Roku setup

[bobmc]

garthcas

I went to the Pioneer website and they now seem to have their own service for AV Receivers.  Try   https://www.pioneerhomeusa.com/contact-support/     for a form to request an answer to your problem.  I hope this helps.

bobmc

[atc98092]

@garthcas two suggestions. First, on the TV in the settings you must ensure the HDMI port is set to Enhanced. I think LG labels it as Deep Color. That is required for the TV to accept 4K/60 content. Then go into your AVR and ensure the video setting is set to passthrough. You do not want the AVR to perform any sort of video processing. 

Either or both of those might be causing the problem you're having. I have an LG 4K/Dolby Vision set and a Yamaha AVR, and they provide 4K/60 DV without a problem with my Ultra.

[garthcas]

Thanks again!  I went to the Pioneer support website you provided and filled out the request form.  We'll see what happens.

[garthcas]

Thanks for the suggestions!  I confirmed that the LG TV is set Deep Color / 4K.  I can find nothing in the Pioneer AVR setup or in the on-screen or written documentation about any kind of "passthrough" setting.  I just submitted a technical support request form to Pioneer asking about that and about how to enable 60 fps.  We'll see what happens!

[atc98092]

I looked up the specs for your Pioneer. As you probably know, it's at the low end of their model series, and this might be the issue here. This is what they list for the HDMI ports:

Color space (Color Depth):

720×480i 60 Hz,

720×576i 50 Hz,

720×480p 60 Hz,

720×576p 50 Hz,

1920×1080i 50/60 Hz,

1280×720p 24/25/30/50/60 Hz,

1680×720p 24/25/30/50/60 Hz,

1920×1080p 24/25/30/50/60 Hz,

2560×1080p 24/25/30/50/60 Hz,

4K (3840×2160p) 24/25/30 Hz,

4K SMPTE (4096×2160p) 24/25/30 Hz : RGB/YCbCr4:4:4 (8/10/12 bit), YCbCr4:2:2 (12 bit)

–4K (3840×2160p) 50/60 Hz,

4K SMPTE (4096×2160p) 50/60 Hz :

RGB/YCbCr4:4:4 (8 bit), YCbCr4:2:2 (12 bit), YCbCr4:2:0 (8/10/12 bit)

This isn't the clearest information, but notice the line I highlighted. Under some signal configurations, your AVR will only passthrough 4K at 30Hz. I can't say if that's the exact situation the Roku is putting out, but it does seem suspicious. They do list 60Hz available with some other 4K resolutions, so perhaps this isn't the issue.  Hopefully your contact at Pioneer will have a better answer. 

[garthcas]

Thanks atc98092.  If that's the case, I guess it's ultimately my fault for not understanding the implications of that limitation in the fine print.  But this is all very confusing to a layperson like me.  I'm not an expert in these matters, but I found this in a product sheet for this AVR, which misled me:

Ultra HD pass-through with HDcp 2.2 (4K/60p/4:4:4/24-bit, 4K/24p/4:4:4/36-bit, 4K/60p/4:2:0/36-bit)

It seems like Pioneer and Roku could have made it clearer that these products are incompatible for achieving 4K.

Can you explain, is 60 fps (which Roku refers to) the same as 60 Hz (which Pioneer refers to in their specs) the same as 60 p (which Pioneer refers to in the product sheet)?

[atc98092]

Yes, 60fps and 60Hz is basically the same thing. 60p also refers to the refresh rate, but the p identifies the image as progressive scanning, while an i (such as 1080i) refers to interlaced scanning. Both harken back to the old cathode ray display days where an electron gun was "painting" the screen. Progressive scans an image one line at a time, while interlaced would scan every other line, then go back and fill in the missing lines. With digital displays it's really no longer necessary to label them like that, but old habits die hard. 

You can't really fault Roku in this instance. There's no way they could identify every possible equipment combination that might be encountered in the real world. 4K Roku players can output 4K/60 at 4:2:2 and 4:2:0. There's a setting under System/Advanced Display Settings to switch between the two. You might try changing that and see if your TV will accept the Roku at 4K/60.

[garthcas]

OK, fair point, I can't really fault Roku.  But perhaps I can fault Pioneer for only recognizing one 4K protocol when a major manufacturer like Roku adheres to a different one.  Seems like Pioneer cheaped out on this.  How hard/expensive would have been to handle both?

[atc98092]

I have no idea the financials for something like that. I suppose an additional $10 for the processing chip, spread over thousands of units built does add up. The Yamaha AVRs I have are priced about the same as your Pioneer, so it's certainly possible to support those resolutions and still offer an inexpensive unit.

I forget to mention one way to truly isolate if the problem is the AVR. Just connect the Roku directly to the TV in a different HDMI port. Just make sure Deep Color is enabled in that port as well. If the Roku now selects 4K/60/DV using the auto setting, then you know for certain it's the AVR. 

[garthcas]

I gladly would have paid Pioneer an extra $10 (or whatever, within reason) to get the 60 fps 4K capability!

Thanks for the excellent suggestion about a test bypassing the AVR.  When I connect the Roku directly to the TV, the Roku indicates that the video signal will be 4K Dolby Vision HDR, not 1080p that I get with the AVR.  Too bad I have to give up my home theater speaker setup to get it!

So this is not a Roku problem, it is definitely a Pioneer AVR problem.  Guess I wasted my money on that, unless Pioneer technical assistance can come up with a fix.

Thanks for all your and the other commenter's help with what has been a frustrating issue!