Tivo Bolt + Xbox One S HDMI Passthru

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Hey guys & gals just a bit of a heads up. So far when passing content via Tivo Bolt's HDMI to the new Xbox One S HDMI passthru it seems to only accept 1080p signals-- Then the Xbox One S upscales the video to 4K. Anyone thinking to use the Xbox's UI overlay & it's minor voice controls to command their TiVo should be aware of this. (FYI you can still voice command the TiVo without using the Passthru, but this has always been possible even with my old Xbox One) -- The UI overlay and greater app selection within a combined environment TiVo + Xbox under 4K is what I'm after.

Anyways..

After connecting the Tivo Bolt to the Xbox One S and you go to video settings on the Tivo, you can only select 1080p. TiVo Bolt says 4K 2160 is not supported as I found out today. This limit also applies for things like 4K Amazon Fire TV box, or Direct TV4K. I would assume the same for RoKu 4K and the rest.

This story/issue is a bummer to be honest. After researching the Xbox One S alot this is a small gotcha that I didn't catch. It also seems others are also becoming aware of this limitation.

On reddit for example.

https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/4vv90h/no_4k_passthrough_on_hdmi_in_xbox_one_s/

https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/4w07w7/xbox_one_s_4k_passthrough/

Also, Xbox support and news sites don't list this 1080p limit on passthru as far as I can tell, and as far as my own experience so far has shown - It won't broadcast as a 4K input or accept a native 4K input on it's passthru port.

http://news.xbox.com/2016/08/02/xbox-one-s-4k-hdr/

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/console/troubleshooting-4K-and-HDR-on-xbox-one-s

You don't really have to read all that to confirm for yourself - but if you want and do read the links, maybe you'll spot something I and others haven't.

Anyways - lets assume that there is a 1080p limit on the Xbox One S passthru. What are the guesses of the cause?

Is the actual hardware port limited via software? NON HDCP 2.2? HDMI speeds?

Possibly DRM or some type of data transfer security? If so is that DRM on the Xbox One S side or TiVo (or other cable box like DirectTV 4K)?

Asking these questions because I'm considering now returning the Xbox One S for my money back.

Yes the Xbox One S can do the apps in 4K that TiVo can. (Well some of them till updates happen) But I just don't like compromising my systems compatibility scheme - and having to use one device or another for various functions. Even if the Xbox One S 4K upscale is really good. (As has been reported) Kinda defeats my purpose of buying 4K stuff and HDCP 2.2 qualified products to begin with.

Anyways I thought people should know if you already don't know. I do like the Xbox One S overall - but this small detail just puts a damper on my system plans.

Thoughts?

Prayers for a software update? From responsible party? If that's all it is, haha

 

Yea BRiT I've read a couple people who say using their Nvidia Shield will push 4K thru the passthru. I don't have a Shield so I have no way to test this -- however I can say that I'm using the HDMI cable that came with the Xbox S to connect my TiVo to the Xbox S passthru.

Which means it's curious if the actual cable they provided isn't passing thru 4K from the TiVo... what gives?

At the same time the Xbox has no issue displaying 4K content on it's own app platform using, say, the Netflix App. With the HDMI cable I've used for 4K content on the TiVo previously.

(So we know it works)

And of course the TiVo will still show 4K content if I plug it directly to the TV using any of my HDMI cables. (I have 3 different 4K devices that all push 4K using any of these official cables) --- however, once I plug into the Xbox S passthru I can only set them to 1080p.

I hope some more info comes out from this - and hopeful there is a software fix.

Also when thinking on it.. is it possible that the Shield being more of a Tablet (computer) -- it doesn't have the same DRM or something of that nature a TiVo or Direct TV or Fire TV would have? Lot of users reporting failure with 4K native passthru - so something is obviously up. *shrug*

BTW - BRiT do you have a link to the Xbox forum post you read? I would be super curious to read and possibly contribute there as well man!

Cheers guys.

 

Gah.. this exhaustive review and testing by Polygon says with a paragraph title in large font.

"OTHER LESS GOOD NEWS

For the people with 4K cable boxes, I have bad news: the Xbox One S’s TV input does not support a 4K signal."

http://www.polygon.com/2016/8/2/12361270/xbox-one-S-review-impressions-4k-HDR


Oh well. Still hopeful though.

And thanks BRiT -- I'm going to test out some UHD Blue Rays here this weekend and make a decision to keep the XB1S or not. I may just lean on the voice controls when my Kinect USB adaptor comes in and just use TiVo on a different HDMI port. (Which sux because that's the reason I upgraded my old Elite Xbox to the XB1S in the first place) Was hoping for 4K passthru.

 

I heard--err, I mean when I lurked here before joining the forums -- that you have a lot of good luck with devices aaronwt – so if this works for you, we must know how, so we can do the same! Speaking of which your still one of the few rays of hope when it comes to using that samsung HDD Tivo Bolt upgrade without failure. (I haven't upgraded yet, but I may go with Toshiba 3tb though.)

I set mine up this way for various reasons. But in a nutshell for me it’s mostly to increase apps available instantly, never miss Skype calls from my Son in the Navy & being able to video conference him with the whole family. To watch T.V. while gaming. (rare lol) – and the family enjoys having everything on one input with no switching required. Just voice commands to the Xbox or even the TiVo via Xbox and things just happen immediately.

I tend to look at the Xbox UI and feature set as “in addition” to the TiVo. Basically more options, and convenience, and now with Blue Ray UHD ability. Extra apps, extra guide, extra controls.

Listening to sound on headsets thru the Xbox One 3.5mm controller in the middle of the night is neato to.

There are cons as with all things in life, sadly.

I won’t list them all but the newest one is of course this 4K passthru issue.

And even though Xbox has some bad apps – in general they are updated much faster or are superior. Being Microsoft and all. (Compliment?)

In conjunction with that all the networking going on thru my house (other tech) that the Xbox One supports – my main room 4K 70” T.V. is heavily multitasked. Which is kinda why the need for a DVR like TiVo in the first place – and why having it on one input thru Xbox works for myself and my family. I am also kinda past having to teach new people how to use the system in depth over and over again, since it’s presented as all one big entertainment system.

“Hey OmeneX, how do I watch TV?” -- Me: “Eh, just say -- *Watch TV* loud enough” or basically say outloud what you want it to do or what channel you want to watch on TiVo. Or click “watch TV” To hard? Don’t like voice? Well use the remote then. Don’t worry about changing inputs. In fact just turning on the Xbox defaults to “watch TV” so newbies don’t even have to navigate Xbox menus. TiVo first! Of course. And again, to watch a Blue Ray just put the disk in – no changing necessary.

Really that simple to teach.

As people get more comfortable then I introduce them to laptop/tablet streaming, Plex server stuff – Xbox Web Browser, and basically added functionality, deeper control. If they want it anyways. But the nice thing is all this *stuff* is always available right on tap without ever having to change devices up front. Watching TiVo – and saying watch HBO or watch Netflix or open Skype or play this game, or pause when hands full… all in the same ecosystem is kinda nifty.

Harmony remote ties this all up even tighter, or could accomplish lots of the same without – but I personally like the ecosystem being together.

LOL terrible I know. I even got the TiVo on a smart plug that I simply tell Amazon’s Alexa to turn off TiVo if I need to reset it for whatever reason.

Yeah – basically having to resort to using the 4K apps on the Xbox that the TiVo has is the work around for the passthru. But here is where it also hurts. Doing that you lose the TiVo unified search across T.V – DVR and/or apps.

Say if you want to search for a show – using TiVo’s unified search it will tell you right away where it can be found. Then you have to open that particular Xbox app (thru voice or whatever) and find the show again – then play.

If the passthru allowed Native 4K then you could just play right there on the TiVo app within the ecosystem. Boom 4K. As it is my family currently plays at 1080p if found on the TiVo and then Xbox upscales it to 4K. (Well everyone but me does this) And it drives me up the wall when they do this. Lol – I can’t blame them though.

I’m usually like – “We did not buy all this 4K stuff just for you guys to play it 1080p and upscale it to 4K!”

It does have it I thought, though I don't currently use it.

Here’s a small forum post on the Vudu app I found. Seems Vudu needs to get jiggy with it and update thier app to support UHD. It should happen eventually. Right? Right?

--https://forum.vudu.com/showthread.php?948383-UHD-4K-Vudu-Support-on-Xbox-One-S--


Cheers dudes,

 

I just want to take the time out to quote myself here - and this statement about "things just happen immediately."

------> That's a bit of an exaggeration I noticed. lol

The Xbox UI can indeed be a slow mofo when it wants to be. Other times it is decently quick. Maybe.

Flip a coin kinda thing.

 

Man! I like the way you think!