AppleTV Issue - possibly heat related?

[Jovian9]

I've had my TV for 3+ years now and really haven't had any problems with it.

Recently I've started having some display issues. It seems that after awhile of running it will start washing out the colors and/or getting lots of artifacts on the screen. There is no issue with the videos. They are fine. Sometimes this will even show up on the menu screen. Yellow or blue will sometimes dominate the colors.

Has anyone else had this issue? Is my TV dieing or getting to hot to run?

Thanks!

 

[Airforcekid]

Are you sure it isn't just the tv? Also check the connections might be loose etc.

 

[Jovian9]

Are you sure it isn't just the tv? Also check the connections might be loose etc.

I am positive. I've checked all my ports and I've also tested my 360, Wii, cable box, dvd player, and nothing else has this problem. When it starts doing this sometimes I can get it to stop by unplugging it for 10-15 minutes and starting it again. Sometimes. Other times it continues to do this.

The videos are fine when displayed on my computer so they have not been corrupted either. It is just when it's displayed out of the TV.

 

[Cave Man]

Sounds similar to the problems I had. I bought a new one and everything is fine. I think the ATV is poorly engineered for heat dissipation.

 

[Jovian9]

After further investigation on this thing it seems that everything works fine but playing video. My video media or media from iTunes/Apple (rentals, trailers, etc.) all go bad after a period of time and get discolored and pixelated/choppy.

However, when this occurs the menu still looks fine, playing music is fine, and looking at photographs is fine.

I think I'm going to take it apart and clean the insides to see if a lot of dust has built up to help with heat and try putting a small fan over it to see if heat really is the issue.

I don't want to buy another with rumors of a new one coming out but we use this A LOT. Most of my 500-dvd collection is ripped and streamed as well as tons of Nick Jr. episodes for my twin daughters. It has allowed me to put away my dvd collection so they do not tear them up...haha.

 

[pdpfilms]

I have the same issue!!

I thought it was the result of a new Handbrake build introducing artifacts into newly encoded videos. But after watching them all on iPhone/iPad/iTunes/etc., I discovered it was the AppleTV. Called apple and they don't repair AppleTVs so the only solution is to purchase an entirely new one.

Think I'll wait to see what Apple decides to do with this "hobby" of theirs.

 

[mchalebk]

You might search the forum for heat problems with the AppleTV. One particularly noteworthy suggestion was to remove the rubber bottom cover. It serves no real purpose, but does seem to hinder heat dissipation. Even though I have no apparent heat-related issues, I decided to take the rubber off and have noticed no adverse effects. It does seem to run a bit cooler now.

 

[Jovian9]

You might search the forum for heat problems with the AppleTV. One particularly noteworthy suggestion was to remove the rubber bottom cover. It serves no real purpose, but does seem to hinder heat dissipation. Even though I have no apparent heat-related issues, I decided to take the rubber off and have noticed no adverse effects. It does seem to run a bit cooler now.

Thanks for the idea.

I started to look at taking it apart yesterday and realized that by removing that rubber bottom area I would most likely not be putting it back anyway. It seems glued on pretty heavily and even started ripping a bit when I lightly tugged on it. If this will help with heat then I'm all for ripping that off. My TV already sits on a glass stand so other than that and a fan there's not much more I can do for it to reduce heat. I will try that tonight or tomorrow and see how it goes. I'll post back here after trying it out.