Solving playback issues

[Strega]

I agree - such a small amount being trimmed off looks like the overscan (simulation) rather than a zoom function which normally cuts off significantly more.

Oddly enough, many manufacturers set this "on" by default to reduce complaints from people watching stations that rented out that space to data transmissions.  Sounds weird but at least one station in my area used to do that.

[TennProgressive]

I have a Hitachi TV.  It has the 16x9 or 4x3 option.  There is no "fit to screen" or other option similar to what is available on Windows for the login screen pictures.  I will put my Roku box on a different TV and see if it has the same cutting off edge problem.  When watching a movie/TV show, it is not a problem until there are words on the screen that cannot be viewed.  But I realize with clipped edges then I am not getting the same viewing experience as others.

[TennProgressive]

I have a Hitachi TV.  It has the 16x9 or 4x3 option.  There is no "fit to screen" or other option similar to what is available on Windows for the login screen pictures.  I will put my Roku box on a different TV and see if it has the same cutting off edge problem.  When watching a movie/TV show, it is not a problem until there are words on the screen that cannot be viewed.  But I realize with clipped edges then I am not getting the same viewing experience as others.

My Hitachi TV is fairly old -- 15+ years, so the overscan feature was probably not part of the manufacturer's settings.  In any event, I don't have any menu option to change that setting if it is embedded.

[renojim]

I have a cheap Chinese TV with no overscan setting that chops off the edges of the display for Roku devices (plural) that work just fine on other TVs.

[andyross]

If you post the model number, maybe we can find a manual online that could have info if it's buried in some menu. 

[Sno]

I changed my display to 720 from auto detect. It fixed the problem. Prior to, when I turned the TV on, at the very top, near the WiFi signal,  it said “zoom”. Somehow the settings changed. 

[Hoppin]

I am having the same problem. It started after I recently updated my roku. How can we fix this???

[Chris_]

This is a lead I discovered on what's causing the persistent "Overscan" problem many have been frustrated with regardless of the settings on their varying TVs for the last few years. It appears to me to be an automatic/inflexible/static/hardcoded signal coming FROM the Roku itself that overrides the TV's over-scan setting that keeps forcing the problem on some LCD TVs.

I can recreate and solve the problem on a Best Buy branded INSIGNIA television using two other competing streaming devices by changing ONE setting that is NOT available on either my updated Roku StreamingStick 4k OR Streambar Pro.

Example 1: On a "Chromecast with Google TV" there is a "Color Format" setting under "Dynamic range & Color format" that also causes the overscan when using YCbCr 12-bit or 8-bit. SETTING COLOR FORMAT TO RGB 8-BIT SENDS A SIGNAL THAT DOES NOT FORCE OVERSCAN. Roku devices don't have a setting to change "color format" so the problem continues.

Example 2: On an "Apple TV 4K" there is an "HDMI Output" setting that again causes the overscan problem when using YCbCr. SETTING HDMI OUTPUT TO EITHER RGB HIGH OR LOW SENDS A TV SIGNAL THAT DOES NOT FORCE OVERSCAN. Roku devices don't have a setting to change "hdmi output" so the problem continues.

In other words, Roku streamers do NOT have an equivalent USER setting to be able to SEND a RGB signal to any TV to solve the problem. Even if the TV has its own "overscan off" setting, it is still overridden by the hdmi signal coming FROM the Roku. So after all this troubleshooting the user question remains, why do the other two primary competing streaming devices have this convenient user setting that solves this problem but the Roku does not?

[Chris_]

This is a lead I discovered... (accidental duplicate posting of previous post)

[Chris_]

@renojim   "if your picture is cutoff it's your TV doing it. There's no setting within any Roku device that would affect it."

Actually for many here it is NOT the TV that is doing it. You are exactly correct that there is NO setting within any Roku device that [can correct it]" and that's exactly the problem. Here is why:

The competing "Chromecast with Google TV" and "Apple TV 4k" DO both have settings called "Color Format" and "HDMI Output" respectively.  Those two built in settings allow a user to manually set an RGB signal instead of an YCbCr signal. Setting an RGB signal on these competing devices fixes the overscan problem on some TVs.  It is the Roku that is sending a NON RGB signal that FORCES some TVs into overscan REGARDLESS of the TV's own overscan setting, if there is any. Please read my full description reply above.

So yes, you are correct, "There's no setting" on ANY Roku to manually set an RGB signal like the OTHER popular streaming devices and that is exactly the problem here.