Photon says why where it can. Work through these in order: the first two account for most of it.
It says the title needs Pro
The file is one of three things, and the message names which:
- 4K or above.
- An MKV, however the source spells the container.
- A Dolby TrueHD or DTS soundtrack. One such track among several is enough.
The first five plays of a Pro format are free. After that it is Pro, or a different copy of the file — many libraries hold a 1080p MP4 beside the 4K MKV, and the Version capsule on the title page is where you pick it.
A file you opened yourself on a Mac, iPhone or iPad is never gated, whatever it is.
It plays, but something is missing
| Picture but no sound | The audio track could not be decoded, so photon dropped it and kept the rest. Try another audio track from the capsule on the title page. |
| Sound but no picture | The same, the other way round. It usually means a video codec this device cannot decode. |
| No subtitles | Check the Subtitles capsule. If the track is there but nothing is drawn, it is likely an image format the server is refusing to send. |
On a Mac, Playback Stats (⌘I) says which tracks are actually running.
It stops and starts
- Open Playback Stats and look at Buffer status and Current download bitrate.
- Healthy buffer, stopping picture: not bandwidth. Try the same title on another device — if it stops there too, it is the file; if it does not, it is this machine.
- A buffer that never gets ahead of you: bandwidth. Set a ceiling in Settings ▸ Playback ▸ Quality so the server can send something smaller.
- On Live TV, a channel that keeps stalling wants a longer buffer: Settings ▸ Playback ▸ Live TV.
The picture looks wrong
| Washed out or too dark on an HDR title | Some displays handle HDR10 better than Dolby Vision. Turn Dolby Vision off in Settings ▸ Playback ▸ Picture and those titles play as HDR10. |
| The wrong aspect | Check the Version capsule: a second copy of the title may be the one that is wrong. |
| Green or blocky | Usually a decoder that cannot manage the file. Playback Stats says what is being asked of it. |
It plays on another device but not this one
That is the device’s decoder rather than the app. What a device can decode and present is a fixed limit, and it differs between an Apple TV, a phone and a Mac. Where photon cannot give you the best version of a file it says what you are getting instead.
Nothing plays at all, from one server
That is a connection problem rather than a playback one. See a server or drive will not connect.
Before you write to us
Try the same title on another device. That one step separates a file photon mishandles from a machine that cannot decode it, and it is the first thing we would ask.