Solving playback issues

[LoriA]

I just activated a Roku express and the screen on my tv has thin black lines in the background and when I go to watch say Netflix the lines are green. This is not with a roku TV, just a Roku box. My outdated Roku worked fine.

[makaiguy]

@LoriA-

These things are just special purpose computers, and just like their big brothers, sometimes operational problems can be solved by a system restart.

From the Roku home screen use menu path Settings > System > System restart. (On a Roku TV the menu path is Settings > System > Power > System restart.)

If you prefer, or if the problem you're having doesn't let you control the Roku via the remote, you can restart by pulling the power plug for 30 seconds or so then plugging back in.

[LoriA]

Thanks for the reply. I did all of the common troubleshooting ideas posted. After research, I am leaning that my older Samsung TV (pre 2019) has a hdmi port of 1.4 and it will not support the hdmi of this new roku express. My Roku 2 works fine with this TV. My Roku 2 will only update to 9.1 so I am unable to watch Prime video. Possibility?

[makaiguy]

HDCP 1.4 is sufficient to receive copy protected HD programming (720 or 1080 vertical resolution), it just can't handle higher resolution 4K material.

When your Roku and TV first connect they exchange information over the HDMI port in what they call a "handshake" where each side tells the other what capabilities it supports.  This allows them to adjust the connection to mutually-supported settings that work.  It sounds like this handshake is not transferring the correct information.

Under Roku menu path Settings > Display type I'd suggest changing the Roku to the actual resolution of the TV instead of a different resolution or the "auto detect" setting. When you get to the countdown screen click on the "yes" option to save this setting to the Roku.