Powerful laptop stutters, while older one runs fine

[shadders139]

Hi, I'm just about pulling my hair out on this.

I bought a new laptop recently, and even small (e.g. 2 - 5gb) MKV files stutter and have jerky motion when connected to my TV via HDMI. They seem to play fine on the laptop itself. I've tried making the TV my primary display, changing HDMI cable, different files, playing from SSD, bringing output resolution down to 1080p, nothing works.

The really weird thing is when I play the exact same file on my less powerful 5 year old laptop and output it to my tv there is no stuttering (and I don't need to try any of the above tricks, it just runs, and even when playing through the network rather than from hard drive). This doesn't seem to make any sense to me

Could anyone help? My new laptop specs are: Intel Core i7-9750H Processor (2.60GHz, up to 4.50GHz with Turbo Boost, 6 Cores, 12MB Cache) Selectable Memory - 16GB DDR4 2400MHz SoDIMM Total Memory - 16GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard Hard Drive - 1TB Solid State Drive, M.2 2280, PCIe-NVMe, TLC Graphic Card - NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 Max-Q 4GB GDDR5 128bit

I would appreciate any help

[InTheWings]

Video output has little with decoding process.
Are you sure that's not switching to Intel graphics ?

[shadders139]

Video output has little with decoding process.
Are you sure that's not switching to Intel graphics ?

Thanks for the reply. Sorry I'm a bit of a n00b, how can I check whether it is switching to intel graphics, and force VLC to use the dedicated graphics card instead?

[Lotesdelere]

By default it should use the integrated graphics card.

Workaround: make a copy of VLC.exe and rename it to VLC-GPU.exe
Now you add VLC-GPU.exe to the list of programs in the Nvidia control panel and tweak it as you want.

You can either use the right click context menu on the VLC icon and choose "Run with graphics processor" then select the Nvidia card, or create and edit a new VLC shortcut to permanently assign it the Nvidia card.

[shadders139]

By default it should use the integrated graphics card.

Workaround: make a copy of VLC.exe and rename it to VLC-GPU.exe
Now you add VLC-GPU.exe to the list of programs in the Nvidia control panel and tweak it as you want.

You can either use the right click context menu on the VLC icon and choose "Run with graphics processor" then select the Nvidia card, or create and edit a new VLC shortcut to permanently assign it the Nvidia card.

Many thanks, I will try that. Although, even if my new laptop is using its intel graphics card, should it be struggling with such a small video file? My old laptop has a much, much worse graphics card and it runs fine. So I'm wondering if the issue lies elsewhere...

[InTheWings]

Many thanks, I will try that. Although, even if my new laptop is using its intel graphics card, should it be struggling with such a small video file? My old laptop has a much, much worse graphics card and it runs fine. So I'm wondering if the issue lies elsewhere...

AFAIK the size of the file does not express the complexity or level of the used codec.
If that's HEVC 10bit, then Intel is likely flaky in that case.

[Lotesdelere]

Try another video output module:
http://wiki.videolan.org/WindowsFAQ-2.0 ... _output.3F

You can try with and without hardware acceleration.
You can also try to enable or disable some video options such as Overlay and/or Hardware YUV -> RGB conversions.

And check your computer latency:
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... cy-issues/

[Hitchhiker]

You mentioned swapping the HDMI cable. Did you mean swapping a v1.4 cable for a v2.0?

HDMI 1.4 can output 4K at a maximum 30hz whch is about half the refresh rate of most TVs in the US. But before you rush out and buy a v2.0 you need to check what the port version is on both your TV and your new laptop. If either is a 1.4 port then you're stuck with the 30hz refresh rate because the port will slow the transfer rate to the maximum it can handle even if you use an HDMI 2.0 cable.

If you're lucky and the port on both the TV and the laptop are HDMI 2.0 then you should always use the Nvidia GPU in order to get the 60hz refresh rate since Intel graphics defaults to 30hz.. Similarly you also need an HDMI 2.0 cable needless to say otherwise you're shooting yourself in the foot by using the 1.4 version.

[shadders139]

Thought I'd report back in, I tried some of the suggestions in this thread.

Lotesdelere I followed those instructions and ran VLC with the dedicated graphics card. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem. I also tried turning hardware acceleration off, and this caused its own problems, e.g. when I tried to play a 4k file it was struggling.

I haven't yet tried your suggestion of another video output module yet, or checking my latency.

"You can also try to enable or disable some video options such as Overlay and/or Hardware YUV -> RGB conversions." Would these reduce the quality of the video? I'd like to avoid that if possible, again because my older laptop can run the file and so it would be a shame to have to reduce settings to get it to play on a more powerful laptop.

Hitchhiker, yes I am indeed using HDMI 2.0 cables.

I'm beginning to lose hope. I really don't understand why this is happening, and one of the reasons I got this new laptop was for 4k file playback and so I'm very disappointed that its struggling with just 1080p

[Hitchhiker]

What are the system specs on your previous laptop?

Also, please post make and model of the new machine. There might be an issue with it which can be identified if we know the make and model.

EDIT: The make and model of your TV might be helpful as well.

[shadders139]

What are the system specs on your previous laptop?

Also, please post make and model of the new machine. There might be an issue with it which can be identified if we know the make and model.

EDIT: The make and model of your TV might be helpful as well.

Thank you for the reply. The system specs of my previous laptop are:
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4510U (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz), 16gb ram, graphics card: GeForce GT 750M

The make and model of my new machine is: Lenovo ideapad L340.

my new tv is: Posted 26th LG 55SM8200PLA

[shadders139]

Try another video output module:
http://wiki.videolan.org/WindowsFAQ-2.0 ... _output.3F

You can try with and without hardware acceleration.
You can also try to enable or disable some video options such as Overlay and/or Hardware YUV -> RGB conversions.

And check your computer latency:
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... cy-issues/

I changed video output mode to Direct3D11, is this what you meant by trying another video output module?

I downloaded LatencyMon to measure latency. It was showing as latency errors. But when I googled the status message, I noted that some people said to run latencymon with internet disabled. And so when I ran it with internet disabled, it did not show any latency errors.

"You can also try to enable or disable some video options such as Overlay and/or Hardware YUV -> RGB conversions." Would these reduce the quality of the video? I'd like to avoid that if possible, again because my older laptop can run the file and so it would be a shame to have to reduce settings to get it to play on a more powerful laptop.

[shadders139]

I tried MPV.io and I don't seem to get the same stuttering through that video player, so the issue does seem to be with VLC somewhere. EDIT: spoke too soon, not getting great playback on MPV either :/

[Hitchhiker]

Thank you for the reply. The system specs of my previous laptop are:
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4510U (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz), 16gb ram, graphics card: GeForce GT 750M

The make and model of my new machine is: Lenovo ideapad L340.

my new tv is: Posted 26th LG 55SM8200PLA

Assuming Ideapad L340 is the 17" model your new machine with a GTX 1650 4GB should be more than capable of handling practically any 4K video. The same goes for the tele.

So the problem would appear to be the connection between the laptop and the TV. Does the TV support Miracast? If it does you could try connecting wirelessly instead of via an HDMI cable.

[shadders139]

Thank you for the reply. The system specs of my previous laptop are:
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4510U (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz), 16gb ram, graphics card: GeForce GT 750M

The make and model of my new machine is: Lenovo ideapad L340.

my new tv is: Posted 26th LG 55SM8200PLA

Assuming Ideapad L340 is the 17" model your new machine with a GTX 1650 4GB should be more than capable of handling practically any 4K video. The same goes for the tele.

So the problem would appear to be the connection between the laptop and the TV. Does the TV support Miracast? If it does you could try connecting wirelessly instead of via an HDMI cable.

Thank you for the suggestion Hitchhiker. Yes it is indeed the 17" model with GTX 1650. The TV does support miracast and intel widi. But everytime I try to connect with my new laptop it says "couldn't connect to your device". Whereas I tried with my old laptop, and it is able to cast wirelessly to the TV. I just can't catch a break with this new laptop

[Hitchhiker]

Thank you for the suggestion Hitchhiker. Yes it is indeed the 17" model with GTX 1650. The TV does support miracast and intel widi. But everytime I try to connect with my new laptop it says "couldn't connect to your device". Whereas I tried with my old laptop, and it is able to cast wirelessly to the TV. I just can't catch a break with this new laptop

Don't laugh, but the culprit appears to be Windows 10. There's a setting called "Don't allow Wi-Fi direct groups" which is checkmarked by default. This prevents your machine from using Miracast. Fascinating article on the subject illustrated with screenshots here

The solution is in the Group Policy editor, but that's not included with the Home edition as you probably already know. So I did some more digging around and found the this titbit

Hopefully it'll fix the problem.

[shadders139]

Thank you Hitchiker, I really appreciate you taking the time to continue to help!

So I worked through the first link, and his problem was that the cmd line was saying Wireless Display Supported: No (Graphics Driver: Yes, Wi-Fi Driver: No) and he had to work to get Wi-fi driver to say yes.

However, when running this cmd on m pc, I get yes to both answers already, so I don't think that is the reason why it is not connecting :/ ? Also, my old laptop which has no problems connecting, is also on Windows 10

[Hitchhiker]

Can you go to this Lenovo support site and run the scan to check for driver updates please. You might have to change the product, but there's a button on the left to do that.

Also could you please post the Windows 10 Build on both machines. In case you're not sure how to do that launch the Run command (Windows key + R) type: winver and hit Enter.

[shadders139]

Can you go to this Lenovo support site and run the scan to check for driver updates please. You might have to change the product, but there's a button on the left to do that.

Also could you please post the Windows 10 Build on both machines. In case you're not sure how to do that launch the Run command (Windows key + R) type: winver and hit Enter.

Hi Hitchhiker, i ran the scan and all the drivers are up to date. The windows version on the affected laptop is version 1909 build 18363.1016

and on the old laptop that runs fine it is version 2004 build 19041.388

thank you

[Hitchhiker]

Judging by the posts on the Microsoft Answers forum build 1909 appears to have introduced a problem with Miracast which wasn't present before the upgrade from a previous build.

Similarly build 2004 which you have installed on your older machine might have fixed it.

Can you check the following.

• Go to Windows Control Panel and open Network and Sharing Center.
• On the left hand side click "Change advanced sharing settings".
• Click the radio button to "Turn on network discovery"
• Save changes to exit.

Try to connect with Miracast again.

Oh..and I'm on Windows 8.1 so they descriptions may have changed for Windows 10.

[shadders139]

Thank you for your continued help hitchhiker.

I followed those, and 'Turn on network discovery' and 'turn on automatic setup of network connected devices' is already ticked for my new laptop (the one on 1909 build) so I don't think that's responsible for the mircast issue i tried turning network discovery on and off again, but still no luck connecting wirelessly to my display

[Hitchhiker]

It's a bugger isn't it....

Can you run through these tutorials and compare your setup with those illustrated in the respective pages.

• Enable or Disable Projecting to this PC
• Install or Uninstall Connect Wireless Display Feature

Both tutorials are illustrated with screenshots and contain registry files if you need them. The site is trustworthy and I've used their reg files myself in the past.

[Hitchhiker]

Microsoft has just released two optional updates which are KB4571748 and KB4566116 for Windows 10 1809, 1903 and 1909.

There's a long list of fixes and although there's no mention of Miracast anywhere there are others which might be appropriate to your own problem. Details on the ghacks site.

[shadders139]

Hi Hitchhiker, I called Lenovo support and unsurprisingly they said to try a full factory reset. That's a bit painful since I had gotten the laptop up and running the way I want it and now have to start over again. I am currently doing the factory reset and will report back whether this fixes the issue! If not, I guess it must be a hardware fault somewhere? The support also told me to play a 4k youtube file on my tv and see if that stuttered. I tried that and didn't notice any stuttering on youtube (and i dont see stuttering when the file plays only on the laptop) so there seems to be something going wrong when the file is being transferred from my laptop to the tv

[shadders139]

So I reset the laptop, and didn't get much of a chance to test, beyond a couple of mins before I had to go run an errand, but from what I can see, the problem persists