Apple TV / ITunes 4k to hd downgrades..

cryingscotsman

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I’ve noticed a few movies on both uk and us stores that were listed as 4k suddenly shift back to hd. I’ve got a few of these, that I bought when they were 4k (e.g The Mummy from US and Kong from UK) and the quality has definitely lowered, its not just a mad listing bug.

As well as being peeved at me buying quite a few movies solely for the 4k versions (albeit from key sellers for the most part), I’m now worried that anything I buy from iTunes can be arbitrarily downgraded. I haven’t seen much discussion about this, anyone know what’s going on?
 
Why not ask Apple, surely they’re the ones that will have the answers.

However it wouldn’t surprise me that any redeemed codes would only allow the HD stream to be viewed.
It wouldn’t be difficult for them to implement as when you look at your purchase history it does say whether it’s a purchase or a code redemption.
For genuine purchases though I’d definitely be asking Apple as to why.
 
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It's happening for both purchase and codes for me, but I have sent a detailed email off explaining the issues.
 
Aye, it’s not limited to codes but also purchases. I have emailed support but don’t expect any response other than a possible refund for the purchases. Just concerned that at any point in the future they can just downgrade without notice or reason..
 
Yep, I bought Prometheus, purely because it was listed as 4K, now it’s only HD.

It’s one thing bumping free upgrades or codes back to HD but if they’re selling something as 4K and downgrading it after the fact, that’s a rip off, in my opinion.
 
It’s an absolute joke, I bought Prometheus just yesterday and it’s been downgraded today. Had no response from Apple yet.
 
Yep, I bought Prometheus last night too, purely because it was 4K, didn’t particularly like it first time I saw it, but heard good things about the PQ, which is why I though I’d give it another go. It was definitely 4K when I skimmed through a few scenes last night and now it’s only showing HD.

Shall definitely be asking for a refund if it’s not sorted.
 
And another one.

Notice Paper Towns was in the 4K HDR section linked to from the top banner on the store page, this would’ve been yesterday or the day before. I like it, but at £9.99 it was a priority to buy straight away, so stick it on my wish list to wait for a price drop.

Just browsing the 4K section again and it’s gone. Just listed as HD again now.

Still waiting for a reply about Prometheus, the automated response said I’d get a reply within 48 hours. They’ve got about 4 1/2 hours left :)
 
Speaking of iTunes and films, I've just redeemed two hd codes, but they wont play from itunes on my laptop to my tv, saying screen resolution is too low. Its a 4k tv and laptop is outputting 1080p to tv. Any ideas why it wont play?
 
Looks like Paper Towns and Prometheus are both back to 4K
 
Did you buy them both as codes or direct from the store?
 
Direct from the store, but as stated above Prometheus is back to 4k. Got a few in the us store (Mummy, f8, assassins creed) that we’re 4k then downgraded so hopeful they also get increased again..
 
I noticed this with Prometheus on the UK store. I'm wondering if some teething problems as it is back to 4K.

Didn't realise Mummy was 4K in the US, as it is HD over here.
 
It might well be something to do with the encodes themselves needing to be taken down. There were problems with a couple of the Dolby Vision titles causing flickering, they've probably identified a problem with a few of the other titles too.
 
This has just happened to my purchase of 2001: A space Odyssey. The fabulous 4k print is now an HD copy. No warning or notification given. I’ve contacted Apple and they’ve refunded my money plus an additional rental credit but it really does leave a sour taste in the mouth that this is stil happening and will probably continue. Does anyone know of any other titles this has happened to recently?
 
This has just happened to my purchase of 2001: A space Odyssey. The fabulous 4k print is now an HD copy. No warning or notification given. I’ve contacted Apple and they’ve refunded my money plus an additional rental credit but it really does leave a sour taste in the mouth that this is stil happening and will probably continue. Does anyone know of any other titles this has happened to recently?
Total waste of time in getting a refund IMO, it’ll be back to 4K soon enough.
As someone pointed out in the other thread an issue was pointed out in one of the reviews so it’s possible it’s being rectified.
 
Total waste of time in getting a refund IMO, it’ll be back to 4K soon enough.
As someone pointed out in the other thread an issue was pointed out in one of the reviews so it’s possible it’s being rectified.

Ok thanks for that. I’m new to the whole Apple TV thing so the fact that it’s possible that it will return is hopefull I guess. It’s typical that it was the choice of film to watch only to discover it had been downgraded. From the bits I saw it looked amazing though.
 
2001 is still HD only. Have the 4K Dolby Vision copy stored locally on my iPhone and iPad, but only able to stream the HD version on my Apple TV now. Apple Support last week not very helpful; not even sure they understood the problem.

I’ve recently bought a lot of 4K films on iTunes, so it’s very disconcerting if this can just happen to content out of the blue.
 
How do you have the 4K version stored? I thought you could only stream 4K, not download it.
 
You can download them to your iPhone and iPad, but not to your Apple TV...
 
In 4K? You sure about that?

You can certainly download them, but there’s no size for 4K, only 1080, 720 or SD, which would suggest you’ve only got the HD stored.

Happy to be corrected though.
 
Oh I see what you mean - yes I guess they are not in 4K, the resolutions are lower. They are in Dolby Vision though on the latest iPad Pro and iPhone XS Max. Actually the TV app still reports them as being 4K...
 
2001: A Space Odyssey is now back as 4K/DV on iTunes.
 

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