Solving playback issues

[MichaelDiggs]

I bought two Roku Ultra's. Soon as I usually try to play a high bitrate movie it will pause at %33 for about 15 seconds then crash, then reboot. No user intervention. And I have two brand new Ultra's that do the same exact thing. It mostly happens when trying to play high bitrate content, which I posted more technical information about in another thread. What's this %33 crash and run about? Am I able to get the dump logs and send them over to Roku? Not sure I'll still own my new, the return window is closing and I may return them if I can't watch movies with it. If I try to watch a small 1080p episode of **bleep**'s Kitchen, sure it plays fine. Soon as I start getting up towards 4k HDR / Dolby Vision, that's where are the trouble starts. I will add a small video here to show you exactly what I see.

[RokuDanny-R]

@MichaelDiggs

Thanks for the post.

Can you please specify the issue you are experiencing? Does this issue happen on a specific channel or does it happen across all channels? Are you trying to play a specific title within a channel when you see this issue occur? What are the exact steps to reproduce the issue?

With more detailed information, we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Danny

[MichaelDiggs]

UPDATE:

I did some more testing and I confirmed these Roku 4k players just can't play high bitrate content. I even made a direct connection via SSD/NVMe and the Roku player still couldn't handle it. Soon as I changed the bitrate to force around 12Mbps then it would play normally. Anything over 12Mbps it would not play normal at all. Either the processor isn't as good or fast or the onboard Ethernet port is dropping packets and/or just can't handle it. This is terribly sad on Roku's part because 12Mbps is only 2.3mbs. 

This issue happens locally. Like using Plex or a direct connection to a file share- where all my content is stored. I have multiple media players to compare with, that's why I'm pointing my finger at the Roku because two brand new 4k HDR players are doing the same exact thing, as stated in my original post. I'll use Plex media server I have running as my source for all my testing since anything that connects to it uses all the same settings, since it is only 1 server and the settings do not change from different clients connecting. The Plex main screen jumps right to Dolby Vision with no problem and looks great. I'll log into my plex and play some low bitrate TV shows, no problem. Soon as I start trying to play higher bitrate movies is when I have the stutter playback. And this happen with both Roku's. I'll then switch over to my Nvidia Shield and load up Plex and that system starts playing the same files with no problem. No pauses, no crashes, nothing. I'll switch to my Dune Media Player, which directly connects to the same content that Plex grabs the video content from and no issues again. Switch back to the Roku and unfortunately the pausing and studders are back. I have a brand new LG OLED C1 display and the service menu tells me the exact specs that are coming through the HDMI cable and it is all the same. I make sure my baseline test is identical so I don't have askew results. The only main difference is the Roku's still have a 100Mbit port while my other devices all have 1Gbit. The way those Roku's process locally, something odd going on. I don't know what else to do. I can try 12Mbps versions of the movies and see if that's the issue. Because most of the 4k movies I have are like 50 to 70Mbps.

[CMP4]

I can echo that.

I am a legacy; I bought an original Roku years ago, and only bought the Ultra because that original machine was caught in the creep of time (more resources required better CPU/better GPU).

I only have a 1080p TV.

And since I've bought the Roku Ultra, I have experienced what you have seen:

• Netflix App will play any single series, or movie fine.  Second or third movie may only go to 25%, hang there for a minute, and then reboot.
• Hulu App (just started the trial this weekend) will _not_ play more than a single show before it goes into a similar state:  shows me the busy-wait symbology for a bit, then reboots.

I have, at times, been seriously considering going back to the slower, but more reliable early-model Roku.

This is the first time I have commented on these boards... because I keep waiting for Roku to patch the issue.  I wonder if Roku has a competitor...

[MichaelDiggs]

Before I spend my money on media players or streamers I'll look for alternatives. Right now I can play a 90bps bitrate Master DTS Audio using Plex with my Nvidia shield. No pauses or video issues. I've tried it with Roku and all it does is goes to %33 and crashes. It's odd I don't see more issues on this regarding 4k content, but most users don't aggressively look for the high bitrate media files like I do.

[Emwither]

I am encountering the same issue 😕 I have some hdr10+ plex movies and shame I can't direct play them with the truehd audio. The shield won't do hdr 10+. Apple TV won't passthrough true hd. Roku ultra crashes with any high bitrate movie at 33%. Has there been any solution or fix to this error?

[Anonymous]

Hi @Emwither

Thank you for the post.

I apologize for misunderstanding your question earlier. If your Roku Ultra is crashing with any high-bitrate movie at 33%, there are a few things you can try to resolve the issue:

• Check your network connection: Make sure your Roku Ultra is connected to a stable network connection. You can try restarting your router and modem to ensure a stable connection.
• Update your Roku firmware: Make sure your Roku Ultra is running the latest firmware update. You can check for updates in the Roku settings menu.
• Reduce the video quality: You can try reducing the video quality of your high-bitrate movies to see if it resolves the issue. You can do this in the Plex settings or by choosing a lower-quality stream in the movie player.
• Transcode the video: If reducing the video quality doesn't work, you can try transcoding the video to a lower bitrate. This can be done in the Plex settings.

We hope it helps!


Warm regards,
Lianna