Forum Discussion

Laserdave42's avatar
Laserdave42
Reel Rookie
5 months ago
Solved

Some movies are too compressed to watch

Recently tried to watch the classic movie McLintock! on the ROKU channel.

It was so compressed you could hardly recognize anybody.

Everything looked smeared, even the backround was hardly recognizable.

Movie was NOT watchable.

Most other movies look Ok but there are others that are just as bad.

I realize compression is needed for streaming but his is simply unacceptable!

  • RokuJharra-Q's avatar
    RokuJharra-Q
    5 months ago
  • RokuJharra-Q's avatar
    RokuJharra-Q
    4 months ago

    Laserdave42 

    Let's give this a try and see if it helps!

    While watching the content, press the asterisk * button on your remote to open the options menu. From there, navigate to "Picture Settings" and choose your preferred picture size option, such as "Fit to Screen" or "Zoom." Alternatively, you can adjust the overall display size for your Roku device by going to Home > Settings > Display Type.

    Please keep us posted.

    Best,
    The Roku Community Team

7 Replies

  • andyross's avatar
    andyross
    Roku Guru
    4 months ago

    It may not be compressed as much as what the original source material was. I have found many probably are copies from the analog TV days, or even look like dubs from VHS tapes. Not all movies or series are popular enough to get HD rescans or image processing, or maybe not even have quality masters left to get a good copy.

  • RokuJharra-Q's avatar
    RokuJharra-Q
    Retired Moderator
    5 months ago
    • Laserdave42's avatar
      Laserdave42
      Reel Rookie
      5 months ago

      Done all that a couple of times, did not help.

      As far as contacting the channel provider goes, it's on the ROKU Channel.

      I give up.

      • Strega2's avatar
        Strega2
        Roku Guru
        5 months ago

        Fortunately there seem to be quite a few ways to watch that one.  I spent a couple of minutes looking at it on Tubi, it looked OK there.

  • motley2659's avatar
    motley2659
    Newbie
    2 months ago

    It wasn't compression that was problem, it was a bad transfer. McLintock! is a rare post-30s Hollywood film in the public domain. The version Roku Channel has is one of those public domain sources so it looks like garbage. Pick up a dollar store DVD copy of McLintock! and you'll see the same thing. Tubi is really good about getting their content from the best sources when available.

    • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
      RokuEmmanuel-D
      Community Moderator
      2 months ago

      Welcome, motley2659.

      Thanks for chiming in!

      We were able to check it here and see the movie. Could you also share other content that you have observed has the same behavior, so we can forward it to the right team for review? 

      Please get back to us soon!

      Roku Community Team