iTunes Video Stuttering / Lagging

[Ross L]

Hi

When I play any of my tv programs in iTunes which I have purchased from the iTunes store, the video is stuttering and lagging. This is happening on my PC and my HTPC.

I have tried disabling the use of Direct X in the Quicktime settings (selecting Safe Mode (GDI Only) and this hasn't helped. I have also tried adjusting the audio rate to 16bit @ 44.1khz, and this hasn't worked either. I have also tried increasing the priority via Task Manager and that did nothing. I am running the most recent version of itunes (10.5.3).

My HTPC specs are:

Windows 7 Home Premium x64
i3 2120
Asus P8H67-M PRO Rev.3.0
Sapphire 6670 Ultimate (Fanless) 1GB DDR5
Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3
Crucial M4 64GB SSD
Samsung EcoGreen F4 2tb HDD

My PC Specs are:

Windows 7 Professional x64
i7 2600K
Asus Sabertooth P67
MSI 6870 1GB
Corsair XMS3 8GB
Crucial C300 128gb SSD
Samsung F3 1TB x 4

Any ideas on how I can fix this issue, as it is rather irritating as I have spent a lot of money on HD content from iTunes and I cannot use it. I have only just started using my HTPC for iTunes content, as I used to have a 1st Generation Apple TV, but that failed on me.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Ross

[dknowle]

I would suggest trying a different video player.

[Ross L]

Originally Posted by dknowle

I would suggest trying a different video player.

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately that is not possible, as they are protected files, as they were purchased from the iTunes store.

[cjmnews]

Your specs seem to exceed Apple's requirements, so that can't be it.

Have you looked at their help: Troubleshooting iTunes for Windows Vista or Windows 7 video playback performance issues

Disabling 3d Acceleration could be it.

Other things to look at:
Turn off virus scanning
Don't use the computer for browsing at the same time.
I see you have different style HDs maybe you need to put the movie on the SSD.
Upgrade your video drivers.

[kornchild2002]

Also make sure that you have the 64-bit version of iTunes installed. Windows no longer requires QuickTime to be installed. I recommend completely uninstalling everything Apple related on your computer. This includes iTunes, QuickTime, Bonjour, Apple Mobile Device Services, etc. Open up your Control Panel and completely uninstall everything that has Apple's name on it. This won't mess with your playlists, play counts, music, or anything else like that. Everything along those lines will still be there.

Then go to Apple's website and download the latest version of iTunes. Make sure you get the 64-bit version and not the standard 32-bit edition. Do that along with making sure that your have the latest drivers for your graphics card along with all appropriate Windows updates.

[Ross L]

Thanks for all the responses.

I have followed all the advice here, but unfortunately the issue still stands. I am able to watch the videos back via Quicktime if I disable Direct X and lower the audio quality to 44.1 16bit. This isn't ideal, as you can lose track of what you've watched in a TV series.

It's a strange issue as both PC's massively exceed the requirements of iTunes, so it's definitely not an issue with my hardware. It was rather disheartening when one of the responses from iTunes support was that "content is only optimised for the iOS and OSX platform" and that I would have to pay to speak to a tech to advise me, when it is an issue with their software (it's a widely documented issue, from what I've found).

Thanks for all your help, it is greatly appreciated.

[cjmnews]

It is most likely that there is a problem with your installation. What it is I still don't know.

Video drivers are the usual culprit.

[AFMG]

Before blaming video drivers, have you installed any codec packs/players lately? Sometimes, installing codecs and such without cleaning the registry and such can cause problems. Other alternatives are:

a) Recently installed antivirus software that insists on analyzing certain files.
b) Registry corruption caused by newly installed software/uninstalling and reinstalling certain programs.
c) Recently updated video drivers/beta drivers, even sound drivers or chipset drivers.

Do a checklist of what have you changed lately that might have something to do and check your registry (CCleaner will do) for problems. Word of advice: if you're not experience with registry-cleaning software, better don't mess until all other option are sorted out.

[dknowle]

Originally Posted by Ross L

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately that is not possible, as they are protected files, as they were purchased from the iTunes store.

You could try removing the DRM protection from the files. Then use a different player.

This is far less than ideal, but I think there is 1 constant that will never change...Apple software for Windows will always suck! You have to wonder if Apple does this on purpose to get you to buy a Mac, or if they are just clueless on how to write Windows software.

[kornchild2002]

Removing the DRM from video files require that they be played back, that is also the extent of what can be talked about here on iLounge. Either way, it is not a solution and it would require a lot more work than would be worth it. A better solution would be to fix the underlying problem the OP is having.

[dknowle]

DRM can be removed without playback - Google it.

The underlying problem is likely iTunes for Windows. I've read many reports of this same problem, so there may be no other solution.

[kornchild2002]

That is essentially what those programs are doing. They are using iTunes to decode the information and then converting it from there. The OP doesn't know if iTunes is improperly decoding the HD videos or if there is an issue between iTunes and their current setup (i.e. the decoded material is not being properly displayed). Additionally, those programs aren't lossless so the resulting video will be a lossy-to-lossy transcode. Might as well make a copy of a DVD onto a VHS tape and then broadcast that over-the-air at 480i as it would have about the same quality. Taking something that is near-DVD quality and mucking it down to 360p YouTube levels would not be the best route. They can achieve smooth HD video playback on there systems, the solution hasn't presented itself yet.

[Savannah]

You mentioned HD content - my itunes will play PAL 576p fine but give it a 1080p and it just will not play smoothly at all. I don't have a solution my computer is good, but windows itunes just plain sucks at playing video. So I either watch the SD version in iTunes, or watch the HD version with a different player.

[kornchild2002]

But you can't watch the HD version of iTunes Store purchased content with a different player. Those files contain DRM that restrict their playback to iTunes and QuickTime only (along with compatible Apple devices).

There is an underlying problem since the OP copied at least one of the problematic videos to their SSD and tried to play it back through iTunes. If I had to take another guess, I would say that AFMG is correct in that there is either a registry problem and/or there is some installed codec/software that is messing things up. I have had k-lite mess with iTunes' ability to playback mp3 and AAC files in Windows. I had to remove it so that iTunes would start playing audio back normally. I have even encountered a registry problem that I had to manually fix. iTunes would not even start playing back audio or video content, it would just sit there. The progress bar would start but stay at 00:00 and not do anything regardless of what I tried to play back.

[Savannah]

Originally Posted by kornchild2002

I have even encountered a registry problem that I had to manually fix. iTunes would not even start playing back audio or video content, it would just sit there. The progress bar would start but stay at 00:00 and not do anything regardless of what I tried to play back.

I'm really not wanting to go too far off topic here so this can be moved to a new thread if necessary, but I'm interested in what you said here. I'm also having a problem where itunes gets stuck at 0.00 It usually happens when I've either watched a few videos/stopped videos manually/paused videos a few times, after a while it refuses to start up again. I just quit itunes and restart, but that's not fixing the underlying problem. I've tried googling but I've not been able to find any solution. Can you point me in the right direction on what you did to solve this?