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AppleTV 2 Netflix not always Widescreen

urkel

urkel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
Im not sure if Netflix on AppleTV has any controls, but my Netflix movies don't always play in widescreen. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they just switch to 4:3 stretched and theres no way to restore it.

Any hints on how to do this because on the PS3 and the app built into the TV then its always widescreen.
 
I've had the same problem with my Apple TV and Netflix since the last software update.

Some widescreen shows and movies get smushed down to fit in the 4:3 area, so the picture is distorted. This happens randomly, and some tv shows and movies will switch halfway through the episode.

My kids were watching Good Luck Charlie (which is widescreen HD) and about 5 minutes into the show, it switched from 16:9 to smushed 4:3.

Another movie I noticed it on was Airport (I know, a fantastic movie). On my Mac, Xbox 360, and iPad the movie is widescreen. On the ATV, it's picture is smushed and distorted into 4:3.

On another thread, I mentioned that Santa Clause 2 was distorted. I went back and checked a few days later, and it was again widescreen - for a few minutes, then it went back to 4:3.

I've reset the ATV and restored the ATV without change.

Hopefully a software update will address this. In the meantime, we've been using the xbox to watch Netflix.
 
I had this problem last night, for the first time. The movie started at 16:9, then dropped to 4:3 anamorphic after 15 minutes. I stopped and resumed and it went back to 16:9, for a couple minutes, then went back to 4:3 anamorphic.

I wonder if it was trying to make an adjustment based on my variable network speed...
 
I would hazard a guess that picture quality is based upon available bandwidth. And before you say it doesn't happen on another device on the same network, I'd also suggest that parameters may be device specific. Can't quote you anything specific, just my $0.02.
 
I, too, have had the problem with the aspect ratio switching mid-movie on a couple of titles. When I play it on my Xbox360, it looks just fine. I suspect that this has to do with Netflix's encoding since there aren't any settings on the AppleTV or my HDTV that will correct it.
 
out of curiosity how are you guys connected?
directly through the TV? or through an A/V receiver?

what brand?
i've seen some weirdness with going through my receiver, occasionally it gets a little confused.
 
I started having the same problem lately. Noticed it the first time about a week ago. When was the latest update again? I don't remember when I last agreed to an update but if it was in August the timing makes sense.

My Apple TV is connected straight to my Samsung plasma with an HDMI cable. Never had any problems like this before...
 
waw74 said:
out of curiosity how are you guys connected?
directly through the TV? or through an A/V receiver?

what brand?
i've seen some weirdness with going through my receiver, occasionally it gets a little confused.
Click to expand...

I'm connected to my Sony Bravia via HDMI directly... nothing in between... it's clearly the Atv2 doing it... :(

----------

It seems to be only certain shows though... maybe it's the encode... watching Life on Mars (US) and it's staying 1:85 widescreen. Just did Hobo with a Shotgun and it's still messed up.
 
Hmm... it seems to work now. I held down the Down key and menu and reset my Atv2... maybe as long as I don't watch anything else in 4:3 it'll stay 16X9
 
waw74 said:
out of curiosity how are you guys connected?
directly through the TV? or through an A/V receiver?

what brand?
i've seen some weirdness with going through my receiver, occasionally it gets a little confused.
Click to expand...

I have one directly connected to a Samsung 61" DLP, the other to a 40" Samsung LCD. Both TV's are a few years old. The problem seemed to start right after the last update..
 
Same problem here. First noticed Netflix switching to the wrong playback perspective two days ago. Really is annoying. Also, sometimes instead of filling the screen, it is centered and only maybe 75% screen size.
 
Me too

Sedulous said:
Same problem here. First noticed Netflix switching to the wrong playback perspective two days ago. Really is annoying. Also, sometimes instead of filling the screen, it is centered and only maybe 75% screen size.
Click to expand...

Just got an update notice for Apple TV. Still wrong aspect ratio for Netflix.
 
I just bought one on Friday and it is doing the same thing. I am also noticing the picture quality on Netflix isn't as good as on my Roku XD (previous generation, not the Roku2).
 
GregBe said:
I just bought one on Friday and it is doing the same thing. I am also noticing the picture quality on Netflix isn't as good as on my Roku XD (previous generation, not the Roku2).
Click to expand...

I find the picture quality anywhere from fair to very good depending on movie I'm watching. My biggest complaint, besides the obvious firmware glitch, is choppy camera panning. Anyone else notice when a camera pans in a scene, it's a bit choppy?

I'm connected via Verizon Fios 25/25 service using ethernet..
 
Last edited:
I found a fix

At first everything was running slow

Movie pictures did not load fast

And Netflix had the widescreen problem

After a reboot via nitotv all is well

You can reboot by unplugging the apple tv
 
Same problem here. Doesn't seem to happen with slightly old movies, just rewatched the new Star Trek last night with no problems. Sometimes going back to the menu and logging back into netflix will fix it, as will putting the ATV to sleep/rebooting. Will always come back though.
 
I'm also having this issue, ATV2, updated. Started same time-frame (couple of weeks ago), really seems to be related to the latest update. Happens on several programs, but so far seems to be most prominent in Starz Play movies. But it happened on Secretariat, which streams in SD Widescreen, and it also happened on Giant, which streams HD widescreen. But TV shows like Mad Men play with no errors.

When it happens, I switch over to my BluRay to stream the movie and it works fine, so for me it really is limited to ATV and Netflix. Something's not talking nice.
 
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