Features, settings & updates

[viewmen]

I have 2 Roku Streaming Stick 4k. One of them in the last couple of had the overheating message. This has never come up in the last 11 months of ownership. I have used the extension. cable and made sure there was space round it and running from the power adapter.

I was streaming 4k stuff on YouTube at the time.

The only change was I had my broadband changed from standard 16Mbs to fibre 36 Mbs.

A couple of questions:-

Does a Roku streaming stick automatically adjust its bit rate depending on the download speed. If so what is the normal bitrate for streaming 4k?

I was thinking that the stick upped the bitrate as it was now seeing a faster download speed. That may lead to higher thermals. 

Could you use a longer length of HDMI extension cable.

Or is my unit faulty

[StreamerUser]

1) Apps generally can and do, yes

2) There is no normal bitrate for 4K; that being said, NetFlix uses about 16Mbps for its max bitrate 4K/Atmos content, YT TV used 72-82Mbps for its recent 4K/HDR offerings, FoxSports/FoxNow used 25-35Mbps for its 4K/HDR, etc etc. 

All streaming services use speed "ramping" - that is, they start at a lower bitrate, and ramp up to whatever the connection supports to their max speed.

Generally speaking, I recommend a download speed at least twice as much as the service you want uses, or may use.

3) IMO 36Mbps is pretty low if you expect to do 4K streaming with consistent quality - i'd recommend a 50Mbps download at a minimum, and 100-200Mbps is more reasonable to cover the different services, especially if you expect to do anything else at all with your connection while watching 4K content and maintaining 4K quality.

4) You can use a longer HDMI extender/extension cable.

5) Not enough info to determine if your device is faulty.

[viewmen]

Hi, Thanks for the swift reply. Bit of background info.

I am based in Scotland, Uk. I live about 100 yards from the telephone exchange. I was fine with 16Mbs connection and could stream 4k fine from YouTube. This and BBC i Player are the only things I have 4k content on. I use the Roku to get access some apps for other local channels. I also use my internet connection to access a couple of iPads and an iMac. I don’t access any Movie channels. The only reason I upgraded my broadband was my current contract was expiring and I decided to move to fibre.

Its been running fine on my TV up to now. The unit that indicated overheating! When  sitting on the Home screen had a temp of 82C-85C. When streaming non-4k it went up to around 95C. and when streaming 4k went over that. The clock speed jumps between 212Mhz and 1000Mhz.

I wonder if the problem might be a software issue judging by the number of people having overheating issues.

[StreamerUser]

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@viewmen wrote:

Hi, Thanks for the swift reply. Bit of background info.

I am based in Scotland, Uk. I live about 100 yards from the telephone exchange. I was fine with 16Mbs connection and could stream 4k fine from YouTube. This and BBC i Player are the only things I have 4k content on. I use the Roku to get access some apps for other local channels. I also use my internet connection to access a couple of iPads and an iMac. I don’t access any Movie channels. The only reason I upgraded my broadband was my current contract was expiring and I decided to move to fibre.

Its been running fine on my TV up to now. The unit that indicated overheating! When  sitting on the Home screen had a temp of 82C-85C. When streaming non-4k it went up to around 95C. and when streaming 4k went over that. The clock speed jumps between 212Mhz and 1000Mhz.

I wonder if the problem might be a software issue judging by the number of people having overheating issues.

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The only time I've ever gotten a temperature warning/noticed very hot temps was with a SS+ (3810 2017) - using an HDMI extender solved that, but beware of bad/faulty extenders (Roku may offer you "free" ones, but I've gotten at least one faulty one from them).

I think changes to the wireless driver/functionality in different firmware versions can definitely impact performance and therefore thermal output, and I know for sure changes to the wireless driver/stack cause all sorts of connectivity issues in version (and some build) upgrades.

If you are happy with your current 4K performance/quality, then you dont need to make any speed tier changes - however, consider those different services' 4K speeds I mentioned before for future upgrades.

[viewmen]

I will look into this further. I may try a couple of small heatsinks with thermal tape to either side of the streaming stick to see if that can bring the heat down a little. Something like the ones you attach the an NVme drive.