Solving playback issues

[ktp9700]

Is direct play, via DLNA or HLS, of FLAC files supported?

[StreamerUser]

https://support.roku.com/article/208754908

Supported media file types

Different Roku devices support different formats. Newer firmware may support additional formats. The type of audio formats supported is dependent on the type of TV or A/V receiver your Roku device is connected to. Formats supported by your Roku device can be viewed by accessing the ?/Help pages from the Media Device and the Media Type selection screens.

The following file formats are supported:

• Video – H.264/AVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV)
• Audio – AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV); WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC (.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3 (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV, .AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,.DTS), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .M4A), Vorbis (.OGG,.MKV,.WEBM)
• Playlists –.M3U, .M3U8, .PLS
• Image – JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)

The following media formats are supported on Roku devices that support 4K

• 4K Video – H.265/HEVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); VP9 (.MKV, .WEBM)
• 4K Video – H.264 (Roku Premiere, Premiere+, and Ultra only)

The following media formats are supported on Roku TVs and some Roku players

• Video – H.262 (.MKV)

Notes:

• The Roku Media Player channel will not display unsupported file types or files it has determined cannot be played by your Roku device.
• DRM-protected content is not supported.

Support for 5.1 AC3/E-AC3 (Dolby Digital)

Many Roku players can decode Dolby Digital™ (AC3) audio. Some can also decode Dolby Digital Plus™ (E-AC3), but others cannot decode either. If you are trying to play Dolby Audio™ (AC3, E-AC3), but do not hear multi-channel surround sound, try connecting your Roku player via HDMI® or S/PDIF (optical) to a TV or A/V receiver capable of decoding Dolby Audio™. Your Roku player will pass-through the encoded Dolby Audio to the TV or A/V receiver for decoding.

Some Roku players can decode Dolby Digital Plus to HDMI and S/PDIF TOSLINK (optical). This means that content encoded with Dolby Digital Plus will be transcoded (converted) into Dolby Digital if your A/V receiver does not support Dolby Digital Plus, but does support Dolby Digital 5.1.

Roku TVs support transcoding Dolby Digital Plus to Dolby Digital for the S/PDIF (optical) and ARC (Audio Return Channel) connectors, allowing you to connect your TV audio to an A/V receiver (AVR) that supports Dolby Digital 5.1 (but not Dolby Digital Plus).

• Note: Dolby TrueHD and lossless Dolby are not supported.

Support for 5.1 DTS (Dedicated To Sound)

Roku devices will only pass-through DTS audio. To decode multi-channel surround sound, you must connect your Roku device via HDMI or S/PDIF (optical) to a TV or A/V receiver capable of decoding DTS.

• Note: DTS-HD and lossless DTS are not supported.

Support for AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

Roku devices do not support AAC pass-through. Instead, Stereo AAC is transcoded to PCM stereo.

Roku TVs and some Roku players decode 5.1 AAC to PCM stereo for headphone, internal speaker, and HDMI/ S/PDIF (optical) output. However, Roku devices that support Dolby Audio decode connected via HDMI or S/PDIF (optical) to an A/V receiver that also supports Dolby Audio, will convert the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.

[ktp9700]

I already read that. I wanted verification that direct play, for FLAC, is supported when using HLS protocol or DLNA.  I am being told by a developer "the Roku does not accept RAW flac for direct play". I would like Roku support to provide more details.

[atc98092]

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@ktp9700 wrote:

I already read that. I wanted verification that direct play, for FLAC, is supported when using HLS protocol or DLNA.  I am being told by a developer "the Roku does not accept RAW flac for direct play". I would like Roku support to provide more details.

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When you say Direct Play, that usually implies using Plex as the streaming server. Yes, FLAC is  a supported codec. I believe I tried a few videos with FLAC audio a couple of times using Serviio, which is a pure DLNA server. But it's been quite some time and I can't say with certainty any longer exactly how well it worked. But best I can recall it worked fine.

Note that streaming via HLS (applehttp) is usually in reference to transcoded streaming files. I don't know of a media server that uses HLS as its default streaming mode. I'm not saying there aren't any, just that I'm not aware of them. All that I've seen use MPEG-TS as the default streaming protocol. For Serviio, the profiles I wrote for Roku devices all use HLS for transcoding, with the exception of VC-1 video, which didn't seem to work well. For that codec I stayed with the TS protocol. 

[StreamerUser]

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@ktp9700 wrote:

I already read that. I wanted verification that direct play, for FLAC, is supported when using HLS protocol or DLNA.  I am being told by a developer "the Roku does not accept RAW flac for direct play". I would like Roku support to provide more details.

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If you had read that Roku Support article then your question would have been obviated (the article has the answer to your question, which I emphasized with bold red text).

It states explicitly that FLAC audio is supported in two file types:  FLAC and MKV

It also states explicitly that DLNA/UPnP is supported via RMP, and has a list of tested servers.

That article "with more details" is provided by Roku Support.

You can always directly contact Roku support (this is a community forum) and they can give you the same link (as the desired "verification"):

chat/email:    https://support.roku.com/contactus/contact-options     (choose setup/ultra/other/need more help?)