Roku Goes 4K With the Roku 4, Adding UHD Discovery and Playback

When Apple updated its Apple TV last month, people wondered why it neglected 4K video. Roku 这不是疏忽. The living room-streamer announces its Roku 4 model today, 支持4K是升级的主要原因. The Roku 4 also offers a faster processor, upgraded Wi-Fi, and a clever way to find a missing remote.

The Roku 4 is shaped differently that the company's previous models; it's both larger and flatter. No doubt this was dictated by the upgraded components which include a quad-core processor capable of 60fps 4K streaming, HDCP 2.2、光音频输出. It also comes with a bigger price tag at $129.99.

在StreamingMedia.com's demo, the Roku 4 produced a gorgeous, vivid picture. Since 4K content is still scarce, Roku makes it easy to find with a curated 4K Spotlight channel. The Roku Channel Store also includes a 4K UHD category and a 4K screen saver shows high-resolution nature scenes. The set-top box detects the TV's resolution and upscales content to look its best on higher res screens. Even people with 1080p or 720p TVs should notice streamed SD content looking better.

Roku 4遥控器很薄, 像往常一样, but owners won't need to worry about losing it thanks to the new remote finder feature. Press a button on the Roku and the remote emits a sound until it's located. That alert can be customized to match the menu theme.

Along with the set-top box, Roku will roll out a new version of its operating system, version 7. Roku's already strong content search tools are getting stronger. Follow功能, which notifies viewers when content they want to watch is available, now includes visual indicators that give people more 信息: A number shows how many updates are available, while a purple triangle lets people know which updates they haven't opened yet (see the image below).

The Roku mobile app has been upgraded with swipe functionality that offers one-touch access to more features, 比如语音搜索. The app now integrates with the Follow feature to let viewers know about new content. 观众还可以关注应用程序中的内容. At the moment they can only do this from their home network, but later this year Roku plans on untethering the app so that viewers can follow shows while away from home.

Roku 4 owners can display their 4k photos on their TV screens, 用自己的照片制作屏保. The 4K has enough storage to hold around 16 4K images.

Travelers will appreciate the new Hotel and Dorm Connect feature, which make it easy to use Rokus on networks that require signing in through a browser. Using the feature requires using a paired mobile app to sign in; the app then passes the network credentials to the Roku box.

The Roku 4 will go on sale this month, and is available for pre-order today. OS 7 will start rolling out to networked Rokus in mid-October. 几周后再来看看StreamingMedia.com的审查.