how do i get smoother or fluid video playback in vlc..[SOLVED]

[vhelp]

symtom: non fluid motion. in vlc, the video plays choppy at 59.94 frame rate.

ok, i've searched around but can't find an answer. i encode mostly to .mkv via x264cli. the origin is 29.970i captures and deinterlaced via avisynth to either 30p or 59.54p for pc playback.

however, when i play the same 59.94p videos in kmplayer, the video is silky smooth, like watching on my old interlaced tv.
also, when i encode to 30p, both vlc and kmplayer are silky smooth.

so what other hidden settings do i need to jiggle in vlc player to get the same fluid motion as in kmplayer ?

if need be i can upload a short .mkv video, but i seriously doubt it is the problem.

thank you in advance.

[Baldrick]

Upload a sample.

[poisondeathray]

it probably isn't an issue with the video if kmplayer can play it smoothly

did you try different VLC version? Some versions (e.g. 2.0.1) were known to have playback problems

[vhelp]

yes, i think i d/l 'ed just about all of them. same symptom. these are just for pc play. i'm not trying to make any standard format. i did try every setting i could change that might cause this but nothing worked, same problem. i wonder if it is the file, not that i think about it but it shouldn't be since kmplayer has no trouble.

[vhelp]

a tried to make a few changes in the x264cli param string and re-encoded. still same results. here is latest string:

--preset veryfast --crf 17 --me umh --qpmin 0 --qpmax 50 --ipratio 3.0 --pbratio 0.3 --bframes 3 --mixed-refs --ref 3 --b-adapt 1 --aq-mode 2 --qcomp 9.0 --weightp 1 --direct spatial --level 4.1 --open-gop -o "d:\2013-01-01tue.taylor.swift.avs2x264.[crf17].veryfast.1b.mkv" "c:\deinterlace.60p.hq.avs"

[jagabo]

VLC simply isn't a great player at high frame rates. But try turning off/on hardware acceleration. Make sure it's not filtering while playing. And make sure deinterlacing isn't forced on. Try different video output modules. Are you having trouble with SD as well as HD?

[vhelp]

these are SD videos. but i have no problems playing anything that is 30 frames on any player. its when they are 59.94 that have the trouble, but only in vlc. when the problem was first noticed, i started checking all the settings. then i moved onto to d/l'ing different versions. unfortunately, install/uninstalling the versions left my vlc querky, but that is not causing the 59.94 play problem. i can't even find the current version i have installed. none of the versions have an "about" box and the ver info is not stamped on the player window.
i like kmplayer, but this app phones home every time i run it and make random check on my system. at least with vlc, it doesn't.

edit: i just cheked smplayer (i thought i had uninstalled it), and it plays smooth like kmplayr. but i think you are correct, vlc is sluggish at high frame rates.

[jagabo]

unfortunately, install/uninstalling the versions left my vlc querky, but that is not causing the 59.94 play problem. i can't even find the current version i have installed. none of the versions have an "about" box and the ver info is not stamped on the player window.

No Help -> About menu choice? Must be really screwed up. I would uninstall, go through the Registry and remove its keys, and reinstall.

i like kmplayer, but this app phones home every time i run it and make random check on my system.

Even if you turn off the "Check if new version is available" option?

[vhelp]

its been a while.. but after tweaking so many players.. i was sure i turned it off. i always turn these things off whenever i install new software. where is the setting for kmplayer.

edit: i found the settings, but it still phones home..every time i run the app, my network status lights up.

[vhelp]

i'll leave the issue w/ phoning home alone. it stopped popping up the messages at least. anyway.

regariding the 59.94, i have an idea, i will re-encode to .mp4 file in x264cli and see if that plays smoothly. if it does, then it must be a demuxing/decoding problem for mkv files in vlc, or a bug that they should fix. i'll report back shortly.

[vhelp]

ok, just checked, .mp4 and .mkv files, it doesn't matter, same problem. so i suspect a decoding problem with h264 files when video is 59.94 frame rate in vlc. sorry i can't give you the version since i can't get it to display since that feature is not avail in my corrupted install.

[vhelp]

i found another version, vlc v 2.0.1 Goldeneye. i copied the exe file and ran it. it plays the 59.94 frame rate file as long as i use the encoded x264cli settings on left side of list below --- i was testing this earlier.

hopefully this list will display correctly. if not, just copy/paste into notepad. the blank space you see are obvious.

cabac=1                  cabac=1
ref=3                    ref=3
deblock=1:0:0            deblock=1:0:0
analyse=0x3:0x113        analyse=0x3:0x113
me=umh                   me=umh
subme=2                  subme=2
psy=1                    psy=1
psy_rd=1.00:0.00         psy_rd=1.00:0.00
mixed_ref=1              mixed_ref=1
me_range=16              me_range=16
chroma_me=1              chroma_me=1
trellis=0                trellis=0
8x8dct=1                 8x8dct=1
cqm=0                    cqm=0
deadzone=21,11           deadzone=21,11
fast_pskip=1             fast_pskip=1
chroma_qp_offset=0       chroma_qp_offset=0
threads=3                threads=3
sliced_threads=0         sliced_threads=0
slices=4                 slices=4
nr=0                     nr=0
decimate=1               decimate=1
interlaced=0             interlaced=0
bluray_compat=1   diff   bluray_compat=0
constrained_intra=0      constrained_intra=0
bframes=3                bframes=3
b_pyramid=1       diff   b_pyramid=2
b_adapt=1                b_adapt=1
b_bias=0                 b_bias=0
direct=1                 direct=1
weightb=1                weightb=1
open_gop=1               open_gop=1
weightp=1                weightp=1
keyint=24                keyint=24
keyint_min=1      diff   keyint_min=2
scenecut=40              scenecut=40
intra_refresh=0          intra_refresh=0
rc_lookahead=10   diff
rc=crf                   rc=crf
mbtree=0                 mbtree=0
crf=17.0                 crf=17.0
qcomp=1.00               qcomp=1.00
qpmin=0                  qpmin=0
qpmax=50                 qpmax=50
qpstep=4                 qpstep=4
vbv_maxrate=80000 diff
vbv_bufsize=20000 diff
crf_max=0.0       diff
nal_hrd=vbr       diff
ip_ratio=3.00            ip_ratio=3.00
pb_ratio=0.30            pb_ratio=0.30
aq=2:1.00                aq=2:1.00

sorry, i should explain the list above. it is from a tool i am still doing work on to parse the x264 string that mediainfo report. i just copy/paste into my tool and it parses it, for obvious reasons...so i can review different x264 settings easier. the above is easier to read than this:

Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=1 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=1 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=crf / mbtree=0 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=1.00 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=50 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=80000 / vbv_bufsize=20000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=vbr / ip_ratio=3.00 / pb_ratio=0.30 / aq=2:1.00

Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=1 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=2 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc=crf / mbtree=0 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=1.00 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=50 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=3.00 / pb_ratio=0.30 / aq=2:1.00

[jagabo]

I'm running VLC 2.0.4 Twoflower, portable, 32 bit. It can play most 1080p60 h.264 videos without any jerkiness on my i5 2500K Win7 64 bit, Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics. I have Aero transparency effects turned off. And most Explorer animation effects are off too.

I have to admit though, I don't have many 1080p60 videos.

[vhelp]

ok, so in vlc v 2.0.1 Goldeneye, there is a setting (another difference in settings screens) depicted below. with this setting, the video plays smoother the longest. sometimes (other lessor settings) the video plays smooth than choppy back and forth. but if i maximize the window then i get the choppyness again. so the video has to play in its original dimensions, in this case, 720x480 pixels.

[vhelp]

my system is far slower, AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core proc 3600+ and using onboard graphics card since my pci express slot is fried.

i am curious to see how much my current system can handle hd videos, but i will look into that some other time. for now, i am happy with the SD videos that i mainly play on this system. thanks.

[vhelp]

[SOLVED] .. 2013-01-02 Wed

i manged to get the current ver of vlc to play 54.94 frame rate smoothly once i got the settings/configuration screen for the optimum playback to show. as it turns out the settings are the same as the one posted above. so make sure the OUTPUT = DirectX video output, as posted in the image above.

more info, after additional trial and error research:
it seems that the latest version of vlc still has problems playing 59.94 frame rates, but that it all depends on what encoder made the container. for example, x264cli vs ffmpeg. if made by x264cli then there are problems decoding/demuxing for smooth playback and will depend on how fast your cpu is. however, when encoded by ffmpeg, vlc has no problems playing 59.94 frame rates.

(AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core proc 3600 may be borderline, it will hickup at fullscreen, though normal screen size, i.e., 720x480 plays smoothly)

i also found that videos encoded to flv or MPEG-2, high level (MP@HL) played smoothly at any screen resolution.

[jagabo]

[SOLVED] .. 2013-01-02 Wed

i manged to get the current ver of vlc to play 54.94 frame rate smoothly once i got the settings/configuration screen for the optimum playback to show. as it turns out the settings are the same as the one posted above. so make sure the OUTPUT = DirectX video output, as posted in the image above.

Yes, I told you to try different output modules in my earlier post.