Roku setup

[KRae99]

I just added a Roku 2022 Ultra to a 2018 TCL roku tv (I hoped that it would be less sluggish since the Ultra has more ram), and now I'm stuck in the streaming box hdmi input that I attached the Ultra to, and can't get back to the Roku TV home screen.  The  roku settings for the Ultra do not have a setting that allows you to change inputs, or to specify which input automatically starts when you power off and on, which is available when you are in the main Roku TV home screen.  Any ideas how to get back to the main TV input?  Maybe I should have set it up differently - I connected the Ultra to the TV via hdmi, and the Ultra to the modem via ethernet.  Maybe I should have kept the ethernet going directly to the TV, and then connected the Ultra to the TV via hdmi?  I was afraid if I did that, that the remotes (the new voice pro remotes) would not control both the TV home screen and the Ultra.

By the way, the Ultra did dramatically improve the lag of the streaming channels.  

[RokuDanny-R · Accepted solution]

Hi @KRae99 

Thanks for posting in the Community regarding your inquiry about returning to the Home screen on your Roku TV.

While the Roku Ultra remote can be paired to your Roku TV to control the power and volume, the Roku device remote will not be able to control the HDMI input selection to the Roku TV. In this case you'll need to use the TCL Roku TV remote to return to the Roku TV's Home screen in order to select the appropriate HDMI input that you wish to utilize.

For more information about how to pair your Roku device remote to control your Roku TV power and volume, you can visit our Support page here: Set up TV controls

Hope this provides some clarification. If you have any other inquiries in the future, please don't hesitate to ask as we are more than happy to assist you!

Happy Streaming,
Danny

[KRae99]

Thanks so much Danny.  Luckily I kept one remote paired to the TV.  However, I get a black screen when I connect to the Ultra from the TV input.  When I set the TV so that it goes to the Ultra automatically when I power up, I reach the Ultra and all of the channels are listed, but any video I play is black (there is sound).  And, when I go back to the TV input, the screen is about 1/5 of its normal size.  I have a new HDMI cable coming, maybe that will solve the problem?

[RokuNimfa-C]

@KRae99

Thanks for your update. 

It's great that you still have a remote paired with your Roku TV. Did you use the TV remote to access the channel? Have you tried to remove the channel and see if it helps? If you haven't tried it yet, you can remove the affected channel and re-install it. To ensure the process is successful, restart your device before adding the channel back in. If this doesn't help, trying a new HDMI cable is a good step to isolate the issue. 

Keep us posted on how it goes. 


Regards,
Nimfa

[KRae99]

I updated the ethernet cables between the TV and modem and between the Ultra and the modem to cat 6a, and replaced the HDMI cable between the TV and the Ultra to a premium high speed (48 Gbps), and it all works now.  I'm not sure which cables are eliminating the problem, I suspect it's the hdmi cable.  The Ultra is indeed more responsive than the roku TV.  (I have an ethernet wired connection to both and am getting about 80 mbps average download speeds).

The HBO Max app is still slower than all of the others by far (Netflix, Paramount plus, and Prime) - and unlike the other apps there is no way to remove it via the * button.  I've read elsewhere here that you actually have to unsubscribe to the HBO Max channel via Roku than re-subscribe, which seems very weird.

Now, if I could only control both the TV inputs and the Ultra input with the same remote, but from what I've read that's not possible so I'll give up searching for a solution for that 🙂

As information to others who may read this post, I contacted TCL and asked them about the memory in their Roku TV (this is a 2018 5-series 55S517), and they essentially said that it is has no memory 🙂  I've looked at Roku developer specs, and each Roku TV and device has from 512MB to 2 G of "ram".  From my limited experience with these two devices (the TV, with an unknown amount of memory, and the 2022 Ultra which has 2G), I would say that apps lag less with devices that have more memory, but I'm no expert 🙂

[KRae99]

Just one addition - the next morning, we were getting black screens again.  I remembered changing the display setting for the Ultra, and went back and changed the following to "off" - System>Advanced System Settings>Advanced Display Settings>Auto-adjust display refresh rate.  Everything is great since then.

I followed up with the TCL Roku TV people, and they assure me that the 2018 TV has no storage or memory.  I find that hard to believe, but that's what they say 🙂

[atc98092]

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@KRae99 wrote:

I followed up with the TCL Roku TV people, and they assure me that the 2018 TV has no storage or memory.  I find that hard to believe, but that's what they say

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True. I know of no Roku TV (or for that matter any Roku player either) that comes with any sort of storage. It has the typical memory for the OS to operate in, and the channel storage memory. But the TVs do offer one neat trick: you can connect a USB drive to the port on the back of the TV and you can pause, and rewind live TV. It's not the same as a DVR, as it can't record and save a program for later watching. But if you need to get up to answer the door or the phone rings, you can pause the live show and resume when you want.

[KRae99]

Dan, when I referred to memory when communicating with the TCL people, I was referring to the OS memory that could affect the ways that apps load, etc.  - I even referred them to the Roku developer specs that list the OS memory of the various Roku devices (Hardware specifications | Roku Developer).  Maybe it was just a miscommunication, but it didn't seem like it.  In any case, the difference between the TV input and the Ultra in terms of responsiveness is night and day.

Thanks for the tip about the USB - at this point, we don't watch any live TV, but you never know 🙂