The streaming superstar. With up to 1080p HD video and extended-range, dual-band wireless performance, the Roku 3 takes streaming to the next level. You can freely enjoy your own media on Roku 3.
I get a lot of conflicting reports on what the Roku 3 is capable of doing. I found a thread in hear that also talked about multiple streams causing the problem. I’ve checked many files with MediaInfo and they all show that there is only video stream and one audio stream. So after digging deeper into technical specs of the Roku 3, I found different conflicting answers. Video Support: MP4 (H.264), MOV (H.264), MKV (H.264), ASF/WMV (WMV9/VC1) and Audio Support: MP3, AAC, Dolby Digital (MP4, MOV, and MKV pass through only), DTS (MKV pass through only).
Needless to say, AVI is not included here. I chose AVI because of good compression and it is still supported in most places even though it’s very old. I also like the best audio to run through my sound system when I can. So, how to prepare your AVI videos for playback on Roku 3? Luckily, there’s a workaround that can make your movies playable on Roku 3- Encode AVI to Roku 3 officially supported MP4 videos.
The tutorial about how to convert AVI to Roku 3 supported file format
To begin, free download Brorsoft Video Converter (or the Mac version.)
The software has a codec pack that enables conversion between different video and audio file formats, it can convert AVI, MOV, MKV, FLV, MPG, etc to Roku 3 supported file format such as mp4 with the best quality.
1. Start video converter, drag and drop the AVI files to the software window to import.
2. After the files are added, click Format > Common Video and set output video format as mp4. The reason mp4 is the target format is that by packing the videos in mp4, the file size will be reasonable small and the video quality remains
Tip: There are also some optional tinkering you can take to make the videos look better on a HDTV screen, such as changing the aspect ratio or specifying the video resolution. Just click the Settings icon to do it.
3. Finally, hit the Convert button to star converting AVI to mp4 for Roku 3 playback.
After the conversion is completed, transfer the converted videos to Roku’s SD card or to a USB stick that can be attached to Roku 3 streaming player. Now you can enjoy MOV movies with Roku 3.
Quick-Learn: Is there any limitations as to the format of the USB drive?
The following USB drive format are supported by Roku, Roku 2 and Roku 3 streaming player: FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and HFS+. So, chances are actually small that Roku can’t handle your USB drive.