Channels & viewing

[David41M]

have 3 roku devices on 3 different tvs model #3930X didn't use 1 in a month turned it on there was an update did the update now there are black bars top and bottom of certain movies and black bars left and right on shows like twilight zone on pluto tv its on all three tvs please help ......

[RokuCarly]

Welcome to the Roku Community, @David41M!

We appreciate you reaching out for support. It seems like you are having playback issues with Pluto TV on your Roku Express streaming device. No worries! We'd be happy to help.

Before we proceed, it would be great if you could provide us with additional information such as follows:

• Is this the only app affected by this?
• Were you having this issue before? If not, when did you start seeing this happening?
• A photo of it for reference. (How do I insert an image in a post)
• What specific troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

We'll be looking forward to your response so that we can check this further and provide you with a swift resolution.

Warm regards,
Carly

[David41M]

it happened after i did the update its doing it on all three tvs controlled by three roku unites. It does it on all apps watching star wars on youtube tv now and the movie has black bars about 3 -4 inches top and bottom

[RokuCarly]

Thanks for the added information, @David41M!

In this case, I'll coordinate this with the team for further investigation. In order to narrow down the cause of the issue, we would appreciate it if you could share with us your device details such as follows:

• Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and current software version. (this can all be found in Settings > System > About)
• Tracker ID (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times, and provide us with this ID)
• A photo of it happening for reference. (How do I insert an image in a post)

Your response is highly anticipated. 

Regards,
Carly

[David41M]

model # 3930X    /   Serial #X00400U08GK5   /   Software # 13.1.4build1510AE   /  Device ID# S00830708GK5   /   Issue ID # K5-368-434.    again this never happened before have these roku unites several years this started after I did the update.

[RokuCarly]

@David41M 

Thanks for providing us with the requested details. We understand that this has never happened before and it occurred after the software update. For reference, could you please provide us with a photo of it? This will help the team assess your concern better and find you the best resolution possible. 

To insert an image in a post:

1. Start a new post.
2. Click Insert Image.
3. Choose an image source location.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions

Thanks,
Carly

[David41M]

can't seem to do the picture thing, black bars top & bottom some movies black bars left & right on others kind of like some older DVD's with the wide screen version,

[atc98092]

It really does sound like you are seeing the letterbox bars from media that doesn't match your screen aspect ratio. Modern TVs are a 16x9 aspect ratio, which converts to roughly 1.78:1. While TV broadcasts today will match that ratio, very few movies are in that. Some are 1.85:1, which results in small bars at the top and bottom, while some are 2.35 or larger, which makes much larger bars on the screen. 

I just started playing the first Star Wars movie, and there are pretty good sized bars at top and bottom of my screen. That is completely normal. I also have DVDs of old TV shows, and those have black bars on the left and right side, since those shows were in 4x3 aspect ratio, or 1.34:1.  

It's also possible you have accidentally hit the aspect ratio button on your TV remote and changed from the default setting. Look at the TV remote and see if you can find the button for that, and check that's it's set to Normal, default, or some other setting name that sounds like it should be the correct setting.