Freezing on Max and newest 4K and Max version Firesticks explained.

Regarding the issues with the Amazon 4K Max, and newest release of the Amazon 4K and Max version.

First I am going to explain how we get these movies and series and how they work. I am going to try to explain this is to everyone in a way most people can understand. In order for us to stream movies and series they need to be turned into digital files. Then those digital files are uploaded onto Torrent sites so people like us can watch them. These digital files contain a video codec and a audio codec. There are 3 major codec that are used for most of these digital files. Over the years the codec have been updated and I will explain below what those are.

H.264 codec was released in 2003. This codec was used for majority of digital files before 2003 right up to 2013. There is many versions of this codec because they updated the codec constantly over those 10 years.

H.265 codec was released in 2013. Most digital files were used with this codec after 2013 but some digital files were still using the H.264 codec shortly after 2013.

H.266 codec was released in 2017 and finalized in 2020. This codec is not commonly used but you still will see some digital files using this codec.

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When using your VOD account most movies and series that were released before 2013 on Torrents used the H.264 codec (and some after 2013). This is the codec that is causing the issues for the Max and new versions of the 4K and Max version of the Firestick. The issue is that the movie or series will play for approximately 10-15mins then the video will freeze and the audio will keep going. For some reason these versions will not play these file types properly. I have done as much research on this as I can and it turns out this is a issue for every person that is using these firestick versions. This issue is happening on Netflix and Amazon Prime as well. NOT just our VOD. This issue has been reported numerous times to Amazon in hopes of them fixing the issue but they haven't. You would think they would have fixed this issue in the release of the new versions but they didn’t. Now some of you are thinking why doesn’t it do it on the original 4K Firestick. I don’t have that answer but what I can tell you is this issue is only on the versions that were released after the original 4K Firestick.

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I have spent 2 days so far testing different settings and methods to try to figure a way around this. I think I have figured out a easy solution to fix the freezing on these older movies and series. The only thing is... I need to keep testing it tho so I know it won’t affect the newer movies and series that are using the newer codec. I hope to have my testing done in the next few days. I don’t want to release the fix until I know if it’s working properly. I do have a few people helping me test out the fix now.

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Versions of Firesticks below:

*Amazon Firestick: Released in 2014. They have a few versions of this one. Will not play 4K files. This firestick will play H.264 codec but has issues playing H.265 and H.266 codec. Stay away from this one.

*Amazon Firestick Lite: Released in 2020. This is a updated version of the one above. Will not play 4K files. Will play the H.264, H.265, and H266 codec. Stay away from this one although it will still work.

*Amazon Firestick 4K: Released in 2018. There is a few versions of this one. Will play 4K files and all codec. This is the one to buy.

*Amazon Firestick 4K Max: Released in 2021. This version has the issue playing the H.254 codec. This version is known to drop internet connections on certain peoples internet setups. May have something to do with older modems. Stay away

*Amazon Firestick 4K: Released in 2023. This version has the issue playing the H.254 codec. Stay away.

*Amazon Firestick 4K Max: Released in 2023. This version has the issue playing the H.254 codec. Stay away.