Apple TV 4K Random HDMI Signal Loss

Update: I've been told an Apple engineer is finally going to look into the error logs that I provided them about 6 weeks ago. (I've been told this before - so I'm not holding my breath).

As a temporary solution, Apple's asked I change my video output to 4k Dolby Vision at 30hz. This has worked so far, even though navigating the menus feels like it's all in slow-mo. It's been almost a week without an incident.

Will provide an update when I hear something further.

Hi all,

Same problem here, but only after switching HDMI cables after wall mounting my LG C7 TV. Figured the new cables didn’t support 4K HDR bandwidth, so bought a “better” one that supported high-bandwidth, latest HDMI spec, etc. Nope. Problem was actually worse.

It wasn’t until I switched back to my old HDMI cable that the problem went away. And what‘s so special about my old cable? It has integrated Ferrite cores. Huh? Could that *really* be the difference? So, I tried another new HDMI cable that I had at hand - one without Ferrite cores. Bam. Signal loss almost immediately. So I tried another cable with Ferrite cores, and low and behold, problem solved! No signal loss. Perfect 4K Dolby Vision picture.

So, all I can figure is that interference is disrupting the 4K Dolby Vision signal, and the HDMI cables with Ferrite cores prevent the signal degradation. All I know is that my old cables with Ferrite cores were and are 100% reliable and solved this problem for me.

Hope this info helps someone else!

Cheers

Hello,

Just purchased an ATV 4K for my 2017 LG OLEDC7 two days ago. I have been experiencing signal loss issues multiple times a day and last night every few minutes since I switched over from non 4K ATV. The problem seems to be getting worse and I even tried the Belkin cable that was mentioned in the thread to no avail. Had to go back to old ATV just so I could watch a show in its entirety. Only way to reset the ATV when signal loss happens is to unplug the power as it becomes totally non responsive. hopefully there is a solution out there.

Another update: still no word from apple engineers however using the Dolby Vision at 30hz setting has worked so far. Recommend using this mode as a temp solution. Will post an update should anything change.

Don't you love how we're left to our own devices to investigate and resolve software bugs caused by Apple engineers? Last time I checked I was the paying customer...

Hi AviatorG822,

When I experience this issue, I most often continue to hear audio although the video signal is lost. Given that audio also originates from the wifi connection, I doubt wifi is the issue. Also, other devices connected to wifi at the same time don't experience a drop.

Same issue here. I have LGOLED65B7A. It happens for me on a very frequent basis to the point I can't use. DirecTVNow, iTunes movies, netflix, etc. I have to switch out of the input and switch back to get it to work. I am using a well reviewed HDMI v2 switch and ensured all of the cables in the chain to the TV were v2 HDCP compliant. Without a doubt this issue is due to how the AppleTV is handling the HDCP handshake for 4k/Dobly vision content. I would expect more from Apple since they named it AppleTV 4K and it doesn't work properly on the best 4K TV panel on the market.

I think I may have found a solution (at least to my case). My problem was with the ATV 4th gen non-4k, but I was experiencing the same drop-outs as everyone else. I got a HDMI audio extractor https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XDNJ6RM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UT F8&psc=1. This sits between the ATV and my LG TV. It's intended to let you split off the audio from the HDMI signal and send it to a dedicated audio device. However I left it in pass-thru so all it is really doing is taking the HDMI signal from the ATV and "filtering" it to a HDMI signal to the TV. Been running with that for a few weeks and haven't had any drops from any sources.

Same problem with my AppleTv 4K connected to my ONKYO TZ-RZ710 with CEC enabled. My amplificator main output is connected to my LG 65B7P HDMI 2 (ARC). I tried to disable the CEC on my ONKYO and the flicker reduced substantially but the problem occure sometime. I solved the problem by connecting my ONKYO in non ARC input in my OLED tv. I also enabled the CEC option in my ONKYO and all work fine for me. I bought my HDMI cable on:

https://www.primecables.ca/fr/p-333006-cab-hdmi2-6ft-all-cble-hdmi-20-6pi-zinc-a lloy-autoris#sku333006

Hey there, I was having this issue a LOT when I first hooked up my system which includes an Apple TV 4k and a LG OLED C7 using the most recent HDMI cables. Every day, it seemed that I would be watching tv and the ATV signal would drop and the tv would then read "No Signal". The only way to fix it was to either turn the tv off then on again, or unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it back in...UNTIL NOW!

SOLUTION:

Turn off Dolby Vision on the Apple TV. There is something weird that happened with the tv communicating with it's deep color feature and DV on the ATV.

I haven't had any signal drops ever since I turned off Dolby Vision.

P.S. The picture profiles once you turn off DV on the ATV are WAY better anyway, I personally love the expert (dark room) preset.

Hope this helps everyone!

Thanks for you reply and experience, but this has been mentioned in past posts, and it is not really a solution to an issue that shouldn't be happening. Most people bought the ATV4K for the sole purpose of using dolby vision. The fact that it drops the single randomly almost defeats the whole purpose of this device. As The Dolby Vision is the main selling point. So thank you, but if im going to turn off Dolby Vision I might as well just get rid of the ATV4K and go back to the old non 4K one. And Apples only solution to this issue is " Buy our 35$ HDMI cable" which people have done (me included) which die not even solve the issue.

The issue still persists even if you turn off Dolby Vision, even if your using HDR or other non DV 4K, as you will im sure, soon find out. Good Luck. We sure are getting no help from Apple on this issue.

I seem to have fixed the problem by plugging my AppleTV into a non-ARC HDMI port on my LG OLED65b7. Though it’s only been a day so maybe it will start again. But so far so good! No black screens yet.

Been there, done that. It’ll start again. Just give it time. This is an ATV4K issue and not an issue with our TV’s (most likely) Apple needs to fix it and every “fix” that people come on here wth almost always is a temp solution before they are back a few days or weeks later saying it didn’t work. Apple needs to address this issue.

The solution that seems to work for me is to set the display output to 4K 60hz standard and off of 4K 60hz hdr. Leave Dolby vision / hdr enabled so when Netflix / iTunes movies needs it will turn on just for that movie. Been working for a few days with no issues so hopefully this is a solid fix.

Until recently I used the Apple TV 4k on a LG OLED B6 55" and never had any dropouts in any display mode. A few days ago I upgraded to a LG OLED B7 65", and now I get a black screen with intermittent flickering noise almost every time I turn on the Apple TV. If I restart the Apple TV there is a chance I'll get another dropout, but if I don't I'm dropout-free for the rest of the viewing session (so far). I'm going to try various cables, but this seems like a HDMI or HDCP handshake issue.

Like all the others on this post I have experienced picture dropouts with an Apple TV 4K and a LG C7 OLED. I found a fix that works for me (granted this fix should not have worked). I originally had the Apple TV 4k plugged into a non-ARC HDMI port on my LG C7. I had a PS4 Pro plugged into my ARC HDMI port on my LG C7. Under this scenario I experienced dropouts at the rate of almost one per day. I then moved my PS4 Pro to a non-ARC HDMI port on my LG C7. For some unexplainable reason that fixed the problem. My Apple TV now seems stable and I do not loose the picture.