Is there anything I can do to optimize my laptop's video playback and eliminate audio/video lag?
I bought a new laptop, and couldn't afford anything with a real graphics card. It only has the integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M. But I didn't expect it to have any issues with video content on the internet. I didn't expect issues there, because I have a five year old Windows XP desktop that doesn't struggle with video, and it doesn't have a fancy video card, either. My main problem is that the video is occasionally choppy (intermittent starts/stops that are not buffering issues), and the audio is often out of sync with the video (particularly noticed when people are talking and their words don't match their mouth movements). Netflix streaming is especially bad, but ESPN videos are bad, too.
What can I do? I know I can't upgrade to a video card...my laptop doesn't allow for that. I can add another 1 GB of RAM, but I think there is a limit to the memory that the integrated video can access, so that won't help. I've already tweaked my video settings to use 16-bit color quality instead of 32-bit, and I also turned off most of the Windows 7 visual effects that slow down performance. These two things have helped a bit, I think. but is there anything else I can do?
Will a faster internet connection help? I have 1.5 Mbps DSL. I have another laptop with a better video card, and it seems to do relatively okay with the same internet connection, so I was assuming that isn't the main limiting factor.
Here is my system:
What can I do? I know I can't upgrade to a video card...my laptop doesn't allow for that. I can add another 1 GB of RAM, but I think there is a limit to the memory that the integrated video can access, so that won't help. I've already tweaked my video settings to use 16-bit color quality instead of 32-bit, and I also turned off most of the Windows 7 visual effects that slow down performance. These two things have helped a bit, I think. but is there anything else I can do?
Will a faster internet connection help? I have 1.5 Mbps DSL. I have another laptop with a better video card, and it seems to do relatively okay with the same internet connection, so I was assuming that isn't the main limiting factor.
Here is my system:
Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor and Graphics
Processor and Graphics
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor T4400
2.2GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
Mobile Intel® GL40 Express Chipset
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M with 128MB-1341MB
dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
Memory: 3GB DDR3 800MHz (max 4GB)
Hi,
I have come across this same problem once in my systems where I have a dedicated graphics card.
The problem is nothing to do with any hardware part.
Your hardware seems to be sufficient to watch videos on the web.
When I got the problem, I tried to download the video through the Firefox plugins and try running in the desktop. It was fine running.
Then I cleared my cookies and offline files of the browser, again tried viewing the same video on the web directly. It worked fine..
Please let me know if that solves your problem
I have come across this same problem once in my systems where I have a dedicated graphics card.
The problem is nothing to do with any hardware part.
Your hardware seems to be sufficient to watch videos on the web.
When I got the problem, I tried to download the video through the Firefox plugins and try running in the desktop. It was fine running.
Then I cleared my cookies and offline files of the browser, again tried viewing the same video on the web directly. It worked fine..
Please let me know if that solves your problem
honestly with an hp laptop - you're best bets are these:
1. update the video card driver if you can
2. get the latest version of java
3. get the latest flash player
4. use google chrome, smaller footprint than IE and firefox
5. most importantly, UNINSTALL all the junk hp put there that you never needed/wanted - in addition to anything else listed as being installed.
then delete all the temp files using this:
http://download.cnet.com/Temp-File-Cleaner/3000-2094_4-10628816.html?tag=recommendedDownloads
then, do a good registry cleanup with ccleaner
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
then do a good defraggler run
http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download/standard
if you have norton/symantec/mcafee, consider getting something better. no reason to have those using 80% of your resources just to fail at blocking viruses.
www.avast.com - it works, it's free, and it's a small footprint on the resource chart
if all that doesn't get you going, consider a new laptop, anything but hp or gateway
be thankful you have the intel graphics - it seems like every consumer-level hp laptop that doesnt have intel graphics, burns up within the first 13 months.
1. update the video card driver if you can
2. get the latest version of java
3. get the latest flash player
4. use google chrome, smaller footprint than IE and firefox
5. most importantly, UNINSTALL all the junk hp put there that you never needed/wanted - in addition to anything else listed as being installed.
then delete all the temp files using this:
http://download.cnet.com/Temp-File-Cleaner/3000-2094_4-10628816.html?tag=recommendedDownloads
then, do a good registry cleanup with ccleaner
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
then do a good defraggler run
http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download/standard
if you have norton/symantec/mcafee, consider getting something better. no reason to have those using 80% of your resources just to fail at blocking viruses.
www.avast.com - it works, it's free, and it's a small footprint on the resource chart
if all that doesn't get you going, consider a new laptop, anything but hp or gateway
be thankful you have the intel graphics - it seems like every consumer-level hp laptop that doesnt have intel graphics, burns up within the first 13 months.
Make sure nothing is running with a lot of processor strain like a virus scan or anything like that. Then you can go to task manager and go to the process of your movie or netflix and increase the priority so it's not waiting on any other processes. You can set your power options to maximum performance because laptops often downgrade themselves to save battery...especially when not plugged in when you first turn them on. The other option is to use VLC for movies and just make sure they are buffered well ahead of where you are watching before you hit play. This will prevent you from catching up to the part you haven't downloaded yet when streaming live video content.
Hope these help! If it's a brand new computer you can also contact support. They will probably make sure you have the latest network and video card drivers as well.
Todd
Hope these help! If it's a brand new computer you can also contact support. They will probably make sure you have the latest network and video card drivers as well.
Todd
oh it goes without saying, when you install ANYTHING, watch closely for all the "optional" checkmarks - you don't need any toolbars or other nonsense getting installed... always watch for these checkmarks during installs.
even after whatever new thing just got installed, you should still go into that new program and turn off any auto-updaters... particularly java and adobe. there's no good reason to have auto-updaters running 24x7
in your list of programs, 90% of anything that starts with HP can probably go away, so look into each one really well and determine if it's junk to you or not
even after whatever new thing just got installed, you should still go into that new program and turn off any auto-updaters... particularly java and adobe. there's no good reason to have auto-updaters running 24x7
in your list of programs, 90% of anything that starts with HP can probably go away, so look into each one really well and determine if it's junk to you or not
Did you disable any unnecessary start up programs? I personally hate to suggest this, but disable Anti-Virus software during playback? We don't want the AV app to be scanning the download as we are watching the movie.
Do a selective startup loading only the most essential services in order to watch your video, but switching back before doing anything else such as surfing the internet.
Make sure you update all the drivers from the laptop manufacturers site.
You mentioned graphics memory. Take a look in Bios settings to see if it's possible to allocate more ram to the video card. This may or may not help, it'll be limited as much by the GPU as it will by the ram but your graphics chip will support up to 1.7GB of memory.
The GPU is rated as being ok to game with and ok to watch video with and also supposedly has lip synching abilities which you are not seeing.
Go back to 32 bit quality. No sense in watching in 16 bit.
Reference card for your chipset is here: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-integrated-graphics/
You seem to have the 4500M video card which is lower rated because of lower clock speed at 400MHz compared to the 640Mhz of the 4500MHD.
For a review of the chipset look here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-4500MHD-GMA-X4500MHD.9883.0.html
For possible tweaks you might try, go here: http://forums.techarena.in/monitor-video-cards/1199247.htm
Do a selective startup loading only the most essential services in order to watch your video, but switching back before doing anything else such as surfing the internet.
Make sure you update all the drivers from the laptop manufacturers site.
You mentioned graphics memory. Take a look in Bios settings to see if it's possible to allocate more ram to the video card. This may or may not help, it'll be limited as much by the GPU as it will by the ram but your graphics chip will support up to 1.7GB of memory.
The GPU is rated as being ok to game with and ok to watch video with and also supposedly has lip synching abilities which you are not seeing.
Go back to 32 bit quality. No sense in watching in 16 bit.
Reference card for your chipset is here: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-integrated-graphics/
You seem to have the 4500M video card which is lower rated because of lower clock speed at 400MHz compared to the 640Mhz of the 4500MHD.
For a review of the chipset look here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-4500MHD-GMA-X4500MHD.9883.0.html
For possible tweaks you might try, go here: http://forums.techarena.in/monitor-video-cards/1199247.htm
ASKER
Not sure why several people think I have an HP. It is a Toshiba Satellite laptop.
csalaski - is there no performance gain from going to 16-bit? I honestly can't see the difference visually, so I assumed 16-bit would perform better.
Also, the link you provided for possible tweaks suggested this: "try setting the Driver Memory Footprint option to "High". This can even help to increase your graphics performance." Any idea where/how to do that?
csalaski - is there no performance gain from going to 16-bit? I honestly can't see the difference visually, so I assumed 16-bit would perform better.
Also, the link you provided for possible tweaks suggested this: "try setting the Driver Memory Footprint option to "High". This can even help to increase your graphics performance." Any idea where/how to do that?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
I'm with authen-tech. Windows media player can't cut it VLC Video Lan plays movies smoothly. I first saw this on a thinkpad when vista was new. I thought MS would finally get dvd playback right but no, they did not. VLC is free and provides a great experience.
Regarding the 16 vs 32 bit. I couldn't see an advantage performance wise, bryone44035v3 mentions it. The adapter would have to decide when given a value for a specific shade to choose another close shade which is additional overhead for the GPU. I also thought that movie video with it's infinite shades might be degraded with only 65536 colors versus millions of colors.
Since the chip has none of it's own memory it has to take it from the system. If you minimize running apps, you will minimize memory having to use the hard drive swap file because of the buffering that must happen in order to watch video.
If you can allocate more memory to graphics in Bios, not sure if it's possible, that should help also.
Since the chip has none of it's own memory it has to take it from the system. If you minimize running apps, you will minimize memory having to use the hard drive swap file because of the buffering that must happen in order to watch video.
If you can allocate more memory to graphics in Bios, not sure if it's possible, that should help also.
you can try downloading and installing k lite codec pack..... it helped me ...or u can try VLC
What type of video are sluggish?
While your video chip has some hardware decoding capability it is not fast enough for 1080p decoding but it's worth trying.
To try it, use Media Player Classic to playback the videos because it can do hardware decoding. You GPU has some hardware decoding capability that you can take advantage to remove load from your CPU. On my C2D E7500, it reduced CPU consumption from 65% to about 10% for H.264 playback.
Follow the instructions on this page, but also disable anything that says FFMPEG
http://wiki.vuze.com/w/HD_Video_Playback_with_Hardware_H.264_Decoding
VLC uses FFMPEG which is pure CPU decoding and while your CPU should be capable of decoding the videos, it is more efficient.
While your video chip has some hardware decoding capability it is not fast enough for 1080p decoding but it's worth trying.
To try it, use Media Player Classic to playback the videos because it can do hardware decoding. You GPU has some hardware decoding capability that you can take advantage to remove load from your CPU. On my C2D E7500, it reduced CPU consumption from 65% to about 10% for H.264 playback.
Follow the instructions on this page, but also disable anything that says FFMPEG
http://wiki.vuze.com/w/HD_Video_Playback_with_Hardware_H.264_Decoding
VLC uses FFMPEG which is pure CPU decoding and while your CPU should be capable of decoding the videos, it is more efficient.
Just read the post again and it says Netflix. Whoops...
I am not familiar with these systems. Are they Flash based? Flash only recently started supporting hardware decoding and is otherwise very CPU intensive.
Ensure you have the latest version of Flash, 10.1. When playing a Flash content, right click and choose settings. Ensure hardware acceleration is enabled.
I am not familiar with these systems. Are they Flash based? Flash only recently started supporting hardware decoding and is otherwise very CPU intensive.
Ensure you have the latest version of Flash, 10.1. When playing a Flash content, right click and choose settings. Ensure hardware acceleration is enabled.
ASKER
Couple more questions...I see several suggestions for various media players such as VLC...but how does that help for internet-streamed videos? Does IE8 actually play the videos differently if I have installed a different video player?
Also, on the suggestion for changing the Driver Memory Footprint. I'm not sure how to interpret the suggestions on the intel website...should I set it to high or low to improve performance? http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-030506.htm#7
Also, on the suggestion for changing the Driver Memory Footprint. I'm not sure how to interpret the suggestions on the intel website...should I set it to high or low to improve performance? http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-030506.htm#7
IE/firefox/browsers will stream files differently, usually by flash or java, sometimes with calls to windows media player
3rd party programs like VLC will integrate into the browsers and intercept the streaming links and usually work better, but they don't do flash or java
your issues are caused by your machine doing other things in the background, you need to start looking at freeing up some memory by uninstalling things you dont use or need
3rd party programs like VLC will integrate into the browsers and intercept the streaming links and usually work better, but they don't do flash or java
your issues are caused by your machine doing other things in the background, you need to start looking at freeing up some memory by uninstalling things you dont use or need
ASKER
I don't think it is a memory issue. I'm running a video right now from FoxNews, and it looks horrible. But only 1.4 Gb of memory is being used out of 2.87 available. And both CPU's are being pegged at less than 25%.
ASKER
Couple more questions. Are there any websites with standardized video streams that I can use for repeatable testing of my streaming performance? Also, how do I integrate VLC into IE8? I installed VLC media player, but I totally do not understand how to set it up. It is way over my head.
ASKER
I also checked the drivers...they are up-to-date. This is only a 2-month-old laptop.
VLC was for DVD or local video playback, it does not integrate into IE that I am aware of. Do you have a bunch of toolbars or plugins on your IE8? Have you tried an alternate browser like Firefox or Google Chrome? I would just check to see whether you have problems with either of those before going further since it may be a plugin on your IE that is slowing you down.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
I am upgrading to a 15 Mbps broadband connection next week, so I will revisit this soon after that.
ASKER
No solution has been found. I still don't get it, because multiple people have told me the specs on my laptop are sufficient that the playback should not be choppy. I'll let this question expire.
Let us know if this works.