Is there any way to see the FPS of the source of what I'm watching? Not what the Roku is outputting to my TV, but what is being received? I understand that my Roku Ultra can always set the FPS to 60. But I imagine all video isn't coming in like that. How can I see it?
Would generally love to see all technical metadata like this. What is the bitrate, etc. Any way?
Roku devices have no provisions for displaying this information in their user interface. Perhaps your TV can display the incoming frame rate and other data to you.
Under "Settings > System > Advanced system Settings > Advanced display settings" some Roku devices have an "Auto-adjust display refresh rate" item.
If your Roku has this setting, when enabled the Roku circuitry sends the signal output at the refresh rate (frame rate) used by the original source material, commonly 24 fps (frames per second), 25 fps, 30 fps, 50 fps, or 60 fps.
On models without this setting, or when this setting is not enabled, the Roku outputs everything at 60 fps.
The down side of changing the frame rate is that every time the source frame rate changes, the TV must adjust its display to accommodate the new frame rate, which on many sets results in a short blackout. This can happen when starting/stopping new programs, and when going in/out of commercial breaks that have a different native frame rate than the programs they are inserted into. If "Auto-adjust display refresh rate" is set OFF, the TV doesn't have to adjust on the fly.
The tradeoff here is that movement of things on the screen for non-60 fps sources may not be as smooth with no frame rate adjustment. Which way looks better to you depends on how good a job your TV does with handling the different frame rates, plus personal tastes. You have to decide whether this change is worth it to you.
There is a "secret screen" to display FPS on a video overlay, but it's either broken or I can't interpret it.
@Anonymous wrote:There is a "secret screen" to display FPS on a video overlay, but it's either broken or I can't interpret it.
It's not meant for videos. It's for graphics/games.