What is Roku?

[tcufrog]

We've used a Roku for years and love it so much we now own 3 and bought one for my mom. It's really easy to use and if you can't find your remote there's app you can download that works in its place. One thing I like is that it's like Switzerland. It's neutral so you can stream any streaming service through it. Some of the similar ones don't allow that.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

I've had the google device, and amazon fire device and several Roku devices. I have found the Roku to be the most user friendly of the three and my choice. This is from one who is a self admonished geek. The best thing about the roku environment is that it simply WORKS. And I "put my money where my mouth is" as my current tv is a pretty nice TCL 65" 4K with built in Roku.

 

[bcla]

I've had the google device, and amazon fire device and several Roku devices. I have found the Roku to be the most user friendly of the three and my choice. This is from one who is a self admonished geek. The best thing about the roku environment is that it simply WORKS. And I "put my money where my mouth is" as my current tv is a pretty nice TCL 65" 4K with built in Roku.

I got one for my dad. It was the 4K Express, and I set it up with my own credit card but passcode protected for any purchases. Seems easy enough to use, but the quality wasn't that great on a 4K TV. I don't think it's the internet connection, although I could test it next time I visit. They've got Comcast and don't stress it with much else. It would always start off slow and then just getting better, but still nothing like I'd expect with 4K. I set it up for auto resolution detect and then 4K, but it still looked less than ideal. I'm thinking of just taking it home and seeing if it's the TV or the internet connection.

But yesterday he was able to watch the ESPN "Above the Rim" broadcast of the Heat-Celtics game, which was really bizarre because it was a single camera mounted behind the backboard. Nothing quite by being blocked by the edge of the backboard. Most of these were mounted on top of the shot clock where they'd switch, or even sometimes just go with a side camera but no announcers.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

I got one for my dad. It was the 4K Express, and I set it up with my own credit card but passcode protected for any purchases. Seems easy enough to use, but the quality wasn't that great on a 4K TV. I don't think it's the internet connection, although I could test it next time I visit. They've got Comcast and don't stress it with much else. It would always start off slow and then just getting better, but still nothing like I'd expect with 4K. I set it up for auto resolution detect and then 4K, but it still looked less than ideal. I'm thinking of just taking it home and seeing if it's the TV or the internet connection.

But yesterday he was able to watch the ESPN "Above the Rim" broadcast of the Heat-Celtics game, which was really bizarre because it was a single camera mounted behind the backboard. Nothing quite by being blocked by the edge of the backboard. Most of these were mounted on top of the shot clock where they'd switch, or even sometimes just go with a side camera but no announcers.

It might be the internet connection. When I was looking at a provider / plan change I found the 4K needs at least 50 mb/sec speed. I verified this by playing some 4K Youtube content and enabling "stats for nerds". This showed me the resolution, current transfer rate and any dropped frames. You would also probably need to verify the Roku and TV are both running in 4K mode and that you are actually viewing 4K content.

 

[yensid's offspring]

I was likewise wholly unfamiliar with the existence of this service. This thread has been educational. Not a big Weird Al fan and not familiar with Radcliff so I'm probably not going to watch it.

 

[bcla]

It might be the internet connection. When I was looking at a provider / plan change I found the 4K needs at least 50 mb/sec speed. I verified this by playing some 4K Youtube content and enabling "stats for nerds". This showed me the resolution, current transfer rate and any dropped frames. You would also probably need to verify the Roku and TV are both running in 4K mode and that you are actually viewing 4K content.

I made a lunchtime visit and tested the Wi-Fi speeds and got over 85 Mbit/sec. I don't think that's necessarily the show stopper. I checked what Disney+ looked like, and it was fine although the TV settings are junk, with that fake look. I need to take it out of that weird default mode that most TV have these days.

 

[yensid's offspring]

Is it just me or does that guy look like Harry Potter in a Hawaiian shirt & a bad wig?

 

[Imzadi]

A Roku device will be much more versatile than a built-in "Smart TV" interface. Those often get outdated very quickly and are an afterthought to the app developers.

I have one of the first Samsung "smart TVs" that came out the first year they started building apps into the TVs. Unfortunately the following year, the Samung smart TV developers overhauled and made a new Smart-TV system (I think still used today,) and NONE of the built in apps or programming from this TV year work with the new system nor can they be be updated. It's the equivalent of having an Android 3 phone and trying to update it with Android 8 stuff. Just not happening. None of it is backwards compatible. The only thing my "smart TV" is now good for is the HDMI port and the USB port to be able to add on cords or devices talked about in this thread which do all the streaming and casting.

I'm so glad I didn't get a 1080p model that year. It was double the price for a TV that otherwise became obsolete the following year.

 

[bcla]

I have one of the first Samsung "smart TVs" that came out the first year they started building apps into the TVs. Unfortunately the following year, the Samung smart TV developers overhauled and made a new Smart-TV system (I think still used today,) and NONE of the built in apps or programming from this TV year work with the new system nor can they be be updated. The only thing my "smart TV" is now good for is the HDMI port and the USB port to be able to add on cords or devices talked about in this thread which do all the streaming and casting.

I'm so glad I didn't get a 1080p model that year. It was double the price for a TV that otherwise became obsolete the following year.

I believe you're thinking of the operating system. Samsung now uses their own Tizen OS, which is based off of Linux. However, there's nothing that specifically precludes building apps that are compatible with an older operating system other than support. If the operating system is no longer supported, often they'll discontinue support for apps based on security issues or other things.

I got my first smart TV style features through a Sony Blu-Ray player. It had access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, etc. But eventually that stopped working. I remember with YouTube I got a message that the previous API (application programming interface) was being discontinued by Google. That's the interface that send data across the internet to/from the app. I suppose it might have been possible to update the app for the newer API, but after a while they have less incentive to support older operating systems.

However, it's pretty easy to just get a new box that does all those features. Makes a lot of sense if the TV is still fine.

 

[bcla]

While my dad is OK with using the Roku Express 4K since the interface is easy to use, I'm still kind of disappointed with the quality. I'm thinking of taking it home and seeing if their internet connection is the issue. And I was especially hoping that the Roku NBA app would be just like their website - at least for watching video. So my dad wants to watch the NBA playoffs free stream, which he can do on an iPad, but they don't allow casting it through AirPlay to his TV. But he can access ESPN3 streams via the Roku box.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We have a smart TV with Roku built in and really like the interface.

There's also a Roku channel that's free and has lots of movies and shows to watch. We can also access it on our Amazon Fire Stick and Apple TV.

 

[bcla]

We have a smart TV with Roku built in and really like the interface.

There's also a Roku channel that's free and has lots of movies and shows to watch. We can also access it on our Amazon Fire Stick and Apple TV.

I believe it's free as long as one signs in to a Roku account, and can be watched on a web browser. Not sure if it requires an app on a phone or tablet.

https://therokuchannel.roku.com