16 replies to this topic

[tonino]

Hello everybody.
First of all;, I would like to say that I am a new Plex user and that I am really thrilled with this Media Center : incredible visuals, all media at the same place .. To put it in a nutshell GREAT !
However I have a little problem : Sometimes, it seems that the video is stuttering (blocked at on frame) while the sound is going on smoothly. After one second, the video accelerates to catch up with the sound and it comes back to normal. That's not a critical bug but it's a bit annoying and it's the only weak spot I have found in PLEX (that's why I really want to fix it).

My configuration is the following :
iMac 27 inches (late 2009) with 3,06 Ghz processor, and 4 GB of RAM. OS : 10.6.3
I am using a secondary screen connected to my Imac via a DVI-HDMI cable. I have tried to set it at 50Hz and 60 Hz but it does not change anything about the stuttering. My cache is set to the minimum (but I have also tried it set to maximum and it does not change). It is also not depending on the file size ... happens with 175Mb episodes or with 4Gb movies, and the time when it happens during the video is not always the same (sometimes after 10 minutes, sometimes after 30).

I have tried to play the files with VLC on my secondary screen and everything works ok (no stuttering). So I guess that's not coming from my iMac. It also seems to depend on the files : I am currently watching old seasons of The Sopranos and I don't have any issue. Can it be connected to new divx format which may not be taken into account correctly by Plex ? Wondering ...

I have seen in this forum various topics about this kind of issue, but nothing seemed satisfying to solve the issue.

I would really appreciate if someone who had the problem managed to solve it (and if he can tell me how).

Thanks in advance for your help .. I am desperate to find a workaround to my problem.
Bye for now.

[tonino]

Anyone ?? I am still faing the issue.
Thanks again for your help.

[phunkysai]

It seems to be an ongoing issue for some of us that doesn't have a fix at the moment, because I'm still experiencing the same thing...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong....

[boots2x]

It seems to be an ongoing issue for some of us that doesn't have a fix at the moment, because I'm still experiencing the same thing...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong....

I have this issue with 1080p movies. I re-render everything down to 1440x816(ish) and everything plays smoothly. I also can't play the 1080p files cleanly with VLC or Mplayer either so I assume it's something to do with the underlying libraries or that my old 17" C2Duo iMac doesn't have the grunt. For what it's worth, I can't tell the difference between the 1080p and 1440 images on-screen. I chose 1440 cause it was the lowest image size I could drop to without noticing any image degradation.

Give that a bash!

[zank]

this (or a similar issue) started for me with the last couple of releases. i have a core2duo 2 ghz mac mini, with 4 gb ram which by some accounts is underpowered, but it used to play my 1080p's flawlessly. no stuttering, no slowmotion or sound sync issues. then at some point in past couple of releases it started with all these problems. in all fairness, i dont think vlc ever played my media flawlessly yet plex was the only program that was able to. which is whats so frustrating and annoying that it started doing this too. not sure waht the issue is, i remmeber at some point in the older series plex moved tempoarily to a newer version of ffmpeg and i had similar issues. maybe thats waht happened. xbmx plays the media fine, but still not as great as plex was able to play it in the good releases but better than plex plays right now. i hope whatever is causing this problem can be fixed soon.

[jeff526]

Hello everybody.
First of all;, I would like to say that I am a new Plex user and that I am really thrilled with this Media Center : incredible visuals, all media at the same place .. To put it in a nutshell GREAT !
However I have a little problem : Sometimes, it seems that the video is stuttering (blocked at on frame) while the sound is going on smoothly. After one second, the video accelerates to catch up with the sound and it comes back to normal. That's not a critical bug but it's a bit annoying and it's the only weak spot I have found in PLEX (that's why I really want to fix it).

My configuration is the following :
iMac 27 inches (late 2009) with 3,06 Ghz processor, and 4 GB of RAM. OS : 10.6.3
I am using a secondary screen connected to my Imac via a DVI-HDMI cable. I have tried to set it at 50Hz and 60 Hz but it does not change anything about the stuttering. My cache is set to the minimum (but I have also tried it set to maximum and it does not change). It is also not depending on the file size ... happens with 175Mb episodes or with 4Gb movies, and the time when it happens during the video is not always the same (sometimes after 10 minutes, sometimes after 30).

I have tried to play the files with VLC on my secondary screen and everything works ok (no stuttering). So I guess that's not coming from my iMac. It also seems to depend on the files : I am currently watching old seasons of The Sopranos and I don't have any issue. Can it be connected to new divx format which may not be taken into account correctly by Plex ? Wondering ...

I have seen in this forum various topics about this kind of issue, but nothing seemed satisfying to solve the issue.

I would really appreciate if someone who had the problem managed to solve it (and if he can tell me how).

Thanks in advance for your help .. I am desperate to find a workaround to my problem.
Bye for now.

Im having the same issue; did you find a fix for this
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php?/topic/15036-choppy-playback-when-using-fullscreen-on-secondary-monitor/\

If I set the displays to mirrored the stutter is solved.
However because i cannot turnoff the monitor on my iMac I would prefer to not have what is playing downstairs broadcast upstairs

[Harlon]

I have a particular version of this problem...

Sometimes when watching an avi (usually of a TV episode) within the first minute or two of the video, I get that one-to-two-second freeze while audio continues. Then, as described by the OP, the video comes "unstuck" and catches up to the audio. The thing is, when it happens, it only happens once; never twice or more. It only happens very early in the video. It doesn't happen on every video.

I assumed it had something to do with buffering the file, but I only thought that because the file comes from a file server in the basement. I mention it here only to add my datapoint in case it helps someone to a diagnosis.

Running on last year's Macbook Pro; files are 720p or less. The Mac has plenty of power to run the files otherwise.

H.

[demoni]

I have the same problem. But only on 1080p files. I've heard of people getting these "stutters" on .avi and DVD files as well, and they're talking about switching to Boxee... I haven't considered that yet, but maybe this problem should be solved before people start abandoning Plex.

[JayBird]

Just wanted to add that i get this issue too with various different file formats and resolutions

The video will be playing nicely, then suddenly it will pause for a second or two, the audio will continue, then the video will play superfast to catch up with the audio. Only does it once per file, and it seems to happen randomly within the file i.e. it can happen at 10 mins in or 1 hour in.

EDIT: Mac Mini 2.0ghz connected to 42" Plasma as the only screen

[DyStiC]

Just wanted to add that i get this issue too with various different file formats and resolutions

The video will be playing nicely, then suddenly it will pause for a second or two, the audio will continue, then the video will play superfast to catch up with the audio. Only does it once per file, and it seems to happen randomly within the file i.e. it can happen at 10 mins in or 1 hour in.

EDIT: Mac Mini 2.0ghz connected to 42" Plasma as the only screen

I also have this problem, for quite some time actually (also in the versions before 8.5). Lots of people experience this stuttering, look for the past topics regarding this problem, there are loads.
However i don't think the dev's have found the problem yet.

It might be linked to this problem: Video stutter is caused by memory usage, there seems to be a serious memory leak in plex causing the stuttering. Maybe you guys can check your system resources when the stuttering occurs (minimize Plex using the \ key).
I guess the dev's are to busy with the library right now, although i think video playback should get higher priority. What's the use of a great library if you can't even playback video without problems.

[ix400]

I guess the dev's are to busy with the library right now, although i think video playback should get higher priority. What's the use of a great library if you can't even playback video without problems.

... I completely agree with that.

Chris

[mwillis]

I have just started getting this annoying glitch in playback where the as described the sound plays fine but the video freezes then fast forwards to catch up, along with occasional freezing I am getting in playback through Plex (VLC handles the same files perfectly) I hope that the new Plex 0.9 does something more than just look nicer, and that they address the current playback problems...

Guess we will have to wait and see as there is no information or features roadmap.....

[Atrus]

I think you guys are misunderstanding what a revamp of the library is. It isn't about the looks of it. It's about the actual ability to smoothly use Plex. The videoplayer is being worked on as well, but it wont come in 0.9.0. It will be a bit later.

[ix400]

I think you guys are misunderstanding what a revamp of the library is. It isn't about the looks of it. It's about the actual ability to smoothly use Plex. The videoplayer is being worked on as well, but it wont come in 0.9.0. It will be a bit later.

Okay.

Do you think we will see this update in 2010?

Cheers,

Chris

[mwillis]

I think you guys are misunderstanding what a revamp of the library is. It isn't about the looks of it. It's about the actual ability to smoothly use Plex. The videoplayer is being worked on as well, but it wont come in 0.9.0. It will be a bit later.

Maybe more time should be spent on basic functionality, playing videos, and less time on the pretty features which I am sure we will be luck to see in this decade...

Yes I am looking forward to the next release, but as you said this will only focus on the library and still won't fix the current playback problems.


I think the devs might have their priorities a bit mixed up..

[Atrus]

<snip>
I think the devs might have their priorities a bit mixed up..

No, they have not. Playback is working fine for me, and for thousands of other Plex users. Some bugs exist and they will be dealt with (all in due time). If your playback aint working 100%, then you have something off, or your videos are not dandy for Plex at the moment (again, it will be dealt with in due time). Upgrade/sidegrade your videos or continue creating/reading threads which might help your particular issues.

The developers has worked a lot getting the playback working well, after over a year they decided to once and for all deal with the horrible library (to future-proof the MC).

Well, that is my view on it at least

[Nicofieu]

I'm noticing kind of the same problems but only with high bitrates movies (something like more than 13MB/Sec). What happens is that those movies play for 5-10 seconds, starts stuttering and block totally Plex, reboot needed.