Channels live with HDHR5-4k ATSC 3.0 on AppleTV 4K

Channels Apple TV
#1

I'm looking for help with my setup. I'm in the Portland Oregon market where all the local broadcasters are using ATSC 3.0. Here is my setup: Among other equipment 6 AppleTV 4k, 4 HDhomerun HDHR4 and I just added the new HDhomerun ATSC 3.0 tuner (HDHR5-4k). Latest TVOS for the AppleTVs, Latest firmware on the HDhomerun HDHR5-4K tuner 20201030 and latest Channels 4.3.1

I've read about issues with the new HDHR tuner audio output being AC4 and some issues around decoding. I tried playing several ATSC 3.0 broadcasts with tuner 1 or 2 without much luck. I tried adjusting the Channels app "playback" "advanced" settings to video and audio driver to "experimental" but it still plays for just a few seconds then the video starts to stutter and the audio drops out. Another note, when the audio plays, the level is very low and sound is only out of the front left channel...

#2

ATSC 3.0 channels are choppy. ATSC 1.0 channels are fine. SD stated a few weeks ago they are releasing new firmware. Maybe it will help when they deploy it. At this point ATSC 3.0 doesn't work well enough to use.

#3

Good to know new firmware is on the way. I also have an Nvidia shield pro. The experience using it instead of the AppleTV with Channels live is even worse.

Just for reference, I also have an LG tv. Maybe not the right place to put this but for reference, using the SD app on the LG is the only app/platform combo I’ve been able to get working 100%. Looks and sounds pretty fantastic so I’m really looking forward seeing every app/platform combo working flawlessly.

#4

I’m in the Tampa market and ATSC 3.0 just went live on Dec 1st.

Since then, I’ve been having issues with my HDHOMERUN 4K tuner, in that audio plays out of the left rear speaker, other speakers extremely low. This is only for the ATSC 3.0 channels, all the others do not have this issue.

SD advised that a firmware update is a week away. Not a moment too soon.

#5

That's great news. Is that confirmed? If so I'll ditch my Hulu Live TV which expires on Dec. 20.

#6

LOL. No. It's been one week away for 3 weeks now.

#7

That’s what their email to me said...I dunno

#8

Is the issue really SD or is it the channels app/platform? I've used Channels on the AppleTV AND on Nvidia Shield Pro. I've also used the HDHomeRun app on both. In addition, I've also used the HDHomerun app on my LG OLED TV. The level of performance greatly varies with equipment and software used.

Test case:
Portland market, tested on several local ATSC 3.0 stations using tuner 0 or 1. HDHR5-4K Firmware 20201030. All ethernet connected.

  1. AppleTV 4k using Channels app 4.3.1 - Choppy video/audio, on sided audio - Not usable.
  2. AppleTV 4K using HDHomeRun app 20201204 - Video good, audio one sided, low fidelity - Usable.
  3. Nvidia Shield Pro using Channels app 3.0.2 - Choppy video/audio, one sided, low fidelity - Not usable.
  4. Nvidia Shield Pro using HDHomeRun app 20201113 - Choppy video/audio, one sided, low fidelity - Not usable.
  5. LG OLED TV using HDHomeRun app 20200923 - Excellent video, absolutely awesome audio on all channels.
#9

Keep in mind that the stations are still adjusting on their end as well. The next update from SD should make the HDHR better at handling ATSC 3.0. We'll see. In my market all ATSC 3.0 channels went off line about 3 weeks ago. They've started to come back this week and play a lot better on channels but still have issues with skipping but significantly better then a month ago.