Hello all!

Recently finally got a 4K HDR TV to go with my Apple TV 4K.

As far as I can tell, neither the Apple TV 4K’s Movies app nor macOS’s AppleTV app ever download the 4K media for local storage, but they always stream from Apple’s servers. Does anyone know of any documentation on this, and how the bitrate is determined? On iOS I see the file sizes for downloads for HD and below, but not 4K. On macOS, I see only HD as download option, and only streaming options for 4K (I was hoping to use Home Sharing from my mac perhaps).

I’m looking at getting the absolute maximum image quality, and when streaming from other services I’ve noticed some artifacting (color banding in gradients) that I think are related to the encoding and/or bitrate.

Thanks for any info! Google or ChatGPT did not help me much (I think mostly because ‘4K’ is in the product name).

  • Garnoch@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I see a lot of good info here, but it also comes down to the TV of course. My parents recently bought a new 4k HDR TV, but it was cheap. I talked them into bumping up one model, but that’s as far as they would go. They love it, but I can see that “color banding in gradients” issue you talked about, which my TV doesn’t have. I didn’t point it out to them though.

  • TexanInBama@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Like many, I was not getting the best picture quality I was expecting from my 4K AppleTV on my 4K TV, until I finally found these settings.

    On my AppleTV I have the following settings:

    Format 4K SDR

    HDMI Output YCbCR

    Chroma 4:4:4

    Match Content:

    • Match Dynamic Range ON

    • Match Frame Rate ON

    These settings finally allow me to watch content in full 4K (3840 X 2160)

    I hope this helps you.

      • TexanInBama@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I can’t help but be upset at myself for putting up mediocre picture since AppleTV 4K first gen!

        I have only been enjoying my Gorgeous 4K TV Screen for less than a year!

        I have always been great at fine tuning TVs and having beautiful colors and blacks.

        But, I can’t help being mad at myself since it took me so long to figure out the fine tuning of the Source itself, the AppleTV 4K!

    • rtyoda@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      FYI, absolutely nothing streams in 4:4:4, and once any HDR content starts streaming with these settings it will switch away from that anyways.

      These are good settings to use, but they don’t magically increase the quality of the stream.

      • TexanInBama@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I agree!

        Once the Streaming starts, I do get a Stable Beautiful Picture.

        Once I set my AppleTV to this settings, I no longer have black screens trying to find the correct Match.

        In my case, I now get a great 4K resolution with great colors and blacks.

        I don’t recall what results I got with setting Chroma to 4:4:2

      • regrob2@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I think having match content turned on will enable Dolby vision when it is available.

  • ki700@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The real answer is to not use digital copies. If you want the best quality possible, you should be watching 4K Blu-Rays.

  • sciencetaco@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The absolute best image quality (50-80+mbps) is going to come from having digital file copies of the 4K Bluray. Which you store on your local network and play back your AppleTV using apps such as Infuse. That requires ripping the discs yourself or aquiring them via questionable means. Otherwise streaming from AppleTV+ service with upwards of 30mbps.