Roku Developer Program

[dvee]

Hello,

I have created a Roku application that streams video, but the time it is taking for the video to load is very off putting.
I'm certain the current internet connection can easily handle the streams, as we have several PCs which it runs fine on, and plays
within a few seconds.

Looking at stats, it can take anywhere from 20 seconds to 1:30, just to begin the playing of the actual video.

It seems that if I restart my player, it then loads fairly quickly, but then soon enough, it is back to loading very slowly.

I have heard of a bug in the system itself, where it fails to get the current internet connection speed, so instead defaults to a very low speed.
I'm not sure on the legitimacy of that bug, but if it is true, does anyone know of any work arounds?

Any help on improving the loading speeds would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
dVEE.

[dvee]

BUMP!

No one have any information on this?

[Detection]

I have a similar problem with the FilmOn channel, my internet connection is fast but loading any channel on FilmOn takes a similar time to what you are describing

Other channels are fast / instant

[RokuJoel]

Is this HLS video or just playing .mp4 files? The speed at which your server responds to the multiple range requests issued by the device before playback may be a factor in the speed at which your content may begin playback. If the video is HLS, and the maximum bitrate is less than 1500k then you can increase the startup speed by setting the StreamBitrates value to the bitrate of the lowest bitrate stream (assuming multibitrate streaming):

videoclip.streambitrates=[600]

- Joel

[learner]

one question in addition to this . I have noticed audio is not in sync and delayed...
If we stop and start this again goes normal... Is it related to speed settings? How to find the optimal speed?

[mkenya]

I am having issues with Mp4 files buffering.... After putting so much work creating a channel i find that I am still having problems with buffering high quality video 720P mp4 video every few minutes. I can't sell this - no way. I have not found any solution to the buffering issue.
I have tested on two different servers, on amazon S3 and generic hosts.
This leads me to believe that it is a problem born by the ROKU and how it handles the media. I have not tested on Audio yet.

I have files up for testing both with 24fps and 30fps both buffer times are miserably long.

Please help.

[RokuJoel]

Have you tried on a different network? perhaps the network you are on is funkier than you realize, have a few friends test at their houses, see it they experience the same thing.

Your Router itself could be the problem if it can't sustain the throughput.

Another thing to try is having an array of videos with a variety of bitrates, the Roku will try to pick the best one, and if the network or server can't sustain the throughput, it will shift to the next lower bitrate.

- Joel