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Apple TV 2 - Stuttering When Watching HD Content

R

ruskinthecat

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 9, 2011
15
0
I am currently seeing a stutter problem when watching any 720p content via my apple tv 2.
This includes both iTunes purchased content and my own Handbrake encodes (blu-ray mkvs, appletv2 preset).
It's easy to spot, it occurs whenever the camera pans.
A good example: iTunes purchased HD film, Tsotsi, about 2mins into the film when the camera pans up the rail tracks, I see very obvious stuttering. I do not see this when viewing on my Mac Pro directly in iTunes. In fact I see no stuttering at all on any 720p content when viewing on my Mac Pro.

SD movies are fine, but the HD movies are not.
Stuttering occurs both before and after Apple TV buffer is full.

I am using a (UK) Toshiba Regza TV - tried turning off all optimisations, different setting combinations, no difference.
Upgraded to Apple TV to 4.3, no difference.
Tried wired ethernet, no difference.
Tried different TV (smaller Toshiba), no difference.

Could this be a 50Hz vs 60Hz output issue? (but wouldn't I therefore see an issue with SD content? (which I do not))

Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Has anyone successfully fixed this issue (if they had it before)?

Any help much appreciated, it's driving me crazy.
 
Sounds like the problem that's discussed in this thread:-

Am I the only one that sees the frame skipping?

I borrowed my friends ATV2 because I was thinking of upgrading my ATV1 and I had the exact same problem. I have a ton of both iTunes purchased and self encoded content that plays perfectly on my ATV1 but judders on panning scenes on the ATV2. I have a Samsung TV and the problem for me is on both SD and HD content.
 
roidy said:
I borrowed my friends ATV2 because I was thinking of upgrading my ATV1 and I had the exact same problem. I have a ton of both iTunes purchased and self encoded content that plays perfectly on my ATV1 but judders on panning scenes on the ATV2. I have a Samsung TV and the problem for me is on both SD and HD content.
Click to expand...

Does the latest firmware (4.2.1) fix this?
 
Hey there,

Just wanted to say that I am seeing the exact same problem you are. I have posted a few messages about this issue on a number of found including Apple's support forums but so far I have not had any joy. I was hoping the latest update would fix this but it has not.

I also have the first apple tv and there are no issues on that. It has to be the apple tv 2. Very annoying!!!
 
Same problem here. I think the frame skipping subsides after the ATV2 has cached the bulk of the video file. Until then, yeah, there is noticeable frame rate aberration.
 
I have just re-tested this under 4.2.1 - still the same problem.
Occurs for EVERY single piece of HD content. Every time the camera pans, frames are dropped and I see stutter.

So annoying.
 
Yep I saw the same problem under both iOS 4.2 and the new 4.3. My friend who's ATV it is also see's the same problem on his Sony TV, but it doesn't bother him, for me however it's a deal breaker. No way am I going to upgrade to a device that performs worse than the one I've already got.
 
Last edited:
Has any reported this issue to apple?

It's getting really frustrating now. I had to plug in my old Apple TV to watch a HD movie tonight because the stutter was really annoying, pan shot heavy film!
 
Ok, so after trying just about every combination of settings under the sun, I think I may have found a fix for my particular case - i.e. with my Toshiba Regza TV.

On the TV menu under Setup -> AV Connection -> HDMI Settings there is an option for "Lip Sync".

I tried turning this off just to see if it would stop the stuttering and (very strangely) it seems to have worked!

Have only done some basic testing with my HD content so far, but the stuttering on camera panning now seems to have disappeared.

For others experiencing this issue, I would suggest turning this off (if there is an option to do this on your TV) or continue to try different options with your TV Settings.
 
I had to update back to the provious version as I cannot watch it with the pan stuttering. I hope apple fix this. I am worried that many others are not reporting this issue.

I have tried it on various tvs.

How many of you are experiencing this issue?
 
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