Apple TV 4K, audio and HDR Sony Bravia ATV2 (especially Netflix)?

[Jecht_Sin]

I'd like to know from anyone who bought an Apple TV 4K if the HDR content in Netflix looks better. Since the first time I subscribed to Netflix I always struggled with the HDR content. Yesterday I've found out, at least with Stanger Things, that the only way to remove the fog effect (and not even completely on dark scenes) on my Bravia XD8099 has been to raise the Gamma to max.

Does the Apple TV 4K (or any other HDR TV Box for the matter of discussion) get a better HDR output than the original app in Netflix? What about the Netflix audio? Does it go above DD+ 5.1?

PS: Is the Apple TV 4K 64GB available in UK? I can't find a single one available anywhere in Italy. Unless of waiting 4-5 weeks from Apple.

[Kuschelmonschter]

Bought one today. Already loved it after 10 minutes of using it. Setup with the iPhone was a breeze. Love how the keyboard pops up on the iPhone as soon as there is a text input on the TV. And it just works.

Also 4K HDR content on iTunes at the same price as HD SDR stuff.

Sony and Android TV are so far behind.

[Jecht_Sin]

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@Kuschelmonschter wrote:

Bought one today. Already loved it after 10 minutes of using it.

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I knew I was tempting you! 

Have you checked the Amazon Prime Video app? A whole different life! basically.. It works!! And don't forget to check Infuse as well, since I understood you have quite some stuff in a NFS server. The Pro version is a bit pricey, but there is a month of free trial. Then I don't know in Germany, but in Italy if you buy the annual subscription through the tvOS settings (forgot where exactly, but it is easy to find) it is 25% cheaper..

PS: Only €150??

PPS: do not update to 11.3 beta! It's a bit of a mess right now. 11.2.5 instead is just great.

[Kuschelmonschter]

Yeah, I of course checked out the Amazon Video app and for the first time it was fun to use. Menus are snappy and playback did not exhibit a single video stutter or audio dropout. Audio is Dolby 5.1.

I use MrMC which is a fork of Kodi. I can access my PVR backend with that. It played everything I threw at it perfectly fine. 576i25 MPEG-2 was software decoded, perfectly deinterlaced and upscaled. The image processing of the Apple A10X chips is really good. Better than everything I have seen so far from other settop-boxes. 1080p24 VC-1 (Blu-ray format) has also properly been software decoded. It even played those 2160p60 VP9 YouTube videos. There has been slight stutter in those though. Not sure yet whether it is due to 60p timings or software decoding 4K VP9. Will check some HEVC...

Motion was great across the board thanks to refresh rate switching.

Apple TV also has way more native apps that are actually useful compared to Android TV. Finally I have the Sky Ticket and Eurosport Player app directly on the TV.

While playback and service diversity on the Apple TV 4K are just great, usability unfortunately isn't, at least here in Austria. I didn't realize that Siri and the TV app are still not available here. That hurts a lot as these are really key features.