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randys's avatar
randys
Roku Guru
15 days ago

Roku Ultra causes blank screen on Samsung TV

Just bought 4850R, my 10th different Roku in past 20 years and WOW, To pair remote you hold down HOME button for 5 seconds, but that didn’t work so plugged it in to charge and still nothing while on the language screen so I pushed the power button on the new remote and everything went black but the power to my TV.  

Yes my very expensive Samsung TV apparently now having called Roku had a circuit interruption between the power source, meaning the electricity and TV making it go into a state where the power was on and nothing on TV worked and the only way to get it back was to unplug TV from the wall and plug it back in.

I called Roku and they say this is known thing can you imagine!!!!  And she wanted me to try it again with some process of pushing a reset button on the bottom of the device if it didn’t work and of course there’s no chance I’m going to do that I’m going to return this one which I bought Amazon, and she said that Amazon sends out faulty devices and that’s part of it, but the idea that a Roku now has the ability to cause a circuit interruption between the power source as in the electricity and the TV itself putting it into a state where nothing works at all, you have a black screen but the power is on and nothing works and your Samsung in my case it’s a Samsung TV remote does not work will not make anything happen, I assumed my last resort was to unplug the TV from the wall and plug it back in which worked but there’s no guarantee it will work the next time   

I will return this one today and I really want to use a Roku there are reasons why I like Roku, I also have a newest generation Apple TV device which I can use or I can continue to use the old Roku which has a real problem getting closed captions to work I constantly have to back up out of the streaming and go back into it to get them to work again that’s the only reason I bought a new one.  I’m just shocked by this and am amazed that my TV was put into a condition that I’ve never seen before that was not going to work short of unplugging it from the wall and who knows if it will survive it happening again, and Roku says this is unknown thing, that part just blows my mind!  

TV & Player Setup
tv & player support

32 Replies

  • Kaygee62's avatar
    Kaygee62
    Newbie
    15 days ago

    I don’t like Roku now!  I can’t seem to get it connected suddenly on all our tvs!  But if it vroke your tv I’d take them to court . Just the threat and filing usually they send something to compensate you. 

    • randys's avatar
      randys
      Roku Guru
      15 days ago

      Not permanently broken, unplugging and plugging back in TV from the wall resolved the TV issue but I’m returning the Roku I don’t trust it.  

      • StreamerUser's avatar
        StreamerUser
        Roku Guru
        15 days ago

        randys​ 

        Your TV has the issue causing it to "blackout" etc (due to its handling of IR or CEC) - not your Roku or the Roku's remote: the Roku's remote can either send brand/model-specific IR codes or have the Roku device send CEC commands - it cant do anything else - how your TV processes/handles the IR/CEC is entirely up to the TV's HDMI/etc chipset and firmware.

        Roku's CS says all sorts of half-informed or otherwise completely incorrect things - they are the farthest thing from Roku hardware/software experts (tier 1 are contracted third party provided), let alone Samsung TV hardware/software experts - so you need to take any such claims "with a huge boulder of salt", including that somehow Amazon "sends out faulty devices" any more than any other Roku reseller, including Roku itself (Roku manufactures all of it, so any faulty devices are due to Roku manufacturing issues).

        Regardless your 4850 and/or its remote may or may not be faulty, but it should be easy enough to return/exchange if you want to, though your CC/subtitles issue wont be fixed regardless of what Roku device/model you may obtain (this is an OS firmware level issue impacting all RokuOS devices models and recent firmware versions/builds).

  • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
    RokuEmmanuel-D
    Community Moderator
    15 days ago

    Hey! randys​ 

    We noticed that you're experiencing problems with your Roku Ultra on your Samsung TV, and we'd like to know more about it. 

    To help us look into this closely, could you please send us a video of the exact behavior of the Roku Ultra, if possible? This way, we can check it further and investigate. 

    Hoping to hear from you soon!

    Roku Community Team

    • randys's avatar
      randys
      Roku Guru
      15 days ago

      No, I can only explain what happened. I returned the Roku cause it scared the **bleep** out of me.   

      According to ChatGPT a known issue between Samsung and Roku is the AYNET/CEC/HDMI connecting.

       

      I don’t know if I will buy a new ROKU or not, only reason I bought it is my 4802X constantly closed captions stop working only way to get them back is to exit the streaming screen and then go back, happens all the time.  If you could tell me how to fix that that would be great   

       

      • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
        RokuEmmanuel-D
        Community Moderator
        15 days ago

        Thanks for laying out these details, randys​!

        We'd like to clarify that there are currently no known issues that describe the behavior you're seeing.

        Since this is the first time we heard this issue, it would be best to get this investigated. However, since you've already returned the device, we'd like to know if this is happening on other Roku devices you have instead, so we'll try to look closer on it.

        Roku Community Team

    • randys's avatar
      randys
      Roku Guru
      13 days ago

      Problem still exists, I deleted YouTube TV and YouTube apps added them back I’ve rebooted the Wi-Fi, next I will change the HDMI cable just for the heck of it. I hesitate to power cycle the TV because the only way I can reach the plug is on the back of the TV it doesn’t always like to plug in properly when I go to plug it back in, it’s really annoying that way but I guess I have to do that again also because clearly when the 4850 forced me to power cycle my TV something bad happened.  

       

      I’ve done enough research now to know that there is a known issue of the handshake between Samsung TVs and YouTube, but it did not exist for me prior to this event.  I guess I could try another 4850 at this point, I’ll have to pay more for it from Roku because I bought it at a discount on Amazon for prime days, and I’ve returned that one.

       

      Not sure what a new player will do given that the native YouTube and YouTube TV apps now, not before this event, on the Samsung also are not doing 4K.  

       

       

      • StreamerUser's avatar
        StreamerUser
        Roku Guru
        13 days ago

        randys​ 

        The YT/YTTV apps 'Auto resolution setting will configure a lower resolution than the max available/supported via the content/channel and or switch to Auto from manual configured when there are poor network conditions (even if temporary) and/or when there are app updates (platform or UI layer).

        Again, (as per the other YTTV thread) you'll need to manually configure the YT/YTTV apps' resolution during playback via the timeline OSD (this is something all YT/YTTV users can/should do) - do this with a 4K/2160p channel/content (Live or DVR) and it will also manually configure 1080p/1080p Enhanced for 1080p channels/content and 720p Enhanced/720p for 720p channels/content, etc.

        If/when the YT/YTTV app updates, you'll want/need to manually (re)configure the resolution. 

        Reinstalling the YT/YTTV apps resets them to default settings, including the Auto resolution setting, so you'll need to manually configure them.

        Do not leave YT/YTTV in Auto resolution - it WILL use a lower resolution @ some point.

  • randys's avatar
    randys
    Roku Guru
    14 days ago

    Starting a new thread because I now have a new problem.I had unplugged the 4802 to plug in the 4850 to try it and then my TV went black and I will not risk that again so I returned to 4850 but now I’ve plugged the 4802 back in and  I can’t get it to play the 2160 resolution that definitely applies to the videos I’m trying to play because it did before and when I go to my Apple TV player it plays in 2160, this particular one is only going up to 1440, this particular video.  I have checked the resolution setting and it is
    automatic (4K HDR 10+) which I believe is the correct setting for Samsung.  
    I have confirmed that 4K is working in the prime app and the Hulu app on the Roku so the TV is not the problem.I did Google search it says to go to video settings in the settings of the YouTube app but there is no video settings in the settings of the YouTube app on a Roku or for that matter on the Apple TV+.  
    What do I do? Yes I have unplugged it and plugged it back in, yes I have checked the update software for the Roku player itself and the YouTube app.Roku player is software version 15.0YouTube app version web_20251026_18_RC00

    • randys's avatar
      randys
      Roku Guru
      14 days ago

      More bad news, the YouTube TV viewport/frames is 1920×1080 and the current/optimal Res is 3840×2160 which means I’m really only seeing it in 1080 P, when I go to the Apple TV+ app player the player it shows 3840×2160 for both viewport and current optimal Rez.  This is on the World Series 4K version and it’s on YouTube TV   

       

      So the Roku player is definitely messed up 
      😡

      • randys's avatar
        randys
        Roku Guru
        14 days ago

        I have a handshake problem it all started with the Roku messing up, I now cannot get 4K on my need apps or the Roku player, I do not know what to do dammit

    • StreamerUser's avatar
      StreamerUser
      Roku Guru
      14 days ago

      randys​ 

      The YTTV app's resolution settings are only available during playback via the timeline OSD and default to Auto, and require manual configuration if Auto sets a low/lower resolution:

      During playback (4K content preferred):  Down (OSD popup), Down, Select 'HD', select 2160p HDR (or 1080p/720p Enhanced for 1980p/720p content that supports it)

      NOTES:

      • 1)  Its best to do this with a 4K (2160p) Live Channel or DVR recording as that will also manually configure 1080p/1080p Enhanced or 720p/720p Enhanced for 1080p and 720p channels respectively.
      • 2)  The resolution will reset to Auto (and a lower res) if there are 1) network problems 2) App updates (platform layer or UI layer) - you then have to manually (re)configure resolution (preferably with a 4K channel/recording due to above).
      • 3)  A viewport of 1920x1080*2.00 = 1920(x2) x 1080(x2) = 3840x2160p (4K)
      • 4)  All of this applies to the YTTV app on all platforms

       

      The Roku player isnt "messed up" - you need to better understand all of your devices' hardware & software (firmware and apps) that you use for streaming in order to maximize your enjoyment/usage/quality.

      • randys's avatar
        randys
        Roku Guru
        14 days ago

        Something is messed up since I’ve never dealt with any of this before ever with multiple TVs and Roku players over many years, it all started when I tried to get that 4850 to work and the screen went black and now all these resolution issues are occurring that did not occur the day before but thank you very much for the information.   

  • randys's avatar
    randys
    Roku Guru
    13 days ago

    No that is incorrect, I’m trying to copy and paste it here but it keeps giving me an error that I can’t copy and paste, just google it yourself the 1080×2160*2 is the same as 4K, it is not, and the current optimal Rez is not what you are seeing it is the optimal highest resolution video has to offer, not what you are seeing, I have confirmed that also with more than one source like ChatGPT and Google AI etc. and others.  

    I appreciate your help, I have repeatedly changed it off of auto to 2160 when it lets me but on YouTube now many times it won’t even give me that option to change it to 2160.

     

     

     

    • randys's avatar
      randys
      Roku Guru
      13 days ago

      Good question — and no, 1080 × 2160 × 2.0 is not the same as true 4K resolution.

      Above his ChatGPT

      • StreamerUser's avatar
        StreamerUser
        Roku Guru
        13 days ago

        randys​ 

        You and/or ChatGPT/Gemini/Grok/AI/etc can ignorantly/incorrectly state this all you want,  but math and logic are what they are and YTTV's Viewport info of 1920x1080*2.00 = 3840x2160 - it is what it is (this is the YTTV app's way of displaying this on most platforms).

        (FYI - AI is often 'wrong' because its working with incomplete data/understanding, especially when it comes to changing 'technology' - dont rely on AI)

        Again, you are focused on the wrong info/have an incorrect understanding: the important information is the Current/Optimal Res - if this is 3840x2160 for both (Current & Optimal) then you are getting a 4K stream.

        You can verify this by enabling Stats for Nerds on 4K content playback and switching the resolution manually: You'll see the Current/Optimal Res change (to match the current manually configured resolution), but the Viewport stays the same (even manually configured to 720p the Viewport stays the same @ 1920x1080*2.00).

        Your misunderstanding of the Viewport & Current/Optimal Res Stats for Nerds info is not uncommon for folks that are not fully reading the provided Viewport info (they ignore the *2.00) and skip/ignore the Current/Optimal Res info (which indicates the resolution of the actual incoming stream), which tend to be folks that are new or casual YT/YTTV users.

        Best to stop arguing what you clearly dont understand and simply manually configure all your YT/YTTV installs for 2160p HDR/2160, making sure to check them from time to time to reconfigure if necessary (e.g. due to network issues/app updates).

  • randys's avatar
    randys
    Roku Guru
    13 days ago

    Looking forward to someone who knows what they are talking about and who does not insult other members, Will the moderators here please look for a resolution for me.  The information posted here by a member about current optimal RES is incorrect, this is an absolute fact, so my problems still exists.  

    I am asking this member who is insulting me to stop posting in my thread.  

    • StreamerUser's avatar
      StreamerUser
      Roku Guru
      13 days ago

      FYI the Roku CS personnel (either here or via chat) are not YTTV app/service experts or gurus and the best they will be able to do is re-direct you to Google/YTTV CS (which also will be very unlikely to be able to help you, and even if they were, would simply provide the same information you were already provided).

      Otherwise you can always create a third thread here or a third thread @ avsforum.com and ignore/refuse/argue the assistance/information/solution or wait for the thread lock, which is probably more useful than arguing that 3840x2160 resolution is "not true 4K" (that ship sailed long ago) or that YTTV's Current/Optimal Res information isnt actually the stream resolution...