A friend of mine is using a lame ass Roku that:
*Doesnt have option to play movies in ORIGINAL format.
*Doesnt have option to select FORCE DIRECT PLAY either…
…
that’s so lame… didn’t know that was an issue where certain plex clients are limited…
that’s where this post comes into play… else i wouldnt be needing to post some silly thread…
a LIST must be made!. and i dunno squat about the hardware out there…
Anyone know of such a list floating around out there ?
@4ndroid55 said:
A friend of mine is using a lame ass Roku that:
*Doesnt have option to play movies in ORIGINAL format.
*Doesnt have option to select FORCE DIRECT PLAY either…
…
that’s so lame… didn’t know that was an issue where certain plex clients are limited…
that’s where this post comes into play… else i wouldnt be needing to post some silly thread…
a LIST must be made!. and i dunno squat about the hardware out there…Anyone know of such a list floating around out there ?
No list but my personal opinion.
You didn’t specify a budget so we can’t really help you… everyone has different priorities so different features will be important to the individual.
I don’t know which Roku your friend has, what version of the Plex client he’s running, or what misconceptions about the state of Plex players he might have.
I have a 2013 Roku 3. As shown below it has
It can quite easily play original quality at 30+ Mbps video bit rate.
How else can we help educate?
@ChuckPa said:
I don’t know which Roku your friend has, what version of the Plex client he’s running, or what misconceptions about the state of Plex players he might have.I have a 2013 Roku 3. As shown below it has
- Original Quality
- Force Direct Play
It can quite easily play original quality at 30+ Mbps video bit rate.
How else can we help educate?
ah this is good!! i told him to look around for some video option settings page.. he says he found but it was limited to 1080p at some certain bitrate and ORIGINAL was nowhere in sight. trying to get him to send me his roku model number.. but yes this helps alot! thank you very much! i’ll forward him youe roku image!
My friend has a ROKU 2 XS… is that his problem ?
I have a Roku stick that’s at least 2 years old, and it has the option to play original. It works really well, locally. Haven’t had it running remotely in over a year, so not sure how bitrate limits are going to affect it. I would guess even better, since it’s a server side setting and not a setting on the client itself.
This gets me thinking, too. Check that you don’t have a bitrate limit set on the server side, preventing him from getting original bitrates.
possibly, what version of the Roku OS is running? and what version of the Plex channel is he running on the Roku?
Is that 2 XS two generations old? (Roku has muddled their naming scheme in the past)
@4ndroid55 said:
My friend has a ROKU 2 XS… is that his problem ?
The Roku 2 XS is an older slower and less functional model than and of the newer Rokus. The Roku 3, 4, 1, 2, Premier and Ultra are all more powerful and the 1, 2, 3 and Premier are quite a bit also mostly more stable in local playback.
Also some Roku 2 XSs have a flaw that causes instability after playing local content for a medium period of time.
I had an XS and after an update to it about 2.5-3 years ago it began rebooting and/or freezing after playing for a bit. I finally mostly quit using it because it was just too unstable. About a year and a half ago I solved my problem with the XS; I sold it to someone that wanted it for the “Angry Birds” game that was included.
My recommendation is that anyone with an XS get a new Roku 2 or 3 or Premier to replace it. The Roku 3 is absolutely the most stable, versatile and usable streaming device I own.
One more thing: While it is true that the Roku line will not play every format out there the real limitation for most people is in the server. My server can transcode everything I have thrown at it and my Roku 3s play the streams without even a hiccup.
Now just for completeness: If you want a device that will direct play most everything and you want good stability and low setup issues I can recommend the Shield TV. I own Rokus, Fire TVs, Raspberry PIs and a few computers and if I was unable to use my Rokus I would, probably, use the Shield as my primary player. I have found that the Kodi plugin with the Plex for Kodi plugin works pretty well and is surprisingly versatile and easy to use and, so far, it plays everything I have thrown at it. But it is a bit pricey. If you are going to get one try to get the pro model as it is more versatile than the standard model.
Yeah my shield TV is great. I have direct play on FORCED.
Hey what about Apple TV 4 ??
Apple TV 4 can’t Direct Play either???
@4ndroid55 said:
Yeah my shield TV is great. I have direct play on FORCED.
Hey what about Apple TV 4 ??
Apple TV 4 can’t Direct Play either???
Well I don’t and won’t own anything “Apple” as I consider them worse than Microsoft. So I have no opinion or idea about what an Apple device will or won’t play.
My only real complaint about the Shield is that you cannot start playback by simply pressing play when a poster is highlighted. I have the regular Shield game controller, the Shield remote and a Fire TV remote all paired with the Shield and none of those are able to directly start playback without penetrating one extra level. The strange thing is that once you are in the “launch” screen “Play” does start playback.
I was told that play can be initiated by a double tap on the volume slider of the Shield remote but that does not work at all. With a double tap nothing ever happens form any screen.
Plex told me that they could not make the Shield play from a poster highlight BUT I do not believe that because play is clearly detected one screen lower so it should also be able to be detected when a poster is highlighted. I think the Plex folks just have not bothered because there is no real play button on the regular Shield remotes.
But this is not really the place to discuss what places the Shield inferior to the Roku but I REALLY wish that one little thing would get fixed/implemented.
