Support tvOS 11.2 Match Frame Rate

Channels Apple TV
#1

I searched the forums but all I find are old mentions to this issue, prior to tvOS 11.2 bringing support for frame rate matching, saying that it can’t be done and we have to live with the tradeoffs. Are there plans to support this feature now that it’s available, like how HDR/SDR switching is handled?

Also, just want to say that after dealing with the mess that is Plex Live TV on the Apple TV (with Plex forcing a transcode of every single live TV stream instead of direct playing), I finally swapped my WinTV quadHD for a HDHomeRun Connect + Channels for Apple TV. Can’t describe how much better it is! Well worth the money, so thanks!

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#2

It’s already supported. In Channels go to Settings, then scroll down and you’ll see ‘SDR Mode Switching’ under VIDEO PLAYER. I have mine set to ‘On App Launch’ but the other options are ‘Off’ and ‘When Playing Video.’

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#3

Hmmm, I tried this out before posting and it didn’t seem to work. I just tried again, but it seems to be very buggy.

If I set “On app launch”, my TV immediately switches from 60Hz to 50Hz. If I quit Channels by hitting Menu or the TV button, it switches back to 60Hz. Re-opening Channels then does not switch - it remains at 60Hz and never drops back to 50Hz again.

#4

This is surprising. Apple provides a single api for setting both the framerate and color mode. I assme “on app launch” is working for SDR, so it’s strange it wouldn’t be for the framerate. It’s possible there’s a tvOS bug at play… it seems like they’re planning some improvements for the upcoming 11.3 which brings framerate matching to the older ATV4 as well.

Our recommendation so far for DVB users has been to set the ATV at 50hz by default, and let the other apps switch when playing 60hz content.

#5

I don’t have a 4k HDR TV to know whether the SDR/HDR switching works or not. I just realised that because my Apple TV is registered for the tvOS software beta, it’s actually running 11.3 already (seems it updated without telling me… hmmm). Maybe this is a new bug introduced with 11.3? I’m going to test the “when playing video” option shortly and see if that helps

#6

The early betas are notoriously buggy so I wouldn’t be surprised.