Apple TV 4K streaming from VLC

[blackglass]

Hi guys, been away for a while and need some expert advice.
I have an Apple TV Mk 4 and it works very well with VLC streaming MKV HD (1920x1080) files from my Mac. I now have a large 4K TV and would like to enjoy UHD (4K) content. Over the past 12 months I have managed to store most of my DVD and BluRay collection on the Matroska (MKV) container for convenience, so I meed a streaming device that will support that container.

A question or two...
(1) Does the Apple TV 4K run 4K movies from Netflix and Prime?
(2) Will the Apple TV 4K display 4K movies streamed from VLC on my Mac?
(3) VLC supports MKV (Matroska) files and plays them well in HD on my Apple TV Mk 4 but will it work (in UHD) on the Apple TV 4K?

I went to buy an Apple TV 4K yesterday and the bloke in the store told me the device ONLY SUPPORTS 4K WHEN USING APPLE'S SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES. He told me the Apple TV 4K will not play 4K (UHD) from any other source. This sounds quite bizarre and all my attempts to find an answer to that have failed. Can some kind soul straighten me out on this?

 

[priitv8]

I went to buy an Apple TV 4K yesterday and the bloke in the store told me the device ONLY SUPPORTS 4K WHEN USING APPLE'S SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES. He told me the Apple TV 4K will not play 4K (UHD) from any other source. This sounds quite bizarre and all my attempts to find an answer to that have failed. Can some kind soul straighten me out on this?

This is utter BS. You can also show/stream your own content.
There are quirks, but there definitely is no technical limitation to do that.
I even create my home videos in UHD and HDR these days and watch them on aTV.
Come to think of it - there may be more problems on tha audio side. Simply because aTV does not support any lossless multichannel formats. As long as your source is AC3 5.1 or E-AC3 7.1, you are golden.

 

[blackglass]

This is utter BS. You can also show/stream your own content.
There are quirks, but there definitely is no technical limitation to do that.
I even create my home videos in UHD and HDR these days and watch them on aTV.
Come to think of it - there may be more problems on tha audio side. Simply because aTV does not support any lossless multichannel formats. As long as your source is AC3 5.1 or E-AC3 7.1, you are golden.

Thanks for your help. Do you know if VLC can play UHD or HDR? What codec do you use for your home videos? I've been using MKV because a 5gb MKV turns into 10gb MP4. MKV is the best all round codec for video although compatability is a majo issue unfortunately. (I'm no expert though, it's just what I think)

 

[waw74]

see post in your other thread about the same topic that you started at the same time

it really kinda only muddies the waters, doing that.




You keep saying "streamed from VLC on my Mac"

don't use airplay, it only does 1080 and no HDR

oh and don't use airplay.

 

[priitv8]

Thanks for your help. Do you know if VLC can play UHD or HDR? What codec do you use for your home videos? I've been using MKV because a 5gb MKV turns into 10gb MP4.

MKV is not a codec, but container (file) format. Like MP3 or MP4 or AVI or MOV or JPG.
For UHD and HDR there are no choices - you need to use H.265 (aka HEVC) in 10-bit resolution.
For UHD without HDR you can choose either H.264 (aka AVC) or H.265 but 265 is preferred because of slightly more efficient coding (=smaller files).
These are also the only 2 video codecs aTV supports natively in tvOS.
In addition - aTV does not know how to handle interlaced video, even if encoded in H.264 or H.265.
But it is not your concern if you use Plex or Infuse or VLC. Plex will transcode on server side, if format does not suit aTV, Infuse and VLC use local raw power of aTV-s CPU to software-decode other codecs.

 

[Rigby]

I've been using MKV because a 5gb MKV turns into 10gb MP4.

This means you are transcoding the video. That should not be necessary if the original codec is either H.264 or H.265 (which are the most common these days and are supported by the MP4 container format). MP4 does not support some common audio codecs though (e.g. DTS), so that may require transcoding. But the easiest option is to use an app that can play MKV files on the ATV, such as Infuse or MrMC. VLC can also play MKV files, but last I checked it was missing support for Dolby audio codecs due to licensing issues; not sure if that's still the case.

 

[blackglass]

This means you are transcoding the video. That should not be necessary if the original codec is either H.264 or H.265 (which are the most common these days and are supported by the MP4 container format). MP4 does not support some common audio codecs though (e.g. DTS), so that may require transcoding. But the easiest option is to use an app that can play MKV files on the ATV, such as Infuse or MrMC. VLC can also play MKV files, but last I checked it was missing support for Dolby audio codecs due to licensing issues; not sure if that's still the case.

Yes I tried transcoding with iSkysoft and to do a 4gb file too 2 hours (Aggghhh!)
I'm a 75 year old (non nerd) so all this stuff comes hard for me at the moment

 

[priitv8]

Yes I tried transcoding with iSkysoft and to do a 4gb file too 2 hours (Aggghhh!)
I'm a 75 year old (non nerd) so all this stuff comes hard for me at the moment

If your MKV contains H.264 or H.265-encoded video, then you do not need to re-encode it!
You can just rewrap (called remux) it into MP4 container. The 2 files will fall out about the same size, as the payload will be exactly the same. Internal structures may be little different and use different amount of space, but definitely not by a factor of 2.
If you are on a mac, Subler will remux MKV-s nicely into MP4/M4V and is free!

 

[HDFan]

But the easiest option is to use an app that can play MKV files on the ATV, such as Infuse

or Plex. Infuse is simpler, doesn't require a server on another device. Plex requires a server, but is feature rich.

Yes I tried transcoding with iSkysoft

No need to transcode if using Infuse or Plex.

 

[blackglass]

If your MKV contains H.264 or H.265-encoded video, then you do not need to re-encode it!
You can just rewrap (called remux) it into MP4 container. The 2 files will fall out about the same size, as the payload will be exactly the same. Internal structures may be little different and use different amount of space, but definitely not by a factor of 2.
If you are on a mac, Subler will remux MKV-s nicely into MP4/M4V and is free!

Thanks so much mate, I'll look into that. As mentioned I'm an older bloke challenged with all this tech stuff.
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or Plex. Infuse is simpler, doesn't require a server on another device. Plex requires a server, but is feature rich.



No need to transcode if using Infuse or Plex.

Thanks so much Rigby.