The Apple TV Finally Got a Key Home Theater Feature (2025)

Home / Tech / Televisions

Apple recently added a highly-anticipated home theater feature to its popular streaming box.

The Apple TV Finally Got a Key Home Theater Feature (1)

By Tucker Bowe

Published December 26, 2024

A new picture setting

Apple announced it was bringing this ability to the Apple TV when it revealed tvOS 18 at WWDC in June 2024 — but it wasn’t available at launch. That has since changed with the latest software update.

This is a big deal for people who have their Apple TV 4K connected to a home theater projector (or an ultra-wide or curved monitor), as they can tweak the settings so that the picture better fills up their screen.

The Apple TV Finally Got a Key Home Theater Feature (3)

With tvOS 18.2, it allows Apple TV owners to adjust between several aspect ratios — including 16:9, 21:9, 2.37:1, 2.39:1, 2.40:1, DCI 4K and 32:9 — many of which are primed for high-end cinema projectors.

To date, Apple TVs have sent an HDMI video signal for16:9 screens, which is perfect for most modern TVs but not ideal for those with home theater projectors who want a more immersive picture.

The Apple TV Finally Got a Key Home Theater Feature (4)

How to change your Apple TV’s aspect ratio?

tvOS 18.2 rolled out to the masses in early December asa free software update for all compatible models: Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD (1st generation and later).

(Note: Apple currently only sells the 2022-released Apple TV 4K, which is smaller, faster and more affordable than its predecessors — it starts at $129.)

To adjust the aspect ratio of your Apple TV, you can open the Settings app, select “Video and Audio” and then select “Enable Wide Aspect Ratios.” That top button should then change to “Aspect Ratio,” which you can select to change to the aspect ratio (including the new 21:9 setting for home theater projectors).

The Apple TV Finally Got a Key Home Theater Feature (5)

AppleTV4K (3rd-Gen, 2022)

Specs

Processor	A15 Bionic chip
Siri Remote	USB-C
Capacity	64GB (Wi-Fi model) or 128GB (Wi-Fi + Ethernet model)

$129.00 at Apple
$129 at Amazon

All the Reasons to Still Buy an Apple TV In 2025
Apple’s Entry-Level Mac Is Almost Perfect. It’s Only Missing One Thing
This Little-Known Hack Solves My Biggest Gripe with the Apple TV
How to Control Your Apple TV with Your iPhone
20 Things You Didn’t Know the Apple Watch Could Do

Get more stories like this in your inbox daily.

By continuing, you agree to our Privacy Policy.

Related Topics

Apple, Televisions

`;e.insertAdjacentHTML(i,s)}return document.getElementById(t)}_repeatDynamicAds(t){const i=[],n=t.location===u.Recipe?99:this.locationMaxLazySequence.get(t.location),s=t.lazy?P(n,0):0,o=t.max,r=t.lazyMax,a=0===s&&t.lazy?o+r:Math.min(Math.max(s-t.sequence+1,0),o+r),l=Math.max(o,a);for(let n=0;n=o;i.push(e({},t,{sequence:s,lazy:r}))}}return i}_locationEnabled(e){const t=this._clsOptions.enabledLocations.includes(e.location),i=this._clsOptions.disableAds&&this._clsOptions.disableAds.all||document.body.classList.contains("adthrive-disable-all"),n=!document.body.classList.contains("adthrive-disable-content")&&!this._clsOptions.disableAds.reasons.has("content_plugin");return t&&!i&&n}constructor(e,t){this._clsOptions=e,this._adInjectionMap=t,this._recipeCount=0,this._mainContentHeight=0,this._mainContentDiv=null,this._totalAvailableElements=[],this._minDivHeight=250,this._densityDevice=h.Desktop,this._pubLog={onePerViewport:!1,targetDensity:0,targetDensityUnits:0,combinedMax:0},this._densityMax=.99,this._smallerIncrementAttempts=0,this._absoluteMinimumSpacingByDevice=250,this._usedAbsoluteMinimum=!1,this._infPageEndOffset=0,this.locationMaxLazySequence=new Map([[u.Recipe,5]]),this.locationToMinHeight={Below_Post:Ee,Content:Ee,Recipe:Ee,Sidebar:Ee};const{tablet:i,desktop:n}=this._clsOptions.siteAds.breakpoints;this._device=((e,t)=>{const i=window.innerWidth;return i>=t?"desktop":i>=e?"tablet":"phone"})(i,n),this._config=new pe(e),this._clsOptions.enabledLocations=this._config.enabledLocations,this._clsTargetAdDensitySiteExperiment=this._clsOptions.siteAds.siteExperiments?new we(this._clsOptions):null,this._stickyContainerAdsExperiment=new xe,this._stickyContainerRecipeExperiment=new Ae}}function ke(e,t){if(null==e)return{};var i,n,s={},o=Object.keys(e);for(n=0;n=0||(s[i]=e[i]);return s}class De{get enabled(){return!0}}class Re extends De{setPotentialPlayersMap(){const e=this._videoConfig.players||[],t=this._filterPlayerMap(),i=e.filter((e=>"stationaryRelated"===e.type&&e.enabled));return t.stationaryRelated=i,this._potentialPlayerMap=t,this._potentialPlayerMap}_filterPlayerMap(){const e=this._videoConfig.players,t={stickyRelated:[],stickyPlaylist:[],stationaryRelated:[]};return e&&e.length?e.filter((e=>{var t;return null==(t=e.devices)?void 0:t.includes(this._device)})).reduce(((e,t)=>(e[t.type]||(E.event(this._component,"constructor","Unknown Video Player Type detected",t.type),e[t.type]=[]),t.enabled&&e[t.type].push(t),e)),t):t}_checkPlayerSelectorOnPage(e){const t=this._potentialPlayerMap[e].map((e=>({player:e,playerElement:this._getPlacementElement(e)})));return t.length?t[0]:{player:null,playerElement:null}}_getOverrideElement(e,t,i){if(e&&t){const n=document.createElement("div");t.insertAdjacentElement(e.position,n),i=n}else{const{player:e,playerElement:t}=this._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage("stickyPlaylist");if(e&&t){const n=document.createElement("div");t.insertAdjacentElement(e.position,n),i=n}}return i}_shouldOverrideElement(e){const t=e.getAttribute("override-embed");return"true"===t||"false"===t?"true"===t:!!this._videoConfig.relatedSettings&&this._videoConfig.relatedSettings.overrideEmbedLocation}_checkPageSelector(e,t,i=[]){if(e&&t&&0===i.length){return!("/"===window.location.pathname)&&E.event("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",new Error(`PSNF: ${e} does not exist on the page`)),!1}return!0}_getElementSelector(e,t,i){return t&&t.length>i?t[i]:(E.event("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",new Error(`ESNF: ${e} does not exist on the page`)),null)}_getPlacementElement(e){const{pageSelector:t,elementSelector:i,skip:n}=e,s=H(t),{valid:o,elements:r}=s,a=ke(s,["valid","elements"]),l=j(i),{valid:c,elements:d}=l,u=ke(l,["valid","elements"]);if(""!==t&&!o)return E.error("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",new Error(`${t} is not a valid selector`),a),null;if(!c)return E.error("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",new Error(`${i} is not a valid selector`),u),null;if(!this._checkPageSelector(t,o,r))return null;return this._getElementSelector(i,d,n)||null}_getEmbeddedPlayerType(e){let t=e.getAttribute("data-player-type");return t&&"default"!==t||(t=this._videoConfig.relatedSettings?this._videoConfig.relatedSettings.defaultPlayerType:"static"),this._stickyRelatedOnPage&&(t="static"),t}_getMediaId(e){const t=e.getAttribute("data-video-id");return!!t&&(this._relatedMediaIds.push(t),t)}_createRelatedPlayer(e,t,i,n){"collapse"===t?this._createCollapsePlayer(e,i):"static"===t&&this._createStaticPlayer(e,i,n)}_createCollapsePlayer(t,i){const{player:n,playerElement:s}=this._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage("stickyRelated"),o=n||this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated[0];if(o&&o.playerId){this._shouldOverrideElement(i)&&(i=this._getOverrideElement(n,s,i)),i=document.querySelector(`#cls-video-container-${t} > div`)||i,this._createStickyRelatedPlayer(e({},o,{mediaId:t}),i)}else E.error(this._component,"_createCollapsePlayer","No video player found")}_createStaticPlayer(t,i,n){if(this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated.length&&this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated[0].playerId){const s=this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated[0];this._createStationaryRelatedPlayer(e({},s,{mediaOrPlaylistId:t}),i,n)}else E.error(this._component,"_createStaticPlayer","No video player found")}_shouldRunAutoplayPlayers(){return!(!this._isVideoAllowedOnPage()||!this._potentialPlayerMap.stickyRelated.length&&!this._potentialPlayerMap.stickyPlaylist.length)}_determineAutoplayPlayers(){const e=this._component,t="VideoManagerComponent"===e,i=this._context;if(this._stickyRelatedOnPage)return void E.event(e,"stickyRelatedOnPage",t&&{device:i&&i.device,isDesktop:this._device}||{});const{player:n,playerElement:s}=this._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage("stickyPlaylist");n&&n.playerId&&n.playlistId&&s?this._createPlaylistPlayer(n,s):Math.random()<.01&&setTimeout((()=>{E.event(e,"noStickyPlaylist",t&&{vendor:"none",device:i&&i.device,isDesktop:this._device}||{})}),1e3)}_initializeRelatedPlayers(e){const t=new Map;for(let i=0;ie-t))}filterUsed(){this._map=this._map.filter((({dynamicAd:e})=>!e.used))}reset(){this._map=[]}constructor(){this._map=[]}}class Le extends Me{}const Te=e=>{const t=A(),i=(()=>{const e=I()?"mobile":"tablet";return R(O)?"desktop":e})(),n=e.siteAdsProfiles;let s=null;if(n&&n.length)for(const e of n){const n=e.targeting.device,o=e.targeting.browserEngine,r=n&&n.length&&n.includes(i),a=o&&o.length&&o.includes(t);r&&a&&(s=e)}return s};try{(()=>{const e=new K;e&&e.enabled&&(e.siteAds&&(e=>{const t=Te(e);if(t){const e=t.profileId;document.body.classList.add(`raptive-profile-${e}`)}})(e.siteAds),new Pe(e,new Le).start(),new Ie(new X(e),e).init())})()}catch(e){E.error("CLS","pluginsertion-iife",e),window.adthriveCLS&&(window.adthriveCLS.injectedFromPlugin=!1)}}();