WatchESPN & Apple TV 3

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I use an iPhone 4S with Apple TV 3 to periodically watch ESPN3 through the WatchESPN app. When watching it through AirPlay, the resolution is not a clear 1080 as advertised and is somewhat blotchy and not sharp. I have noticed this when using airplay on other network tv apps that support live streaming with their app (CNN, HLN, etc..). Is there anyway to increase the resolution, specifically on the ESPN 3 stations? Would streaming from an iPad vice the iPhone make a difference on the airplay resolution? What about going up a level in speed with my providers Internet package? Or using a signal booster? Or is the resolution solely inherent in the coding in the app itself or isn't directly connected to the TV and nothing will increase the resolution? Thanks for any input
 

bobtomay

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1080p as advertised where?

For streaming 1080 you're going to need an internet connection of at least 10Mbps.
That's if ESPN3 is even streaming in 1080 across the web.
The best resolution you're going to get from any web site is based whatever resolution they offer for streaming.
 
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The Apple site advertises 1080p resolution, along with numerous other sites, an upgrade from the 720p of Apple TV 2. Under settings, you can also adjust the resolution up and down from 1080p airplay. My connection is Verizon Fios and speed 15 mb/sec. I guess you are right, I guess it is based upon what the app is streaming it at because its all of the apps (including YouTube) that have reduced resolution. I called Apple tech support to see what they would tell me and pretty much said that using an iPad with the A6 processor and larger picture and screen it is being played off of would likely help. Not sure of you can vouch for that? He also told me to play with the TV picture settings to see of moving to a wide screen or 16:9 instead of full screen would help, which I will be trying soon and will post
 

bobtomay

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The Apple site advertises "up to" 1080. You'll not get 1080 except from 1080 sources.
Am pretty sure it does not have a built in upscaler.
Your TV might, but it's not going to do a whole lot for a 320 or 480 source.

I can tell you now, that adjusting the settings from Full to Stretch to Wide, etc. will do nothing for the resolution nor the quality of the video you are watching.

Playing it from an iPad will not help unless the source stream is in a higher resolution on the iPad - which I doubt.

I'd try it out for you, but can't get ESPN3.

Maybe I can play around with some youtube videos later today.
 

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Per the description of the ESPN app, it is optimized for the iPhone 5 which is less than 720p.
They're probably shooting in 480 and then optimizing it for the iPhone.

The Apple TV 3 does do some upscaling if you have it set to output 1080, but it is not going to make the picture any better. If you're trying to view an SD streamed signal on any new 1080p set, especially one bigger than 37-42" max, it's not going to be that great. Won't be that great on one smaller depending on how far you're sitting from the TV.
 

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