DVR slow fast forward and repeat

I have consistent issues when watching recorded shows and fast forwarding.

1.) It takes several minutes to return to the video when fast forwarding.

2.)It OFTEN plays the first couple seconds(sometimes up to ten) and skip back to the beginning. Sometimes it still do this up to 3 times in a row. 10 seconds in, skip back, 10 seconds in, skip back, etc.

This is very frustrating when watching recorded shows. Is anyone else experiencing this or has any pointers?

Thanks!

Assuming you’re talking about playback via the Roku; I have experienced the slow return to video after forwarding.  Sometimes I can forward and video starts playing right away, other times I get the delay (or it seems to hang - maybe if I waited long enough it would come back).  When there is a delay more than a 5 seconds I usually click the direction control 1 click forward or back (10 secs), this gets it to play without the wait.

I have seen the looping playback, but for me it happens only rarely.

I’ll try the direction control trick. The looping playback is absolutely maddening and actually somewhat embarrassing after you have touted Tablo to all your friends and then they see that happen.

@wolfe814 


The long return on FF/RW is usually latency related. Are you using the 720p Roku recording quality? Any chance you could try switching to it if you’re not?

The second issue - the looping behaviour you mentioned is known issue that we’re working to solve at the moment. Thanks for your patience while we work on this!

@TabloSupport - I am using the 720 quality setting (NOT 720/Roku), and sometimes when forwarding the long return is a very long return - you can let it sit there 30 secs or more.  I don’t think any quality setting should cause that much latency - we’re not talking that much data.

@mbellaire It really depends on the setup. These devices generally work very differently, they have their own bitrate limits they have to deal with, and couple that with even a small delay on the network, and it can slow things down. 


We’re always looking at ways to improve the experience at large, and this is certainly one of them. Some things, though, like the network and the hardware of other devices can lead to a complex mix.

I am currently(and was set up at the time of the recording) for 720p Roku/Chromecast. Should I switch this to just 720p?


I don’t know if this has anything to do with it, but the recording I had most trouble with was a lengthy one(SNL 40 Anniversary). It was a 3+ hour recording and EVERY FF took maybe a minute or longer to return to video.

Last night I watched a recording that was a half hour program. No issues FFing at all.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what causes the looping issue? Is this something you envision being fixed in the big Q1 release?

Thanks! Keep up the great work!

@TabloSupport - I understand what you’re saying, but this behavior is something that started with one of the software/firmware updates in the last couple of months.

@mbellaire It really depends on the setup. These devices generally work very differently, they have their own bitrate limits they have to deal with, and couple that with even a small delay on the network, and it can slow things down. 

Frankly, this sounds like a cop out. What has actually been done to alleviate this issue? Has it been fixed and just doesn’t appear in this thread?

Maybe you can provide more info about your setup so we can help.

I am running 2 Roku 3s Model 4200 and 1 Fire TV Stick, and there is no latency with FF or RW. The Roku 3s are hard wired, and the Stick is obviously WiFi.

All relevant questions:

  1. Which Roku are you using exactly?
  2. Is said Roku WiFi? Or hard wired?
  3. Is your Tablo hard wired to your router?
  4. What is the make and model of your router?
  5. What recording quality are you using?
  6. Lastly, after you hit FF and then Play, how long do you wait for it to resume? You can the timer on any cell phone for this.

Thanks!

FWIW, I have not experienced the slow fast forward for some time. Have not seen the looping problem for some time either, but I do not use the Live TV feature much.

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Agreed. This thread is over 4 months old now. Many updates to the Roku channel have been released since, Tablo firmware upgrades, etc.

Occasionally FF on the Roku will pause for a long time when returning. If you hit the left or right arrow once it will resume immediately. ( I usually use the arrows to FF/RR as I like how they work with the thumbnails).

Looping on the Roku in my experience is usually caused by a recording from a weak channel. The Roku seems to be unable to deal with the the channel breaking up and will loop back several seconds and try again. FF over the bad spot will get you going again, but the only real fix on our side is improving the reception or stop watching the weak channel. Eventually Tablo or Roku will fix the issue.

Sorry to dig into this old topic…

I’ve experienced slow fast-forward on my Roku in the last couple of weeks.
Was not that bad before, only the behavior listed in the second reply.

I can clearly see the signal being received by roku on the front panel but keeping my thumb on it just freeze the forward action and fast clicking is slow. It even continues after stopping…

If I can ask something at the same time, what’s the best box for tablo? I use a roku 1 and chromecast.

Thanks…!

If that can help, her is a video :
https://youtu.be/z3pzOqk6_zs

Roku1 is pretty old kit, mate, under powered for the high bit rate videos. I have the stick and it has never caused me problems like that.

Is that the Roku 1 or 1st gen Roku? 1st gen Roku is very old, Roku 1 not so much, I used to use my Roku 2, not the new Roku 2 (the 3rd gen), but the old Roku 2 (the 2nd gen), which is probably a bit less than the Roku 1, and I’m not talking about the refreshed new Roku 2, which was actually like a Roku 3 in performance.

I’m just glad that Roku makes everything so clear. I wonder if somebody has ever bought the same device more than once (or even a step down) due to their “clarity”.

Here is the Roku 1 I have.
It was fine before but yes Ă  bit slooowww.