Sounds very similar to what happens to us on a fairly regular basis. Tho usually the video just freezes, rather than getting a black screen.
So the FireTV 2 never has this issue, but the new 4K Stick is?
What stations is it happening on? How long after you start watching does it occur?
Nope, my Fire TV 2 and Fire TV 3 pendant don't exhibit this behavior.
NBC is the only channel I've tried the Channels app on with the new Fire Stick. It usually takes 5-10 mins before the video freezes. I can try other channels tonight.
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I've been using it since yesterday and it's been working great so far. It seems just as responsive as my Apple TV 4K and Nvidia Shield TV. This is the best $50 I've spent in a long time. haha 
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Now the fun starts...
I used the new 4k stick last night with my HDHR5-4US. When it runs, it does look very good and responsive as stated by others, every bit as good as my Shield. However, it soon crashed about 10 to 15 minutes in play. Image freezes and the sound continues. I tried pushing thru the freeze with the remote by using FF, pause, back, etc. Then got a black screen. Has done this now every time I use it.The black screen sometimes displayed something to the effect of "no HD homerun device found", for just a millisecond. Surround Sound option off. I still believe this is an upstream issue with my HDHR, because even with my Shield, I would occasionally get a freeze and then the purple timeline bar would show on top of the frozen image.Or it would pause with this and then move on by itself. The new stick just seems to be more sensitive to it. I have outstanding internet and have 1 of the Shields on Ethernet, with the same Shield response, thus my worry about the Quartro processing in all of this.
New 4K stick does stream all of the other contents just fine, btw
I was able to reproduce a video freeze after about 35min of watching NBC. It seems specific to this device. Now that I can catch it myself hopefully I can get to the bottom of what's going on and fix it.
@oldairdude Was it happening on specific stations for you more than others?
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Frankly, I am not sure, however I will try several tonight. Here in Dallas we have an issue with ABC WFAA 8.1 with some image motion issues. Oddly the stick looked good on this station with that issue! but the freezing is all new. That was the station I was watching mostly last night. I will try other stations to see if it has anything to do with that.
If you mean on the SHIELD, that's probably due to a known nvidia decoder bug. You can change the decoder in the latest beta on the Player tab to Software and it will probably fix it.
I'm trying to figure out if the freezing is specific to 1080i channels (NBC, CBS) or affects 720p as well (ABC, FOX).
Ok, I will try that, as that is the issue I am having with the shield. By player do you mean the channels app on the shield itself or the channels dvr web settings. I am running with all of the latest software. Also how would you get the beta? Thanks.
In the Channels DVR app on the SHIELD, go down to Settings > Player and click on Decoder to change to Software.
Opt-in for beta is here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.getchannels.dvr.app
@oldairdude and others: would be very helpful to know if the video freeze issue ever happens on recording playback, or if its only affecting live tv.
Just live tv for me since I don't subscribe to the DVR service. The freezing seems to only occur, so far, on my NBC (WECT 6.1) channel. I haven't been able to reproduce it watching ABC, CBS, or Fox.
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Last night I found that in DFW I could watch 4.1 KDFW Fox (which broadcasts in 720P) with no issues for 4+ hours. On 5.1 NBC KXAS (1080i), 8.1 ABC (1080i) and 11.1 CBS (1080i) all had crashes.
So you may right in this is part of the issue.
Watching a recording of a 1080i station, did not result in a crash.
Tried running without Channels with just HD homerun platform and it crashes as well just like above. Did not try a recording however.
Hmm, ABC is usually 720p.
The official HDHR app locked up the same way? Very interesting..
There does seem to be something funky going on with the deinterlacer on the new stick. Some people are reporting their CBS doesn't play back correctly. One user contacted tech support and they remote connected to his device to run some tests: https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=70081
Maybe if we do something similar with the crash they can figure out the issue and fix it for the next FireOS release.
In the DFW market ABC 8.1 has been an issue before with fast scene changes with bright graphics. Looking on website they state they broadcast at 1080i. I only ran HDHR on that channel to see if different and it crashed the same way as well, but I did not have time to check the other channels as well. Will do tonight.
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Wow, apparently WFAA is one of the few ABC stations in the country that uses 1080i. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFAA#Digital_channels
The station is one of a handful of ABC affiliates that transmits its main channel in the 1080i high definition resolution format; most of ABC's other owned-and-operated stations and affiliates transmit the digital feed assigned to carry the network's programming in 720p, the resolution designated by network parent The Walt Disney Company as the HD format for ABC and its other U.S. television properties.
EDIT: WJBF is another one (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WJBF#Digital_channels)
Can anyone else confirm that the HDHR app is freezing in the same way? I've been running NBC here for over an hour and so far it's fine..
I'll give the HDHR app a try when I get home tonight.
I bought two new 4K sticks and both have an issue with green screen. They don't freeze, they whole screen turns green and flashes. I changed the decoder to software but no difference.