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clcnyc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
292
268
NYC
Wondering if anyone else is having this issue with the Apple TV 4K:

For the past month or so, I've noticed when switching from a show on Hulu back to ATV main menu, the screen is black for way too long (almost a full minute) before actually returning to the menu. I also see the spinning circle before streaming begins, which I never had previously. I have Optimum 400 (never actually gets to that speed), and when running Speed Test on ATV, it TOPS out at 56mbps, so clearly something is up. When running Speed Test on my iPhone XS and iPad Pro, it tops out at around 356mbps, which is about normal. I'm starting to wonder if it has something to do with the Hue bridge which is hooked into an Ethernet port on my Airport Extreme, although I thought Zigbee didn't interfere with that.

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:

waw74

macrumors 601
May 27, 2008
4,787
1,018
is your aTV hard wired or wireless?
if wireless ... 2.4 or 5GHz?

it sounds like you're using wireless, and it's dropped to the 2.4 band

if you can use wired ethernet, use that

Try rebooting the aTV, and maybe it'll catch the 5GHZ band.

If you can, give your networks different names (MyNetwork2.4 & MyNetwork5) and make sure you connect to the 5

5GHz is faster, but doesn't go through things as well, so if the router is a couple rooms away, 2.4 might be faster that 5. since the signal has to go through multiple walls.

You could try repositioning your router,
or moving your Hue Hub as far as possible from the router
or making sure your Hub is not between the router and the aTV.
 

clcnyc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
292
268
NYC
is your aTV hard wired or wireless?
if wireless ... 2.4 or 5GHz?

it sounds like you're using wireless, and it's dropped to the 2.4 band

if you can use wired ethernet, use that

Try rebooting the aTV, and maybe it'll catch the 5GHZ band.

If you can, give your networks different names (MyNetwork2.4 & MyNetwork5) and make sure you connect to the 5

5GHz is faster, but doesn't go through things as well, so if the router is a couple rooms away, 2.4 might be faster that 5. since the signal has to go through multiple walls.

You could try repositioning your router,
or moving your Hue Hub as far as possible from the router
or making sure your Hub is not between the router and the aTV.

My aTV is wireless. Not sure if it's on 2.4 or 5GHz. I have an Airport Extreme router which the Hue Bridge is plugged into. The router, Bridge, and aTV are all very close to each other. The bridge has to be somewhat close to the router, as it's plugged in to ethernet. I was thinking of possibly getting a new router since the APE is a bit old and Apple no longer support it.
 

waw74

macrumors 601
May 27, 2008
4,787
1,018
if they're close, hard wire it

sometimes wireless can have problems if it's too close, as the signal can be too strong.
 
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cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,156
Perform a restart in the settings menu. If the problem persist delete and reinstall Hulu.

I had a similar issue with YouTube starting once upon a time. I didn't realize it was an issue until I used a friends ATV and his boot right in and out of it.

Hopefully that helps, if not a restore might do it. I don't think its an internet issue just going back to the main menu.
 

clcnyc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
292
268
NYC
I have now hard wired the ATV4K to the APE router, and speeds have definitely improved. Deleted and reinstalled Hulu, but there's still a ridiculously long lag when going back to the main menu from a show. I don't get it. I may take it Apple so they can test it at the store.
 

digitalexplr

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2016
1,335
876
Central Missouri
I have now hard wired the ATV4K to the APE router, and speeds have definitely improved. Deleted and reinstalled Hulu, but there's still a ridiculously long lag when going back to the main menu from a show. I don't get it. I may take it Apple so they can test it at the store.
It may well be a HULU server issue.
 

JBaby

macrumors 6502a
Jun 14, 2015
860
658
It may well be a HULU server issue.

Indeed. The Hulu app is very buggy. I force quit it after every episode just so I don’t get the message that something went wrong and please try again. It happens randomly, but far too frequently, whenever you try to launch an episode from a 3rd party, such as ’s TV app or in my case WatchAid. Hulu is aware of the problem they just have no plans on fixing it. They just tell you to launch episodes from within Hulu. That completely defeats the purpose of the TV app. Since getting WatchAid I don’t even use Hulu’s watchlist. There is no need since we have the TV app and, IMO, the far superior WatchAid.
 

Michelasso

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2012
405
69
Treviso, Italy
I think you have two separate issues..

For the past month or so, I've noticed when switching from a show on Hulu back to ATV main menu, the screen is black for way too long (almost a full minute) before actually returning to the menu.

That might be related to the time the TV takes to switch from 24 to 60 Hz. I suppose you have enabled the frame rate matching? Maybe try to disable it (just for testing) and see if the issue disappears. Also you may want to restart (unplugging and plugging them again after few secs) all devices connected via HDMI (if you use an AVR/Soundbar, for example). Maybe restart the TV last (which brand/model anyway?).

I also see the spinning circle before streaming begins, which I never had previously.

This should be indeed related to the network connection. Again, you may want to restart the network devices (starting from the router). Once I came back home and it was a total mess. Only days later I discovered that my ISP updated the router firmware...
 

clcnyc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
292
268
NYC
I think you have two separate issues..



That might be related to the time the TV takes to switch from 24 to 60 Hz. I suppose you have enabled the frame rate matching? Maybe try to disable it (just for testing) and see if the issue disappears. Also you may want to restart (unplugging and plugging them again after few secs) all devices connected via HDMI (if you use an AVR/Soundbar, for example). Maybe restart the TV last (which brand/model anyway?).



This should be indeed related to the network connection. Again, you may want to restart the network devices (starting from the router). Once I came back home and it was a total mess. Only days later I discovered that my ISP updated the router firmware...

The lag from show back to main menu IS related to the match frame and dynamic rates. When I turned off both, no lag.
 

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,079
662
Estonia
The lag from show back to main menu IS related to the match frame and dynamic rates. When I turned off both, no lag.
Correct. And it is your display that spends most of the time resetting its video controller to match to new incoming HDMI signal.
 
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