AppleTV 4K and Apple Video Services.

One issue that I find slightly controversial from Apple is that when you buy a title from iTunes in 4K; you can't download them to watch later on this new box; you can only stream them in 4K using your broadband connection. A lot of people posting online comments that I have read on this topic are not happy about attempting to stream 4K titles with limited broadband packages. I could also say this is because the broadband infrastructure all across the UK is not as properly well catered for when trying to stream video in 4K.

Are broadband speeds in the UK improving all the time from ISP's when they are moving onto online playback of UHD or 4K video?

ADSL2 speeds aren't significantly increasing - however more and more people are now in Fibre-to-the-cabinet areas (which uses VDSL for the final leg) which in many cases will offer higher speeds, so you can chose to move to a higher-speed package which is more suitable for UHD bitrates. Some are now also in Fibre-to-the-premises territory - a couple of colleagues of mine have 1Gbps connections at home, and quite a few more have 100/100Mbs connectivity via fibre.

I don't know about Apple's UHD content - but Netflix UHD stuff appears to be 15Mbs max (at least that is the highest that my Sony UHD Bluray player and NVidia Shield TV report), but also offers lower quality UHD resolution streams in the 8-15Mbs range.

Given the size of UHD movies (15Mbits/s Netflix highest quality equates to around 6.75GByte/hour) - and the relatively limited storage capacity - 32 or 64GB - in Apple TV boxes, I can see why Apple are streaming only. A 32GB ATV4K would only store 4.5 hours of UHD content at Netflix quality...

My5 has now launched on AppleTV.

All I need now is 4OD and ITV Player!

Amazon Video as well, then I can ditch the horrible sluggish built in smart feature of my TV.

We're supposed to be getting ITV and Amazon, Channel 4 are continuing to dismiss the platform.

From what I hear Apple TV is still a tiny player in the UK Catch Up TV stakes - though tvOS and iOS having some similar development paths does ease things a bit.

All4 really is the poor relation of catch up services though. Dismal picture quality, and fewer platforms (it's not on Android TV either unless you have YouView)

I have it on my old one. It still works.

I think the problem with the Apple TV is the cost. If it was under £100 it would sell far better and Apple would surely make more money from the sale of content. But they price it high and to most it doesn't really offer anything worth it.

Android TV - or Android?

From memory All4 is only available as an Android app, not an Android TV one. If you have an Android TV with YouView, you will get All4 though.

It's a moot point though - the picture quality is dire...

If you're using the majority of Android streaming boxes, they're Android only. The Nvidia Shield is probably the Rolls Royce of Android TV streamers. It also has Chromecast support, so you can stream All4 that way instead.

https://www.nvidia.co.uk/shield/shield-tv/

Yep - I've got one. Not perfect - but very useable - and HDR UHD support is very good. All4 is dismal quality via Chromecast - or any other route (other than the Sky VoD - which is limited to stuff broadcast on a linear channel)

The only advantage to Apple TV 4K, is that it offers 4K movies for the normal price. Does anyone know if this Nvida device does the same?

The nVidia device doesn't have an nVidia streaming service - so it would be using standard Android TV services like Google Play Movies, Amazon etc. to purchase movies, and their pricing structures will apply.

The Apple TV 4K has a few more advantages :

1. Dolby Vision as well as HDR10 support
2. Frame Rate switching based on content metadata frame rate with the forthcoming tvOS update, (Which will also include HDR/SDR switching too)

At the moment very few devices offer automatic refresh rate switching. Either they run at a fixed frame rate, or you have to manually switch in System Settings or by using external apps like TVHZ.

Netflix has 23.976, 25 and 29.97Hz content, iPlayer has 25 and 50Hz, the other UK catch up services are 25Hz, Amazon Prime is mainly 23.976Hz - so you want dynamic 23.976, 50 and 59.94Hz output switching.

AIUI the new FireTV 4K is supposed to do this too - but is not without issues.

The nVidia Shield apps don't use refresh rate switching (though SPMC and Kodi will if they are installed)

Once Amazon Prime is also on the Apple TV 4K - if it is HDR - then it will definitely be one of the best solutions out there in video quality and ease of use terms. The UIs on some of the TV apps are beautiful on the Apple TV too. The Danish DR TV app is gorgeous.

It should also run a fork of Kodi called MrMC from the iTunes Store. This doesn't allow Python-based add ons (that is in breach of the Apple iTunes store rules) but does include binary PVR add-ons. (You should also be able to side load a full Kodi if you are up to that level of hackery - though without the USB Type-C port you will have to use Xcode over WiFi to do so)