Video playback issues with 2.2.1

[flamesong]

I don't know whether this is a problem caused by VLC or something else but it is occurring on two separate Macs, one with OX X 10.10.3 and one with OS X 10.10.2 - both have VLC 2.2.1. The Mac with OS X 10.10.2 has hardly any other software installed - pretty much just what it came with, Safari, Mail, and the iLife and iWork apps.

It happens with .avi, .mp4 and .mkv files - basically, every now and then, the screen with go grey as if the data from the keyframe has been lost and then only the moving parts are visible until the next keyframe. Sometimes this happens several times in a few seconds. It doesn't appear to be a problem with the video files as rewinding and playing that part again is always fine - besides, it would be a bit of a coincidence if all my videos from various sources had the same flaw.

I first thought it might be caused by Mail's automatically checking for new messages and taking up CPU or something similar but I have tried quitting everything else without any improvements.

My Mac (OS X 10.10.3) is a 2.66 Core 2 Duo with 8GB RAM and 400+ GB free space. I am pretty sure that the other Mac (OS X 10.10.2) did not have this problem at all until VLC was updated to 2.2.1 about two weeks ago.

Has anybody else got this problem? Or is it just the two Macs which I use?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

This is very weird. All up to date?

[flamesong]

Hello,

It's been a long time since your reply - for some reason I am not receiving notifications.

Yes, Everything was up to date and still is but the issue has persisted since I first posted about it. Videos play perfectly in other applications; both versions of Quicktime on my system (QT Player and QT Player 7) and play OK on VLC on my iPad. I have tried the previous releases of VLC and they do the same now. I tried a nightly build but I didn't get a playback window and couldn't find a way of making it appear.

I would use QT all the time but the audio levels are very low and VLC boosts them.

[ggv]

I'm also seeing the grey screen phenomenon.

[flamesong]

I did a bit of searching and thought I had found a solution which, involved changing the Preferences > Show All > Input Codecs > Access modules > FFmpeg > Allow speed tricks and Hardware decoding (Video Decode Acceleration Framework) but after playing one file flawlessly, the problem returned. I get similar results just quitting and reopening VLC.

Anyway, just for clarity, I managed to capture the problem. I had to capture the video in a window as I forgot the keyboard shortcut to capture the screen; I never watch videos in window mode so I can't really tell if it is just a full screen problem.

As can be seen from the screen grab, this is not an HD video which might challenge my hardware, it's 544x458.

[flamesong]

I just came to update this thread with the observation that this seems to be happening when there are spikes in the audio - though, to be fair, it isn't always the case. It may be that the audio spikes contribute to an overwhelming rush of data.

Anyway, I was looking through the forum posts for mine and noticed that somebody else was experiencing the same problem though they described it differently, I think it is exactly the same:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=129344

So, at least I know that mine is not an isolated case and judging by the other poster's hardware, it is not related to my ancient 2009 MacBook Pro - besides, I know somebody with a 2008 MBP (same OS - 10.10.5, same VLC - 2.2.1) with half the RAM I have who does not have this problem as I watch the same videos on their system uninterrupted.

[flamesong]

I'm very disappointed with the response to this issue with which I am clearly not alone.

It feels like I've been using VLC for ever and can't really imagine using another media player but I really can't tolerate the constant interruptions any longer and I am trying out other players.

I'll try again when 2.2.2 comes out.

[tullyvision]

I'm very disappointed with the response to this issue with which I am clearly not alone.

It feels like I've been using VLC for ever and can't really imagine using another media player but I really can't tolerate the constant interruptions any longer and I am trying out other players.

I'll try again when 2.2.2 comes out.

I've been having this same issue ever since upgrading to Yosemite and VLC 2.1.1. It's a shame that there is no solution other than to download the 1.x version of VLC, which doesn't have the stuttering/quality bugs that plague the 2.x versions.

Have you had success with trying out other media players?

[flamesong]

Yes, I got Movist which works flawlessly. There are one or two interface differences which took some getting used to but at least I can watch a film without a dozen or more interruptions.

Shame, I've been a big fan of VLC for a long time, I've probably introduced thirty or forty people to it, and it felt like something I could always rely on.

[multiplechips]

Did you reset your preferences? Worked for (so far). Running latest VLC on 10.10.5 Core2Duo Macbook.