Apple TV 4K White Flashes (HDR)

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mblataric Author

Level 1

45 points

Apple TV 4K White Flashes (HDR)

Hi,

I found question Apple TV 4K White Flashes which is my exact problem, but could not reply there.

My set is Apple TV 4K (tvOS 11.4), Sony XE9005 and Denon X2400H.

I have done all suggestions in linked question (and others I found on internet), but problem is persistent.

I purchased several 18Gbit certified cables and tested them on MacBook Pro to see if I can get 4K 60Hz 4:4:4 chroma and they all work correctly.

Also tested them with PlayStation 4 with 4K HDR content and all works without issues.

I reseted ATV and Sony TV to factory settings and I updated ATV to lates tvOS 11.4.

I made sure ATV is connected to HDCP 2.2 ports and all HDMI ports are in "enchanced" mode supporting 4K 60Hz in HDR (and max chroma 4:4:4).

Also tried connecting ATV directly to TV, avoiding Denon.

Problem is still persistent.

Full screen white flashes when 4K HDR is enabled in ATV. I have noticed them while watching Netflix and while screen mirroring from iPad.

When I change settings to 4K SDR, white flashes seems to disappear, but I do not find that as acceptable solution since I actually like Apple's HDR upscaling of SDR content (I like contrast and brightness even when more noise is introduced in the process).

Has anyone managed to find proper solution for this?

Thanks,

Mario

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 11.4, null

Posted on May 31, 2018 1:07 PM

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Answer 1

mblataric Author

Level 1

45 points

Jun 7, 2018 12:31 PM in response to Urquhart1244

Hi,

well you don’t buy 4K HDR TV with surround system and then worry about power consumption. It’s a bit silly, kind of like buying Ford Mustang and then worry about fuel consumption.

I bought Apple TV so I can scale up, not scale down. And I don’t expect anything that was not advertised ATV can do. So I expect it to do it. I most certainly did not expect it to white flash in HDR which can be really annoying and distracting.

Sorry I wasn’t clear about 4:4:4. I am using XE9005 as a monitor connected to a MacBook Pro using 4:4:4 chroma in SDR.

Regards,

Mario

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Answer 2

mblataric Author

Level 1

45 points

Jun 1, 2018 12:12 PM in response to mblataric

I recorded a slow motion video of this problem.

First export is at 100% speed so you can see how this looks like in real time.

Second export was at 1% speed to see it slowed down.

Thanks,

Mario

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Answer 3

mblataric Author

Level 1

45 points

Jun 4, 2018 2:53 AM in response to mblataric

Is there really no solution to this except disabling HDR?

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Answer 4

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,292 points

Jun 4, 2018 5:34 AM in response to mblataric

The flashes have been reported for various brands of TVs and various brands of media players/streaming boxes/game consoles. I would suggest to reconsider your video settings (chroma or frequency, see below).

I made sure ATV is connected to HDCP 2.2 ports and all HDMI ports are in "enchanced" mode supporting 4K 60Hz in HDR (and max chroma 4:4:4).

That’s not how it works.

All HDMI is backwards compatible; that is not the reason for an Enhanced setting. Sony’s wording is not helping here. Sony’s Enhanced HDMI setting manages UHD, HDCP 2.2 (which is not required to be backwards compatible) and bandwidth. A setting that many other manufacturers can figure out without user input.

Secondly, HDMI 2.0 supports 4K 60Hz 4:4:4 only in 8 bit (SDR). For 4K 10–12 bit HDR, the bandwidth needs are higher than supported by HDMI 2.0 at 60Hz 4:4:4, so something (either chroma or frequency) has to be reduced.

This is only an issue if you try to force it: all streaming video content is 4:2:0 anyway. The other crazy part here is forcing 60Hz needlessly; most video content is 24–30 Hz (fps) natively. Which makes the Match Content settings so wonderful, imho.

Note that the manufacturers always mention these high end properties separately, not all together as one setting.

I actually like Apple's HDR upscaling of SDR content.

I won’t argue taste 😝. Electricity must be cheap where you live. Power consumption may double for HDR vs. SDR, because of the maximum brightness levels.

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Apple TV 4K White Flashes (HDR)

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