YouTube Lag

[Jasun]

My machine isn't really the best when it comes to performance and definitely not when it comes to the looks. To get to the point, whenever I watch YouTube at 1080p60fps, it stutters from time to time (minimal stuttering but it can be felt) but when I watch Twitch streams that are also 1080p60fps, it doesn't lag at all. I would expect this to work the other way around (like Twitch lagging and YouTube--not). Does anyone know why that is? 

[TechMan2175]

do you use wifi or wired internet 

[TSL]

Possibly because of all the ads on the YouTube site. I used to get stuttering if I had too many YouTube tabs open and I believe it was down to the moving ads. Do you have an adblocker? If not, getting one could help.

[iRileyx]

Could be the video buffering that causes the stutters?

Then again, that would mean twitch would most likely do it too.

[Jasun]

Just now, TechMan2175 said:

do you use wifi or wired internet 

Wired--it isn't that fast but definitely enough for YouTube (30mbps down)

[Jasun]

1 minute ago, TSL said:

Possibly because of all the ads on the YouTube site. I used to get stuttering if I had too many YouTube tabs open and I believe it was down to the moving ads. Do you have an adblocker? If not, getting one could help.

Yes, I do have an adblocker. 

[Tabs]

Just now, Jasun said:

Wired--it isn't that fast but definitely enough for YouTube (30mbps down)

Open the "stats for nerds" box on a 1080p60 video that you experience this issue with and see if there's a specific issue with streaming the video (buffer emptying etc). It could absolutely be adverts on YT causing issues, so if you don't already, try running uBlock origin and see if that helps.

 

Also, check your cpu/gpu usage on YT and Twitch to see if hardware acceleration is working properly.

[TSL]

5 minutes ago, Jasun said:

Wired--it isn't that fast but definitely enough for YouTube (30mbps down)

LMAO, I have 10mbps. It's definitely not your internet connection.

[Jasun]

3 minutes ago, Tabs said:

Open the "stats for nerds" box on a 1080p60 video that you experience this issue with and see if there's a specific issue with streaming the video (buffer emptying etc). It could absolutely be adverts on YT causing issues, so if you don't already, try running uBlock origin and see if that helps.

 

Also, check your cpu/gpu usage on YT and Twitch to see if hardware acceleration is working properly.

When watching YT, my cpu usage goes up to 80-90% but when on twitch--40-50%. That's an issue...  

[TSL]

1 minute ago, Jasun said:

When watching YT, my cpu usage goes up to 80-90% but when on twitch--40-50%. That's an issue...  

What's your CPU? I think this is just an optimisation issue on YouTube's side. Have you always had this problem?

[Jasun]

Just now, TSL said:

What's your CPU? I think this is just an optimisation issue on YouTube's side. Have you always had this problem?

C2Q Q6600 lol. I think it's just an optimization issue with YouTube but to be fair, it is a really old cpu. It doesn't happen on my laptop so it's just an issue on my desktop. 

[Tabs]

1 minute ago, Jasun said:

When watching YT, my cpu usage goes up to 80-90% but when on twitch--40-50%. That's an issue...  

It sounds like hardware acceleration isn't working on Youtube for some reason. What web browser are you using?

 

If you have the most recent version of Windows 10 it'll also show gpu stats in task manager; or you can use gpu-z to see if the video decoding engine on your gpu actually gets activated when watching videos on youtube.

[Jasun]

Just now, Tabs said:

It sounds like hardware acceleration isn't working on Youtube for some reason. What web browser are you using?

 

If you have the most recent version of Windows 10 it'll also show gpu stats in task manager; or you can use gpu-z to see if the video decoding engine on your gpu actually gets activated when watching videos on youtube.

Chrome. In Task Manager, Video Decode does not seem to go up in percentage but the overall usage does go up by ~5%. 

[Tabs]

3 minutes ago, Jasun said:

Chrome. In Task Manager, Video Decode does not seem to go up in percentage but the overall usage does go up by ~5%. 

It's definitely not using hardware acceleration then, which is weird - I assume that you're viewing both twitch and YouTube on the same browser?

[Jasun]

1 minute ago, Tabs said:

It's definitely not using hardware acceleration then, which is weird - I assume that you're viewing both twitch and YouTube on the same browser?

Yes, I am. Also, if this helps, my hardware accel is on in the settings of Chrome. 

[Tabs]

Just now, Jasun said:

Yes, I am. Also, if this helps, my hardware accel is on in the settings of Chrome. 

What gpu do you have? The only thing I can think of now is that youtube's video format is not something your hardware can accelerate, but twitch can be. Which is weird.

[Jasun]

Just now, Tabs said:

What gpu do you have? The only thing I can think of now is that youtube's video format is not something your hardware can accelerate, but twitch can be. Which is weird.

GTX 750 (without the "Ti")

[Jasun]

3 minutes ago, Tabs said:

What gpu do you have? The only thing I can think of now is that youtube's video format is not something your hardware can accelerate, but twitch can be. Which is weird.

Also, in twitch, the video decode is 14%. 

[Tabs]

4 minutes ago, Jasun said:

Also, in twitch, the video decode is 14%. 

So we know it's definitely hardware acceleration related since it's working fine on Twitch.

I vaguely recall that there was an option on YouTube to choose video formats - as far as I know the defaults nowadays are VP8/VP9, but I can't find the option anymore.

 

Try using this extension - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/h264ify/aleakchihdccplidncghkekgioiakgal

 

It promises to block vp8/vp9 playback and forces YouTube to play h.264 instead.

[Jasun]

4 minutes ago, Tabs said:

So we know it's definitely hardware acceleration related since it's working fine on Twitch.

I vaguely recall that there was an option on YouTube to choose video formats - as far as I know the defaults nowadays are VP8/VP9, but I can't find the option anymore.

 

Try using this extension - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/h264ify/aleakchihdccplidncghkekgioiakgal

 

It promises to block vp8/vp9 playback and forces YouTube to play h.264 instead.

Oh snap! That might of actually done it! The video decoder and now usuing ~13% for YouTube. Do you know why this is and as always, thanks for the help. 

[Tabs]

3 minutes ago, Jasun said:

Oh snap! That might of actually done it! The video decoder and now usuing ~13% for YouTube. Do you know why this is and as always, thanks for the help. 

YouTube/google liked the idea of pushing it's own video codec (VP8 that it bought, and VP9 that it helped develop and licenses freely) to compete with h.264 and h.265. Not all drivers/cards can hardware decode it, but very few people have issues nowadays since modern machines are so powerful. It just tends to cause a drain in battery life.

 

Here is a (bit of a clickbaitey title, but informative) article explaining the whole deal, and goes into the issue in quite some depth. 

 

Glad that sorted it for ya mate.