choppy movies or videos: any suggestions? 2

[nelljack]

Hi all. I have a Realtek 8139 Family pci fast nic card. I just changed the settings to use 100mbps full mode. There is no "full duplex" option. Is there anything else I can try to fix the choppy videos and movies.

I also tried to find an updated driver from Realtek and MS but no luck. If anyone knows where I can get a reliable update I'd appreciate it.

I am supposed to have 100mbps from ISP. And they are to be upgrading their equipment so I don't know if that will help or not.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Run a speed test to see what throughput you are getting on downloads.

This one looks good:

http://www.speedtest.net/

What CPU type and speed? - Caching enabled for video player, if so , what hard drive and speed?





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[BadBigBen]

First, for streaming you do not need a full duplex line...

secondly, check the transfer speed of the drive(s) where these films get cached (usually C, in the device manager, just to make sure that that is not the problem...

third, update the codecs if possible, the realtek driver is secondary, and you did not specify which version it is...

fourth, did not specify what program you are using to get these movies to play... try VLC (if it works, then your old program is at fault)...

fifth, list as much specs on your machine as you can, as there are parts like MEM size, CPU speed, etc. that play an important role here...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[cdogg]

nelljack,
I'm confused as to why you believe your NIC is causing choppy video. You didn't mention anything about downloading files, streaming video, etc.

Also, I believe you are confusing the speed of your ISP. Unless you live in Japan or South Korea, your ISP is nowhere near 100 mbps. In fact, most ISP's in the U.S. are closer to 3 mbps which converts to 375 KB/s. Regardless of the speed of your ISP, your NIC is going to be operating at speeds many times greater and shouldn't be the problem.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[linney]

Have you looked at Troubleshooting the Video side of things?

"On a computer that is running Windows XP.

1. Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties on the menu.
2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
3. Click the Troubleshoot tab.
4. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of None, the Basic acceleration setting.
5. Click OK, and then click Close.
If the issue is resolved when you set the Graphics Hardware Acceleration slider to None or Basic, contact your hardware manufacturer to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest video driver for your video adapter.

If you have installed the latest video driver for your video adapter and you continue to experience graphic issues with the Graphics Hardware Acceleration slider set to Full, repeat the steps in this article, except move the Graphics Hardware Acceleration slider one notch to the left until the issue no longer occurs".

Vista Codec Package 4.6.1 Final

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Vista_Codec_Package_d5326.html

 

[nelljack]

Thanks all. It will take me a bit to try all these suggestions.

I guess I am missing the 100mbps speed listed. When I enable my connection I get a flag or window that says I'm connected at 100mbps. It should be a fast connection in my mind.

I also thought movies and videos were buffered(? right word) on the hard drive to speed them up. Tis been awhile since I had to know all the jargon, caching, etc. so bear with me.

Til I can get some of the steps above done . . .

Win Xp Pro svc pk 2 build 2600 (do I need svcpk3?)
586 1594mhrz
512gb mem with 169.37mb available physical mem
2.00gb virtual with 1.96 virtual mem available
2.97gb page file
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 video card
Creative audio PCI ES1371,1373

If I missed something let me know. Until I get done thanks in advance for all your helps.

 

[nelljack]

I forgot to add the results of the test I did so here it is:

Results History
Test Again
Showing Results For MY CURRENT IP: 63.226.127.196 - (QWEST COMMUNICATIONS)

Date 9/13/2008 12:07 AM GMT
IP Address Download Upload LatencySrvr
63.226.127.196 255kb/s 221kb/s 136 ms St. George, UT

Dist Share

 

[nelljack]

Ok, I just tried the suggestions. The hardware acceleration came back as it would not work unless at "full." So that is out.

My hard drives ar both ST340014A, The speeds I don't know but they should be about 7500rpm each. Both are 40GB in size. And there is 22.4GB free on C:, and 28GB free on f:

Any other things I missed?

Thanks again.

 

[nelljack]

The viewer is whatever the site is using as that is where I am watching them. I am not using what is on my pc which is MS junk.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
If that is truly 255 Kilobits/sec ( @33 KB/sec) it is somewhat slow for streaming video ( in comparison, my Cox cable connection averages @20,000 to 25000 Kilobits/sec from Phoenix to san Fransisco)





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[BadBigBen]

The speeds I don't know but they should be about 7500rpm each.

nope, that is rotation speed of the platters... I meant either Ultra DMA or PIO mode, if it is in PIO then the drive is transferring very slow, and the controller needs to be uninstalled (upon reboot windows will reinstall the controller, and reset the speed to DMA)...

buffered = cached, same animal different name... ;-)

as Turkbear noticed, a transfer speed of 255 kilo bits per second, is rather slow and could be the reason why the vids are choppy...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[cdogg]

When I enable my connection I get a flag or window that says I'm connected at 100mbps. It should be a fast connection in my mind.

This is not the speed of your ISP. That's where you're getting confused. That pop-up windows you're referring to is the connection between your computer and the modem/router at your house. That is a standard 10/100 ethernet connection. It will always show you connected at 100mbps. However, the connection between your modem and the ISP is going to be much, much slower. Like I said before, most will average around 3-4 mbps (nowhere near 100mbps). The test results you posted still aren't too clear.

Usually when you're talking about kilobits per second, you write the notation as kbps. When you're talking about kilobytes per second, it should be written as kb/s. Although many people like to use caps for kilobytes (KB) and lowercase for kilobits (kb), this is not the correct way to differentiate between the two. If those results are indeed talking about kilobytes, then 255kb/s is the same as 2mbps - which is not bad.


Choppy video could be a problem within Windows and likely has nothing to do with your internet connection. Only thing I can suggest that will tell you for sure is to remove your hard drive and install Windows on a spare hard drive. A fresh install of Windows will tell you for sure.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[Johnthephoneguy]

Before you reinstall windows, if you have a video file stored on your HD is it choppy when you play? IF you have a dvd player and you put in a DVD is it choppy?

If it is only choppy when streaming your problem is in your network/provider. If is is choppy when playing stored files or a DVD you will either have hardware or software issues on your PC.

JohnThePhoneGuy

"If I can't fix it, it's not broke!

 

[SimonDavies]

How about updating your codecs? I see that no one really mentioned where you can get them from so I will.

Go to

http://www.codecs.com

and download the Klite codec pack and apply that, it caters for pretty much all of the video codecs you will need.

If you don't want to do that then I would also suggest getting the VLC (Video Lan Client) software (

http://www.videolan.org).

Lastly the speed you're getting from your ISP really isn't upto scratch for streaming, I sometimes have issues with streaming and I get nearly 13000kbps downstream. You also have to consider what bandwidth the streaming provider has as well.

SimonD.

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[nelljack]

Thanks all for your updating me further.

As I said in an earlier message my ISP is working on their end to upgrade equipment and such. I won't know if my PC will work better on videos after that or not. It is going to take about 2 weeks before they are done.

As for the codecs, I'm not sure what I'm doing there so that will have to wait. I really do not want to reinstall everything as I have a lot with many updates to redo. At least not at this time.

I have videos on my hard drive that work fine. As well as dvds so I don't think that is the problem.

Do you think a newer video card with memory built in would work better?

I will call my ISP on Monday and find out what the upgrades are supposed to be and how they are to work. Until I know that I can't answer any more.

Thanks again in advance for your helps.

 

[linney]

This Microsoft article may be useful.

Video Cards and Digital Video Editing

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/expert/dunn_03august11_vc.mspx

As you progress to better and quality video cards remember to consider the requirements of your PSU (Power Supply Unit) to match the extra power demands of newer cards.

 

[BadBigBen]

So far we have established:

That videos from HDD and DVD work fine! That videos streamed over the internet do not!

so Problem is not with CODECS, HDD/DVD transfer rates, Video Card, or Player... but with that SLOW transfer rate of the ISP, which was a serendipity revealed by OP...

now we have to wait for the outcome in two weeks...




Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[nelljack]

Thanks all. I'll let you know what ISP is doing/done etc.

 

[cdogg]

nelljack,
Please go to this site and test your ISP's speed here:

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/

You will see clearly whether or not the results are kilobits or kilobytes per second.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[nelljack]

cdogg, I ran the test at the site above and this is the result:

243.22kilobits per second
29.69kilobytes per second

68.844seconds
4:05 PM Tue Sep 16, 2008