables recommended by Apple ‘geniuses’ trying to fix this problem. It would be great if they would fix their faulty firmware instead of twisting every conversation into an excuse to sell you something. Since this problem varies with software versions, they obviously can fix it, if they care.

Before you buy more cables trying to fix this, check and see if your problems occur on DV titles, and if they happen at the same time on repeated viewings.

Thanks. The cable switch doesn’t fix it for everybody. I have the Belkin in my large collection of cables, but it doesn’t make those faulty DolbyVision titles play without glitches on my Sony projector. Apple would have to fix the metadata.

Hi Sam,

Essentially you’re sharing that the unsolved HDMI signal loss is expressed by:1. Disturbed video viewing2. Disturbed audio output to HDMI fed speakers

Would you venture a guess that the same disturbed audio would be present when Apple TV 4K is tuned to synchronized wireless (Bluetooth and WiFi) Bose SoundTouch version III speakers that are synchronized with each other; with devices within 5 meters’ line of sight of all devices?

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Thanks,Robert Sylianteng

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

please consider the environment before printing this.

Im glad I found this thread. Since September of last year when I updated to version 12 of the software, Ive been having signal loss when setting the output to 4k 60hz DV. Had been using the ATV for almost a year prior without seeing the issue a single time. Im on a 2017 vizio m-70 and have tried everything possible to resolve the issue, and nothing has worked. I have a drawer full of cables ranging from $8 to $60 and all of them are the same. Cable passes hdmi test, works fine for 10-20 minutes then signal drops constantly after that. It's so obnoxious. Was curious if its possible to roll the firmware back to the previous version and if anyone else has tried this? I did see some users stating they opened a ticket and looked for replacements. I might consider that route. Otherwise, Im going to unplug this pos and it's going into the trash can.

I have an Onkyo TX-NR686, Samsung 4K television, a non-4K AppleTV as well as DVD and LaserDisk players.

I'm working this issue of video & audio drop out while using AppleTV as well. Used to be a few times a minute when HDMI and audio inputs were not set properly. I thought it was better tonight when it made it through 25 minutes during a movie. I'm going to try enjoying a PBS Christmas special tomorrow night via AppleTV and see how that works.

I thought I had been using the ARC connection but turned out I wasn't, now I am. Using non-ARC allowed me to control AppleTV using the Samsung TV remote. Now that I've gone to ARC, I'm still getting video and audio drop outs AND need to use the AppleTV remote again (3 remotes now -- Onkyo for AV Receiver, Samsung for TV, and AppleTV for AppleTV). Groan..., the saga continues.

Hi - in our case we have a late-model Sony Projector - the picture was dropping out for a second or two in the same spots - in this case on "Fallout." That movie is DV - and ATV has to change it to HDR since our projector is not DV capable. Tried various settings on the ATV - no luck. HDMI cable is a long run - 10 meters: FiBBR Ultra Pro HDMI v2.0b Active Fiber Optical Cables. I was going to lay blame on it until I saw your note.

In the projector the menu allows access to "Expert settings." In it there is a setting for HDR. Ours was set to Auto. Changed it to HDR10 and the video dropouts no longer occur. We will have to watch some more material but so far it looks good.

Another data point I guess. I had been thinking the failure might be in the compression Apple TV was using for movies rather than the electronics or cable. I tried viewing a PBS Christmas Special for the music and the same thing happened. It worked beautifully for about half an hour (27 minutes vs. 36 minutes) to the first audio drop out. Then drop outs started to rapidly speed up: about 5 minutes to about 1 minute. At this point the picture started to reset too.

I am using SIIG Woven Braided High Speed HDMI cables certified to 18Gbps. The one from the Apple TV to the Onkyo TX-RN686 is 2 meters. I'm thinking the one from the Onkyo to the Samsung is 5 meters long.

Sure hope to work out this issue sometime.

For any one else having a similar type issue, with the advent of UHD 4K content, regular HDMI cables will no longer suffice. However, that doesn't mean you should run down to Best Buy and dish out $65.00 for one cable either. If that was the case, it would be a deal breaker with me as I have several in use with my 4K TV. There are companies like Monoprice that sell the proper 4K cables in various lengths, where you can get an 8 foot cable for less than $15.00. As time passes, the older HDMI cables will be phased out and prices will continue to drop for the newer cables. Before we know it, 8K will be here and we'll get to change everything again!

First test after two new cables was a success! I started reading about exceeding 15' cable length -- weird because I saw cables in the store today that were 25' and 35' long. I went from 23' overall of 4K SIIG Woven Cables (2M from Apple TV to Onkyo TX-NR686 receiver & 5M from receiver to a Samsung 4K television) to 16' overall of 8K SIIG Ultra High Speed Cable (4' from Apple TV to receiver and 12' from receiver to Samsung TV). I need to do some more testing but it's currently 100% better than before.

Strange that I haven't seen anything on this 15 foot idea in either the Samsung or Onkyo manuals -- just web forums dealing with this Apple TV signal drop-out issue. Ugh..., it was like getting hit with lightning bolts. Anyone else out there heard about this or is it urban folklore?

I ended up replacing all my Apple TV related HDMI cables with Audioquest branded HDMI cables (Forest standard). The issue still persists. I have a Fetch TV, PS4, Switch and XBox One X connected with no such issues.

I am 100% convinced this is an Apple TV issue. Apple, please fix ASAP!

Upgraded my Onkyo TX-NR676 to a TX-NR787 and the signal dropping persists. So does that rule out the receiver as being at fault? It's either the Apple TV or the LG OLEDC7P (and I'm using 2 Belkin cables).

It is a definitely a firmware issue. I tried a combination of every cable I could buy, including their overpriced "official" one with no luck. I had to sign up for the appletv beta to upgrade to a newer firmware and since have not had a single occurrence. I have since switched back to my $10 amazon basics cable.

Could you tell us what your TV or Projector is?

You might find this thread of interest - it indicates firmware issue on projector and also on ATV:

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/39-networking-media-servers-content-streaming/3027066-atv4k-faulty-dv-hdr10-conversion-2.html