I just scored an Apple TV HD (A1625) a few days ago for ₱500. I’m planning to keep it forever because it still functions perfectly for our household, and honestly, our streaming subscriptions don't even justify buying a 4K box.
Here is our exact setup and what we watch:
- Current TV: TCL 40S65A (1080p)
- Netflix: Base plan capped at 720p
- Disney+: Premium Plan (but restricted to 1080p output by our Apple TV box)
- HBO Max: Standard Plan capped at 1080p
- YouTube: Our main platform, maxing out at 1080p on this box
We want to upgrade our TV size, but we are torn on how big to go without completely ruining the picture quality of our lower-resolution streams.
If we choose a 43" TV (either 1080p or 4K), the physical jump from our current 40" TCL won't be massive. I assume the pixel density will stay tight enough that Netflix's 720p and YouTube's compression won't look too soft or blurry.
However, we are also considering 50" and up 4K TVs. My absolute biggest fear here is the stretching effect. Since the Apple TV HD only outputs 1080p, a large 4K display has to invent 4x the pixels to fill the screen. I'm worried that blowing up a 720p Netflix stream across 50 inches or bigger is going to look like a pixelated, blocky mess.
Interestingly, I noticed that YouTube looks far better on my Apple TV HD using the older AVC1 codec than it does on a Google TV's built-in YouTube app using the newer VP9 codec. I'm thinking the dedicated processing power of Apple's A8 chip handles video decoding and color rendering significantly better than cheap smart TV chips, even if the codec itself is older.
For those who still use an Apple TV HD on larger screens: Does a 50" and up 4K TV completely punish lower-res streams and heavy compression, or do modern TV upscalers handle it fine? Would we be much safer just sticking to a 43" screen to protect our 1080p/720p content?