Solving playback issues

[atc98092]

AVI is a 30 year old codec developed by Microsoft. And yet there are versions of Microsoft Media Player that won't play them. AVI has a number of limitations, and is basically obsolete. I'm not surprised that Roku deciding not to support it. From the information I can find, the Fire TV doesn't support it, nor does the Apple TV. My Android based Nvidia Shield will play them, but then it plays almost everything and costs double the most expensive Roku player. 

[Graemev2]

Pretty sure somebody will chip in and point you at ffmpeg,  there's almost nothing it can't convert.

[lesmikesell]

Or Handbrake which makes it easy to use.   Or plex which will play over the network and transcode on the fly.  All of these need a computer, but then you needed one to make the .avi in the first place, didn't you?

[atc98092]

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@Graemev2 wrote:

Pretty sure somebody will chip in and point you at ffmpeg,  there's almost nothing it can't convert.

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True statement, but using FFMPEG from the command line is a bit daunting for someone inexperienced with it. A program like Handbrake is much easier to use.

[MaxDuellio]

When you hooked up your computer to the ROKU TV, were you, then, able to play avi files? Because that sounds like a good, quick solution...and far more appetizing than trying to convert ten thousand movies.

[atc98092]

@MaxDuellio the AVI container is not supported by Roku. There is no way to natively play AVI files. The only solution is to use a media server solution, such as Plex, Emby, or a basic DLNA server like Serviio. Plex and Emby both provide a channel for Roku devices that provide a nice user interface. Using a DLNA server means you use the Roku Media Player, which is a nice if basic player. All three solutions I mentioned are free, but require setting up a media server on a computer connected to your home network. 

[dyess002]

I just ran a HDMI cable from my laptop to a HDMI port on the TV and set it up as a 2nd monitor and opened up the video with Smplayer and dragged it to the newly setup screen and that worked great for me. Just a thought about solutions.