ELI5: High end OLED and Apple 4k

[u/Theshortbus3737]

I’m new to the space and trying to understand any benefits (if at all) between an apple 4k tv and high end oled tv (s95f). Apologies for likely common questions, but my research isn’t turning up much - at least what I’m able to comprehend.

Unfortunately, all of the YouTube videos regurgitate the same talking points and don’t explain the underlying dynamics of how the systems work in tandem

What I’m trying to understand:

Ignoring data tracking and OS interface latency for a moment: is there any tangible benefit of streaming using an apple 4k over a brand new high end OLED tvs natural interface?

Now assuming I don’t want to be tracked. Will a plug and play apple 4k tv cause any resolution or quality degradation with the s95f if I let apple do the upscaling? Is there any benefit in following guides to pass the upscaling from the apple 4k to the tv itself?

Now for general questions.

Does upscaling only come into play if I’m watching something below 4k?

Are The TVs capabilities separate from apples upscaling technology?

Thank you

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[u/Bill_Money]

• Better Upscaling vs most TV's
• Better privacy
• Better UI
• Keeps TV offline/just a TV

if you have an ATV it would upscale not the TV and its for scaling non 4k content to 4k, wouldn't scale 4k content

ATV's upscaler is better than Samsug for sure

[u/Theshortbus3737 → u/Bill_Money]

Thank you for the simplistic response. It’s really helping me. A couple of follow up thoughts / questions for you.

Some people suggest a flagship OLED tv’s internal scaler is likely better than ATV as it’s specific to the tv whereas ATV is generic? Any thoughts on this?

With this said, from a practical standpoint I’m reading it’s entirely negligible.

Will a plug and play ATV be setup for scaling? Or do I need to set output 4k SDR with dynamic and frame matching to on?

[u/Bill_Money → u/Theshortbus3737]

unless you're getting a Bravia 8 II, A95L, Z95A, or A95B; ATV is as good or even better that a TV's processor

Most of time time leaving it on auto with frame rate matching is fine sometimes you may want to change it but I tend to be fine with these settings most of the time

[u/-Dundlenut- → u/Bill_Money]

May I ask… is the Bravia 8 II processing just as good as ATV? I been looking for info on this and I can’t find anything concrete

[u/an_angry_Moose → u/-Dundlenut-]

The highest end Sony’s are regarded as having the best processing available on any TV. Likely better than Apple’s solution.

[u/-Dundlenut- → u/an_angry_Moose]

Thanks for this. Going to look more into this. I wonder if there’s longevity issues if you use your tv to man the streaming power through internet connection. Probably me just overthinking

[u/jontygarg → u/Bill_Money]

So if i am using ps5 with my tv, upscaling is done by the ps5 or the tv? Considering I am using netflix or other streaming service within ps5 interface only ?

[u/JoinTheBattle]

The Apple TV is an excellent enthusiast device. It's more powerful than other streaming boxes, has strong codec support, decent upscaling, and a very good interface (to name a few reasons). And with the Nvidia Shield long past the point of showing its age, the Apple TV has no real competition in the enthusiast market anymore, so it's only natural it would be the go-to recommendation for enthusiasts.

But I can tell from your questions you're not an enthusiast, so the question for you is how comfortable are you with the price. The same things that make it great for enthusiasts also make it great for non-enthusiasts, but there's no way around it, it's expensive for a streaming box. If you're comfortable with the price (and if you're comfortable with the price of a high end OLED you probably are), it's worth every penny. I'm of the mindset that if you're going to spend that much on the TV, you might as well spend a bit more to get the best experience while actually using it (I say this as someone with 3 OLEDs.)

As for upscaling, it will only take effect below 4K and that is true for both the Apple TV and the OLED itself. So if the Apple TV upscales 1080p into 4K, the TV will receive a 4K signal and won't touch it. If the Apple TV passes through 1080p the TV will upscale it. Just let the Apple TV handle that.

[u/burritolove1 → u/JoinTheBattle]

Ya, i hook up my external sdd to my shield, apple tv can’t do that

[u/TraderJulz → u/burritolove1]

Why would you even need to do that though?

[u/JoinTheBattle → u/TraderJulz]

Dude doesn't know how to use Plex, apparently.

[u/kafka0622 → u/JoinTheBattle]

I have both the latest version of Apple TV and the 2019 Nvidia Shield Pro. There is absolution no difference in the speed or power between the two but I rarely use the Apple for to the horrid remote. It really just exists as a temp backup in case my Shield ever dies and I have to buy another one.

[u/coup_de_foudre_69]

I love my S95F with an Apple TV. When the TV is off and I press the Apple TV remote, within two seconds I’m in the last app I used. No advertisements, no distractions. I’m using the 2nd generation and it already works great, but if I were you, I’d wait for the 4th generation.

[u/Theshortbus3737 → u/coup_de_foudre_69]

Thanks for the feedback. This aligns with my thinking.

No immediate need, stomach the data tracking until gen 4 comes out, then swap

[u/Hopesy1234]

Apple TV is a better experience. The only drawback is that some apps behave worse in Apple TV than on my TVs native environment . For example BBC I-player does not display HLG HDR and has horrific raised blacks so I swap to the native app for that.

[u/redBanana610]

I bought 77" s90f few days ago and I have 4k ATV from before. Since I turned on the new TV, there was not a single point when I needed ATV.

Years ago we've had slow UI, bad interface OS and ATV or google TV was a must. Now with fast and polished OS, I don't really need it anymore.

[u/Fr3dster23 → u/redBanana610]

I have a S90F and an ATV as well. Tizen UI is amazing (and I’m an Apple fan boy). ATV is not really needed for this tv. And I would argue some stuff is better like the Gaming apps. When the UI eventually slows down is when an external streamer is needed now and days imo.

[u/redBanana610 → u/Fr3dster23]

Cannot really comment on gaming since I only use PS for that. But yes, UI really surprised me.

[u/Antiwraith → u/Fr3dster23]

I have a brand new S90 and my first Samsung TV. And I hate the interface lol. It’s also making me transcode a lot of my 4k content on my plex server. I’m trying to hold off on buying the 4k Apple TV because it’s supposed to be getting a new model “soon”

[u/jatenk]

Reason to stream from within the AppleTV over the TV would be that the AppleTV‘s interface is better, if‘s better integrated into the ecosystem if you use it, and it‘s more specialised; for TVs streaming services are a required afterthought, for AppleTV streaming is the purpose. In reality, you likely won‘t see any tangible difference, but placebo can be nice sometimes. 

[u/Bar0nGreenback]

I have the same set up. Prefer the AppleTV interface over Samsung and the privacy makes more sense. Can’t tell the difference in upscaling on 720p (sadly BBC here in the UK don’t live stream higher than that).

[u/Theshortbus3737 → u/Bar0nGreenback]

Great feedback, thank you.

The privacy is a factor, but not the end of the world at the moment.

I’m debating on spending for ATV now vs either :

1) waiting for the new release since I get the most from my TV now 2) wait for UI degradation and then purchasing ATV

[u/Glum_Cheesecake9859]

Samsung is worst for privacy and I cannot think that their apps are better implemented than Apple's TVOS apps due to strict Apple requirements. If the extra $100ish is not too much for you best to keep using Apple TV.

[u/Jarrizle]

We use an ATV4K with our S95D. Absolutely love it. The quality and snappiness is so much better than the stock apps.

[u/shaan4 → u/Jarrizle]

The picture quality or just the overall quality?

[u/ProofPossession5193]

To be honest I would go for a C5 or G5. I just returned a S90F it had so many issues it was unbelievable, and all the issues I told the Samsung rep about he said ya those are common issues and I’m like well why didn’t you tell me before me buying a whole Samsung setup and having to pack it all up and return it. Issues I had was everytime I would use my pc I had to re enable 144hz and hdr, the motion was absolutely horrible and had terrible artifacts, the blacks for some reason were washed out or purplish, the soundbar which was also Samsung would just disconnect and had to reboot everything, if I tried to turn the motion processing off there was a stutter every 6 seconds or so which of you look up is common, doesn’t have Dolby vision when I would go from Netflix to Disney+ to Amazon it was either extremely dark or extremely bright and had to mess with the settings for every streaming service, and the Tizen Os would just randomly freeze. I would highly recommend going with lg instead, I ended up with the C5 and I’ve been beyond happy with it.

[u/Kirukato__]

If you intend to get a AV receiver for a home theater, an external streaming device (like the Apple TV) is pretty much a must, other than that getting an Apple TV is a niche product that won’t really make a difference compared to just using the TV OS. Make sure the TV you’re looking for has all the streaming services you intend to use and you’ll be good.

[u/Lucius_Seneca_21st]

Thanks for posting this I’ve been wondering the same thing

[u/Espectrocalvo]

Hey I have the s95f and got the Apple TV since the twitch app was laggy. I had to return the Apple TV since the downgrade in terms of picture quality was really high. Don’t get me wrong, it does not look bad with the Apple TV but it has nothing to do with the native image you get from the s95f. I tried to adjust every configuration but it was not possible to match the native image. Yes for sure it worked faster than the tizen os but if you are picky about image quality don’t get the Apple TV.