Roku Developer Program

[jwray]

Getting a little further with the development but hit on a snag today. For hls streaming, is there any limitations on the BANDWIDTH parameter at the top of the start.m3u8 file. The server I'm connecting to has the ability to request different quality streams. When I set the quality level above a certain level the Roku does not play the streams anymore. The only difference is the BANDWIDTH parameter and BANDWIDTH=3000000 does not work whereas BANDWIDTH=2000000 does work.

Also, the server guys spun me up a version in which the BANDWIDTH was faked and all videos played at all levels, so it's not the actual stream causing issues.

Any insight would be great.
thanks,
Jonny

[jwray]

No comments on this? I'd like to know what the upper end of the supported specs are and wireless vs wired also if that makes a difference. Just a pointer to the documentation for me to read would work also.

thanks
Jonny

[stratcat96]

"jwray" wrote:
No comments on this? I'd like to know what the upper end of the supported specs are and wireless vs wired also if that makes a difference. Just a pointer to the documentation for me to read would work also.

thanks
Jonny

The Roku encoding guide says this...

For typical streaming video applications, we recommend a range of ~384Kbps to ~4.0Mbps.

Obviously that's just a recommendation though. If your setting at 2000000 works but 3000000 does not, then I would think Roku's just not finding a stream at that or above. I'm no expert though 🙂

[jwray]

I should have said, the behavior with the failing start.m3u8 is instant with the usual generic error message. It's not hitting the server to get any of the referenced ts files. If we change the bandwidth parameter at the top of the file then the server is hit and the stream plays. The BANDWIDTH=3000000 appears to be well inside the recommended range with upper end of 4Mbps

Not sure what I'm missing.

[RokuKevin]

Both 3 Mbps and 2 Mbps should play on the roku. Did you set a content meta data MaxBandwidth?

--Kevin

[jwray]

Hi, good to know what I'm expecting is reasonable. I didn't set the MaxBandwidth meta-data. If the default is less than what the server is giving me I guess that'll cause it. I'll look up the component specs later and try setting the upper limit explicitly.

thanks,
Jonny

[RokuKevin]

If you still have issue, PM me the stream link and I'll work it out with you.

--Kevin

[jwray]

Hi,

So I scanned the docs and didn't find the info I need. Are you saying I should set the value to enable the Roku to accept higher bit rate streams, or are you saying I shouldn't set it as that could be limited what it would expect?

Thanks for the offer of assistance. We don't have any publicly available streams as yet but if it gets to that I'm sure I can figure something out.

Jonny