STR-DN1080 HDR passthrough from AppleTV

[ProfMat]

Hi all,

I have an issue, and I wonder if this is  specific to my STR-DN10180 (i.e. it is malfunctioning) or if it is generic.

The STR-DN1080 is only a month old, and hooked up to a SONY KD-49XE7002 4K HDR TV.

4K HDR appears to work fine via Netflix from the inbuild apps on the TV - so the TV works fine. I have also just purchased a 4K HDR Apple TV. When the AppleTV is directly connected to the TV HDMI3(ARC) input, the AppleTV works and outputs 4K HDR fine.

However, when the Apple TV is connected to the STR-DN1080 (via the BD/DVD input) and the the HDMIA OUT of the A/V receiver to the HDMI3(ARC) TV input then only SDR works from the AppleTV. When you 'Try HDR' or 4:4:4 Chroma the TV goes blank and then after the appropriate time period the AppleTV reverts back to SDR.

I have new high-speed certified HDMI cables, and all HDMI ports are set to 'enhanced' on the STR-DN1080...

The specs says that the STR-DN1080 should pass through HDR - but it is not. Has anyone else experinced this issue, and possibly knows of a fix? The best way to test if this is an AppleTV issue or STR-DN1080 issue is to conenct another HDR capable device to the STR-DN1080. While I have an iPad pro, I don't want to spend £50 on an HDMI iPad connector just to diagnose this...

The one thing that confuses me is that if I set the AppleTV to 'match framerate and dymanic range' this means it should only output HDR when playing HDR content (i.e. the menus and non-HDR are in SDR), and then play an HDR movie then I 'think' HDR is passed through. Frustatingly there is no way of verifying this as the TV doesn't necessaily tell you the signal it is dispalying, and as soon as you quit the movie to get to the AppleTV menu to check the Apple TV seemingly reverts to SDR....!

Any comments or thoughts?

[EdwinaU]

Hi Prof,

Thanks for your question.

We can't find any definitive information for you so we'll look into it and update this thread when we find out more.

Best wishes,

Ed

[ProfMat]

Many thanks Ed,

An update on this. It appears that setting the Apple TV to 'match framerate and dymanic range' will allow HDR passthrough in at least some situations. I confirmed this last night: when this setting in 'on' and an HDR moive is played from the AppleTV (in this case from the iTunes store), the the TV flicks up a notice that the 'scene selection' has changed. When you access the TV picture menu, it is now in HDR video mode...

When the movie is quit (back to the AppleTV menu) the TV similarly changes scene automatically  - presumably as the Apple TV stop generating HDR - and is back in SDR mode.

So, the work-around is to set 'match framerate and dymanic range' to on (conceiveiably this might just need 'match dymanic range' to be on for HDR content to work.

Therefore, the conclusion is that there is some interface issue between the AppleTV and STR-DN1080 - HDR is not passed through when one attempts to manually set the AppleTV to HDR. However, when the AppleTV is forced to 'match framerate and dymanic range' then HDR is passed through. Perplexing. Perhaps the AppleTV is looking for a signal when asked to manually go to HDR, and that the STR-DN1080 does not interface with this? 

For more info see https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208288

and

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-tv-4k-no-longer-forces-you-to-watch-everything-in-hdr/

[Almou_10]

Hi ProfMat,

I guess this is normal, as the STR's job is to pass-through signal as it is. I don't think there is something wrong either with the TV or the Apple TV since what you are trying to do it to view HDR image on a non-HDR content via pass-through, which is basically designed to pass through the original content with the native signal, not an upgrade using the box.

Hope this helps,

Almou_10

[Damanbhardwaj]

I finally solved the issue with the STR-DN1080 and Apple TV 4K:

I had the Apple TV 4K connected to the Sony AVR via the Sony's Video 1 HDMI output, which apparently does not support HDR output at 60 Hz. After switching the HDMI cable to the Video 2 HDMI output, I was able to get flawless Dolby Vision via the Apple TV. Weird that Sony made Video 1 less capable than Video 2. Intuitively, I thought that Video 1 would be more essential than the Video 2.

[JayTea73]

I think any difference between video 1 and 2 is a red herring.

I've just come across this post with the same problem and it was the same on any input i tried.

Eventually I went back through my Bravia TV's menus and found an option to enhance 4k for HDMI sockets 2 and 3, this was off. Turn it on and all good, so that was the bottleneck for me.

[ameyrupji]

This is not true both Video 1 and Video 2 support 4k HDR with AppleTV

[Embezy]

I had the same exact problem, here’s how I fixed it.

1. On your Sony TV remote, hit the “Home” button.

2. Go to the Settings Gear icon, upper RH corner of the screen.

3. Under the Settings menu, select “External Inputs.”

4. Scroll to the bottom and select “HDMI signal format.”

5. Change it to “Enhanced format.”

For some reason, the default here is Standard rather than Enhanced, and it doesn’t seem like the TV can automatically detect the HDR signal when it is passed through the STR-DN1080 Reciever from the AppleTV.

Hope this helps!

[JLitchford]

Video 1 on the STR-DN1080 does not have the option to set enhanced HDMI!

The other inputs do for some reason.  Setting Video 2 for enhanced HDMI solved the problem with Dolby Vision and the Apple 4K!

Thank you guys!!!!