Dolby Vision Struggles in Disney+ and Netflix

[Danski]

I watch a lot of content on Apple TV+, Disney, Netflix and I've noticed that most (but not all) Disney and Netflix DV content cause frequent drops in framerate. I don't mean judder. I mean the framerate TANKS  for a couple of seconds. Atmos sound isn't impacted.

I do not have this problem with Apples DV content.  All other content on Disney that isn't Dolby Vision plays flawlessly (including HDR10). 

Some example content that exhibits the problem:

- Obi Wan Kenobi

- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

- Andor

DV content that doesn't have the issue:

- any Pixar content

- Free Guy

TV details

Sony Bravia A80J 

Picture Mode: Cinema (all default settings)

HDMI Mode: Enhanced format (Dolby Vision)

Some things I'll frontload:

- It's not my WiFi.  Netflix reports just under 300mbps steady. 

- it's not the motion settings on my TV as I've swapped in an Apple TV with identical settings and no issues. Other non DV content plays without issue. 

- it's not the HDMI cable. It's new, high-speed and again the Apple TV box exhibits no issues. 

Is anyone else able to confirm what I'm seeing? 

[Mister_Dalek]

@Danski 

Most likely to be server congestion at Sky's end or the puck struggling with high bandwidth/high bit-rate content. 
I'd suggest using the apps on your Apple TV box - they are stored locally and are much more stable than those on Sky's servers. They will also output native frame rates correctly. I cancelled Stream when I discovered how much better and more reliable the Apple TV 4K box was. Haven't missed Sky Q or Stream at all. 

[Danski]

Yeah I hear you. I had hoped to avoid multiple remotes. I do like skys aggregation system better than apples. 

Congestion could theoretically be the issue but it happens all the time every time when watching the Disney content. Apple TV app content is perfect though and that is said to have higher bit rate than Disney. 

I'm really hoping it's a bug with the Disney app. Is there anyway via these forums to raise bug reports with Sky?

[Exiled-in-HH]

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@Danski wrote:

Yeah I hear you. I had hoped to avoid multiple remotes. I do like skys aggregation system better than apples. 

Congestion could theoretically be the issue but it happens all the time every time when watching the Disney content. Apple TV app content is perfect though and that is said to have higher bit rate than Disney. 

I'm really hoping it's a bug with the Disney app. Is there anyway via these forums to raise bug reports with Sky?

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Have you reported the issue to Disney?

[Danski]

I'm still looking at Sky's OS as the culprit. The issue is across multiple apps on Sky's platform. Netflix is the other big offender with DV content. 

The same content in the same apps on other platforms, swapped into the same HDMi port,  does not exhibit this framerate issue. . (Apple TV, Google Chromecast). 

[Mister_Dalek]

---

@Danski wrote:

I'm still looking at Sky's OS as the culprit. The issue is across multiple apps on Sky's platform. Netflix is the other big offender with DV content. 

The same content in the same apps on other platforms, swapped into the same HDMi port,  does not exhibit this framerate issue. . (Apple TV, Google Chromecast). 

---

That's what I figured and why I gave up on Sky. The issues I had with Stream largely seemed to be caused by the infrastructure of the server-based operating system. Having all the third party apps be hosted on the server, rather than the puck itself, just seems to add too much latency for me and speed fluctuations on the server side were too common for it to be useable.

Entertainment OS doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. 

[Exiled-in-HH]

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@Danski wrote:

I'm still looking at Sky's OS as the culprit. The issue is across multiple apps on Sky's platform. Netflix is the other big offender with DV content. 

The same content in the same apps on other platforms, swapped into the same HDMi port,  does not exhibit this framerate issue. . (Apple TV, Google Chromecast). 

---

So you need to report the issue to each of those providers🤔

[Danski]

Or maybe.. and I appreciate this is a bit of a leap... It's Entertainment OS that has the issue? One app having the bug I get your point - problem likely to be with that app. But 2 or 3 different apps.. well then you have to start looking at what they have in common. 

Considering the plethora of issues this platform has had since it's release, your reluctance to even consider it the culprit is strange. 

Anywho, I'm not here to gripe but to raise awareness of the issue and to see if anyone else has had similar experience. I might even get lucky and have a Sky employee notice it 

[Exiled-in-HH]

That's isn't the objective .... reporting BAD experience with a service may result in the service taking the issue up with the platform🤔

You have an issue ... how many others have the issue?

You can cancel your Sky subscription if it does not your expectations😉

[Danski · Accepted solution]

I've managed to get to the bottom of this, somewhat. 

To sum up the issue is not systematic - rather it is content specific. With judder reduction enabled in Sky puck, I believe the true framerate being output is 59.94 (NTSC standard). This will work for the vast majority of content across streaming apps. 

However, a lot of newer Netflix and Disney content is being shot at true integer 24fps (Vs traditional 23.976 used for film). I managed to reproduce this on the Apple TV box by setting the output to 59.94. Same issue visible. 

How do we fix it? Not sure we can unfortunately unless Sky looks at changing the framerate it switches to in the apps. Apple TV when in true 60fps plays the content perfectly. No judder no stutter. Other 23.976 content also appears to run without issue.