Apple TV 4K 2021

[mechman]

So I caught that a new box is coming out. Anyone up on what has changed? Other than the remote, which is a big plus imo.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Mine changed drastically... it looks exactly like a Roku Ultra, but it play Apple 4K just fine.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

So I caught that a new box is coming out. Anyone up on what has changed? Other than the remote, which is a big plus imo.

Remote, 120hz refresh rate, high frame rate HDR added to AirPlay capability, and an auto-calibration mode for users with an iPhone 12. Seems to use the front camera of the phone as a Spyder type sensor and makes adjustments in the ATV to improve color accuracy.

 

[mechman]

Remote, 120hz refresh rate, high frame rate HDR added to AirPlay capability, and an auto-calibration mode for users with an iPhone 12. Seems to use the front camera of the phone as a Spyder type sensor and makes adjustments in the ATV to improve color accuracy.

I see no reason to upgrade.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Me either. Though I probably will at some point, just to see and play around with it, and because I am still using a 1080p unit in the bedroom on a 4K display.

#ICanJustifyAnything

 

[mechman]

So I just read that the remote and the auto-calibration mode will be available for older ATV 4Ks. Not sure yet what the advantage of high frame rate HDR is yet that would compel me to purchase? Will it mean I can watch my Gemini Man rip via Plex?

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

You can already do that. The HFR HDR capability has been added to AirPlay, so people who shoot 60fps Dolby Vision on their iPhones can AirPlay it to the AppleTV.

 

[mechman]

I've tried to watch Gemni Man via Plex and it's a no go. Don't know if it's throughput or what. I've always wanted to get the dashboard open and see if it's the server, plex or whatever but haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I've tried to watch Gemni Man via Plex and it's a no go. Don't know if it's throughput or what. I've always wanted to get the dashboard open and see if it's the server, plex or whatever but haven't gotten around to it.

I guess I honestly haven’t ever tried on my AppleTVs. I primarily use my Shield for PLEX in the theater for its ability to pass through all lossless audio formats with all metadata included. There are some really high bitrate discs (Rear Window UHD for one) that would choke even my hardwired setup until I made sure everything was CAT6 from end to end - found a CAT5e in the chain that was choking it.
Looks like Rear Window is still a hair higher bitrate than Gemini Man. I don’t have GM anymore to test on ATV, as it was one I only rented and ripped, deleted after I watched it.

Rear Window:

Gemini Man

 

[mechman]

I'll test it out again tonight with the Plex Dashboard open on my pc. What's the refresh rate of our current ATV4Ks? If it's less than 120hz that would be the issue.

 

[mechman]

Yeah I'm playing Gemini Man on my current ATV 4K and it's like watching stop action film. The Plex dashboard isn't even registering any issues at all - CPU use hits 22% occasionally but it sits at <15% mostly. Bandwidth isn't registering anything which is odd because it should. It'd be nice to play the 120fps version thru plex but oh well.

The Roku Ultra will play it for a couple of seconds and then it kicks out to the main menu.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Yeah I'm playing Gemini Man on my current ATV 4K and it's like watching stop action film. The Plex dashboard isn't even registering any issues at all - CPU use hits 22% occasionally but it sits at <15% mostly. Bandwidth isn't registering anything which is odd because it should. It'd be nice to play the 120fps version thru plex but oh well.

The Roku Ultra will play it for a couple of seconds and then it kicks out to the main menu.

It played fine on the Shield. I’ve never been a fan of anything in HFR, and it wasn’t even a good movie to boot.

 

[mechman]

It played fine on the Shield. I’ve never been a fan of anything in HFR, and it wasn’t even a good movie to boot.

I just went and checked it on the Shield. Can confirm! It was a bad movie but I loved the minigun scene!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I use the Shield for 100% of my PLEX viewing in the theater. It is hands-down the best device for it. But I prefer the AppleTV UI and especially the TV app, and how it brings all my streaming sources into a single view (except for Netflix). So PLEX on the Shield and everything else is the AppleTV.

 

[mechman]

The problem with the Shield is that it doesn’t do Dolby Vision for the DTM hack with my HD Fury Diva. There’s a noticeable difference between watching something in HDR and watching it via LLDV with DTM. I had been having some issues with it the other day (I accidentally reset a setting I shouldn’t have) and my neighbor and I were testing content via HDR/LLDV and that LLDV hack is something I can’t do without at the moment. 80% of my Plex rips are digital copies as well so I use those over Plex most of the time anyways just for the LLDV. The only time I use Plex is for that random movie I don’t have a digital copy for or when I’m in the living room. And the living room is where my Shield resides now since I have the Diva in the theater.

I guess I’m kinda moving away from Plex more and more lately.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

The problem with the Shield is that it doesn’t do Dolby Vision for the DTM hack with my HD Fury Diva. There’s a noticeable difference between watching something in HDR and watching it via LLDV with DTM. I had been having some issues with it the other day (I accidentally reset a setting I shouldn’t have) and my neighbor and I were testing content via HDR/LLDV and that LLDV hack is something I can’t do without at the moment. 80% of my Plex rips are digital copies as well so I use those over Plex most of the time anyways just for the LLDV. The only time I use Plex is for that random movie I don’t have a digital copy for or when I’m in the living room. And the living room is where my Shield resides now since I have the Diva in the theater.

I guess I’m kinda moving away from Plex more and more lately.

Interesting. I had read into that DV hack when it first was discovered, but that was also about the time I was really “teched out” and wanting to remove excess settings and devices, so I didn’t even attempt it - what you don’t know…
The Shield does DV though, right? Or is it just that it doesn’t work with that hack?

 

[mechman]

The Shield Pro works with it. The Shield I have does not. Mine only does HDR. Had I known then what I know now...

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

For whatever reason, I woke up thinking about this thread. I have another thought to add, on the new ATV4K. I have a feeling there may be some other unmentioned extra power under the hood, designed more specifically for gaming. I know Apple is still growing its Arcade offering, and I do think I saw either the new ATV or the new firmware update allows additional 3rd party gaming controllers, and certainly the refresh rate will be attractive for gamers. I'd bet we hear about something down the road that was added under the hood that we haven't heard about yet. Or at least connecting more dots between the new hardware and Arcade service.

I have the Arcade service as part of my Apple One bundle, but I haven't really looked at it much, especially because I'm not a gamer and I don't have a controller that will work with the ATV. My son downloads new games now and then to his phone, but not on the ATV yet.

 

[mechman]

For whatever reason, I woke up thinking about this thread. I have another thought to add, on the new ATV4K. I have a feeling there may be some other unmentioned extra power under the hood, designed more specifically for gaming. I know Apple is still growing its Arcade offering, and I do think I saw either the new ATV or the new firmware update allows additional 3rd party gaming controllers, and certainly the refresh rate will be attractive for gamers. I'd bet we hear about something down the road that was added under the hood that we haven't heard about yet. Or at least connecting more dots between the new hardware and Arcade service.

I have the Arcade service as part of my Apple One bundle, but I haven't really looked at it much, especially because I'm not a gamer and I don't have a controller that will work with the ATV. My son downloads new games now and then to his phone, but not on the ATV yet.

I do play games, just not on my ATV. I mainly play games on my phone or iPad.