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Macbook Pro 2011 > VLC Media freeze

A

amoergosum

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 20, 2008
377
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I just did a test with my Mac Pro (early 2009) and Macbook Pro (2011).
I started a RAW to JPEG batch conversion with Lightroom and played
a 1080p .MOV file with the VLC player.
The Mac Pro didn't have any problems with it.
The Macbook Pro (2,2Ghz, 8GB RAM, 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, Anti-Glare screen) couldn't handle it...during playback the video froze every couple of seconds.
Could you guys do the same test and post the results here?
 
Why don't you play the .mov file using QT Player?
Also have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example
Acitivty_Monitor.png
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Why don't you play the .mov file using QT Player?
Click to expand...

I've tried that and it works with the QT player without any freeze issues.
It bugs me though that it's not possible with the VLC Media Player.
A member from another forum tried the test with his 2010 Macbook Pro and
didn't have any freezes during playback....so I wonder why it's not possible with a 2011 Macbook Pro.
 
I don't use Lightroom but play 720p MKV files almost everyday (some times several times) whilst driving an LED ACD in clamshell mode and can't say i've noticed anything. Ditto for a 1080p MP4 and MKV files whilst simultaneously playing an iTunes vidcast. Don't have a 1080p .MOV file to test though.
 
Last edited:
daneoni said:
I don't use Lightroom but play 720p MKV files almost everyday and can't say i've noticed anything.
Click to expand...

Well...I was talking about a test (RAW to JPEG batch conversion + 1080p VLC Media Player Playback at the same time).
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Also have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.
Click to expand...

Ok...I just did that.
Lightroom's activity fluctuated between 90-700% (during batch conversion).
When I played the 1080p clip with QT at the same time the QT activity fluctuated between 20-40%.
When I played the clip with the VLC Media Player the activity (VLC) fluctuated
between 80-180%.
 
amoergosum said:
Ok...I just did that.
Lightroom's activity fluctuated between 90-700% (during batch conversion).
When I played the 1080p clip with QT at the same time the QT activity fluctuated between 20-40%.
When I played the clip with the VLC Media Player the activity (VLC) fluctuated
between 80-180%.
Click to expand...

And that is your answer. VLC Player needs more power to do what QT Player can do with less power.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
And that is your answer. VLC Player needs more power to do what QT Player can do with less power.
Click to expand...


I think thats because VLC caches the files and handles it differently. Try loading a 15GB 1080p movie and fast forwarding it back and forth. VLC does it with little slow downs, QT takes a while...
 
M Powered said:
I think thats because VLC caches the files and handles it differently. Try loading a 15GB 1080p movie and fast forwarding it back and forth. VLC does it with little slow downs, QT takes a while...
Click to expand...

I should have specified, that QT Player handles its native container (.mov) better than an external application.
And Movist is better with handling .mkv files than VLC Player, the container used for most HD films nowadays.
 
Ok....I just tried the same test but this time I connected the Macbook Pro
to a power source. Now the movie clip plays back without any freezes (while doing the batch conversion at the same time).
 
No surprises there. Apple laptop components become underclocked when running on battery power.
 
daneoni said:
No surprises there. Apple laptop components become underclocked when running on battery power.
Click to expand...

So is the 2010 MBP not as underclocked while on battery power?
A member of another forum tried out my test with his 2010 MBP while on battery power
and he didn't have any VLC Media Player freezes.
His activity monitor showed:
VLC 60-80 %, Lightroom 300%.
 
amoergosum said:
So is the 2010 MBP not as underclocked while on battery power?
A member of another forum tried out my test with his 2010 MBP while on battery power
and he didn't have any VLC Media Player freezes.
His activity monitor showed:
VLC 60-80 %, Lightroom 300%.
Click to expand...

Oh in that case its like flaky AMD/HD 3000 drivers. Try again with the latest update.
 
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