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Author Topic: Picked up a Roku Ultra  (Read 1925 times)

Offline B.D.F.

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Picked up a Roku Ultra
« on: November 26, 2017, 08:32:12 PM »
And man, does the picture output quality of that thing suck. Got it for a second TV so I can use Netflix and saved files on that TV but the quality of both Netflix and the files on a USB hard drive are terrible. Checked all the settings, all seem to be properly set but picture quality is quite poor.

Using an Apple TV as well as a Western Digital TV Live (for hard drive stored files) on my main TV and the quality of both is great. WD no longer makes any such device and it is tough to find anything that will directly read files from a local hard drive so I went with the Roku but if this is as good as it gets, I am going to get something else.

Brian
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2017, 06:41:29 AM »
Sent back the Roku. Picked up a second Apple TV. Have gotten it to show <limited> types of stored video files. It seems VLC is available as an app. for the device, so I will probably just grab that; VLC works great on a PC.

Brian
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Offline Rhino

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2017, 08:12:29 AM »
Video from my Roku 4 and my Apple TV seem to be exactly the same. The only reasons I bought a Roku is for Amazon prime and the headphone jack in the remote. Both those reasons are going away. Apple TV is getting Amazon prime by end of the year (at least that is what Tim Cook said) and my wife just got new hearing aids with bluetooth and a device that connects to the AV receiver and boosts the volume directly to the hearing aid. I can get the Apple TV 4K through employee purchase program for $134. Thinking about getting myself a little Christmas present and dumping the Roku. Anybody want to buy a gently used Roku 4?
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Offline Classvino

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2017, 08:23:40 AM »
After the glowing reviews you and Brian gave it?    ;D ;D
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Offline Rhino

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2017, 08:32:06 AM »
Quote from: Classvino on November 29, 2017, 08:23:40 AM
After the glowing reviews you and Brian gave it?    ;D ;D

Good point! But there is nothing wrong with the Roku 4. It's just that I'm an Apple employee and if I can consolidate on to one device, it's going to be Apple.
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2017, 08:35:33 AM »
Makes sense to me..
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Offline Daytona_Mike

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2017, 08:46:24 AM »
I have a shelf full of media players, WD's, Apple TV 1st and 2nd gen fire sticks, Roku's and a bunch of PopCorn Hour units form their first ones to their latest models.
Lately I now only run Android TV boxes like the T95Z Plus Android 7.1 NOUGAT   with IPTV streaming from several companies just to see who streams best. YouTube RED is good  to watch and listen to music videos and more
It plays 4K files across my home network perfectly. (MKV's)  and I can use any  phone  or pda as a remote. I can run anyting on them from Kodi to stand alone APK's and all of the HULU ,Netflix Amazon Prime and my favorite --PlayOn server because I mostly live in hotels and I can bring all my latest collection of  movies and TV shows streamed to me  via PlayOn    to the hotel TV all in HD
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Offline Conrad

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2017, 04:08:20 AM »
We've been using a Roku 4 for about a year and half.

The Roku is very sensitive to the speed of your network. If your network isn't up to snuff the Roku will display your programing at a lower resolution and it looks like crap.
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2017, 06:29:04 AM »
Yep. Back in the olden' days, about 5 years ago, that was a big problem playing HD movies over WIFI. Little glitches in transmission would result in lost data, screen freezes and so forth. Which is exactly why I bought a WD TV Live and set it up with a USB HD: I never, ever played movies over WIFI but instead off of the hard drive. I would sometimes transfer a movie, TV show or series, etc. over WIFI to the HD but never actually watched it in real time. If I was in more of a hurry, I just walked the HD over to the computer and transferred the files using USB 3.0, then again plugged it into the WD.

That was my plan again with the Roku but the display proved to be lousy. So I went with a second Apple TV and am again using WiFi to stream all data, including that already on the premises in the form of a file, and so far it seems to be working quite well. The Apple TV has a fair amount of memory on- board and I have no idea how much it buffers streaming data so it can better step over those glitches in transmission.

In the end, this entire second TV setup is going upstairs in  the bedroom and if push comes to shove, I will just hang a PC off of the TV and damn well play whatever I want without restriction (both the WD TV Live and the Apple TV are quite sensitive to what files they will play). I am just not ready to do that where it is now, in a temporary place with insufficient room. Plus using a computer kinda' sux a bit regarding remote control in my experience.

Brian

Quote from: Conrad on November 30, 2017, 04:08:20 AM
We've been using a Roku 4 for about a year and half.

The Roku is very sensitive to the speed of your network. If your network isn't up to snuff the Roku will display your programing at a lower resolution and it looks like crap.
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Offline Daytona_Mike

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2017, 07:23:01 AM »
 :banghead: :banghead:
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Offline Rhino

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Re: Picked up a Roku Ultra
« Reply #10 on: November 30, 2017, 07:44:45 AM »
Quote from: Conrad on November 30, 2017, 04:08:20 AM
We've been using a Roku 4 for about a year and half.

The Roku is very sensitive to the speed of your network. If your network isn't up to snuff the Roku will display your programing at a lower resolution and it looks like crap.

I don't see it often but your right, I do see it more on the Roku then the Apple TV. I have a pretty decent connection with Time Warner in my neighborhood. A requirement for me if I want to do any work from home.
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