
The only way I discovered the change was by stumbling across Settings > Picture & Display > Dynamic Range while looking through my TV’s settings one night. That’s because its HDMI ports are HDMI 2.0, not HDMI 2.0a, which is the minimum requirement to transmit an HDR signal (HDMI 2.1, of course, also supports HDR).Īs it turns out, one of my Sony TV’s updates fixed this, though the community isn’t sure which one it was.
TV HDR EFFECT ANDROID
In my article introducing the Apple TV 4K, I noted:įor instance, my 2015 Sony supports HDR, but only via Android apps that run on the TV itself.

TV HDR EFFECT UPDATE
Making all of this even more confusing is the fact that users can update the software in most recent TVs. A TV that supports Dolby Vision should also support HDR10, but not vice-versa. When checking your TV’s specifications, note that there are two main HDR formats: HDR10, which is more widely adopted, and Dolby Vision, which is visually superior. I might try it as a last resort, but I don’t think it’s necessary. However, a lot of people swear by the $29.95 Belkin HDMI cable sold by Apple. The good news is that high speed HDMI cables are cheap: I bought one for $6.99 on Amazon.

For HDR, you’ll need what’s known as a “high speed” HDMI cable designed for the high bandwidth requirements of 4K resolutions, 60 Hz refresh rates, and HDR color. 4K TVs often support HDR, but not always, so check carefully.įor years, I’ve said that an HDMI cable is an HDMI cable. A television that explicitly supports HDR.The older fourth-generation Apple TV will not display HDR. As you can see in the photo, that’s what happened to me, and here’s what you can do to try and fix those issues.Īre You Prepared for HDR? - First, make sure that you’re properly set up for HDR. Or maybe you force the setting and weird things start happening: your Apple TV slows down, you get weird sparkles on your TV, odd bands of color, or the screen just freezes. You may go to enable that setting and… it’s not available.
TV HDR EFFECT PRO
If you want to see what HDR looks like without trying to set it up on your TV, you can view 4K HDR iTunes video content on an iPhone 8, iPhone X, or 2017 iPad Pro (see “ HDR Movies Now Available for 2017 iPad Pro Tablets,” 16 September 2017).īut for the big screen experience, you’ll need an Apple TV 4K. While you either have to have an enormous TV or sit very close to the screen to notice much difference with 4K video (as I explained in “ Apple TV Finally Enters the 4K Realm, but It Will Cost You,” 12 September 2017), HDR is a more striking change, and one that doesn’t require a TV the size of Texas. In the simplest possible terms, HDR video lets you watch movies with a broader range of colors than before. I’ve been writing and updating “ Take Control of Apple TV” for four years now, so I know that if I’m flummoxed, the average user has little hope. But after weeks of fighting to get HDR working with my Apple TV 4K, I’m convinced that if Apple intends to succeed in the TV business, the best thing to do would be to ship a television set that just worked.

For years the former Piper Jaffray analyst was routinely mocked because at every Apple investor call, he would ask Apple leadership if they were planning to make an Apple-branded smart TV set.

