AVI file on my roku tv via USB? It seems that this is one, if not the only platform that in 2019 can't play AVI formats... Wish I knew this before purchasing this TV. I'm really regreting this purchase.... And NO, converting file format on PC is not the answer... Any thoughts or solutions for crying out loud??

marchbold2002 wrote:AVI file on my roku tv via USB? It seems that this is one, if not the only platform that in 2019 can't play AVI formats... Wish I knew this before purchasing this TV. I'm really regreting this purchase.... And NO, converting file format on PC is not the answer... Any thoughts or solutions for crying out loud??No, Roku does not support the AVI container. Your videos can be watched, but not via the USB port. You instead would have to use a DLNA server on a computer or NAS device to transcode the video into an accepted container and change the codecs if necessary. Roku has a limited number of containers and codecs that they support for playback. Generally, the container has to be MKV, MP4, MOV or TS/M2TS. The audio codec has to be AAC, PCM or Dolby Digital, and the video codec must be H.262 (MPEG2)/H.264/AVC/MP4. 4K sets also support H.265 (HEVC). You can use something like Plex or Emby if you want a Netflix-like user interface, or any number of DLNA servers, such as Serviio, and use the Roku Media Player to play them.

Is there a way to play my 3 terabytes of AVI file on my roku tv via USB??

46 Replies

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atc98092
Community Streaming Expert
6 years ago
marchbold2002 wrote:
AVI file on my roku tv via USB? It seems that this is one, if not the only platform that in 2019 can't play AVI formats... Wish I knew this before purchasing this TV. I'm really regreting this purchase.... And NO, converting file format on PC is not the answer... Any thoughts or solutions for crying out loud??
No, Roku does not support the AVI container. Your videos can be watched, but not via the USB port. You instead would have to use a DLNA server on a computer or NAS device to transcode the video into an accepted container and change the codecs if necessary.
Roku has a limited number of containers and codecs that they support for playback. Generally, the container has to be MKV, MP4, MOV or TS/M2TS. The audio codec has to be AAC, PCM or Dolby Digital, and the video codec must be H.262 (MPEG2)/H.264/AVC/MP4. 4K sets also support H.265 (HEVC).
You can use something like Plex or Emby if you want a Netflix-like user interface, or any number of DLNA servers, such as Serviio, and use the Roku Media Player to play them.
- yenko427
  Newbie
  6 years ago
  i wish i knew that this tv would not play avi files i would not have bought this i have hundreds of avi files it would be easy for roku to make app that would play so why not have a app too muct time to convert
  - atc98092
    Community Streaming Expert
    6 years ago
    yenko427 wrote:
    i wish i knew that this tv would not play avi files i would not have bought this i have hundreds of avi files it would be easy for roku to make app that would play so why not have a app too muct time to convert
    AVI is proprietary, so a license would be required. Roku avoids codecs that require a license if at all possible.
- Harry2020
  Reel Rookie
  4 years ago
  This is a joke btw. I totally agree that in 2022 not being able to play avi from a USB is laughable. I too wish I’d looked into this before buying 😠
  - atc98092
    Community Streaming Expert
    4 years ago
    AVI is a 30 year old codec developed by Microsoft. And yet there are versions of Microsoft Media Player that won't play them. AVI has a number of limitations, and is basically obsolete. I'm not surprised that Roku deciding not to support it. From the information I can find, the Fire TV doesn't support it, nor does the Apple TV. My Android based Nvidia Shield will play them, but then it plays almost everything and costs double the most expensive Roku player.
blade_005
Roku Guru
6 years ago
marchbold2002 wrote:
AVI file on my roku tv via USB? It seems that this is one, if not the only platform that in 2019 can't play AVI formats... Wish I knew this before purchasing this TV. I'm really regreting this purchase.... And NO, converting file format on PC is not the answer... Any thoughts or solutions for crying out loud??
A little research would have told you what was supported.
Playing content stored on a USB drive

Supported media file types
Different Roku devices support different formats. Newer firmware may support additional formats. The type of audio formats supported is dependent on the type of TV or A/V receiver your Roku device is connected to. Formats supported by your Roku device can be viewed by accessing the ?/Help pages from the Media Device and the Media Type selection screens.
The following file formats are supported:
Video – H.264/AVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV)
Audio – AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV); WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC (.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3 (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV, .AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,.DTS), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .M4A), Vorbis (.OGG,.MKV,.WEBM)
Playlists –.M3U, .M3U8, .PLS
Image – JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)
The following media formats are supported on Roku devices that support 4K
4K Video – H.265/HEVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); VP9 (.MKV, .WEBM)
4K Video – H.264 (Roku Premiere, Premiere+, and Ultra only)
The following media formats are supported on Roku TVs and some Roku players
Video – H.262 (.MKV)
Notes:
The Roku Media Player channel will not display unsupported file types or files it has determined cannot be played by your Roku device.
DRM-protected content is not supported.
- dgrace
  Roku Guru
  6 years ago
  Converting the container on a pc isn't a big deal, and just could work through them a little at a time. Look at a freeware called mkv2mp4 which works very quickly. You can have it leave audio untouched but encode video. Another is Avidemux also quickly changes video but can "copy" audio. Also, I use MKVToolNix if I just want an mkv from another container.
  MKV is the new world standard. I've had to convert all of my old Kodak photo discs, the world moves on.
  - MichaelDiggs
    Binge Watcher
    6 years ago
    Just use the free program MAKE,KV. It will spit out your file in a few minutes.
rdunn3208
Channel Surfer
5 years ago
Just ran into same issue. Went through a chat session with customer service. He couldn't fix it.
I found that you can fool the Roku media player into playing the file. Just change the file extention (not the file itself) to another format. I used .mkv That worked.
- atc98092
  Community Streaming Expert
  5 years ago
  rdunn3208 wrote:
  Just ran into same issue. Went through a chat session with customer service. He couldn't fix it.
  I found that you can fool the Roku media player into playing the file. Just change the file extention (not the file itself) to another format. I used .mkv That worked.
  That will only work under limited circumstances. The codecs used within the container (and that's all the MKV is, a container) must be supported by Roku. The video has to be H.264/MP4, and with some devices MPEG-2, and the audio has to be AAC, PCM or AC3. Simply changing the extension of the file doesn't actually change anything else, and in most cases will simply make it unplayable with any player.
  - rdunn3208
    Channel Surfer
    5 years ago
    Gotcha. Thanks for that info.. I had three movies that I couldn't watch until I did that little extension change thing. I'll see if they play on my other (Samsung) TVs. If not, I'll change them back to avi. for future use. Maybe I'll leave two copies on my drive, one for TCL, one for everything else.

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Is there a way to play my 3 terabytes of AVI file on my roku tv via USB??

46 Replies

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