Spectrum TV app fails to play 4K streams on Apple TV 4K set to SDR
The Spectrum TV app refuses to play the 4K stream and falls back to HD when Apple TV 4K is set to 4K SDR, regardless of whether Match Dynamic Range is enabled.
Apple TV supports matching its output to the content's original dynamic range, as documented by Apple. The app should not require the Apple TV's default output to be 4K HDR just to play a 4K stream.
I reported this feedback through Spectrum chat four months ago and there has been no update to how the app is behaving. Is Spectrum aware of this issue, and is a fix planned?
Comments
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Hey @JSein456. Could you clarify, if your Apple TV's default output is 4K HDR you do get a 4K stream through the My Spectrum app, only when it's on Match Content it does not? Do you have the "Always Tune to 4K" option set under Settings>Preferences?
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Hi. Yes, if I explicitly set the Apple TV to 4K HDR or 4K Dolby Vision I do get a 4K stream. However, with 4K SDR and match content enabled the stream defaults to HD only. Always tune to 4K is enabled, but it doesn't seem to make a difference in this particular case.
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To my knowledge, it's behaved like this since 4k streaming functionality was introduced in the app. Most likely this particular configuration was not taken into consideration when designing the app for the Apple TV platform.
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It's all greek to me but when the app's payload is literally native HD and the display TV supports that, why wouldn't you want the Apple TV to HD-match so the display TV can upscale and upconvert the HD to 4K. But if you want to force the Apple TV to do the upscaling and upconverting, why wouldn't you want it to be at whatever the display TV's top end is.
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I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding. I'm not talking about upscaling HD content. The issue is that Spectrum's native 4K streams won't play when the Apple TV is set to 4K SDR, even with Match Range enabled, when they should. They only play when the default format is explicitly set to 4K HDR or 4K Dolby Vision. It seems the app may need an update to handle this configuration properly and provide a better experience for Apple TV users.
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As the Spectrum TV app is a redistributor MVPD app that explicitly does either 4K HDR on a niche basis but otherwise HD, maybe 4K SDR with dynamic range matching isn't the be all and end all setting to go with, especially since Apple's own guidance doesn't suggest that it is, and maybe 4K HDR with dynamic range matching is the way to go, for why wouldn't that match up SDR for other apps that are 4K SDR as needs be as long as the display TV supports that.
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I understand that setting the default to 4K HDR is a workaround, but it doesn't explain why the 4K streams won't play in 4K SDR with Match Dynamic Range enabled. That setting is specifically designed to let the Apple TV switch to the appropriate dynamic range for the content. I'm questioning why Spectrum's app doesn't work as expected with that configuration, not whether there's an alternative setting that works.
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If either alternative was expected catch all, why would Apple TV feature both. In any case, Spectrum TV 4K HDR is only 11 months old, so maybe that particular platform-specific heuristic will come around in the by and by. ☘️
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I see what you're saying. I just wonder why Spectrum's 4K streams don't play with 4K SDR and Match Dynamic Range enabled. Apps like Netflix and Prime Video can switch to HDR or Dolby Vision when the content calls for it, while leaving SDR content in SDR. I'd hope Spectrum could support the same kind of experience, rather than requiring users to change their default video format. Perhaps it's something they can improve in a future update.
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