Is my machine too slow???

[Ette]

This it says in the read me file:

"The video is choppy! It's like we're dropping frames!!!
That's the normal behavior when the CPU isn't fast enough to decode all the frames. Though there is some room for improvement, don't ever expect VLC to be able to decode MPEG-2 streams or high resolution DivX on a low-end G3 machine."

My machine is a 700 mhz G3, is that a 'low-end G3 machine'???

Mette[/b]

[fkuehne]

for really high resolution divx: yes. for other movies: no.

I were playing most, non-HD movies on a 500 G3 (which is really low-end) for years in a not-too-bad quality (without deinterlacing and post-processing of course), so you just need to try it out on your own, whether the quality fits your needs or not (VLC will tell you automatically, if your Mac is too slow for the movie).

Additionally, the actual performance also depends on your graphic card (if it features 16 MB of VRAM or more, it will speed up the playback quite a bit).

[Guest]

Would the performance on the built-in hard drive on an 800 MHz iBook G3 make a big difference? I've heard people complain about slow hard drives in iBooks, and that performance increased noticably when another drive was installed. I'm not looking forward to the actual installation, but maybe this will remedy my stuttering playback problem (from ripped DVD's).

[The DJ]

Not really. You are lacking pure CPU power to decode the video.

[Zurich]

Hi!

Playing a avi files with a dual G5 2.0GHz results in video being stopped at irregular intervals (2-3 min.) for about 0.5-1 sec. Don't tel me I lack cpu power

cheers
a.

[uop17]

Similar problem on my iMac G5 2.0Ghz, 1.5GB RAM.
As I posted in this Thread, the playback freezes very often for about 1-3sec. Sometimes on a quite regular basis throughout the movie.
It is hardly watchable.
Would be nice to know where the problem for this behavior of vlc is.
Anybody got an idea?

Regards, uop17

[fkuehne]

I'm on an 2 GHz iMac G5, 1 GB RAM personally and I have never, I repeat: never, experienced such a behaviour on this machine. I experienced them on my old 500 MHz G3 of course, but that was surely due to the CPU.

Are you guys doing anything special while watching DVDs? (<irony>ripping them in the meantime, rendering 3D images...</irony>)
Could you try whether deleting the preferences (both org.videolan.vlc.plist and a folder called "VLC" in ~/Library/Preferences [your personal preferences folder]) helps?
Which graphic cards do you have in your Macs?

BTW. Does the current beta make any difference on this issue?

[uop17]

Thanks fir your tips Felix!
I just downloaded the beta version yesterdy night, so I will try it and test it with all my video files I'm gonna watch in the next days.

As about your questions:
I work on the iMac Rev.B., and the graphic cards is an ATI 9600 with 128MB.
And sorry, no ripping movies or 3D rendering in the meantime.. I'd wish this was the problem
Then I'd know at least why my movie is freezing so often for 1-3sec and vlc says "Frame dropping.. more than 5sec no frames..computer too slow?" (or something like that).

So I hope you guys have any clue what could be the reason for this strange behavior on some machines.
In the meantime I hope the new beta will do the trick

[The DJ]

iMac Rev. B's are simply too slow of course.

[fkuehne]

iMac Rev. B's are simply too slow of course.

He means the Rev. B of the iMac G5 (with 2 GHz, etc.), which is the same as I use. He doesn't mean the old G3 233 MHz with 4 MB VRAM

[uop17]

He means the Rev. B of the iMac G5 (with 2 GHz, etc.), which is the same as I use. He doesn't mean the old G3 233 MHz with 4 MB VRAM

Exactly
Sorry for not mentioning the "G5" part. (But the ATI should have given it away *g*)

BTT:
Unfortunately there's no real improvement concerning the "stuttering"-problem with the latest beta release of vlc so far.
I would really like to know where this problem could come from..
Especially since you haven't had any of these troubles on your iMac Felix.

[guest_for_now]

BTT:
Unfortunately there's no real improvement concerning the "stuttering"-problem with the latest beta release of vlc so far.
I would really like to know where this problem could come from..
Especially since you haven't had any of these troubles on your iMac Felix.[/quote]

Use Activity Monitor to check your system for memory usage. I get a similiar behavior when trying to play back multiple 1080p h.264 videos on my Dual G5 2.7. The CPU's are fast enough, but I am throttled by memory issues. (I only have 512MB)

If you are low on free memory (in green by default) then try quitting some programs.

Low memory can cause the system to stall even though the programs using the memory aren't actually doing anything. (For example if Safari is just sitting there with a few dozen tabs open... easily uses 1GB+ of VM)

Also low memory can be caused by trying to play a file that is too big. Too big in any sense, but I mean data rate is too high or resolution too high mostly.