# TiVo Bolt and 4K Question



## GGE (Oct 23, 2018)

I apologize if I posted this on the wrong thread. I have a very noobie question. 

I’m finally pulling the trigger on a 4K TV (Sony X900F) and currently have the Roamio Pro. 

1. For regular cable shows the TV will upscale the 1080p content to look 4K, but do I need to upgrade to the TiVo Bolt as well or will upgrading make the 4K better somehow?

2. Am I correct to assume I will have to use the TV’s Netflix app to access 4K content and not the Roamio Pro’s Netflix app to get access to the 4K content?

Thank you in advance!


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## jay_man2 (Sep 15, 2003)

Verizon FiOS: First 4K broadcast tonight 5/11

"The CPU in the Bolt is capable of decoding and displaying 4K and HEVC video, while the Roamio's can't."

This is one instance of the Bolt displaying a 4k cable broadcast.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

GGE said:


> I apologize if I posted this on the wrong thread. I have a very noobie question.
> 
> I'm finally pulling the trigger on a 4K TV (Sony X900F) and currently have the Roamio Pro.
> 
> ...


1. This depends on which device has better upscaling, the Bolt or the Sony. This TV has very solid reviews for upscaling so a Roamio should be perfectly fine.

2. You would need to use the TV's apps to get 4K since a Roamio can't do 4K. Or some other device like a Roku if you aren't satisfied with the TV's apps.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

There is very LITTLE 4K content available to your TiVo - if you are happy with the Roamio, I would not waste the money to buy a Bolt.


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## Salacious Crumb (Jan 1, 2019)

V7Goose said:


> There is very LITTLE 4K content available to your TiVo - if you are happy with the Roamio, I would not waste the money to buy a Bolt.


In the youtube app on my bolt i see alot of 4K stuff.


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## GGE (Oct 23, 2018)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> 1. This depends on which device has better upscaling, the Bolt or the Sony. This TV has very solid reviews for upscaling so a Roamio should be perfectly fine.
> 
> 2. You would need to use the TV's apps to get 4K since a Roamio can't do 4K. Or some other device like a Roku if you aren't satisfied with the TV's apps.


Hi thanks for answering. If I do purchase the Bolt will it upscale cable shows better -- like will it work together with the TV or does the upscaling happen on just the TV and/or just the set top box.


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

For standard HD cable or whatever, there will be no difference at all between a Bolt, a Roamio, or whatever cable box you can get from the cable company. The only reason to buy a Bolt is for the ability to use 4K streaming apps like Netflix/Amazon/Vudu on the same device you watch cable on, but the caveat is that the features/quality from those apps are inferior to what you get from a $50 4K Amazon or Hulu stick. Mainly, on Tivo you are stuck with older app versions and there's no Dolby Vision support.

Personally, I own a Bolt and since I moved to 4K like 6 months ago I never use the Bolt for streaming anymore. My TV has Netflix/Amazon/Vudu apps which do full 4K HDR with Dolby Vision, and if I want to use something like HBO Go I fire up the Xbox since you can't use that on Tivo via Comcast anyways. I'd really like the Bolt to be a top-shelf all-in-one streaming and cable device as it was advertised to be, but Tivo just can't provide the level of support in terms of app support and features in order to stay competitive with new TV's or cheap streaming sticks. At least in the 4K world. As a 1080p HD streaming device the Bolt is fine, I guess.

As far as scaling is concerned, I very much doubt you'd notice any difference between letting your TV scale from 1080p to 4K or just setting a Bolt to output 4K and scale anything under that up accordingly. I have a pretty expensive OLED TV, and I have my Bolt set to just output 4K.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

GGE said:


> Hi thanks for answering. If I do purchase the Bolt will it upscale cable shows better -- like will it work together with the TV or does the upscaling happen on just the TV and/or just the set top box.


The upscaling will happen on one or the other, not both. There might not be a noticeable difference between Bolt or TV scaling, but it's a good practice to experiment both ways. But a Bolt wouldn't provide any extra scaling benefit. The TV can do the job for the Roamio.


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## fyodor (Sep 19, 2006)

GGE said:


> Hi thanks for answering. If I do purchase the Bolt will it upscale cable shows better -- like will it work together with the TV or does the upscaling happen on just the TV and/or just the set top box.


I generally like the upscaling a *little* better from my Tivo than my TV, but I wouldn't upgrade. The Bolt would be doing the same thing as your TV.

As for the smart apps, just use the ones on your TV. I have an older model than you (X900E) and the smart apps are still much faster/better than those on the Bolt. Much better selection too.


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## GGE (Oct 23, 2018)

Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions. I think I’ll stay with the Roamio until people start broadcastinbrg in 4K. You guys rock!


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Another reason to stay with the Roamio is heat. I went through two Bolts after upgrading from a Premier. Now on the third one, and have to use a laptop cooler and keep the cablecard door off to keep the temperature acceptable.


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## MisterMidnight (Jan 3, 2017)

fyodor said:


> ...As for the smart apps, just use the ones on your TV. I have an older model than you (X900E) and the smart apps are still much faster/better than those on the Bolt. Much better selection too.


Is there a noticeable difference in picture quality (Amazon & Netflix 4k) using the TV's apps/4k stick vs accessing from the Bolt?


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

MisterMidnight said:


> Is there a noticeable difference in picture quality (Amazon & Netflix 4k) using the TV's apps/4k stick vs accessing from the Bolt?


Yes, because you get HDR10 on Netflix with the Bolt and no HDR at all on Amazon with the Bolt. With a 4K fire stick or something similar you can get Dolby Vision HDR on both. Dolby Vision is a superior HDR implementation to HDR10 since it uses dynamic metadata. This means that it's constantly adjusting the brightness levels for maximum dynamic range, whereas HDR10 uses a static average value for the entire show/movie.

So to answer your question, yes there will be a small improvement in Netflix PQ going from HDR10 to Dolby Vision, but a quite large increase in Amazon PQ going from no HDR to Dolby Vision. Going from no HDR to HDR10/Dolby Vision is arguably at least as big a difference as going from 1080p to 2160p (4K) resolution.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

MisterMidnight said:


> Is there a noticeable difference in picture quality (Amazon & Netflix 4k) using the TV's apps/4k stick vs accessing from the Bolt?


They should look the same. I know they do from my twenty or so UHD devices. This is resolution/detail wise.

As was mentioned HDR of course will make a difference.

But whether HDR10 is better than DV? While DV should be. In reality that is not always the case.


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## ingsoc747 (Apr 5, 2017)

@GGE Kind of off topic... the x900 is a nice TV... did you find a good sale?


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