I am experimenting with some 4K MKV files. They are 10-bit HEVC. I was just curious what kind of expected behavior I should expect while playing back on different equipment. Also was wondering if the video would be downscaled to 1080p if someone decided to watch the 4K file on a 1080p device. I realize this may sound dumb but I am just starting to play around with 4K content but only 2 of my TVs are 4K and am curious about compatibility.
This is what I was seeing:
Apple TV 4K- video looks perfect, also displays at 4K resolution
Amazon firestick 4K max- video plays back fine on 4K TV but is downscaled to 1080p according to stats.
Apple TV non-4k- video plays back very choppy
Amazon firestick non-4K- When using the hardware encoder I get no video, when using the software encoder the app crashes while attempting to play back.
Apple TV 4K will display your 4K videos great. It will support HDR, but not Dolby Vision. It will also utilize e-ac3 + atmos files, if you have the Experimental audio decoder enabled. It will not utilize Atmos in TruHD uncompressed audio tracks. But it will play these multi-channel perfectly fine. HDR will be toned mapped down to non HDR displays so it will look fine. Also, playing 4k back on a 1080p tv, will be just fine.
Apple TV HD will not play these, because it doesn't have the power, for obvious reasons. There is no automatic transcoding to down sample these videos. This will go for any other platform that isn't 4K ready.
Non Apple devices are so cheap, it's easiest to just buy a new device that's 4K compatible. Just pick up a 4K fire stick for $35 when they're on sale, which is practically all the time.
Thank you. I have a firestick 4K max that I bought when it was on sale but it only seems to display video in 1080p. It seems to do this with all the channels DVR content. My TV displays 4K as the output from the firestick but the channels app seems to downscale everything to 1080p. Is this normal? My Apple TV 4K seems to do the opposite and upscale everything to 4K as the scaled output.
The stats is incorrect. Video is displayed at 4K
I think I am having the same issue as you: