Apple hears AV geeks, will give Apple TV 4K owners more settings control

The next software update for the Apple TV 4K will give owners of the month-old set-top box a little more control over their video output settings.

As noted by MacRumors, a video released on Apple’s Developer site this week says that the Apple TV’s tvOS 11.2 update will allow the set-top box to automatically switch its display settings to match the native frame rate and dynamic range of a given video.

Currently, the Apple TV 4K takes a “one size fits all” approach to video output. The box reads what sort of refresh rate, resolution, and dynamic range your TV is capable of during setup and sets its video output to what it thinks will provide the best experience—but it doesn’t change that setting on its own afterward, regardless of what you watch.

So if the Apple TV sets your 4K TV to output 60Hz Dolby Vision HDR (assuming you have a TV capable of playing that), it will try to display everything in that format, even if you watch a video made to use standard dynamic range at 30Hz.

Apple also prioritizes a higher refresh rate over HDR format; for instance, the Apple TV 4K would show a 60Hz HDR10 picture instead of a 30Hz Dolby Vision picture if given the option. (Dolby Vision is technically a more powerful HDR spec than the open HDR10 standard, though the quality gap between the two isn’t hugely perceptible today.)

This can simplify things for more casual Apple TV users, but because the translation process can muck up a video’s intended image quality—particularly when sending standard dynamic range video over an HDR signal—it has annoyed some of the AV enthusiasts at which the $179 device is ostensibly aimed. You can manually tweak the Apple TV 4K’s output settings and switch dynamic range modes today, but going in and out of a settings menu to get the best picture possible isn’t ideal.

The next tvOS update should get around that issue, as it will add separate options to match the native frame rate and dynamic range of a video in the Apple TV 4K’s “Audio and Video” menu.

The two toggles will be disabled by default, and Apple cautions tvOS developers to not switch modes too often to avoid display flickering and other hiccups (reasons why it didn’t implement the new features in the first place). The company also notes that the feature will only work with “compatible apps.” But it should help the Apple TV 4K avoid some of the noise, brightness, and color accuracy issues that have been reported as a result of the device forcing standard dynamic range videos through an HDR signal.

It’s not clear when the tvOS 11.2 update will hit the Apple TV 4K, but the company released the first developer beta for it on Monday, so it shouldn’t be terribly far away. While the update won’t address everything home-theater geeks have called for—there’s still nothing in the way of Dolby Atmos audio support, for one—it’s an important fix, and one that should help the Apple TV 4K better justify its high asking price.