Solving playback issues

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Picture Quality is NOT HD

i have had Roku Express for a year. and picture on living room TV has been HD quality and fine..then in the last week or so the picture quality is NOT HD level...grainy..and not what it has been...internet is not the issue...and i have bedroom tv with Roku..no issues with that picture quality..and NetFlix is high quality on Living room..i cant find anything on a fix for this and of course i cant get support from Roku..help??

8 REPLIES 8
atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD

First of course check the display setting in the Roku menu and make sure it's set correctly. If it's on auto, it should show what resolution is being used. 

Next is the content you're watching. Since you mentioned Netflix, before beginning playback hit the * button and (unless they've finally disabled it) this turns on a small debug window while playing that shows the resolution and bitrate currently being shown. I went though a multi-month period several years ago when my Netflix was simply terrible, but everything else was fine. My ISP was able to trace something in the Internet itself was throttling my Netflix stream, but they couldn't identify who/what was behind it. It finally went away after several months.

If absolutely everything is looking bad on this device, and the display is set correctly, you might be getting some WiFi interference that is impacted the Express more than other devices in your home. I'd try changing the WiFi channel in your router as a first step. 

Dan

Roku Community Streaming Expert

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C_I
Roku Guru

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD


@mikestuartsells wrote:

i have had Roku Express for a year. and picture on living room TV has been HD quality and fine..then in the last week or so the picture quality is NOT HD level...grainy..and not what it has been...internet is not the issue...and i have bedroom tv with Roku..no issues with that picture quality..and NetFlix is high quality on Living room..i cant find anything on a fix for this and of course i cant get support from Roku..help??


         Go to Settings> Display Type  And you will be given a choice between what type of display type you have 108OI or 720p or it you can select auto detect if you want Roku to auto detect what type of display you have. 

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atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD

Roku players don't support 1080i, only 1080p 😉

Dan

Roku Community Streaming Expert

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C_I
Roku Guru

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD


@atc98092 wrote:

Roku players don't support 1080i, only 1080p 😉


        Either way, `1080 is still HD. If you go and change your display settings, your picture will be HD, not SD. 

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Mrblue
Newbie

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD

Picture is terrible on my new 4k Samsung with Roku. All other streaming channels much better.  Netflix Perfect 

atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD


@Mrblue wrote:

Picture is terrible on my new 4k Samsung with Roku. All other streaming channels much better.  Netflix Perfect 


But what channel are you using on your Roku, and what model Roku are you using? Or are you referring to The Roku Channel, which is an app available on your Samsung TV? 

Dan

Roku Community Streaming Expert

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Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD

I have AT&T 1000 and a cat 5 hard wired home. my internet is top quality.  But every movie I try to view on Netflix, HBO, Apple, all come in very very poor quality through the Roku. I have tried everything except throwing away this Roku device. 

atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Picture Quality is NOT HD

@givemeabreak what specific Roku model are you using? And what TV are you connected to? Are you running the Roku through an AVR, or is it plugged directly into the TV?

I don't use Apple TV very often, but I did test Apple, HBO Max and Prime Video recently on my Ultra 4800. On all channels I get the highest quality the providers offer, which depending on the video might be 1080 HD, 2160 UHD, with HDR or Dolby Vision where offered. The audio is all DD+, with Atmos on titles that support it. 

We need more detail about the information above, and what specific titles you're trying to watch. But your experience doesn't match what most users see. Being able to duplicate your experience is the best way we can attempt to assist.

Dan

Roku Community Streaming Expert

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