*Official* Roku 2 Media Streamer Thread - Page 33

one of the nicest features on any roku is the netflix interface. most blurays only show as single line que for netflix, roku shows your que, search, popular and recently viewed videos. on top of that it shows a plethora of recommended video suggestions basted on your ratings and what you watch. my original roku went belly up a couple of mths ago. i figured no problem... my bluray has netflix. wrong. it only showed my que, i bought a roku2 xs and use it for %99 of my tv viewing.

also roku has 750 different channels. hbo go, hulu, nowheretv (for my news needs), plus a private porn channel for late night viewing are my channels


i'm not sure why roku felt the need to come out with #3, they just delete motion control and ehternet from xs and added the earphone jack (which i think is cool)

BD players launched in the last couple of years usually have this interface, in common with the PS3 and a zillion other devices. It's actually more powerful than the Roku's (some of which is rendered moot by the Roku 3's highly integrated search feature).

They didn't remove either motion control or ethernet; all they eliminated was the analog A/V cable jack, making it HDMI-only. They redesigned the motion control function to use WiFi Direct instead of Bluetooth.
Edited by michaeltscott - 3/6/13 at 2:11pm

i started at roku 3 thread so this thread stays on topic: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1461986/official-roku-3-streaming-player-theard

Ordered mine - will check your new thread...

They're there, I have one on my wishlist. I first saw it a few minutes after midnight on March 6, they've been there ever since. Here's a link.
http://www.amazon.com/Roku-4200R-3-Streaming-Player/dp/B00BGGDVOO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3JKNRS8A3RNTC&coliid=I1ROM1J2DTEZP1

I'm with you. If I decide I need another unit somewhere the house I'll pick one up. For now I don't see any compelling reason to upgrade from 2 XS

ok, just got mine, setting up....ESPN3? that would make my life sooooo much easier

People, use the Roku 3 thread please.

No. Still just web, Xbox 360 and apps for iOS and Android devices.

iPad espn3 AirPlay to AppleTV works great. Someone needs to come up with an AirPlay channel for the Roku

Walt Mossberg speculated later this year since they put some pieces in place. Not Airplay but similar technology. You don't really think Apple would license Airplay on Ruko do you? Just like you will not find Amazon Prime video on ATV.

Someone did, for Android devices at least--Playto. I'm not sure that it works with ESPN3 and I've not been impressed with video quality so I haven't bought the paid version. It's kind of cool--you just install the channel and don't have to run it. Run a video in the Android app, press a button on the screen and it pops up on your television.

The Roku app lets you display pictures and play music from your device. Hopefully someone will come up with something better.

The twonky beam app and twonky channel on ROKU works nicely. I've played videos from both the PLEX channel and thru the twonky app (able to access local content as well as from a URL with the app) and they both appear to produce the same result thru the ROKU.

Which would be "Miracast". Some were hoping that Roku 3 would have it out of the box.

With an Internet video AirPlay passes the URL of the video to the AppleTV and it plays the video directly from the web and the iOS device turns into a remote control. This eliminates a lot of the scaling problems. Newer devices can "mirrior" the devices screen which usually is not very pretty. Luckily this is in addition to normal AirPlay.

We need this type of function built into the Roku.

I searched in this thread but maybe I am overlooked it but I can't find the answer. Apologies if it was answered and I missed it.

With my Roku 2 XS box I can view Netflix and Vudu and get DD+ where available. But on Amazon neither the DD or DD+ indicator flashes on even it's clear the content is 5.1. As soon as the video starts, the AVR (a Harmon Kardon) flashes PCM 44.1 briefly in the display and then automatically applies some sort of surround enhancement. So either Amazon is only sending stereo PCM or it's decoding the 5.1 audio internally and outputting PCM rather than bitstream. Or possibly Amazon thinks my bandwidth is insufficient and only sending down stereo audio?

The last possibility seems remote given I can watch Netflix in 1080p DD+ and watch Vudu in HDX with DD+ and no buffering.

Have I missed something here?

Thanks

It can only pass through DD. Your last hypothesis seems most likely.

Keep starting/stopping different HD 5.1 titles and see if you can get 5.1 to play.

Also get the speedcheck app.

In what way is it "clear the content is 5.1"? Does the description of the title have the "5.1))" logo? If not, the sound is stereo. Most streaming content which originally had 5.1 sound and is being presented by the service in stereo has intact matrixed Dolby Pro Logic elements which your AVR can detect and process, which can sound pretty good. If a title's description does have the surround sound logo then you should be getting basic Dolby Digital (not Plus). If you're a Prime member, try playing Super 8--the train crash sequence about 17 minutes in has a lot of punch and sharp surround imaging.

Just to answer all the questions.

1. The content is 5.1 since Amazon displays 5.1 on the video summary page. And the same content plays 5.1 (the AVR shows Dolby Digital) when using a Sony BDP-S390 BD player connected to a different (Pioneer) AVR. As a matter of interest I was testing using Transformer Dark of the Moon

2. I will check out Super 8 but as I note in 1. I am playing 5.1 content

3. Where is the speedcheck app? I presume you don't mean the normal speedtest.net?

4. I turned on debugging in the Roku and when it starts I have seen messages like playing 1.2mbs content on your 2.2mbs network. Now I think they mean Mbs (Megabits/sec) but whatever, their requirement is exceeded by what my network is providing so I presume the audio is not being limited by bandwidth.

Not that it's particularly relevant given different CDN's etc but this is what the Vudu speedtest gives me. This shows that my Internet connection is reasonable according to them and from what I experience. Pity Vudu costs money where Amazon Prime is free.

Then I've got no explanation; my Roku 2 XS has always output basic DD 5.1 for Amazon titles which feature it, when connected to either my Onkyo or my Sony AVR. Perhaps it has something to do with your AVR. I assume that you have surround sound set in the Roku's Audio Mode setting. Have you tried moving the Roku to your Pioneer AVR and seeing what you get when it's connected to it?

https://owner.roku.com/add/speedtest

This will get you a channel that will test throughput to some nearby server (it will locate a list of them and give you a choice, the default being what it thinks is the closest). Testing speed with some other device is not necessarily an indicator of what you'll get on the Roku.

Has anyone gotten the new interface for this yet? Heard it was due in April and the month is almost over. Nothing here, my XS claims it is up to date.

No one has seen it yet, other than beta testers. Every place that they've announced that the new interface is coming to 2nd gen Rokus they've said something different as to when. The e-mail that they sent to owners in late March said, "within a few weeks", the shop.roku.com page says "by May 20", the March 6th Roku 3 Product Announcement PR says, "in April", the Products Page says by May 2013" and a recent developer e-mail says "by the end of May" :roll:. It's a truly masterful job of obfuscation .

It'll roll out when it rolls out.

A Roku official just posted today on their Facebook page that they would begin rolling it out in early May and have it completed by the end of the month.

No sweat, not even a rush. Works wonderfully as is actually. But you know how it is, even if it is not necessary, but a free 'upgrade' is announced, we WANT IT NOW! Thanks guys!

I think it's very necessary. At least to anyone that has a bunch of apps. The old version takes a long time to go through and find the app you want. While the new one is much quicker since it shows several rows of three apps at once.

You can fast forward several channels at once with the fast forward button (not the arrows), plus group them into a more logical order if you use the * button in the side scrolling menu.

Yes, it still takes longer for me to get to them than with the newer interface with my Roku 3.

What? 3 seconds?

Website states "May 2013"...

They've recently stated that the roll out of the new UI will begin in early May and be finished by the end of May. Some have already reported receiving it in the Roku forums.