Apple TV users report long rental wait times, HDMI issues

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Early adopters of Apple's second-generation Apple TV are reporting issues with streaming HD rentals and problems completing "HDMI handshakes" between the new Apple TV and their HD TVs.



Several discussion threads on Apple's support forums related to issues with HD rentals not loading and HDMI connectivity problems have reached hundreds of posts in length as increasing numbers of Apple TV owners report having trouble with the device.



Some users report that Apple TV displays HD rental wait times of hundreds of minutes, while other video, such as trailers, HD Netflix movies, and YouTube begin playing after just a few minutes. "At one point, the HD movie was going to take over 3,000 minutes to load," wrote one user.



Though a portion of the users have resolved the issue by upgrading to higher bandwidth Internet, others report the problem occurring even with high-speed connections capable of handling HD video.



Another Apple support thread details potential compatibility issues between Apple TV and a number of HD TV sets. Users report frequent "HDMI handshakes" between the TV and Apple TV, with the picture returning with inverted colors. A user-compiled list of TVs affected includes models by Philips and Sony.



The Apple TV 4.1 firmware update, which was released last week alongside iOS 4.2, does not appear to resolve either issue.



Apple unveiled the revamped $99 Apple TV in September with a focus on 'the cloud' and streaming media. With just 8GB of onboard storage, Apple's new set top box serves as a hub for content streamed from the Internet, computers, or iOS devices.



Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced in October that the company had sold 250,000 Apple TVs in "just a short amount of time."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 86
    In other words, AI is here to escalate the solution by giving the forum users more exposure, right?



    Quote:

    Several discussion threads on Apple's support forums related to issues with HD rentals not loading and HDMI connectivity problems have reached hundreds of posts in length as increasing numbers of Apple TV owners report having trouble with the device.



    Some users report that Apple TV displays HD rental wait times of hundreds of minutes, while other video, such as trailers, HD Netflix movies, and YouTube begin playing after just a few minutes. "At one point, the HD movie was going to take over 3,000 minutes to load," wrote one user.



    I'm assuming these people have filed radar issues with their current equipment and broadband configuration status, with any known or unknown performance issues for their backbone?
  • Reply 2 of 86
    Getting in early here... Apple is D00med!!!
  • Reply 3 of 86
    Afraid I did none of those things. All I can say is I have 12-14 megabit connection and experience no problems with my 1st gen apple tv starting a hi def rental in about a minute, but rentals on the 2nd gen takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes. While waiting, the ATV is reporting anywhere from 1-4 hours before the program is ready to watch.



    I cannot eliminate the possibility that it's my wireless connection at home because I haven't done a full troubleshooting, but can say that I have never experienced any issues with any streaming services in the past, including Apples own 1st gen Apple TV.



    I currently use an airport extreme base station with an Airport Express to extend the network. I use various security protocols including MAC address restrictions and wpa2. In other words, nothing particularly unusual. My guess is it's not on my end. I've also considered the possibility that my ISP is throttling my bandwidth but see no evidence of it.



    There might be a problem with The ATV. Its definitely giving weird feedback on the delays.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    In other words, AI is here to escalate the solution by giving the forum users more exposure, right?







    I'm assuming these people have filed radar issues with their current equipment and broadband configuration status, with any known or unknown performance issues for their backbone?



  • Reply 4 of 86
    Looks like a bit of rain in the Clouds.
  • Reply 5 of 86
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Crimguy View Post


    There might be a problem with The ATV. Its definitely giving weird feedback on the delays.



    I (sort of) agree. I am less than thrilled with the new AppleTV compared to the old. It is slower in its TV/movie downloads, photo/video/music syncing with the iPad and the Mac hangs for what seems like an eternity, photo streams seem to be of poorer quality, and there are a number of other minor annoyances (e.g., still can't get fully right the screen saver setting with photo albums when playing music, unlike with the previous model).



    Overall, the only saving grace is the fact that it costs $99.



    It's just not ready for prime time yet. As I've said before, 2.5/5.
  • Reply 6 of 86
    I am also experiencing over an hour wait time to play HD rentals on my 2nd gen A TV. My 1st Gen only took 10 minutes or so before play.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Crimguy View Post


    Afraid I did none of those things. All I can say is I have 12-14 megabit connection and experience no problems with my 1st gen apple tv starting a hi def rental in about a minute, but rentals on the 2nd gen takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes. While waiting, the ATV is reporting anywhere from 1-4 hours before the program is ready to watch.



    I cannot eliminate the possibility that it's my wireless connection at home because I haven't done a full troubleshooting, but can say that I have never experienced any issues with any streaming services in the past, including Apples own 1st gen Apple TV.



    I currently use an airport extreme base station with an Airport Express to extend the network. I use various security protocols including MAC address restrictions and wpa2. In other words, nothing particularly unusual. My guess is it's not on my end. I've also considered the possibility that my ISP is throttling my bandwidth but see no evidence of it.



    There might be a problem with The ATV. Its definitely giving weird feedback on the delays.



  • Reply 7 of 86
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    My Apple TV certainly has potential, but at this point doesn't serve my needs nearly as well as my Roku devices, long downloads times being a serious issue, so it's been shelved for now.



    Hopefully a few firmware updates will make it a bit more capable, and a bit less/slow and tied so closely to iTunes.



    If Not - it only cost US 100.00, so no big loss anyway.
  • Reply 8 of 86
    The ATV performance has been better than I ever expected. I've read some comments here and there about movies taking hours to load and how they stutter or stop, etc., but I haven't had that problem at all. Movies start playing in seconds and I've never had to wait for things to load. I've been able to stop watching something, go onto watch something else, come back to the first program and resume where I left off. I've been able to skip around the chapters of movies as well without any hangups. Maybe I'm lucky (smokin' fast FiOS Internet service that's over 20mbps) but I've been perplexed by these comments about how long it takes to just start watching a movie from other ATV owners.
  • Reply 9 of 86
    bugsnwbugsnw Posts: 717member
    I have fiber optic to the home and the 1st gen was instant. As soon as I clicked on a movie, it started playing. Now it's not instant, more on the order of 5-10 seconds, but it's tolerable.



    There's definitely an issue there, but I'm just glad I'm not one of those waiting half an hour or more before a movie starts!



    One other issue I have with mine is it continuously loses the connection to my computer. This matters because you still need that link to browse your photo libraries (since they are not stored on the device).



    Overall, the interface is so much faster, and Netflix is built in. I'd still give it a 4. Hopefully future updates will improve this cool toy.
  • Reply 10 of 86
    If i switched input signal from A/V to HDMi, my 1st gen ATV wouldn't connect unless I either switched the TV on/off or rebooted the ATV. Most annoying but I lived with it.



    No issue with 2nd gen ATV at all. In fact I've just bought another one.
  • Reply 11 of 86
    Except for some minor Netflix stuttering... All is good so far... Fast cable 26mbps



    M
  • Reply 12 of 86
    I bought the 1st gen ATV right when it first came out and although I was careful to keep it fully updated it never worked quite right. It erratically lost connection with my WiFi network and downloading HD movies was often sluggish and wildly variable.



    So far my 2nd Gen ATV (on the exact same network setup) has been a dream -- snappier interface, faster movie downloads, nice and consistent operation.... and using AirPlay to stream video from my MacBook Pro and iPad has been fantastic.
  • Reply 13 of 86
    HDMI-gate. I called it
  • Reply 14 of 86
    Unfortunately, HDMI is so complicated, and content providers so enamored with HDCP, that connection issues just come with the territory. I remember a Best Buy salesman telling me one year that Samsung's early Blu-Ray players kept getting returned because people had HDMI connection problems with Sony HDTVs, but it worked perfectly with Samsung's TVs. I occasionally have purple screens when connecting my PS3 to my LG. And my HD camcorder's HDMI frequently fails to handshake with my TV. Maybe there's a systemic problem with AppleTV, maybe it's just finicky about certain TV models. Personally, I think HDMI is pretty shitty. Why is DVI way more reliable?
  • Reply 15 of 86
    The HDMI issue isn't just a second generation Apple TV problem. I have a first generation ATV and I've had HDMI connection problems with my TV since day one. At first I got around it with the AV cables, but the picture quality sucked. So now I have to reboot the Apple TV every time I want to switch and watch it.
  • Reply 16 of 86
    I've experienced the HDMI/HDCP handshake issue on 4 different kind of philips TV types!



    And yes, I have also experienced the long waits for rental.



    When I plug in a direct ethernet cable, the problem disappears!



    So this is a problem about wireless connectivity, which I also have on my macbook 1,83Ghz Core2duo. OSX10.6. The bandwidth seem to be throttled. When i use an other mac or windows laptop, the speeds are sky high.



    Come on APPLE, you can do better!!!!
  • Reply 17 of 86
    boeyc15boeyc15 Posts: 986member
    No long wait problems for my ATV. 30mg Internet with airport extreme. HD rentals show up in about 15 seconds. airplay from my 3GS works fine(why apple does not do recorded videos, dunno). Are there feature short comings, sure, but generally works as expected.
  • Reply 18 of 86
    My ATV2 is working great. I am using FIOS, an Airport Extreme wireless network, and a Panasonic 720p television. I previously used the same setup for the ATV1, expect for a component video connection. The ATV2 quality seems about the same, perhaps slightly worse upscaling on some occasions but better format compatibility. Downloading movies and Netflix connections have been very fast (<10s startup), clear and consistent. Streaming local movie media has also been good. The ATV2s method for caching streamed content seems superior to the ATV1, with easier and more responsive rewinding and fast forwarding. So far, no complaints here.
  • Reply 19 of 86
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rickertb View Post


    I've experienced the HDMI/HDCP handshake issue on 4 different kind of philips TV types!



    And yes, I have also experienced the long waits for rental.



    When I plug in a direct ethernet cable, the problem disappears!



    So this is a problem about wireless connectivity, which I also have on my macbook 1,83Ghz Core2duo. OSX10.6. The bandwidth seem to be throttled. When i use an other mac or windows laptop, the speeds are sky high.



    Come on APPLE, you can do better!!!!



    As more an more devices in our homes and neighbors homes are wireless and 802.11n has remained in a non-final state, my personal experience is that relying on wireless for connectivity of an ATV first or second gen. is a real problem. Time Capsule backups also are much slower than with an Ethernet connection. My connection to the net is only 1.5MB download and as with many in this discussion I experienced the same delays. When I pulled out an old Ethernet cable and ran it across the room ...... the problem was gone. I'd say there are more issues with the implementation of wireless causing these problems than the ATV2 design.
  • Reply 20 of 86
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Looks like a bit of rain in the Clouds.



    Just the usual bullshit from a tiny minority of users who seem to always have trouble with everything they touch. We all know the type, always complaining about their computer locking up, their ice maker crapping out, their Toyota taking off by itself when they actually hit the accelerator pedal instead of the brake, and of course their smartphone "death grip." There's one in every family. Now with the internet they can find each other, have a giant circle jerk, and point fingers at Apple, at&t, their neighbors, the Pope, Obama. I have one of 'em where I work. Every morning he comes in to find his work computer hosed in some way and then starts banging the mouse on the desk while cussing up a storm about the "idiots" in IT.
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