Apple TV and Vudu 4K/UHD

[bluejello13]

Hey there. I tried to search and didn’t see any posts or threads that seem to share the issue I’ve been having. I’m hopeful that you folks can give me some direction or advice or (hopefully) a solve.

I have a first gen 4K Sony TV (XBR65X850B). It does not support HDR, but 4K content from my PS4 Pro, Sony UBPX800 and Apple TV all looks great. I’m sure it would look better if it could handle HDR, but the TV is not old enough for me too start to consider replacing. Also it handles 3D really well (IMO) and no new TV does, and with 211 3D Blu-rays I would hate to lose that ability.

ANYWAY... I watch 4K/UHD regularly though the Netflix, Prime Video and iTunes movie apps on my Apple TV. I was very happy when the Vudu app was updated to play 4K/UHD content. My issue is that when I go to settings>playback quality and I change HDX to 4K UHD my UHD movies do not play. I get a black screen with the spinning wheel for forever. The movie never starts. If I skip ahead in the movie sometimes I will get audio but no video. If I go back and change to HDX the movie plays quickly and perfectly. I my Apple TV is connected directly to the TV with a good HDMI cable and directly to my comcast provided modem (that is about a year and a half old, it has AC 1600 for WiFi, but I’m not sure of the exact mode) with an ethernet cable. I’ve tried rebooting the modem and the Apple TV a few times over the months, but that has never made a difference.

I own around 50 UHD titles in Vudu and have not tried every single one. But I’ve spot checked quite a few. I also thought since my TV does not support HDR the Apple TV is having a handshake issue. So I tried Baywatch which says 4K but does not have the HDR logo. Same problem.

Is there any help you can provide? I know I can just watch these in the higher resolution through iTunes movies (thanks Movies Anywhere!!), but we use Vudu so much more. I welcome any solution or explanation you may have. I know I’ve gone on a bit long, but I wanted to try to explain the issue as thoroughly as possible and head off any other questions in advance.

Thank you all so much.