Poster Styles and Display Modes: Optimizing Image Sizes
Posters are the png, jpg, or gif images that are used to select a video or audio
content item from a list,
and that are displayed on various screens prior to playing the content.
Whenever possible it is important to create posters that are the exact size required
by the Roku player in order to minimize channel load times and memory use,
and to use non-SSL URLs.
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Posters that are too large will cause the channel to take a long time to start up
and the channel will behave sluggishly when the remote keys are pressed.
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Posters that are too small may appear blurry and unreadable.
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Posters that are accessed using SSL URLs (https://) will load slower,
and may cause noticeable startup delays for channels with large content lists.
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Using the recommended poster size may improve the performance of channels on older or slower Roku devices,
but for channels containing a relatively small number of posters
using a standard poster size of 800x450 instead of the recommended size will usually achieve acceptable results.
The PosterStyle and ListStyle options are pre-defined poster sizes that are used in
specific Roku screens. Not all styles are available in every screen.
The DisplayMode and ListDisplayMode options determine how a poster image
is scaled and/or cropped to fit into the rectangle specified by the selected
PosterStyle or ListStyle option.
The sizes shown in the tables below are width x height in pixels.
| PosterStyle Options for Springboard/Detail Screens |
| PosterStyle |
Recommended Size |
Description |
| multiple-portrait-generic |
142x202 |
Tall poster style. |
| rounded-rect-16x9-generic |
269x152 |
16x9 poster style. |
| rounded-square-generic |
209x209 |
Square poster style. |
| default (audio) |
188x188 |
Only available if ContentType is audio. Required for display of audio progress bar. |
| default (episode) |
264x198 |
Only available if ContentType is episode. |
| default (movie, season, or series) |
148x212 |
Only available if ContentType is movie, season, or series. |
| ListStyle Options for Horizontal Lists, Series, and MRSS Feeds |
| ListStyle |
Recommended Size |
Description |
| arced-16x9 |
385x218 |
Arced list of poster art displayed in 16x9 aspect ratio. |
| arced-landscape |
290x218 |
Arced list of poster art displayed in landscape (wide) style for 4:3 aspect ratio TV shows. |
| arced-portrait |
214x306 |
Arced list of poster art displayed in portrait (tall) style for DVDs or Movies. |
| arced-square |
300x300 |
Arced list of poster art displayed in a square frame style. |
| flat-category |
304x237 |
Flat (non-arced) list of categories. This ListStyle is often used for a channel's top level menu screen. |
| flat-episodic |
224x168 |
Flat (non-arced) list of episodes for series content such as a TV show. |
| flat-episodic-16x9 |
250x141 |
Flat (non-arced) list of episodes displayed in 16x9 aspect ratio for series content such as a TV show. |
| ListStyle Options for Vertical Lists |
| ListStyle |
Recommended Size |
Description |
| vertical-poster |
250x250 |
Poster art displayed on the right side of a Vertical List screen. Does not have a ListDisplayMode. |
| vertical-background |
Variable |
Typically this is a full screen image, less the height of the overhang. The image is aligned to top-right corner of the screen beneath the overhang. Transparency is supported. Does not have a ListDisplayMode. |
| ListStyle Options for Grids |
| ListStyle |
Recommended Size |
Description |
| flat-16x9 |
210x118 |
Grid of poster art displayed in 16x9 aspect ratio. HD grid has 5 posters across by 3 rows, SD grid has 4 posters across by 3 rows. |
| flat-landscape |
210x158 |
Grid of poster art displayed in landscape (wide) style for 4:3 aspect ratio TV shows. HD grid has 5 posters across by 3 rows, SD grid has 4 posters across by 3 rows. |
| flat-movie |
210x270 |
Grid of DVD/Movie poster art as seen in the original Netflix channel. Both HD and SD grids have 5 posters across by 2 rows. |
| flat-portrait |
210x300 |
Grid of poster art displayed in portrait (tall) style for DVDs and Movies. Both HD and SD grids have 5 posters across by 2 rows. |
| flat-square |
132x132 |
Grid of poster art displayed in a square frame style. HD grid has 7 posters across by 3 rows, SD grid has 6 posters across by 3 rows. |
| two-row-flat-landscape-custom |
266x150 |
Grid of poster art displayed in 16x9 aspect ratio. HD grid has 4 posters across by 2 rows, SD grid has 4 posters across by 2.5 rows. |
| four-column-flat-landscape |
210x118 |
Grid of poster art displayed in 16x9 aspect ratio. HD grid has 4 posters across by 3 rows, SD grid has 4 posters across by 3.5 rows. |
If variable sized posters or poster size multipliers are used in a Grid Row, then the Descriptions in the table above may be different.
For more information about how to easily create a Roku channel using Instant TV Channel,
please see this
Walk-Through.
Questions and comments about this Roku developer guide can be sent to .
