So I guess I just can't playback 1080p content on the 11", right?

[ClemTiger0408]

I have the 11" Ultimate.

I am noticing that with my 1080p content (that I own) that in "busy" scenes or scenes with a higher bitrate, that the Air stutters tremendously.

Is this what most people are experiencing?

 

[jdavtz]

What format is the 1080p video in? (i.e. what codec, what bitrate?)

 

[fs454]

VLC isn't hardware accelerated, if you're using that to play mkv files. That would be why.

Are you watching it on the 11" display? If so, there's no point in viewing 1080p footage as the screen can't resolve that detail, whereas 720p will look just as good.

If you're using an external display and want to play 1080p content, Plex works great and should play everything smoothly.

 

[ClemTiger0408]

What format is the 1080p video in? (i.e. what codec, what bitrate?)

H.264 (AVC)

11.2Mbps bitrate.

A little less than 9gigs for a 100 minute video.

Thanks!

 

[ClemTiger0408]

VLC isn't hardware accelerated, if you're using that to play mkv files. That would be why.

Are you watching it on the 11" display? If so, there's no point in viewing 1080p footage as the screen can't resolve that detail, whereas 720p will look just as good.

If you're using an external display and want to play 1080p content, Plex works great and should play everything smoothly.

Thanks. What's a good alternative for VLC on the Air? That is what I've been using.

 

[akdj]

Nope, mine is working Great!...regardless if I'm playing it direct from SSD, Streaming it over my local network at home. or from YouTube...1080p 720p, etc are all working smooth as butter on my 11". I've got the 4gigs of RAM on board though...not sure if that makes any difference or not. Sporting the 1.4ghz proc, so nothing special there. 22mb down and 6mb up is my net speed. I shoot video for a living and thus far I've been able to play back DVCPro HD, QT, XDcam, most avc and mpeg4 derivatives. No issues.

What are you using for playback? Have you got Perian or VLC Installed? Sometimes they'll help a bit. Is it just stuttering? Buffering issues? Judder? Jaggies? anything more specific?

See what we can figure out with more information!

J

 

[akdj]

Lol...you guys were all posting before I finished. You should be fine with VLC. I'm doing just fine. Do install the Perian plug in though for QT
As mentioned for streaming, Plex is hard to beat

 

[impulse462]

local 1080p content for me runs just fine, only flash 1080p content stutters a bit.

 

[ClemTiger0408]

Well I'm not streaming. The file is stored locally on my SSD. I'm using VLC and only at certain scenes the file just stutters constantly or displays off-colors. This doesn't happen on my other machine.

 

[ClemTiger0408]

So if VLC is not CPU accelerated, is there another program I should try using for playback of mkv (H.264) content?

 

[johnhalsted]

I have the 13" base with 4gb ram and I usually find that if VLC cant play it, Mplayer OSX Extended can , hope this helps!

 

[fs454]

Plex will also play them with GPU acceleration, but its kind of clunky to use as a media player, as it's meant for a media center setup.

 

[MRU]

Do you have perian installed ?

 

[halledise]

Thanks. What's a good alternative for VLC on the Air? That is what I've been using.

could try Movist - I've always used it in preference to VLC

 

[mattydee87]

could try Movist - I've always used it in preference to VLC

Thanks for the tip, plays 1080p smoothly from my NAS. Loving it!