4k Video Playback

[Cyanic Sonic]

Hi everyone! 

 

First post here!

 

So this is a question that I've wondered after actually experiencing it

My 2011 macbook is actually very VERY bad at video playbacks.

Recently I've gotten an Internet upgrade and I can finally stream 4k videos without any lag BUT the playback will jam once in a while when it is loading on youtube, while the audio continues to play and the video playback freezes for like 10-15 seconds before it starts playing again.

 

From most of the content that i've been seeing, the effect of the graphics card is usually discussed for rendering videos, and 3dmark is used to benchmark these kind of tests

 

So my question is: 

 

Is video playback dependent more on CPU, GPU or both?

 

I realized this same problem when i try to playback 4k videos that i've downloaded using VLC.

 

Some advice would be great.

Thanks! 

[anybodykek]

1 minute ago, Cyanic Sonic said:

Hi everyone! 

 

First post here!

 

So this is a question that I've wondered after actually experiencing it

My 2011 macbook is actually very VERY bad at video playbacks.

Recently I've gotten an Internet upgrade and I can finally stream 4k videos without any lag BUT the playback will jam once in a while when it is loading on youtube, while the audio continues to play and the video playback freezes for like 10-15 seconds before it starts playing again.

 

From most of the content that i've been seeing, the effect of the graphics card is usually discussed for rendering videos, and 3dmark is used to benchmark these kind of tests

 

So my question is: 

 

Is video playback dependent more on CPU, GPU or both?

 

I realized this same problem when i try to playback 4k videos that i've downloaded using VLC.

 

Some advice would be great.

Thanks! 

The 4k playback is dependent on GPU, but a basic video card like the 1050 could probably do it.

[Cyanic Sonic]

13 minutes ago, anybodykek said:

The 4k playback is dependent on GPU, but a basic video card like the 1050 could probably do it.

Right! Thanks mate

 

But uhm, i checked and i have a 384vram on this thing, what do you think is the minimum vram required to playback 4k vids? because 1050's have 2gb or vram

[LAwLz]

3 hours ago, Cyanic Sonic said:

Is video playback dependent more on CPU, GPU or both?

It depends.

Your GPU has fixed function hardware for video decoding. If that piece of silicon does not support the particular video codec, profile and resolution you are playing then it will fall back on the CPU to handle decoding.

 

So your video player will check "does the GPU support this video? No? Then the CPU will have to handle it!".

CPU decoding can be really resource intensive (depending on codec, profile, resolution, bit rate, etc) so that's why you are getting stuttering and probably poor battery life as well.

 

The tricky thing is that how good your video card is at decoding is done in fixed function hardware, which means that it is a completely separate thing from the general GPU cores. In other words, a 1050 can be (as in) better for video decoding than a 980Ti. In fact, the GTX 960 is better than the 980Ti for video decoding (it has full support for HEVC).

 

So what you want to look for is what codec your videos are using, and then what codec the GPU you are going to buy supports.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Cyanic Sonic said:

But uhm, i checked and i have a 384vram on this thing, what do you think is the minimum vram required to playback 4k vids? because 1050's have 2gb or vram

VRAM is not important. A 128MB graphics card might be able to play a video just fine, while a 12GB VRAM card might struggle.

In fact, VRAM is a terrible measurement of how a graphics card performs, period. You should never judge a video card based on VRAM.

[Zodiark1593]

If you're looking for 4K Netflix, don't buy until Kaby Lake. 

[anybodykek]

5 hours ago, LAwLz said:

It depends.

Your GPU has fixed function hardware for video decoding. If that piece of silicon does not support the particular video codec, profile and resolution you are playing then it will fall back on the CPU to handle decoding.

 

So your video player will check "does the GPU support this video? No? Then the CPU will have to handle it!".

CPU decoding can be really resource intensive (depending on codec, profile, resolution, bit rate, etc) so that's why you are getting stuttering and probably poor battery life as well.

 

The tricky thing is that how good your video card is at decoding is done in fixed function hardware, which means that it is a completely separate thing from the general GPU cores. In other words, a 1050 can be (as in) better for video decoding than a 980Ti. In fact, the GTX 960 is better than the 980Ti for video decoding (it has full support for HEVC).

 

So what you want to look for is what codec your videos are using, and then what codec the GPU you are going to buy supports.

 

 

 

VRAM is not important. A 128MB graphics card might be able to play a video just fine, while a 12GB VRAM card might struggle.

In fact, VRAM is a terrible measurement of how a graphics card performs, period. You should never judge a video card based on VRAM.

mhmm. Don't skimp out on your CPU. Make a well rounded build.

And for video playback, frame buffer doesn't matter. Look for cards with newer architecture, more processing units and better efficiency.

[applebook]

4K playback is software dependent as much as it is CPU/ GPU.

 

Any decent quad Core I processor should be able to play 4K video on Windows if you're using Windows Media Classic player with the right codecs installed.

 

Which app are you using on your Mac to stream? Even on my machine, 4K playback is really poor via Youtube but is buttery smooth with WMC and the highest bit-rate 4K movies.

[Cyanic Sonic]

33 minutes ago, applebook said:

4K playback is software dependent as much as it is CPU/ GPU.

 

Any decent quad Core I processor should be able to play 4K video on Windows if you're using Windows Media Classic player with the right codecs installed.

 

Which app are you using on your Mac to stream? Even on my machine, 4K playback is really poor via Youtube but is buttery smooth with WMC and the highest bit-rate 4K movies.

I'm using safari to stream youtube 4k vids, actually LTT videos.

Since chrome is so RAM intensive, I decided to keep using safari since it doesnt really take up that much RAM

 

So since it is software dependent, does that mean VLC is not suitable for downloaded 4k as well? 

I have not tried any other players simply because VLC usually has a majority of the commonly used codecs.

 

10 hours ago, LAwLz said:

It depends.

Your GPU has fixed function hardware for video decoding. If that piece of silicon does not support the particular video codec, profile and resolution you are playing then it will fall back on the CPU to handle decoding.

 

So your video player will check "does the GPU support this video? No? Then the CPU will have to handle it!".

CPU decoding can be really resource intensive (depending on codec, profile, resolution, bit rate, etc) so that's why you are getting stuttering and probably poor battery life as well.

 

The tricky thing is that how good your video card is at decoding is done in fixed function hardware, which means that it is a completely separate thing from the general GPU cores. In other words, a 1050 can be (as in) better for video decoding than a 980Ti. In fact, the GTX 960 is better than the 980Ti for video decoding (it has full support for HEVC).

 

So what you want to look for is what codec your videos are using, and then what codec the GPU you are going to buy supports.

 

 

 

VRAM is not important. A 128MB graphics card might be able to play a video just fine, while a 12GB VRAM card might struggle.

In fact, VRAM is a terrible measurement of how a graphics card performs, period. You should never judge a video card based on VRAM.

Thanks for the great advice! I'll keep this in mind when buying components for my new upcoming build

 

 

[applebook]

VLC on my Windoze machine struggles badly with 4K. I don't know if it's because of poor HEVC optimization or not, but I'm pretty sure that I've also tried H.264 UHD clips that ran poorly with VLC. WMC is the best player. There has to be an OS X equivalent, but it's not VLC.

 

Chrome and Firefox don't run Youtube 4k well either on Windows.

[LAwLz]

WMC is a terrible player. Lacks a lot of basic features (don't even think it supports ordered chapters), really slim codec support, poor up and down scaling... 

 

I recommend MPC-HC (preferably the Kawaii Codec Pack) or if you are a video nerd, MPV.