WatchESPN Picture Flicker/Jerking

Well everybody has come to the conclusion that nobody knows what my problem with the ESPN app is. Roku doesn't know, ESPN doesn't know, AT&T doesn't know and I don't know either. It is not a buffering issue, because even on 2.4 GHZ it is showing on my ROKU that I'm getting 65 to 75 mbps. So now even ESPN agrees that it is not a buffering issue, and a lack of speed. AT&T said it is a frame issue, and it appears like it is trying to refresh the picture every few seconds. Too bad I don't tune into the ESPN App to watch the commercial ads because they are in brilliant HD quality. Any prerecorded programs look OK. It's only a problem with live programming. I may try a firestick and see if that solves it. Even one tech told me it could be my HDTV (lol), but the problem there is that live programming on the ESPN App is the only video issue I have. Oh, and the second tech, I talked with at ESPN today told me that they had not had any problem with their app. I guess she doesn't google search ESPN and complaints, or issues

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Originally Posted by RocketDawg

That's probably the problem. I have the cheapest early Roku stick, not much bigger than a regular flash drive, so I may go ahead and upgrade. My son has a Firestick but I'll probably stick with the Roku Ultima or whatever it's called. It takes a couple of minutes from the time I start to the time I'm watching a game ... surely the more expesinve, newer one is faster.

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I think you were the one who mentioned in an earlier thread sometime back, that the volume on the ROKU was a lot louder than on the tv provider channels. Mine was too, but you should be able to go to Settings on your ROKU and lower the volume. Mine was defaulted to high. I switched it to medium.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

I think you were the one who mentioned in an earlier thread sometime back, that the volume on the ROKU was a lot louder than on the tv provider channels. Mine was too, but you should be able to go to Settings on your ROKU and lower the volume. Mine was defaulted to high. I switched it to medium.

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Just checked, and the only thing mine has is "Menu Volume", which only controls the loudness of the clicks when you press a button.

Comments from the ROKU Forum -Deja vu

2016
Internet issues would manifest as buffering a reduction in screen resolution, not constant choppiness. This is clearly not an internet speed issue. And as mentioned, other apps do not have this issue.

I'm watching the Hawaii / Cal game now and EUREKA! 60fps is now coming through on both Roku and my Android phone. This is without updating either of the apps, so I'm guessing that up until recently, there was some preprocessing or bandwidth control being done on ESPN's side to limit video feeds to 30fps on streaming devices. Wish ESPN could've just admitted that they weren't outputting at 60fps instead of blaming it on my net speed.

2018
Watching the Jets/Lions game tonight and it is chop city. Funny thing is, all the commercials are perfectly smooth, so it’s only the game feed that is horribly choppy with an unacceptable frame rate. This tells me it’s not the ESPN Roku channel itself, but rather the way they are transcoding/interfacing with the channel from the cameras on the field.


This shows that it is a frame issue just like the tech told me yesterday. So in other words if ESPN is using the 30fps then it is choppy because they can't keep up with the HDTV's refresh rate, and the choppiness is due to this. I may contact ROKU chat and let them know what I have learned, and tell them that this is not a new issue.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

Comments from the ROKU Forum -Deja vu

2016
Internet issues would manifest as buffering a reduction in screen resolution, not constant choppiness. This is clearly not an internet speed issue. And as mentioned, other apps do not have this issue.

I'm watching the Hawaii / Cal game now and EUREKA! 60fps is now coming through on both Roku and my Android phone. This is without updating either of the apps, so I'm guessing that up until recently, there was some preprocessing or bandwidth control being done on ESPN's side to limit video feeds to 30fps on streaming devices. Wish ESPN could've just admitted that they weren't outputting at 60fps instead of blaming it on my net speed.

2018
Watching the Jets/Lions game tonight and it is chop city. Funny thing is, all the commercials are perfectly smooth, so it’s only the game feed that is horribly choppy with an unacceptable frame rate. This tells me it’s not the ESPN Roku channel itself, but rather the way they are transcoding/interfacing with the channel from the cameras on the field.


This shows that it is a frame issue just like the tech told me yesterday. So in other words if ESPN is using the 30fps then it is choppy because they can't keep up with the HDTV's refresh rate, and the choppiness is due to this. I may contact ROKU chat and let them know what I have learned, and tell them that this is not a new issue.

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Sounds like that's the crux of the issue. But we're getting 1 frame every 2 or 3 seconds as opposed to 30 or 60 fps. Sometimes it's one frame every 10 seconds or so - basically, the picture freezes.

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Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Sounds like that's the crux of the issue. But we're getting 1 frame every 2 or 3 seconds as opposed to 30 or 60 fps. Sometimes it's one frame every 10 seconds or so - basically, the picture freezes.

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Mine doesn't freeze up. It just gives a herky jerky movement on any action (talking, body movement, etc.), and you will get a headache from trying to watch it.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

My ROKU stick had good HD quality video on the ESPN App until the FL baseball series last weekend. The technical service rep for ESPN told me that the ESPN App. was the most cumulative App out there. When my internet download and upload speeds became erratic was when I had a problem with the ESPN App. Prior to then great HD quality when my download and upload speeds were 120 t0 125 mbps.

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Well, step one is slowing your speed up when checking out ABC ESPN stuff. Thanks for the ability for companies to throttle other companies apps. Probably doesn't have anything to do with it, but maybe.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

Mine doesn't freeze up. It just gives a herky jerky movement on any action (talking, body movement, etc.), and you will get a headache from trying to watch it.

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Mine has frozen a couple of times. One time of note was a women's basketball game a month or so ago. It finally righted itself, but was like that about half the game. It sounds like the model of Roku might make a difference.

This is off the ROKU site-

Why is video jerky when watching a movie or video?
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When auto-adjust display refresh rate is disabled, your 4K capable Roku player outputs all content at 60fps. A movie filmed at 24fps, or a video shot at 25fps may exhibit subtle jerkiness due to the conversion to 60fps. To avoid this behavior, follow the steps listed above and enable auto-adjust display refresh rate.

I just ordered the ROKU Ultra. You can also use it wired with an Ethernet connection which gives the best connection and no interference, like Wifi can. If that doesn't solve my issue then I will return it back to Amazon where a bought my current ROKU Stick.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

This is off the ROKU site-

Why is video jerky when watching a movie or video?
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When auto-adjust display refresh rate is disabled, your 4K capable Roku player outputs all content at 60fps. A movie filmed at 24fps, or a video shot at 25fps may exhibit subtle jerkiness due to the conversion to 60fps. To avoid this behavior, follow the steps listed above and enable auto-adjust display refresh rate.

I just ordered the ROKU Ultra. You can also use it wired with an Ethernet connection which gives the best connection and no interference, like Wifi can. If that doesn't solve my issue then I will return it back to Amazon where a bought my current ROKU Stick.

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Oddly enough, I just ordered one too from Amazon. I probably should have gone to Best Buy and got one (same price) to support local business, but I've been sickly today and didn't feel like going to the store. My goals are hopefully better response time for loading, ability to use Ethernet connection, and 4K HDR. I won't send it back unless it doesn't work properly ... just use it for the main television and move the cheap stick to the bedroom.

To use Ethernet, I'll have to get a splitter cable since I have it connected to my Dish Hopper and there's only one Ethernet port downstairs. My Wifi is pretty good though.

I got the ROKU Ultra which is supposed to auto adjust to the program refresh rate. It may be slightly better , but it is still a crappy herky jerky piece of crap on live ESPN App videos. It is worse on some cameras and distances than others. I called ESPN this afternoon again, and waited on the line for around 30 minutes and never got a tech, or not even a recording to leave my number and they would call back. After I had waited 5 minutes or so, I got a recording that said we are sorry for the delay , but we are experiencing a high number of calls, but please remain on the line. After that recording it was only distorted music on the line. This definitely is a frame issue, with ROKU and ESPN as others around the country have had these same problems, and it started the same time ours' did. I was kinda hoping I would get that tech who told me earlier last week that my problem was internet speed and they had no issues with their app.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

I got the ROKU Ultra which is supposed to auto adjust to the program refresh rate. It may be slightly better , but it is still a crappy herky jerky piece of crap on live ESPN App videos. It is worse on some cameras and distances than others. I called ESPN this afternoon again, and waited on the line for around 30 minutes and never got a tech, or not even a recording to leave my number and they would call back. After I had waited 5 minutes or so, I got a recording that said we are sorry for the delay , but we are experiencing a high number of calls, but please remain on the line. After that recording it was only distorted music on the line. This definitely is a frame issue, with ROKU and ESPN as others around the country have had these same problems, and it started the same time ours' did. I was kinda hoping I would get that tech who told me earlier last week that my problem was internet speed and they had no issues with their app.

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I got my Roku Ultra hooked up yesterday, and am watching a little of tonight's game and sure enough, it's jerky. With my old non-4K Roku, it wasn't jerky but would pause for a second or two, and sometimes even freeze. So I think what you posted is true ... it's trying to upcovert to 60 fps and the ESPN output is only 30 fps. I'm not sure how to do the auto-correct fix.

One thing to ask you: Are you getting a 60fps connection? I'm not. I went and bought a Premium HDMI 2.2 capable cable, and the hookup is listed as only 30fps. My television should be 2.2 capable, since it's only a year or so old. It's a 65" LG OLED HDR. The HDMI inputs are not labeled as being HDCP 2.2 capable, but looking on the Crutchfield site, it says that all the HDMIs on my set are 2.2. I never could find the specs in the online LG manual.

Are you getting a 60fps connection?

The new Ultra is considerably faster to load things than my old stick was.

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Originally Posted by RocketDawg

I got my Roku Ultra hooked up yesterday, and am watching a little of tonight's game and sure enough, it's jerky. With my old non-4K Roku, it wasn't jerky but would pause for a second or two, and sometimes even freeze. So I think what you posted is true ... it's trying to upcovert to 60 fps and the ESPN output is only 30 fps. I'm not sure how to do the auto-correct fix.

One thing to ask you: Are you getting a 60fps connection? I'm not. I went and bought a Premium HDMI 2.2 capable cable, and the hookup is listed as only 30fps. My television should be 2.2 capable, since it's only a year or so old. It's a 65" LG OLED HDR. The HDMI inputs are not labeled as being HDCP 2.2 capable, but looking on the Crutchfield site, it says that all the HDMIs on my set are 2.2. I never could find the specs in the online LG manual.

Are you getting a 60fps connection?

The new Ultra is considerably faster to load things than my old stick was.

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Not sure on that. I'll have to check on it. Mine went crazy tonight. Even the commercial ads had refresh issues. The TV screen would blank out (solid blue color) and then the ads would become herky jerky. Then they may blank out again and clear up (weird). I got the error message that this was not a part of my tv package. I have gotten that several times over the last week. I even got a message that I had too much concurrent streaming , and I was being logged out because I had exceeded my limit (whatever that means), and if I had any questions to contact ESPN. I have been in contact with ROKU Support and sent them a lot of info. We will see what happens. I am going to contact ESPN again.


Was your Ultra in a package or packing box? They just stuck the shipping sticker on the actual ROKU box. So mine could have gotten banged around in transit.

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

Not sure on that. I'll have to check on it. Mine went crazy tonight. Even the commercial ads had refresh issues. The TV screen would blank out (solid blue color) and then the ads would become herky jerky. Then they may blank out again and clear up (weird). I got the error message that this was not a part of my tv package. I have gotten that several times over the last week. I even got a message that I had too much concurrent streaming , and I was being logged out because I had exceeded my limit (whatever that means), and if I had any questions to contact ESPN. I have been in contact with ROKU Support and sent them a lot of info. We will see what happens. I am going to contact ESPN again.


Was your Ultra in a package or packing box? They just stuck the shipping sticker on the actual ROKU box. So mine could have gotten banged around in transit.

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My Ultra was in its own sealed box, then that was put in a larger cardboard box with air pillow packing around it. I got two things on Monday and both were shipped via the Post Office: One was the Roku, and it's a good thing it was packaged well because they'd beat it up a bit. The Roku box didn't have a dent on it though. Second was two half-gallons of maple syrup I ordered from a place in Vermont. They were in a Priority Mail box, and the box was almost destroyed. One edge was completely split open, but the syrup was amazingly intact.

The only problem I had with the Ultra last night was a jerky picture. The commercials were smooth, but I didn't watch much of the game because of the jerkiness. All other things (YouTube, Netflix, etc.) on Roku are just fine. I may have to go back to watching games on my old Roku stick; it'd freeze sometimes, but wasn't a constant jerky movement. We most likely wouldn't even need Roku if you could put the ESPN app as one of the smart TV apps, but I don't think ESPN allows TV manufacturers to do that.

I think I'll contact LG to make sure my HDMI inputs are of the proper type. Even though I bought it a year ago, I've heard since that it's a 2017 model (Best Buy didn't tell me that), but also name brand televisions made since about 2013 are supposed to have at least one 2.2-capable input for 60 fps HD HDR.

One thing I tried ... thought I'd use my Apple earbuds with the Ultra remote since they are much higher quality than the "free" ones. They don't work for some reason, even though they both have the same jack. You have to use the ones that came with the Ultra if you want to use headphones, or at least some others that are compatible.

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Originally Posted by RocketDawg

My Ultra was in its own sealed box, then that was put in a larger cardboard box with air pillow packing around it. I got two things on Monday and both were shipped via the Post Office: One was the Roku, and it's a good thing it was packaged well because they'd beat it up a bit. The Roku box didn't have a dent on it though. Second was two half-gallons of maple syrup I ordered from a place in Vermont. They were in a Priority Mail box, and the box was almost destroyed. One edge was completely split open, but the syrup was amazingly intact.

The only problem I had with the Ultra last night was a jerky picture. The commercials were smooth, but I didn't watch much of the game because of the jerkiness. All other things (YouTube, Netflix, etc.) on Roku are just fine. I may have to go back to watching games on my old Roku stick; it'd freeze sometimes, but wasn't a constant jerky movement. We most likely wouldn't even need Roku if you could put the ESPN app as one of the smart TV apps, but I don't think ESPN allows TV manufacturers to do that.

I think I'll contact LG to make sure my HDMI inputs are of the proper type. Even though I bought it a year ago, I've heard since that it's a 2017 model (Best Buy didn't tell me that), but also name brand televisions made since about 2013 are supposed to have at least one 2.2-capable input for 60 fps HD HDR.

One thing I tried ... thought I'd use my Apple earbuds with the Ultra remote since they are much higher quality than the "free" ones. They don't work for some reason, even though they both have the same jack. You have to use the ones that came with the Ultra if you want to use headphones, or at least some others that are compatible.

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I don't think any equipment that we have, or don't have is the issue. ESPN told me that they had not made any changes prior to or since I had experienced the problems,and prior to March 15th (when I first noticed the glitch) my picture quality had been HD. So I don't see how the HDMI connection could have become an issue. Based upon what ESPN told me. I did get an email from ROKU today and the ROKU Service Support Rep (that I had been in contact with since March 15th), told me that they were transferring this to their Concerned Group to investigate the matter, and they would update me once they got a response from that group. I had sent them a lot of correspondence on what I experienced , what I had done etc. She said that was valuable feedback, and gave them an idea of what the problem was, but they were already aware that there was a problem. My Ultra could have gotten damaged in transit, with all that crazy stuff (blanking out, etc) that happened last night, but it didn't appear to be. I don't like this sending electronics in the original retail box only, with no bubble wrap or any type of protection, and just slapping a shipping sticker on the box, but maybe they thought the retail box was protection enough. Mine was the two day shipping by air. Enough said about the careful handling. lol :(

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Originally Posted by yjnkdawg

I don't think any equipment that we have, or don't have is the issue. ESPN told me that they had not made any changes prior to or since I had experienced the problems,and prior to March 15th (when I first noticed the glitch) my picture quality had been HD. So I don't see how the HDMI connection could have become an issue. Based upon what ESPN told me. I did get an email from ROKU today and the ROKU Service Support Rep (that I had been in contact with since March 15th), told me that they were transferring this to their Concerned Group to investigate the matter, and they would update me once they got a response from that group. I had sent them a lot of correspondence on what I experienced , what I had done etc. She said that was valuable feedback, and gave them an idea of what the problem was, but they were already aware that there was a problem. My Ultra could have gotten damaged in transit, with all that crazy stuff (blanking out, etc) that happened last night, but it didn't appear to be. I don't like this sending electronics in the original retail box only, with no bubble wrap or any type of protection, and just slapping a shipping sticker on the box, but maybe they thought the retail box was protection enough. Mine was the two day shipping by air. Enough said about the careful handling. lol :(

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Did you order from Amazon? Packing may depend on where the "fulfillment center" is located. Mine comes out of Lexington, and they tend to package things pretty well. In fact, the box they sent it in would have held several Ultra boxes. I hope they get the jerky motion issue solved soon. I pretty much had to quit watching the game last night. The blanking out you're experiencing sounds like either transit damage or a defective unit.

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Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Did you order from Amazon? Packing may depend on where the "fulfillment center" is located. Mine comes out of Lexington, and they tend to package things pretty well. In fact, the box they sent it in would have held several Ultra boxes. I hope they get the jerky motion issue solved soon. I pretty much had to quit watching the game last night. The blanking out you're experiencing sounds like either transit damage or a defective unit.

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Yep! My thinking too. Mine was shipped from Lexington, KY too, with two day delivery by the USPS. Since I posted the above the Customer Support Rep has emailed me again wanting more information. Like Serial Number, Channel Version, Software version, Last Software Update, and Issue ID (which I had to punch different buttons a set number of times to get the ID to show). She said this would escalate the case for their engineering team to investigate, and reach a resolution. So it has been sent. I think the Issue ID shows them where the issue is occurring, or the type of issue, but I'm not certain on that.

I'm not really watching the game this afternoon, but I just pulled it up using Roku and the jerky movement seems to have cleared up.

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Originally Posted by RocketDawg

I'm not really watching the game this afternoon, but I just pulled it up using Roku and the jerky movement seems to have cleared up.

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Yep! ROKU Support sent me an email, Thursday and said that they were escalating the case to their engineering group to investigate the issue, and would hopefully have a resolution soon.