How do I switch between my cable TV and Roku device?

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sluggo5112 wrote:

Thanks Makai Guy. I'll give this a try. Cable is in HDMI 1 so I'll put the Roku in HDMI 2. I know I can move between HDMI 1 and 2 on the remote. Sadly, I'll have to disconnect my home entertainment unit that enhances the sound of the TV (currently in HDMI 2 - there is no third one), but life is full of decisions.

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Yes, some TVs have only one or two HDMI ports. Another option to consider is adding an AVR (audio-video receiver) and speakers. All but the absolute lowest priced models have at least 4 HDMI inputs, and you just leave the TV on a single input and change your device selection at the AVR. Even with only two speakers, it will sound much better that the TV's internal speakers. And if you add the full 5.1 (left, center, right, two surround and subwoofer) speaker setup you get outstanding surround sound. Yeah, it will cost a little, mostly for the speakers. But if you get an AVR that supports 4K video you should be future-proofed for a long time. 

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sluggo5112 wrote:

Sadly, I'll have to disconnect my home entertainment unit that enhances the sound of the TV (currently in HDMI 2 - there is no third one), but life is full of decisions.

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Another option is to add an HDMI switch to the mix.  Connect your cable box and Roku to inputs on the switch, and run the output of the switch to an HDMI port on the tv.  Then use the switch to control which device gets connected to the tv.

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sluggo5112 wrote:

Thanks Makai Guy. I'll give this a try. Cable is in HDMI 1 so I'll put the Roku in HDMI 2. I know I can move between HDMI 1 and 2 on the remote. Sadly, I'll have to disconnect my home entertainment unit that enhances the sound of the TV (currently in HDMI 2 - there is no third one), but life is full of decisions.

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        The other thing is- there is an AV cable that either came with your device or can be ordered on the Roku website. Just hook that with the whites being hooked up to the whites and the reds being hooked up to the reds on the AV ports on your TV. Then that's hooked up to AV port on the back of your Roku device.  Just make sure the AV cable is compatible with your device before ordering it. 

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LindaKL wrote:

I have an Insignia Roku TV and Dish. The Roku remote that came with the TV is too "old" to get some of the newer apps like Apple TV+. So I went out and got Roku Express.

The Insignia Roku device has volume and on/off controls which the Roku Express does not have. Also, on the Insignia Roku remote, the Home button takes me back to the screen with all the channel apps AND the HDMI thumbnails for the TV so from the remote I can get back to the TV.

However, the Roku Express home button only shows the thumbnails for the streaming apps and does not show the HDMI or Cable Box thumbnails. So do really I have to keep 3 remotes - the Roku Express, the Insignia Remote and my Dish remote, or is there another solution?  

Help!!!

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In short, yes. The TV remote is still necessary to control the TV power and volume. The Express remote is not capable of controlling those functions, because as you mention its remote doesn't have those buttons. So even with CEC functionality, there's no buttons for that control. And the Dish remote is of course required to control the satellite receiver. However, way back when I used to have Dish their remotes could also control a TV, specifically the power and volume. So it might be possible to program the Dish remote to control at least the TV volume. That gets you down to two remotes at least. 

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georgedanz wrote:

I have Roku installed but now cannot use my TV remote to get to the Cable, HDMI selection.  How do I change that?

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You have Roku installed where? On a smart phone? iOS or Android? I use the iOS app and it hasn't affected using a remote on any of my Roku devices. 

OK.  I've stumbled onto the solution purely by accident.  Before installing Roku Express, I could change video sources simply by punching the "video source" on the TV remote.  After punching "video source," a list of HTML sources would appear and I could use arrows to scroll to the desired source and punch "OK."  After installing Roku Express a list of HTML sources again appears.  The "before" and "after" lists had a different appearance, but there was one critical difference.  After Roku Express was installed, there was no way to scroll to the desired source.  In fact no scrolling at all was possible.  Completely by accident, I discovered that scrolling was possible but only if the "video source" button was held down while scrolling.  I've never seen anything like this before.  Selecting the desire video source requires two hands.  OK for me but not OK for the minority of people who don't have the use of two hands.  Roku, what were you thinking.