'It can't be played' Amazon warns of four Fire TV errors blocking 4K
AMAZON has revealed the common mistakes that prevent you from 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 have the right setup.
The first thing you need to check is whether your Amazon Fire TV device actually supports 4K video.
It's possible – and even likely – that you bought a regular Amazon Fire TV Stick or box that doesn't deliver 4K.
Make sure your Amazon Fire TV device has the 4K, UHD, or Ultra HD branding on the box or you're out of luck.
You can also look up the model number online to check.
Secondly, you need to make sure that your TV itself has a 4K resolution.
If your TV's resolution only lists HD (or 720p) or Full HD (or 1080p), you won't be able to watch 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 & Sound > Audio/Video Diagnostics.
Third, Amazon recommends making sure your connections are set up correctly.
For example, check your TV's picture input settings to ensure it is 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 are using a high-speed HDMI cable. Try disconnecting and reconnecting the HDMI cable.”
And the company notes: “Sometimes your Fire TV device will stream at 1080p 60 Hz for smoother playback if you have a 4K 30 Hz Dolby Vision TV.
“Your TV may 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 to Display & Sounds.
“If the resolution you want to use is not detected, it cannot be played with your current equipment configuration.”
As for connections, it is important that you have a sufficiently high internet speed.
For example, here are Netflix's internet speed recommendations:
- High Definition (HD) – 3 Mbps or higher
- Full High Definition (FHD) – 5 Mbps or higher
- Ultra High Definition (UHD) – 15 Mbps or higher
And the last mistake you may make is choosing the content you want to watch.
There is a huge amount of 4K footage online these days, but not everything is available in such a high resolution.
It's entirely possible that you're just trying to watch something that isn't yet available in 4K.
Or perhaps you rented or purchased a lower-resolution version of a movie at a lower price than the full 4K download.