‘It can’t be played’ warns Amazon over four Fire TV Stick mistakes silently blocking 4K movies and TV shows
AMAZON has revealed the common mistakes that mean you’re not getting a 4K picture.
There are plenty of reasons why you might not be seeing TV shows and movies in 4K – so make sure you’re got the right set-up.
The first thing you should check is whether your Amazon Fire TV device actually supports 4K video.
It’s possible – and even likely – that you’ve bought a regular Amazon Fire TV Stick or box that won’t deliver 4K.
Make sure that your Amazon Fire TV device has 4K, UHD, or Ultra HD branding on the box or you’re out of luck.
You can also search the model number online to check.
Secondly, you need to ensure that your TV itself has a 4K resolution.
If your TV’s resolution is only listed as HD (or 720p) or Full HD (or 1080p) then you won’t be able to view content in full 4K on it.
There’s actually a special tool built into your Amazon Fire TV device to see if it’s set up for 4K.
Just go to Settings > Display & Sounds > Audio/Video Diagnostics.
Thirdly, Amazon recommends making sure your connections are set up properly.
For instance, check your TV’s picture input settings to make sure it’s set to 4K.
Amazon adds: “Try moving your Fire TV device closer to the router or use a wired connection with an Ethernet adapter.
“Make sure you’re using a high-speed HDMI cable. Try to unplug the HDMI cable and plug it in again.”
And the company notes: “Sometimes your Fire TV device streams at 1080p 60 Hz for smoother playback if you have a 4K 30 Hz Dolby Vision TV.
“Your TV might support 4k 60 Hz resolutions with other formats. To set your resolution to 4K 60 Hz, go to Settings on your Fire TV device and then Display & Sounds.
“If the resolution you want to use isn’t detected, it can’t be played with your current equipment setup.”
On connections, it’s important that you’ve a fast-enough internet speed.
For instance, here are Netflix’s internet speed recommendations:
- High Definition (HD) – 3Mbps or higher
- Full High Definition (FHD) – 5Mbps or higher
- Ultra High Definition (UHD) – 15Mbps or higher
And the final mistake you might be making is the content you’re choosing to watch.
There is a huge amount of 4K footage online now – but not everything is available in such a high resolution.
It’s very possible that you’re just trying to watching something that isn’t available in 4K yet.
Or you may have rented or purchased a lower-resolution version of a movie at a cheaper price than the full 4K download.