Solving playback issues

[NobodysBusiness]

I have been having the same issue since sometime in 2023 as well. Like you I use the headphones every day. Did you ever find a solution to this issue? Thanks.

[dbcooper_NC]

No progress has been reported to me on this issue, though a moderator occasionally assures us that it is being looked into.  There have been updates to the youtube applet on my roku, but none have solved this issue for me.

[atc98092]

Question: do you have framerate matching enabled on your Roku? If so, that can trigger a momentary screen blink and freeze until the match is completed. This setting is under Settings/System/Advanced System Settings/Advanced Display Settings/Auto-adjust display refresh rate. If it's on, turn it off and see if you still have the delay starting videos. 

[dbcooper_NC]

@atc98092,

Thanks for your reply.  On my system, framerate matching is, and has been, off.  But, the problems I am seeing only occur when using headphones.  Wouldn't this setting affect both headphone and regular users?  Also, in my case, only the sound is affected.  The video plays as normal.  Video starts playing with no sound for ~2 seconds or so, then sound starts.

[mrzoops]

I am having this issue as well and I can tell you it’s related to the use of Dolby/dts. If I set my output to stereo then there is no start up delay, but once it is set to Dolby/dts/or auto there is always a delay when starting a new stream or unpausing the current stream. 

[RokuJechealR · Accepted solution]

Hi @mrzoops,

Greetings from the Roku Community!

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We appreciate the information and the steps you have taken to figure out the issue.

Does the issue occur on a specific channel or all the channels installed on your Roku device?

Note to share. Your Roku device will pass whatever audio format is being provided by each specific channel. If the channel doesn't provide Dolcy Digital+ audio format for their content, your device cannot pass DD+ format via audio out. Your device does not downgrade audio formats on its own; however, it may select an alternate audio format that is available if a user's setup does not support Dolby Digital+, such as a receiver that is only capable of playing standard Dolby Digital. The use of some device features may be limited to stereo audio only, such as 'Volume modes'. The use of this feature will select the stereo audio format when this type of feature is enabled. Turning this feature off will then allow your device to pass other available audio formats out, such as DD+.

In addition, some channels, such as Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon Prime Video, provide DD+ audio for some of their content. Other channels may provide standard DD or only stereo-format audio for their content. You'll want to check with each channel provider directly to inquire further about their specific content offerings.

Please let us know if there's anything else we can do to help.

All the best,
Chel