There are some slight differences between the HDR and SDR pictures on my TV with the 11.2 GM. However they are very subtle. The HDR images look like they’ve had the saturation dial turned town a couple of notches. It’s nowhere near as unpleasant as the state of affairs with 11.0 and 11.1. Perhaps aficionados like @timstephens24 or @stoli412 will still be put off but I’m happy either way.
I think if Apple had released 11.0 with the colour mapping from 11.2 there wouldn’t have been any debate or protest at all.
The officially released Channels still has the enforce SDR mode enabled.
The latest version of Channels now has a setting that lets you pick if/when SDR Mode is enforced.
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I just got a 4k Apple TV. What is everyone’s preference on the HDR and SDR settings? I like the way the HDR looks but hate the switch to SDR since all my content is SDR.
I have my OLED set for HDR all the time and let auto switching happen to SDR and DV. I set my LED to SDR and let auto switching happen to HDR and DV.
I’ve got a Samsung series 6 curved UHDTV. It looks the best with HDR on only when playing HDR content. So my solution is to set the ATV4K to 4K 60hz SDR with auto frame rate and color depth switching. With this setting, all the menus and navigation are displayed in SDR (like they are supposed to be. The colors are brighter and deeper, it looks awesome). Then when I use channels, no switching needs to take place (channels is entirely SDR… without a switch, everything is super fast and responsive). If I use Netflix, Amazon, or iTunes to play HDR content, the TV automatically switches to HDR and matches the frame rate. Again, it looks awesome.
I have the same TV. Where is the setting on the TV for auto switching?
The auto-switching setting is on the Apple TV.
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right. plug the ATV into HDMI input 1 and set the input to support UHD color in the TV settings. Then set the ATV4K to 4K SDR 60hz default. There is also ATV settings to turn on auto frame rate and auto color depth. Turn those on. Now you will get the best color mode/frame rate for the content. You can see what mode the TV is in by hitting the ‘info’ button on the remote (i use a remote app on my phone). But it will show HDR when playing HDR content and will show a refresh rate appropriate for the frame rate of your content. It works great! And if you actually take some time to sit down and visually compare the difference between the different ATV settings when looking at the SDR menus and SDR content, you will see that these settings result in the best possible picture for everything.
Well now I’m having sync problems… ATV 4K with TvOS 11.2.1… Channels 3.1.7. Recordings are out of lip sync, unless I set the ATV to “Stereo” output, bypassing the 5.1. ATV is going via HDMI (2.2 cable) to the TV, and TV audio is S/PDIF to the AV receiver. (My AV receiver can’t do 4K at 60hz, and the ATV looks terrible at 30hz, so I have to go through the TV, with audio returning via S/PDIF.)
if your tv can output bitstream, do that and let the receiver decode the 5.1
First question is - do you get sync issues with apps other than Channels with the same setup?
Yeah, my TV’s only choices for audio output is PCM stereo, Dolby D, Dolby D+ (which my AV receiver doesn’t support) and the Dolbys with DTS.
No sync issues with other apps like Netflix, YouTube, etc… just with Channels, both recorded and live TV. No sync issues watching Live TV on the… TV. (Without ATV and Channels in the mix.)
I am going to upgrade my AV receiver to be able to handle the more modern flavor of 4K60, and see if that helps… I can go back to running the ATV through the AV receiver, rather than to the TV, then back to the AV receiver. I used to run my old ATV (non-4K) that way, and everything was fine. I wish the ATVs still had the S/PDIF connectors…
Just run it with TV in PCM for now. Some receivers sound really good in stereo and even do surround-like effects. It beats having lagged 5.1, especially if the lag is more than a couple hundred milliseconds.
Best option for a new reciever is something that will input HDMI and do 4k hdr passthrough
I love that I am on a Channels App forum and learn how to set up my ATV and Samsung TV 
I just unboxed my ATV4K and hooked it up and followed theses settings (after an ATV software upadate) and all looks great! My HDHR Prime arrives on Monday so I’ll get that working and add the Channels App and set up my older laptop as a DVR next week!
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I’m having this same issue with my Apple 4K TV. Other apps work fine. Channels is the one I’m having the sync issues with. I’ve tried the PCM mode as well as all of the other modes supported on my TV and nothing seems to make it better. Any other suggestions?
I’m about to buy an ATV for my non-4K TV (Samsung Plasma F8500). Was planning to just get a 4K (and not a 4th gen) since the price difference is so small. But skimming this thread and seeing all these comments about muted colors has me concerned. Am I better off getting the 4th Gen ATV if I don’t plan to upgrade my TV until the plasma dies? Thanks!
@bgtees Definitely get the 4K. The extra speed makes the whole device a delight to use, gigabit ethernet makes playback and seeking way faster, and you’ll have it if you ever upgrade your TV to 4K.
As for the muted colors. Just set it’s resolution settings to 1080p SDR and to Match Content for resolution and frame rate. All broadcast TV is SDR (non HDR). And since you don’t even have an HDR TV, obviously keeping it in SDR mode is the right thing to do. The Match Content will adjust the refresh rate of the Apple TV’s output to adjust to exactly what the movie is using, which makes it look MUCH better on your TV.
So don’t worry about the mentions of muted colors. That was just people using it in HDR mode when they shouldn’t have.
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Great info, thanks. Going to pick up from Costco today.