Solving playback issues

[brettdonadeo]

Watching on an RCA Roku TV. Not having problems with any channel other than HBO Max. When viewing some series on Max, the screen will become zoomed in. Restarting the TV will sometimes fix it for a short time, but the issue eventually returns.

[NugBump]

Did you ever find a fix for this? it’s happened to me over the years, but hasn’t happened for a few months and now it’s happening again today out of the blue when it wasn’t even happening a few minutes ago. 

[RokuERey]

Hi @NugBump,

Thanks for joining us here in the Roku Community!

We'd like to be of assistance here and to learn more about this playback issue. Could you tell us more about this?

If you haven't tried any troubleshooting, you can find more information here: How to resolve a channel playback issue.

Or let us know if you have tried this and what didn't work.

Thanks,

Rey

[brettdonadeo]

No, I haven't found a fix. I've previously tried restarting the TV and the router. Neither is a permanent fix. Your reply was the first I'd heard from anyone on this post, so I don't have any other suggestions yet.

[brettdonadeo]

The page about resolving playback issues offers no help. I've tried restarting the TV and the router but the problem comes back again eventually. None of the other issues on that page are relevant to what I'm seeing.

[NugBump]

Hello, thank you for the response! Yes, I've tried all of the troubleshooting listed. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. However, when it does work, it always comes back the next day, or a week later, etc. This issue seems to be exclusive Max, just as it was with HBO Max before.

What happens is that it zooms in on the screen about 20%, varying in degree. It's peculiar that this zoom occurs only when playing content, not during the display of the Max menu.

It's interesting to note that this might not be solely a Roku issue, as I've come across discussions on reddit forums indicating similar problems when using a web browser with HBO Max.

[RokuERey]

Hi @NugBump @brettdonadeo,

Thanks for getting back to us and we appreciate it!

We would also suggest reporting this to the channel support team for additional assistance. Most of the channels on Roku are managed directly by the channel provider themselves.

However, we'll be able to flag our team about this and assist. Please share with us the details below.

• Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About).
• Tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button five times, followed by the Back button five times, and provide us with this ID).
• Steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing
• Can you provide a video or screenshot of the issue you're experiencing?

We'll be looking forward to hearing back from you.

Best regards,
Rey

[elp223]

Not sure if you're still having this issue but I had the same one tonight. I have an older model Roku TV (maybe a 2018?) and I was trying to watch something on "Max" on my TV. While I've never experienced any problems streaming on my laptop, my TV's picture was off - it was super zoomed in. I messed with the Roku picture settings but no luck.

I found a solution on a Reddit post that worked for me: just back out of whatever you're watching and then click 'resume'. For me, that got rid of the zoom and the picture looked as it should. 

Here's the Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/HBOMAX/comments/x4gcm7/wrong_aspect_ratio/

Hope that helps. 🙂

[brettdonadeo]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm not sure if it's a difference in model TV being used or what, but this method hasn't worked for me.  🫤

[brettdonadeo]

I'll do my best to provide the additional information and reach out to the channel provider. It's been my experience that when I have an issue with a particular channel, Roku and the provider like to point the finger at each other for the responsibility to resolve it. As of now, there's no clear circumstances that cause the issue, as it happens with series and movies.