Disney+ and Atmos

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robbon44

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#270184 27-Apr-2020 15:37

Hi I have Disney+ streaming through my Apple 4k box direct to my Marantz amp.

I have the Apple box ticked for Dolby atmos but the video quality pulled back to 4k SDR on the Apple settings. It appears much lighter than Dolby vision and is a better image on my Sony tv.

However for movies advertised as Dolby atmos I’m only getting these as Dolby surround. Not true atmos.

Anyone else noticed this ? Is this an issue at Disney end or a NZ thing or am I missing something obvious ?

Onward - advertised in atmos but only Dolby surround, likewise the Star Wars movies...

The amp is receiving a pcm signal and I can’t get the Apple to output a bitstream signal, I’m running tvOS 13.4.

Same with netflix on the Apple 4k it’s only showing titles as 5.1 when titles such as the 2 popes or underground are supposedly in atmos ?

Is it my amp causing the Apple not to default to atmos?

robbon44

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#2472215 27-Apr-2020 16:47

My marantz is a sr5013 with atmos set up.

The amp just recognises the input as pcm..

Dingbatt

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#2472226 27-Apr-2020 17:03

I have a feeling that the ATV4K does the atmos-ing itself (ie decodes it) and just passes it as PCM.

I have the Marantz SR7012 but only have the ATV connected to it at the moment (projector is 1080p). My ATV4K is connected to the OLED in the other room but I think I did try the ATV4K with the Marantz when I first got it and had result that it did the decoding as indicated above.

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robbon44

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#2472229 27-Apr-2020 17:16

Typical Apple ....

Ok I have sufficient bandwidth so no issue there.

I have tried different video output settings on the ATV - no change.

I have turned off any processing of the image on the amp - no change

I have made sure all settings on atv are as recommended - no change

Will try changing cables but I have same cable connected to my Sony BRP and no issue with atmos and bitstream output.

So if the ATV is receiving the stream as atmos then turning it to a pcm output what’s the point ? As it would only output as a 2 channel feed to the amp ? The amp would then have to process up to multi channel... right ?

Bit frustrating - seems it’s the same for Netflix, prime, disney and movies...

May as well stick with DD setting on the ATV ?

Dingbatt

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#2472239 27-Apr-2020 17:35

What does the receiver report as its audio input? ie what speaker config does it show on the screen when you select “info”. I’m pretty sure mine showed multichannel speakers. Unfortunately I can’t easily attach my ATV4K to my receiver to confirm it without pulling my AV cupboard half apart.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Dunnersfella

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#2472262 27-Apr-2020 18:05

Some streaming services have reduced quality during the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce stress on their servers.

Does your research indicate that this has altered your results with the streaming services you're using?

robbon44

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#2472315 27-Apr-2020 18:47

The atv shows the stream as being Dolby video and Dolby atmos.

The tv shows that DV is being received.

The amp suggests it’s a pcm feed and only gives a multi channel In or surround option not atmos.

When I play a Atmos blu ray the amp shows atmos.

Frustrating...

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dfnt

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#2472317 27-Apr-2020 18:57

https://www.reddit.com/r/DisneyPlus/comments/fqh588/dolby_atmos_update/ probably due to covid19

https://help.disneyplus.com/csp?id=csp_article_content&sys_kb_id=5aafe267db4d0090fbf26ac2ca961930

Dingbatt

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#2472369 27-Apr-2020 19:14

Dunnersfella:

Some streaming services have reduced quality during the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce stress on their servers.

Does your research indicate that this has altered your results with the streaming services you're using?

My ATV4K is connected to my LG OLED W8. The TV data strip reports Dolby Vision and Atmos for the Disney+ stream (for films that have it). The TV App for Disney+ reports the same. As I understood it, the streaming constraint was mainly for Europe (and possibly US).

I wish they would pull finger and release the AppleTV app for my TV so I could move the ATV4K to the projector.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

robbon44

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#2472420 27-Apr-2020 20:38

Yep the stream seems to suggest it’s DV and atmos I think it’s the atv output... would be easier if Apple simply had a bitstream option..

Just downloaded some true atmos demo clips played of the USB through the BRP and it auto switched straight to atmos.

IMO it’s either the stream or the ATV.

May have to invest in a shield....

Dingbatt

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#2472815 28-Apr-2020 14:34

Now that I have had chance to test out Disney+ on various devices, it is only playing in 5.1, so sorry for putting you crook about my TV displaying “Dolby Atmos”, it was in fact displaying “Dolby Audio”. My excuse is I didn’t have my glasses on at the time! The result was the same whether playing Disney+ from the ATV4K or the TV App.

I tried it on my Marantz and Onkyo Receivers, both of which are Atmos enabled. They both reported 5.1 for Disney+ but happily switched to Dolby Atmos when I played an iTunes movie (Aquaman) from the ATV4K.

It’s still displaying Dolby Vision (according to the TV with my glasses on) but not Atmos. As pointed out by Dunnersfella maybe due to bandwidth at the moment but a bit naughty of Disney to have Atmos in the specifications and then not actually provide it. Class lawsuit anyone? /joking.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

robbon44

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#2473076 28-Apr-2020 23:10

Good stuff thanks for testing !

I will try a 4k atmos movie on atv and see what happens.

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robbon44

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#2473176 29-Apr-2020 10:13

So i did a bit of testing myself this morning

here are my results :

Marantz SR5013 Atmos enabled

ATV 4k Atmos Enabled 4k SDR video

Netflix - The Punisher - advertised as DV and DA

Result = DV and DA

Disney+ - Onward - advertised as DV and DA

Result = DV and Multi Channel PCM

I then live chatted with Disney help - they were pretty good a quick to respond but after trying to say it was my internet speed (60MBps connection) they then fell back on the fact that DA was disabled at their end. No idea as to when it will be re-enabled and said this was to ease bandwidth demands.

Fair play for admitting that it was disabled but i still think this should be a selection option in settings - much like video quality.

Some screen shots.

Dingbatt

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#2523539 15-Jul-2020 15:11

Now that I have bought an extra AppleTV4K and permanently hooked it up to my Atmos receiver I decided to revisit this question. I’m happy to report that Disney+ is now streaming Dolby Atmos, well certainly that is what my receiver is reporting.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

robbon44

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#2524442 16-Jul-2020 22:43

Ah good ! I hadn’t tested it recently ! Will check it out !

corksta

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#2524464 16-Jul-2020 23:36

Yup looking good here too for me.