Plex TV on AppleTV 2021 no Atmos

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.22.3.4523
Player Version#: 7.18.1

Hi All,

I have a new 2020 LG GX55 OLED and a nice Sonos Arc which I’ve got all dialed in for Dolby Atmos and it sounds and looks great on Netflix, Apple+ and Prime. I’ve just had my new 2021 AppleTV 4K delivered and setup. Plex server is running on a QNAP 672XT with a cabled connection to TV, AppleTV and Sonos Arc.

I wanted to test Dolby Atmos from Plex so have a couple of 4K films (Blade Runner and Fury Road) which according to their descriptions contain Atmos. When I play them back I can see on the SONOS App that they’re playing back at 7.1TRUEHD and not Atmos. I can see see in Plex under Playback Settings that only TRUEHD 7.1 is available but no mention of Atmos. Under Technical Details I can see Video: Copy (HEVC) Audio transcode (FLAC - FLAC), Player: mpv and Transcode Reason: App cannot direct play this item.

I’ve looked under the Advanced Settings of Plex on the AppleTV but can’t see anything obvious to change. My question is this: are the files I’ve grabbed for these movies not delivering Atmos due to a limitation of the AppleTV/Plex player? Do I need a different type of file or is there a setting I’m missing?

2

The Apple TV only supports lossy Dolby Digital plus with Atmos. It does not support lossless TrueHD + Atmos.

Due to this limitation with the Apple TV, no app will be able to support TrueHD + Atmos without Apple opening up support for it.

3

Thanks for this I found this thread which helped clear it up.

So all streamers are doing atmos using E-AC stream where BR rips are true lossless TRUEHD streams that the AppleTV can’t handle. I noticed the LG OS Plex app also didn’t know how to read them.

Maybe I should look at a Shield Pro then.

4

Is this true for the new 2021 ATV 4K as well?

5

Yes, it is.

6

I would encourage everyone who reads this to open/write a feedback to apple (either at feedback assistant or via their normal website). The more noisy this crowd is, the more likely they are to even consider it. Given they’re working on some of the stuff in this area around eARC, there’s always a chance, but not unless these wheels get squeaky.

7

Just did!

And you, anonymous reader, can do the same here: Feedback - Apple TV - Apple

Please submit a feature request/enhancement to add Lossless TrueHD + Atmos!