New Macbook Air and BBC News image shaking

[ononimus]

Hi all!
I realised that when streaming BBC News from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10318089

in my Macbook Air Late 2010 the image flicks. I updated all software (both mac os and flash player).
Then, I went to the local Apple Store and same problem in every single machine. Though everything is fine in my girlfriend's Macbook Pro 13 inch!!!
Any ideas?
Cheers!

 

[naujoks]

I get the same thing.
I thought it might be in connection with a weak WiFi signal.

 

[ononimus]

Don't think so... I can stream perfectly from other sources (even other BBC channels), and have tested my connection and seems fine (even tried it in my workplace)... I'll keep looking as this is my only "window" to the outer world (not so good I know...).
Thanks for the answer!

 

[iGav]

Like a stuttery/judder type thing?

It's always like that on mine (2.53GHz 15" MacBook Pro), it's only the BBC News stream that is affected, and it affects the live news streams on both the BBC News website and the iPlayer website.

Funnily enough, I can watch BBC One and BBC Two live just fine through the iPlayer website, it's just the news stream that is affected by the problem.

I did have a similar problem when I was watching the live stream of F1 practice sessions over the summer, but I've not had a problem since Monza September time).

It could possibly be Flash related, but I suspect it's more related to the compression/stream settings the BBC are using for the news channel, as it obviously doesn't affect the One and Two live streams over the iPlayer website.

Send Auntie an email perhaps?

 

[ononimus]

Yes! But it is funny. In my previous Macbook Air it didn't happen (changed it two weeks ago). Neither it happens in my girlfriend's Pro 13 inches and those in the Apple store... could it be an issue with certain graphic cards?
Will email then...

 

[iGav]

could it be an issue with certain graphic cards?

Perhaps, but that begs the question why the problem doesn't occur with the other live streams on the iPlayer website, because the live streams of One and Two are fine for me, it's just the news streams.

When you tried the Macs at the Apple Store, was it just the MacBook Air's you tried? Or did you try it on MacBook Pro's, iMac's Mac Pro's etc?

It might be worth if people who are encountering issues list their Mac specs (including OS version, Graphics Card, Flash Player) and what problem they're encountering, and then when you email the BBC copy a link to this thread, so they'll be able to see what machines are experiencing the issues.

Mine:

MacBook Pro 2.53GHz 15"
4GB RAM
OS X 10.6.5
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256MB
Flash Player 10,1,102,64


Issues:
Stuttering/Judder of live stream of BBC News Channel on BBC News website and when watching the BBC News Channel through the iPlayer website.

 

[ononimus]

I also tried the Macbook pros 13 and 15 and it was ok there...

Good idea with the specs and submitting the threat.

Mine is:

MacBook Air (Late 2010) 2.13GHz 13"
4GB RAM
OS X 10.6.5
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256MB
Flash Player 10,1,102,64

 

[James Cridland]

Confirming that the issue also happens on the MacBook Air 11" - whether using Safari (and the latest build of Flash), or Chrome (and the inbuilt one).

I used to work with the lovely folks at the BBC iPlayer, and have reported this as an issue to the team. They're now aware of it and examining the issue (and this thread).

 

[iNotion]

i have no problem with any images or videos from the website.

 

[mario24601]

No probs on my 13.

 

[Pixellated]

No problems playing it for me

MacBook Air Mid '09
2.13GHz
128GB SSD
2GB DDR3

 

[James Cridland]

The BBC have confirmed to me that they have fixed the issue (the News Channel has now moved to new encoders).

If you see this on other streams from other broadcasters, if you turn hardware acceleration off the problem will go away; it's an issue with H264 video decoding and the video drivers that late-2010 Macs are using, combined with a particular encoding platform at the broadcaster's end.

Anyway, all fixed now.

 

[James Cridland]

If you see this on other streams from other broadcasters, if you turn hardware acceleration off the problem will go away

As an aside, you'll still see this issue on some BBC news/sport streams, since they've not switched encoding platform, I discover. But you now know how to override it.

 

[naujoks]

Yay!

 

[jahman]

Ah, cool. I'd noticed this but assumed it was the beta Flash at fault. Good to know it's fixed.

Cheers,

jahman

 

[ojobson]

mid 2009 MBP 13" - still having problems with this and only on bbc news live feed. It's really annoying!

 

[windowpain]

I was just watching the bbc site thinking...'thats strange' and then I came across this thread.
Add me to the list of 11" stutterers!

 

[iExpensive]

Baseline 13" late 2010 is working fine.

 

[major7]

Baseline 13" late 2010 is working fine.

late ultimate 13 mba isn't

 

[goormart]

I still have this problem on late 2010 mba 13". Turning off hardware acceleration works for me, but it's not a definitive solution.

 

[foursomer]

mine is worse.

"Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory."

lol

 

[bobdaspider]

Solution found!

Re poor live Flash stream picture (ie. jerky) when watching some BBC website content, I have found the solution for my machine - a MacBook.

The first thing to do is turn off the hardware acceleration within Flash 10 - which is turned on by default in vs 10.1.

To do this, you need to go back to the Flash test site:
http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/
and Ctrl-click on the red Flash logo, then select the Settings option and then uncheck the Hardware Acceleration option shown. Then go back to the BBC website (and Flash content) and enjoy watching the live stream without a jerky picture!

^o^

 

[dudeofswim]

mine is worse.
"Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory."
lol

Have the genius bar try and fix that.

 

[Reason077]

I'm having exactly the same problem (2010 MacBook Air) - a terrible, ugly shaking effect that makes watching BBC impossible.

The same problem occurs across latest versions of all browsers - Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

The bug seems specific to BBC, other flash video sources (e.g. Youtube) are fine.

Anyone have a solution? Would downgrading Flash player to version 10.x help?

Edit: Disabling Flash's hardware acceleration does indeed fix it, as suggested by bobdaspider. However this also disables acceleration for other video sites which work fine, resulting in more CPU/battery usage.