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ATV3 not showing 1080p, TV/amp. fully supports 1080p

King Mustard

King Mustard

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 15, 2006
80
3
United Kingdom
We have our new ATV3 connected via. HDMI and optical audio.

Both HDMI and optical audio cables are connected to our amplifier, which is then in turn connected to our TV.

The ATV3 isn't allowing 1080p as a selection, only 720p.

TV: Philips 42PF5521D/10
Amp.: Yahama HTR-2064

Our Xbox 360 and WD TV Live box work fine set to 1080p, and are connected the same way.

We have also plugged the HDMI cable directly into the TV and restarted the ATV3 box, still no 1080p option.

Any ideas?
 
Last edited:
Suggest you replace your HDMI cable

I show 1080p HD - 60 Hz, 1080p HD - 50 Hz on my ATV.

I looked up your TV and see that it only supports 1080i:

"Panel resolution : 1024 x 1080i"

1080i is not 1080p so your ATV is defaulting to the 720P.

So, the ATV3 fully supports 1080P but your HDMI cable might be the issue. I purchased a higher end cable. Not all support 1080p.

This posted on Best Buy site:

"Speed rating — All HDMI cables Best Buy sells are rated to handle a continuous throughput of at least 10.2Gbps, which is certified to be compatible with HD signals up to 1080p resolution (including full HD 3D). Higher speed ratings indicate increased bandwidth to support additional video, audio and intercommunication features of emerging and future technologies."

So, go buy a higher end cable that supports that speed rating and I bet it will work. Not sure why XBOX is working but I question is it really connecting at that speed. I have an XBOX and it's a basic piece of junk so I never trust anything with it.

HDMI is tricky stuff so it could be the cable or it could be some incompatibility with the connection between the ATV and your TV.
 
heywardjr said:
I show 1080p HD - 60 Hz, 1080p HD - 50 Hz

So, the ATV3 fully supports 1080P but your HDMI cable might be the issue. I purchased a higher end cable. Not all support 1080p.

This posted on Best Buy site:

"Speed rating — All HDMI cables Best Buy sells are rated to handle a continuous throughput of at least 10.2Gbps, which is certified to be compatible with HD signals up to 1080p resolution (including full HD 3D). Higher speed ratings indicate increased bandwidth to support additional video, audio and intercommunication features of emerging and future technologies."

So, go buy a higher end cable that supports that speed rating and I bet it will work. Not sure why XBOX is working but I question is it really connecting at that speed. I have an XBOX and it's a basic piece of junk so I never trust anything with it.

HDMI is tricky stuff so it could be the cable or it could be some incompatibility with the connection between the ATV and your TV.
Click to expand...
Nah, I found out my TV doesn't support 1080p after all :p

And for the record, HDMI cables aren't a tricky business. They're digital, they either work or they don't (as long as you use the correct HDMI version, of course).
 
why would you have HDMI and optical running to the same receiver though? :confused:
 
King Mustard said:
Nah, I found out my TV doesn't support 1080p after all :p

And for the record, HDMI cables aren't a tricky business. They're digital, they either work or they don't (as long as you use the correct HDMI version, of course).
Click to expand...

Thats true for the most part. cables over 35 feet that are meant to run in the walls generally only support 1080i at those distances, very few at those distances support 1080p without being extremely expensive.
 
Your TV does 1080i which I suspect your Sky HD box does also.

My Comcast cable box does 720P or 1080i but I have to go into the special menu on the box to set it to 1080i.

But in any case 720P is just as good if not better than 1080i
 
King Mustard said:
I was referring to the Sky HD box.
Click to expand...

Ahh! But, if it's the box, then I don't understand the need to route audio using optical from the appletv to your yamaha receiver though? Sorry if I'm being too curious!


I also saw this on skyhd site for HDMI?
4. Check Digital Audio cabling
Your SkyHD box is capable of outputting Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in via either Optical cable (TOSLINK) or HDMI interconnects.
Note: An Optical (TOSLINK) cable is not supplied with SkyHD boxes.
In order to supply the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal, your SkyHD box must also be connected to a Dolby Digital amplifier, or Dolby Digital certified TV.
 
Peace said:
Some TV's don't have 5.1 audio pass-thru.
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I always like to learn.

What does the TV audio pass-thru has to do w/ this when he could connect the appletv to his receiver as one of his HDMI inputs and the HDMI output of the receiver to the TV.

The appletv and any other input devices connected to the receiver would work independently and pass through the receiver and play the audio appropriately and the TV only needs to show the image. Also, if the the TV doesn't have an audio pass-thru then 5.1 output through the optical out on the television would only come from the tuner, no?
 
Carlanga said:
I'm not an expert on the subject, but I always like to learn.

What does the TV audio pass-thru has to do w/ this when he could connect the appletv to his receiver as one of his HDMI inputs and the HDMI output of the receiver to the TV.

The appletv and any other input devices connected to the receiver would work independently and pass through the receiver and play the audio appropriately and the TV only needs to show the image. Also, if the the TV doesn't have an audio pass-thru then 5.1 output through the optical out on the television would only come from the tuner, no?
Click to expand...

You are correct.

He could just use an HDMI from the Apple TV to the receiver's HDMI input then send the video out from the receiver to the HDTV via HDMI cable.

If he does it this way he will probably have to turn off or turn down the audio from the HDTV though because HDMI going into the HDTV would carry audio also.

I used to run a toslink from my Apple TV to my receiver but changed to to just one HDMI cable to the HDTV and use a toslink pass thru cable to my receiver.

btw.

Using a pass-thru from my HDTV to the receiver allows me to use multiple HDMI inputs on the HDTV without having to use other cables for different devices.

Except for my XBox 360. To get 5.1 audio from that you need to use the optical cable.
 
Carlanga said:
Ahh! But, if it's the box, then I don't understand the need to route audio using optical from the appletv to your yamaha receiver though? Sorry if I'm being too curious!


I also saw this on skyhd site for HDMI?
4. Check Digital Audio cabling
Your SkyHD box is capable of outputting Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in via either Optical cable (TOSLINK) or HDMI interconnects.
Note: An Optical (TOSLINK) cable is not supplied with SkyHD boxes.
In order to supply the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal, your SkyHD box must also be connected to a Dolby Digital amplifier, or Dolby Digital certified TV.
Click to expand...
The Sky HD box 100% does not carry 5.1 audio via. HDMI, despite what that website says. Google it.
 
Peace said:
Your TV does 1080i which I suspect your Sky HD box does also.

My Comcast cable box does 720P or 1080i but I have to go into the special menu on the box to set it to 1080i.

But in any case 720P is just as good if not better than 1080i
Click to expand...

This old chestnut again.....

Look, 1080i at 1920x1080 is the same resolution as 1080p. The interlaced video, if sourced from progressive footage, can be perfectly deinterlaced with no loss of resolution. The only time it is a problem is if the footage was shot in 1080i and the fields are temporally different in which case you need motion adaptive deinterlacing to hide combing and some deinterlacers can blend fields which will lose apparent resolution during motion.

720p has the advantage that it can deliver more frames in the same bandwidth as 1080i while being fully progressive so can be better for sports for example. 1080i is usually used for film material and as such a 1080i/60 signal can be deinterlaced to perfectly recover the original 24fps progressive frame at full 1920x1080 resolution. There are cases where the horizontal resolution is dropped to 1440 and anamorphic scaling applied and in that case the final resolution is less but this isn't always the case. Channels doing that are usually limiting bandwidth too so will have additional issues with compression artefacts especially for MPEG2 broadcasts.
 
Peace said:
You are correct.

He could just use an HDMI from the Apple TV to the receiver's HDMI input then send the video out from the receiver to the HDTV via HDMI cable.

If he does it this way he will probably have to turn off or turn down the audio from the HDTV though because HDMI going into the HDTV would carry audio also.

I used to run a toslink from my Apple TV to my receiver but changed to to just one HDMI cable to the HDTV and use a toslink pass thru cable to my receiver.

btw.

Using a pass-thru from my HDTV to the receiver allows me to use multiple HDMI inputs on the HDTV without having to use other cables for different devices.

Except for my XBox 360. To get 5.1 audio from that you need to use the optical cable.
Click to expand...

The way the OP is stated shows the HDMI connections done like I was saying though, so an optical connection to the same receiver is redundant.

If your receiver has enough HDMI inputs you should definitely flip those connections and make the receiver the main input instead of the TV, unless your receiver is an older one of course. After HDMI 1.3 came out, optical went down to the 2nd spot of digital audio quality.


King Mustard said:
The Sky HD box 100% does not carry 5.1 audio via. HDMI, despite what that website says. Google it.
Click to expand...

OK, but I don't need to google it since I don't own one, saw it from their website and though you missed something and though I was being nice.

Anyways, that has nothing to do w/ you running your ATV3 w/ both HDMI and optical, it's a waste of an optical cable if it's going directly into the receiver like you have.
 
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