- 4K HDR streaming appears “washed out” on some Roku TVs
- HD and SDR content seems to be fine
- The culprit may be the latest firmware update
If you’re a Roku TV owner and you think your 4K HDR streaming doesn’t look right, it could be a software fault. Since the latest software update there have been multiple reports of “washed-out” HDR across multiple streaming services.
The first reports, shared on the Roku issue tracking board and reported by The Verge, were about problems with the video while streaming from Disney Plus on TCL TVs. But more reports have since emerged of video issues with Prime Video, YouTube TV, Netflix, Apple TV Plus and others, and on Hisense Roku TVs, too.
The good news is that it’s clearly a software issue: some users reporting problems also say that their Blu-Ray players are working just fine, and others say there are no issues with non-4K HDR. So the TVs themselves appear to be okay.
What’s wrong with Roku’s streaming?
The common denominator appears to be the Roku software version 14.5, with streaming services suffering from what The Verge describes as “desaturated, almost black-and-white images” with HDR enabled. Some other users are finding their streaming video is overly bright.
It does look like there is an issue that kicks in when the video starts to stream: this post on the Roku Community pages shows the dramatic difference between affected and unaffected TVs, and replies from other affected users say that everything’s fine with the app’s menus and static images. It’s only once you start watching the actual movie or show that the problems occur.
Roku is aware of the reports, although at the time of writing it apparently hasn’t responded to press requests for comment. We’ve asked Roku directly and will update this story when we hear back.
This seems to be yet another example of automatic updates apparently introducing problems to people’s A/V kit: just a few weeks ago Samsung owners found their expensive soundbars were being bricked by a firmware update.
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