Choppy Video - mac pro or my HDD?

[jimmypopjr]

Thanks in no small part to these forums I converted my DVD collection (and a good portion of my TV-DVD collection) over to my computer for my Apple TVs. When I finally completed this huge chore I went out and got three 1.5TB internal drives to replace the six externals that I had.

I don't THINK the problem started when I got the new drives, since I didn't watch too much on the computer itself too often. But I have been watching a lot of junk on the computer lately, and I noticed that every few seconds the video hiccups. Not the audio, just the video. It's a small hiccup, but it is noticeable and therefore annoying.

I'm realllllly hoping it's not the drives, as that would completely suck. Is there anything else it could be? This happens regardless of what else is running in the background. The specs are in my sig. The drives are 1.5TB 7200 RPM drives.

Any input at all would be awesome.

EDIT - It seems that it hiccups in quicktime/iTunes, and not in VLC.... which I think rules out the computer and the files themselves. Could Perian be causing jumpy playback?

 

[wpc33]

You may want to search the forums for the dreaded firmware issues of old, that these drives had. I'm pretty sure the problems were discovered in RAID, but the stuttering you mentioned seems like it may ring a bell...or not.
If the firmware is an issue, you can update it.

I don't have any answers, but I hope I can lead you in the right direction.
I've always been fine with Seagate drives, and personally, would not let the aforementioned possibility make me regret buying an otherwise fast and awesome drive for the low prices they're at right now. Best of luck!

 

[wpc33]

After reading your edit, I'm happy to hear it seems even simpler. I always use VLC for everything but DV. The A/V controls and hotkey setup makes QT look even worse. I hear Mplayer is great, too, but I'm pretty sure it has to be compiled from separate sources. I haven't bothered.

 

[johnnygavone]

Jumpy, stuttering video frames

So glad y'all are discussing this right now, as I'm having the same issues. My DVD collection is in the process of being ripped to my two 2TB internal drives. I view them on a SONY Bravia 40"LCD TV connected via HDMI/DVI converter cable. The choppy video is ALSO apparent, however, on my Acer 21" widescreen monitor, which I use as my desktop. I would think this rules out refresh rate / HDMI issues. I've tried playback with Apple DVD Player and VLC media player with same poor results. When I increase the image to fullscreen size, the choppiness appears more evident, but that could just be because the image is larger and therefore easier to see the jumpiness.

I've checked Activity monitor and my media player uses 16% of the CPU; nothing else going on really. Lots of RAM, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I also get the same results no matter where the video files reside. I've tried moving them and playing them from different internal hard drives.

 

[makkker]

The problem is not with your video. Problem with ApplePowerGraphicsManagement.kext
You just need to do steps, showed in video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmoWoeNrkOs