Forum Discussion

garthcas's avatar
garthcas
Binge Watcher
3 years ago
Solved

Why no 4k with Roku Ultra?

I recently purchased:   - a LG Class C2 AUA series OLED evo 4K UHD TV, with HDMI at @ 120 Hz, HDCP 2.2, and HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG);   - a Roku Ultra 4802R with HD/4K/HDR;   - a Pion...
TV & Player Setup
  • atc98092's avatar
    atc98092
    3 years ago

    Well, I'm crossing my fingers for you that the Pioneer experts can tell you a setting to change to make it work correctly. I had a hunch it was the AVR, but troubelshooting from a distance is not an easy task. Glad you've confirmed the Roku is working as expected. 🙂

garthcas's avatar
garthcas
Binge Watcher
3 years ago

Thanks atc98092.  If that's the case, I guess it's ultimately my fault for not understanding the implications of that limitation in the fine print.  But this is all very confusing to a layperson like me.  I'm not an expert in these matters, but I found this in a product sheet for this AVR, which misled me:

Ultra HD pass-through with HDcp 2.2 (4K/60p/4:4:4/24-bit, 4K/24p/4:4:4/36-bit, 4K/60p/4:2:0/36-bit)

It seems like Pioneer and Roku could have made it clearer that these products are incompatible for achieving 4K.

Can you explain, is 60 fps (which Roku refers to) the same as 60 Hz (which Pioneer refers to in their specs) the same as 60 p (which Pioneer refers to in the product sheet)?

 

atc98092's avatar
atc98092
Community Streaming Expert
3 years ago

Yes, 60fps and 60Hz is basically the same thing. 60p also refers to the refresh rate, but the p identifies the image as progressive scanning, while an i (such as 1080i) refers to interlaced scanning. Both harken back to the old cathode ray display days where an electron gun was "painting" the screen. Progressive scans an image one line at a time, while interlaced would scan every other line, then go back and fill in the missing lines. With digital displays it's really no longer necessary to label them like that, but old habits die hard. 

You can't really fault Roku in this instance. There's no way they could identify every possible equipment combination that might be encountered in the real world. 4K Roku players can output 4K/60 at 4:2:2 and 4:2:0. There's a setting under System/Advanced Display Settings to switch between the two. You might try changing that and see if your TV will accept the Roku at 4K/60.

  • garthcas's avatar
    garthcas
    Binge Watcher
    3 years ago

    OK, fair point, I can't really fault Roku.  But perhaps I can fault Pioneer for only recognizing one 4K protocol when a major manufacturer like Roku adheres to a different one.  Seems like Pioneer cheaped out on this.  How hard/expensive would have been to handle both?

    • atc98092's avatar
      atc98092
      Community Streaming Expert
      3 years ago

      I have no idea the financials for something like that. I suppose an additional $10 for the processing chip, spread over thousands of units built does add up. The Yamaha AVRs I have are priced about the same as your Pioneer, so it's certainly possible to support those resolutions and still offer an inexpensive unit.

      I forget to mention one way to truly isolate if the problem is the AVR. Just connect the Roku directly to the TV in a different HDMI port. Just make sure Deep Color is enabled in that port as well. If the Roku now selects 4K/60/DV using the auto setting, then you know for certain it's the AVR. 

      • garthcas's avatar
        garthcas
        Binge Watcher
        3 years ago

        I gladly would have paid Pioneer an extra $10 (or whatever, within reason) to get the 60 fps 4K capability!

        Thanks for the excellent suggestion about a test bypassing the AVR.  When I connect the Roku directly to the TV, the Roku indicates that the video signal will be 4K Dolby Vision HDR, not 1080p that I get with the AVR.  Too bad I have to give up my home theater speaker setup to get it!

        So this is not a Roku problem, it is definitely a Pioneer AVR problem.  Guess I wasted my money on that, unless Pioneer technical assistance can come up with a fix.

        Thanks for all your and the other commenter's help with what has been a frustrating issue!

         

  • oldbuzzard's avatar
    oldbuzzard
    Streaming Star
    2 years ago

    You can totally fault ROKU. My equipment supports HDR and DolbyVision and did just fine displaying both on my old 4660. This new model's settings are messed up and won't allow you to manually select 4K HDR. I'm going to have to go back to the old one - this was a waste of money and set up time and the message about setting up both on a TV is BS. All halfway new TVs are set up for all of this.

    • atc98092's avatar
      atc98092
      Community Streaming Expert
      2 years ago
      oldbuzzard wrote:

       My equipment supports HDR and Dolby Vision and did just fine displaying both on my old 4660. 

      What equipment do you have? Do you have an AVR in the HDMI path? The 4660 did not support Dolby Vision. The 4800 was the first player that supports DV. When I added a display that offered DV, I had to replace my AVR because it didn't support DV. Just because an AVR supports 4K/HDR doesn't mean it supports DV. 

      For the record, I have no issue with 4K/HDR/Dolby Vision with my Ultra 4800. I have a Yamaha AVR that supports DV (as well as Dolby Atmos) and an LG Nano85 display. 

      • oldbuzzard's avatar
        oldbuzzard
        Streaming Star
        2 years ago

        My AVR supports DV. I can play it just fine through the smart TV apps and I can play HDR through the old Roku with the exact same setup. Also, all the lit on my amp says it supports DV. The AVR isn't the issue