Has anyone else noticed how terrible iTunes is for playing video? I just downloaded a Pixar short to watch with my son on our 400 mhz iMac DV and it is unwatchable, it plays maybe one in 10 frames and hangs up all the time. I watch stuff bigger than that in Quicktime Player with better results all the time and I can watch full-screen DVDs with no problems. If Apple wants this video store to fly they really need to optimize iTunes better for video playback. Even on my 1 ghz eMac I can't resize the video window without getting choppy video. I can't imagine trying to watch a full episode of a TV show this way.
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iTunes poor video playback
- Thread starter baleensavage
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iTunes is definately worse than quicktime at rendering video to the screen.
But theres another issue, which is that h264 video takes more power to decode & play than older mpeg4. The videos that apple sell are h264, hence potential problems.
In the coming weeks it should become clearer what minimum spec of mac is required to playback 320x240ish h264 files.
If you try playing the same file in quicktime and its still jerky, your processor probably isnt up to the job.
I believe the ipods have a decoder chip that takes care of h264 decoding, otherwise theyd need an over-the-top cpu in the ipods to make this work.
Encoding using h264 is also much slower than older mpeg4.
But theres another issue, which is that h264 video takes more power to decode & play than older mpeg4. The videos that apple sell are h264, hence potential problems.
In the coming weeks it should become clearer what minimum spec of mac is required to playback 320x240ish h264 files.
If you try playing the same file in quicktime and its still jerky, your processor probably isnt up to the job.
I believe the ipods have a decoder chip that takes care of h264 decoding, otherwise theyd need an over-the-top cpu in the ipods to make this work.
Encoding using h264 is also much slower than older mpeg4.
i've mentioned before that iTunes' decoding of h.264 is terrible. files that look great in quicktime can sometimes look disgraceful in iTunes. it's just an added hassle..and i don't see why it's happening (when iTunes is using the QT API).
hopefully apple will sort this out soon :/
hopefully apple will sort this out soon :/
"If you try playing the same file in quicktime"
Can you play movies purchased on iTMS in Quicktime? I did do this with a video I got a while back (when they were free) but I thought the purchased ones were now copy protected so you could only play them in iTunes. The video I tried before came with a Gorlliaz single and played beautifully in Quicktime, but terribly in iTunes. I'll have to try playing that Pixar short in Quicktime.
I also noticed that the iTunes music store feedback page lists poor video playback in the dropdown of issues. I hope this means that Apple is aware of the problem and will do something about it.
Can you play movies purchased on iTMS in Quicktime? I did do this with a video I got a while back (when they were free) but I thought the purchased ones were now copy protected so you could only play them in iTunes. The video I tried before came with a Gorlliaz single and played beautifully in Quicktime, but terribly in iTunes. I'll have to try playing that Pixar short in Quicktime.
I also noticed that the iTunes music store feedback page lists poor video playback in the dropdown of issues. I hope this means that Apple is aware of the problem and will do something about it.