Can’t get Dolby Atmos on ATV 4K

[discobrisco]

Hey Guys,

So I’m looking for some help guys cause I feel like I’ve tried everything and I need some advice from a pro.

So my current setup consist of the following but I’ve not been lucky in my attempt to get Dolby Atmos to light up on my receiver. So I have my ATV connected to my AVR via HDMI and of course an HDMI from the AVR to the my TV. On the ATV under Audio and Video I have Dolby Atmos turned on but when watching a movie that contains Dolby Atmos (Ready Player One, Spider-Man Homecoming) my AVR displays Multichannel PCM....help

Onkyo TX-NR636
TCL 55S517
Apple TV 4K (beta 12)

 

[Pug72]

Don't worry, it'll be fine on Monday, maybe before.

I noticed the same last night after installing the GM beta. It'll be something their end that'll be enabled when TVOS12 is officially released.

Netflix has had an update so we now have Dolby Vision AND Dolby Atmos (that does show as Atmos on the AVR right now).

 

[discobrisco]

Don't worry, it'll be fine on Monday, maybe before.

I noticed the same last night after installing the GM beta. It'll be something their end that'll be enabled when TVOS12 is officially released.

Netflix has had an update so we now have Dolby Vision AND Dolby Atmos (that does show as Atmos on the AVR right now).

[doublepost=1536850052][/doublepost]

Don't worry, it'll be fine on Monday, maybe before.

I noticed the same last night after installing the GM beta. It'll be something their end that'll be enabled when TVOS12 is officially released.

Netflix has had an update so we now have Dolby Vision AND Dolby Atmos (that does show as Atmos on the AVR right now).

Were you able to get Dolby Atmos prior to installing the GM Beta?

 

[awp69]

As mentioned, I think there are still backend changes being made. Hopefully all will work come Monday.

Haven’t tried since the GM hit but I know it has been consistently working for Blade Runner 2049 (also a fantastic demo worthy track). Maybe try it on that one?

 

[Pug72]

Yes, I was getting Atmos before the GM beta.
They still show Atmos in the descriptions but aren't at the mo.

 

[iAdamator]

I'm having the same issue so I guess it isn't just me. In my case, SOME movies to get my AVR to decode Atmos, like the Greatest showman for example. While other movies, that do denote Atmos, don't actually play in Atmos. Like Baby Driver.

So how come some work and others don't?

 

[priitv8]

So how come some work and others don't?

Apparently, the store ad page has been updated, but the media file (stream) itself has not.
Every Atmos file that I've tagged myself, also plays back on tvOS 12 GM in Atmos.
There are no tags for Atmos that would add Atmos icon to your own files in local iTunes library.
So that makes me conclude the problem is in the stream itself.
I have no idea, how closely the store ad page is linked to the stream content.
If you pull down the HUD, then the Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos indicators are pulled from the stream itself, so this should be the definitive indicator.
See this post for HUD:
Dolby Atmos Content to test?

 

[iAdamator]

Apparently, the store ad page has been updated, but the media file (stream) itself has not.
Every Atmos file that I've tagged myself, also plays back on tvOS 12 GM in Atmos.
There are no tags for Atmos that would add Atmos icon to your own files in local iTunes library.
So that makes me conclude the problem is in the stream itself.
I have no idea, how closely the store ad page is linked to the stream content.
If you pull down the HUD, then the Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos indicators are pulled from the stream itself, so this should be the definitive indicator.
See this post for HUD:
Dolby Atmos Content to test?

When say pull down on the HUD you mean just pulling down on the remote right? You sort of lost me when you said local files. Apple TV streams everything right? Do I even have local files? I have a decent library of movies I own in iTunes and basically most of the ones that say Atmos...aren’t. At least not yet.

Also how do you tag files yourself?

 

[priitv8]

Yes, by local files I mean iTunes library that I consume via Home Sharing.
I tag them for Atmos via Subler V15.
It works, if you have a MKV file with DD+ Atmos track. Then it adds the proper MP4 Magic Cookie to that track and aTV recognises it as Atmos track.
PS as HUD I indeed mean the down-sliding gray banner that appears when you swipe/press down, as seen in my other linked post.

 

[Richardlench]

Some films did work for me a few weeks ago, such as Pacific Rim. Nothing is working now but at least everyone's having the same issue and not just me. I'm sure it'll be fixed this week. I'm glad Netflix is working with it though. Apple TV is now my best option for Netflix (4k, HDR, Dolby Atmos, and proper 24hz support)

 

[chrismac2]

I'm not sure that you'll ever get "Atmos" to light up on your receiver. The Apple TV decodes Dolby Digital or Atmos internally and sends the sound as uncompressed multichannel LPCM.....unless your receiver is able to do something mine isn't. I just see "Multi In" (my receiver is a Denon that does support Atmos, and I have Atmos speakers--I can play Atmos Blu-rays using bitstream and I see Atmos light up)

[update]
looks like I was wrong. My receiver does NOW change to Atmos when playing an Atmos title in an iTunes purchased movie. I tested Jurassic World right now, and my receiver says Atmos. Looks like during all my testing in beta I was never actually getting Atmos, lol

 

[awp69]

Atmos does work on some titles like Blade Runner 2049 and Annihilation. But had hoped when tvOS 12 went live that all the movies with the symbol would work.

Update is live and most still aren’t playing back in Atmos. Apple needs to get their crap together. Why release a big update when the best new feature isn’t working?

 

[Richardlench]

Atmos does work on some titles like Blade Runner 2049 and Annihilation. But had hoped when tvOS 12 went live that all the movies with the symbol would work.

Update is live and most still aren’t playing back in Atmos. Apple needs to get their crap together. Why release a big update when the best new feature isn’t working?

Agreed. It works on Pacific Rim, and my avr will change to display ATMOS. Everything else plays as lpcm

 

[Resident Guru]

I'm not sure that you'll ever get "Atmos" to light up on your receiver. The Apple TV decodes Dolby Digital or Atmos internally and sends the sound as uncompressed multichannel LPCM.....unless your receiver is able to do something mine isn't. I just see "Multi In" (my receiver is a Denon that does support Atmos, and I have Atmos speakers--I can play Atmos Blu-rays using bitstream and I see Atmos light up)

Mine is popping Atmos on my Marantz SR6010 receiver while streaming Blade Runner 2049.

 

[discobrisco]

Hey Guys,

So I’m looking for some help guys cause I feel like I’ve tried everything and I need some advice from a pro.

So my current setup consist of the following but I’ve not been lucky in my attempt to get Dolby Atmos to light up on my receiver. So I have my ATV connected to my AVR via HDMI and of course an HDMI from the AVR to the my TV. On the ATV under Audio and Video I have Dolby Atmos turned on but when watching a movie that contains Dolby Atmos (Ready Player One, Spider-Man Homecoming) my AVR displays Multichannel PCM....help

Onkyo TX-NR636
TCL 55S517
Apple TV 4K (beta 12)

So this past weekend I had a little luck with my ATV and Dolby Atmos. I ended up purchasing a HD Fury AVR Key to split the signal from my ATV into Video and Audio, as my AVR doesnt support 4K HDR passthrough. Although I wasnt able to locate any videos in my very small itunes library that would give me Dolby Atmos, i was able to play Ready Player One from the VUDU app in Dolby Atmos.

 

[loekf]

Installed tvOS12, but in Netflix no signs of Atmos. For example Lost in Space shows 5.1. Atmos is set to auto.

 

[DHA]

Yep nothing on netflix, not even the logo in the netflix menu. Unistalled the app and re-installed and still nothing.

Tried The Martian, says atmos on the main page but nothing when I play it. Should it show up when you drag down on the remote?

 

[awp69]

As far as Netflix is concerned, don’t look for the label. It still says 5.1 but playback on Atmos enabled titles should work.

That and Vudu are working fine. It’s iTunes that is still having issues.

 

[archer75]

Installed tvOS12, but in Netflix no signs of Atmos. For example Lost in Space shows 5.1. Atmos is set to auto.

Uninstall and reinstall. The titles will still show 5.1 but start one playing that you know has atmos. Iron fist and lost in space do. After than you'll get the atmos tag on everything that has atmos. I did this yesterday and it worked.
[doublepost=1537210264][/doublepost]

I'm not sure that you'll ever get "Atmos" to light up on your receiver. The Apple TV decodes Dolby Digital or Atmos internally and sends the sound as uncompressed multichannel LPCM.....unless your receiver is able to do something mine isn't. I just see "Multi In" (my receiver is a Denon that does support Atmos, and I have Atmos speakers--I can play Atmos Blu-rays using bitstream and I see Atmos light up)

You will see atmos from the ATV. It can't decode atmos and must pass the metadata so your receiver will still show atmos.

 

[RyanMTS]

Atmos does work on some titles like Blade Runner 2049 and Annihilation. But had hoped when tvOS 12 went live that all the movies with the symbol would work.

Update is live and most still aren’t playing back in Atmos. Apple needs to get their crap together. Why release a big update when the best new feature isn’t working?

This is beyond irritating. I expected the same thing. They dropped the ball and need to tell us when the titles will actually work

 

[benji888]

FYI: tvOS 12 will take the DD+ Atmos stream, mix it with system sounds and convert and output it as LPCM...Dolby MAT 2.0. So, it won't necessarily light up like Dolby TrueHD Atmos or DD+ Atmos from other devices.

"Dolby Atmos in Dolby MAT

The Dolby Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission (Dolby MAT) encoder resides in a Blu-ray player to pack the variable bit-rate Dolby TrueHD bitstreams for transmission over the fixed bit-rate HDMI connections. A MAT decoder is subsequently employed in an AVR to unpack the Dolby TrueHD bitstreams. With the introduction of Dolby Atmos, we have expanded this technology to support encoding of Dolby Atmos content as lossless pulse-code modulation (PCM) audio.

A key benefit of Dolby MAT 2.0 is that Dolby Atmos object-based audio can be live encoded and transmitted from a source device with limited latency and processing complexity. Among the possible sources are broadcast set-top boxes, PCs, and game consoles. The Dolby MAT 2.0 decoder in an AVR outputs the object-based audio and its metadata for further processing. The Dolby MAT 2.0 container is scalable and leverages the full potential of the HDMI audio pipeline."
from pg. 12 here: https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-for-the-home-theater.pdf

 

[Richardlench]

FYI: tvOS 12 will take the DD+ Atmos stream, mix it with system sounds and convert and output it as LPCM...Dolby MAT 2.0. So, it won't necessarily light up like Dolby TrueHD Atmos or DD+ Atmos from other devices.

"Dolby Atmos in Dolby MAT

The Dolby Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission (Dolby MAT) encoder resides in a Blu-ray player to pack the variable bit-rate Dolby TrueHD bitstreams for transmission over the fixed bit-rate HDMI connections. A MAT decoder is subsequently employed in an AVR to unpack the Dolby TrueHD bitstreams. With the introduction of Dolby Atmos, we have expanded this technology to support encoding of Dolby Atmos content as lossless pulse-code modulation (PCM) audio.

A key benefit of Dolby MAT 2.0 is that Dolby Atmos object-based audio can be live encoded and transmitted from a source device with limited latency and processing complexity. Among the possible sources are broadcast set-top boxes, PCs, and game consoles. The Dolby MAT 2.0 decoder in an AVR outputs the object-based audio and its metadata for further processing. The Dolby MAT 2.0 container is scalable and leverages the full potential of the HDMI audio pipeline."
from pg. 12 here: https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-for-the-home-theater.pdf

That would explain it, but then why do some iTunes movies still show as ATMOS on my avr? The movies that don't do this (but are on iTunes with an Atmos symbol) will play a 5.1 lpcm signal instead. It's only a 5.1 signal, not 5.1.2

 

[priitv8]

It's only a 5.1 signal, not 5.1.2

I don't think there is a 5.1.2 signal in Atmos.
It is your speaker setup. Atmos contains objects with freely movable coordinates for them.
Your AVR needs to come up with a plan to map these coordinates to your 5.1.2 speaker layout to produce closest object placement in listening room, given the physical limitations (the speaker setup in this case).

PS it could be that not all movies have their soundtracks updated yet.

 

[archer75]

That would explain it, but then why do some iTunes movies still show as ATMOS on my avr? The movies that don't do this (but are on iTunes with an Atmos symbol) will play a 5.1 lpcm signal instead. It's only a 5.1 signal, not 5.1.2

Clearly some bugs to work out. But if the movie has an available atmos track you will see atmos on your AVR.

 

[benji888]

Here's Apple Support Document on Dolby Atmos/Surround Sound: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204069