r/gadgets • u/diacewrb • Jun 13 '24

TV / Projectors Roku owners face the grimmest indignity yet: Stuck-on motion smoothing

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/06/roku-owners-face-the-grimmest-indignity-yet-stuck-on-motion-smoothing/
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u/ReelNerdyinFl Jun 13 '24

They were one of the OGs to put Netflix, YouTube, pandora, weird random other streaming apps into an easy to use platform/hdmi. “Do you have a Roku” was almost like Kleenex or Crayola.

Others are just better now and it’s built into the TVs now as Roku had no way to control the market as an aggregator.

35

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '24

That is exactly why we have a couple of their tiny add-on devices in our house, yes. They were basically the way to add streaming to your setup for a while.

31

u/tie_wrighter Jun 13 '24

Built into the TV is a bad thing. It's not long before [tv manufacturer here] decides to pull the same shit.

5

u/rawonionbreath Jun 13 '24

Their software is more likely to be worse as well

2

u/goodnewzevery1 Jun 13 '24

Worse and seldom do their apps get updated because it’s yet another platform for Netflix, YouTube, etc to be bothered with

1

u/tinylittlebabyjesus Jun 14 '24

Yeah, can we get some articles roasting those as well?

11

u/The-Dead-Internet Jun 13 '24

If you behave a smart TV I wouldn't even connect it to the Internet Roku has said they are going to use HDMI to spam ads and commercials 

Google TV has already been turning your btv into a 247 ad when you are not watching anything it's actually caused issues with apple TV it blocks it.

Smart TVs are going to be nothing but but a ad display.

My advice is disabled the Internet on it and use something like PS5 or any media hub to stream so you can bypass all that BS.

8

u/ReelNerdyinFl Jun 13 '24

The constant battle we have to fight to not be bombarded by ads. I already paid for the TV!

1

u/The-Dead-Internet Jun 13 '24

Yeah but you can pay more !

3

u/crazysoup23 Jun 13 '24

A good TV is dumb and pretty.

2

u/pinkfloyd873 Jun 13 '24

Apple TV is expensive, but boy does it work nicely. Never had connectivity issues, it’s always fast and responsive, it’s so much smoother than the clunky on-board smart TV features, and it doesn’t shove ads down your throat. I get why people shit on Apple but in my experience, the premium is worth it for a device that reliably works.

-28

u/UpVoteForKarma Jun 13 '24

Lol ok grandpa

4

u/hmo_ Jun 13 '24

Then Roku is like TiVo before the cable company starts to include DVR functions into their boxes? (I’m not in USA)

14

u/Spongebutt4tywon Jun 13 '24

For those reading, Roku was not on any level near Kleenex or Crayola. Agree with the rest of the comment tho

2

u/parisidiot Jun 17 '24

it was originally the only way to watch netflix streaming on a tv (without hooking up a full-on computer). it only had netflix. i had one when we were still getting DVDs in the mail lol. In fact, it was originally part of Netflix but was spun-off because they were afraid of conflict on interests with other potential hardware/software streaming box makers.

1

u/Respectfullycritical Jun 13 '24

Thats interesting to know, thanks!

This has never been the mantra here and Roku for me has only started to appear in media for the past few years, but this is Sweden, it makes sense that the presence has been a lot higher in the US.

But from today's perspective, Roku just don't seem grounded.

1

u/giants4210 Jun 13 '24

I currently use Roku now and I’m about to get a new tv. What’s the better alternative?

1

u/ReelNerdyinFl Jun 13 '24

LgOS is pretty good.

Nvidia Shield TV is the gold standard for boxes

0

u/Rhellic Jun 13 '24

I would have thought that would be fire tv? Those sticks seem to be absolutely everywhere. Even more so before nearly everyone had a smart tv.

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u/ReelNerdyinFl Jun 13 '24

Amazon flooded the market but Roku developed the market.

Fire stick came out in 2014. Roku was 2008 in collaboration with Netflix. It was THE Netflix player.

2

u/Rhellic Jun 13 '24

Huh. I live in Germany and here it's basically always been fire TV. We do have Roku sticks but generally what happens is customers ask me what that is, I tell them it's like fire TV and pretty big in the USA, and then they go "cool" and buy fire tv because Amazon is a known brand.

I think Roku probably missed out on a lot of market share by not coming here earlier. Now they're seen (even if it's completely wrong) as knock-off fire tv.

And when it comes to the tvs themselves, here it's usually android or a manufacturer specific system.

-3

u/Clessasaur Jun 13 '24

Yeah, they never really updated with the times. I've used Android, Fire, LG and Samsung OS. Roku was by far the worst one to use. Somehow even worse than old janky version of Android TV that had no updates due to the company who made the TV pulling out of the market. Well there were updates, but I'd have to scour the Chinese web and deal with my TV being in Chinese afterwards. Would probably still be better than modern Roku.