How do I play h264 codec smoothly? Using Intel Quicksync hardware acceleration doesn't help

[EGeor1]

Hello,

I'm experiencing some playback problems with h264 encoded clips and I think that it may be related to the drivers of my integrated graphic card.

Problem:

All the h264 clips I have tried stutter when playing in various players under default and different settings including enabling hardware acceleration. I have tested clips encoded in low bitrate (3Mbps) and high bitrate (up to 100Mbps) and all of them stutter when being played. It's specially noticeable when the camera is panning in a smooth movement because I get distracted by the chunky and jumpy footage or when there are moving objects in the screen and they move suddenly and abruptly across the screen. I notice an abrupt transition in moving scenes instead of experiencing what should be a fluent and smooth scene and I do not understand why because my system is powerful enough to do every single task I have put it to do. The problem is persistent throughout the playback of all my clips or movies encoded in h264.

Here's a recording of a few sample clips here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTMk90HlAqM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTMk90HlAqM

I couldn't get a proper recording because I used my phone but it's very noticeable when seeing any movie or clip and very distracting at the same time. The clips are from MPC-HC using Intel Quicksync hardware acceleration.

My CPU is runing under 20% load in all the clips mentioned in the following paragraphs.

I recently bought this computer and I upgraded the OS to a free copy of Windows 10 64 bits. I have also updated all my drivers including the HD 5500 integrated graphic card.

I will now describe my hardware, the software I used (OS, codecs, settings and video players) and technical details of the clips so that you can better diagnose my problem.

Note: the problem occurs in any h264 clip that I have tested, not only on the one I took a video of and it's also far more noticeable and distracting than in the video because I couldn't capture it properly with my phone.

Hardware:

Acer E5-573-56BL http://www.acer.com/ac/es/ES/content/model/NX.MVHEB.014 http://www.acer.com/ac/es/ES/content/model/NX.MVHEB.014

Here are some relevant specs:

CPU: i5-5200U 2,20 GHz Dual-core (2 Core)

RAM: 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM 1600MHz

SSD Samsung EVO 850 256GB

1366x768 LCD TFT

Graphic card: HD 5500 DDR3L SDRAM shared memory

No dedicated graphic card

Software:

I'm running Windows 10 Home 64 bits and all my drivers are up to date (Including the graphic card HD 5500 to version 15.40.18.4380 using Intel Driver Update Utility 2.4).

I've used many video players including VLC, MPC-HC, Windows Media Player, Cyberlink Power Dvd and DivX player but all of them are experiencing the same problem when there are moving scenes.

I'll focus on MPC-HC now:

I've installed k-lite codec pack MEGA which includes both LAV and FFDSHOW video decoders and I have tested both of them inside MPC-HC and the problem still persists (in both 32 and 64 bit versions of the player). I have also tried CoreAVC decoder as an external filter and I am getting the same result.

I've tested Intel Quicksync, DXVA2 (copy-back) and DXVA2 (native) hardware acceleration for the h264 codec in LAV decoder and all of them produce the same result. The clips were all recorded when using the Intel Quicksync hardware acceleration but they still produce a sluggish performance.

I can ensure that they are being used because the "active decoder" shows dxva2cb direct, quicksync or dxva2n in each one of the cases each time that I am playing a clip (using the system try icon).

The player is set up to use the Enhanced Video Renderer (Custom Preseter) in all of the cases showed above and I have also tested Enhanced Video Renderer but the playback shows the same problem.

Here are a couple of screenshots of my settings to make everything clear. They are almost set to default.

I have focused in the video options because I thought my playback issue is related to a video problem.

Info about the main player used:

MPC-HC (Nightly, 64-bit)

-----------------------

Build information:

Version: 1.7.10.130 (6d03440)

Compiler: MSVC 2015 Update 1

Build date: Mar 29 2016

LAV Filters:

LAV Splitter: 0.68.0.16

LAV Video: 0.68.0.16

LAV Audio: 0.68.0.16

FFmpeg compiler: MinGW-w64 GCC 5.3.0

Operating system:

Name: Windows NT 10.0 (build 10586)

Version: 10.0 (64-bit)

Hardware:

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz

GPU: Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500 (driver version: 20.19.15.4380)

Clips used:

I'll paste now the Mediainfo clip information for each one of the clips used in the video:

Clip 1, 2 and 3 (same footage):

General

Complete name : C:\Users\emage\Downloads\bbb_sunflower_1080p_30fps_normal.mp4

Format : MPEG-4

Format profile : Base Media

Codec ID : isom (isom/avc1)

File size : 263 MiB

Duration : 10mn 34s

Overall bit rate : 3 481 Kbps

Movie name : Big Buck Bunny, Sunflower version

Performer : Blender Foundation 2008, Janus Bager Kristensen 2013

Composer : Sacha Goedegebure

Genre : Animation

Encoded date : UTC 2013-12-16 17:44:39

Tagged date : UTC 2013-12-16 17:44:39

Comment : Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 - http://bbb3d.renderfarming.net/ http://bbb3d.renderfarming.net

©com : Jan Morgenstern

Video

ID : 1

Forma...

[idata]

Hello, ema93a:

Thank you for the very detailed explantion of your issue.I have some troubleshooting that you could perform with this scenario:1. If possible, test the system with an external display, single display, to output only to external. This would be to check if it is the built in display having issues.2. Access the device manager, uninstall the drivers for dispaly adapter and select "Delete the driver software for this device.3. Restart your system and install the latest drivers again: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25818/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-1-10-15-40-?product=86210 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25818/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-1-10-15-40-?product=862104. Test the behavior of your system with the beta drivers as well: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25848/Intel-Beta-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-1-10-15-40-?product=86210 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25848/Intel-Beta-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-1-10-15-40-?product=862105. Use the drivers provided by your OEM these drivers would be the best way to go regularly: http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers6. Access your computer in safe mode to check the behavior of your system.Windows 10* safe mode: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/start-your-pc-in-safe-modeI look forward to your outcome with this.Regards,Esteban C

[EGeor1]

Hi again, thanks for the tips. Here are my results:

1. Surprisingly, all the clips played perfectly and smoothly on the external monitor (connected using HDMI cable). I payed thorough attention to them and I couldn't see any trace of the problem. Not so lucky after unplugging the HDMI cable and using the internal monitor again.

2. I also tried something other than a video, a moving screensaver, and it gets affected by the same stuttering. It seems to me that the problem is not related to video but to any movement on the screen.

3. The three drivers (OEM, latest ones and the beta version) didn't help. The playback was good on the external monitor but bad on the internal monitor as explained before.

4. Safe Mode did help. I had to use VLC instead of MPC-HC but the motion was fluent in safe mode compared to using VLC in normal mode. Somehow safe mode helped to make the video fluent.

how can I fix it for the internal monitor?

[idata]

Hello, ema93a:

As per the behavior of the internal monitor, I would say this issue could be related to the physical connection or the screen per se that is faulty.This is because the external monitor worked fine, so drivers should not be affecting the behavior of the systemThe way to go would be to contact the manufacturer of your device for possible warranty or additional troubleshooting they could provide you with.If you require any further information or support, do not hesitate to contact us back.Regards,Esteban C

[EGeor1]

I used http://www.testufo.com/# test=framerates http://www.testufo.com/# test=framerates to keep testing and I found out that f.lux screen filter app was the cause of it. I should have closed it instead of disabling it.

I hope at least that this post can help someone with the same problem in the future.

Thanks for the help and sorry for the inconvenience.

[idata]

Hello, ema93a:

Thank you for providing us with the outcome on this, for sure it could help some other user that encounteres with this scenario.If you require any further information or support, do not hesitate to contact us back.Regards,Esteban C