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Performance issues with 1080p quicktime video.

nylon

nylon

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 26, 2004
1,417
1,063
I have a 2 GHz MBP with 2GB Ram. I also run XP through Boot Camp. I have no problem playing 1080p Quicktime trailers at the full frame rate under both OSX and XP.

I recentley downloaded a 1080p Quicktime video of a Macbreak episode with Leo Laporte and Sal Soghoian (Apple Script, Automator Prject Manager). You can download the video from http://twitorrents.com/bm/detail/8/f0f7f01c30d1786f5c2e9f616d45d5ba1bcb0ac0

Under XP the 1080p quicktime video plays flawlessly at the full frame rate. However, under OSX the 1080p video only plays at half the frame rate (about 12 FPS). I have no idea why quicktime seems to be hampered under OSX.

Anyone got any ideas?
 
I'm not saying the video doesn't play. It just plays at 12-14 fps on OSX and 24 fps on XP.

Quicktime is running natively. Check your fps while playing the 1080p version by pressing command + i. (Make sure you don't resize the player to fit the screen of the MBP, leave it at full res.
 
Here to, I dont get more than 15 fps even in full screen mode.
Very processor intensive task anyway.
=P

kkapoor said:
I'm not saying the video doesn't play. It just plays at 12-14 fps on OSX and 24 fps on XP.

Quicktime is running natively. Check your fps while playing the 1080p version by pressing command + i. (Make sure you don't resize the player to fit the screen of the MBP, leave it at full res)
Click to expand...
 
dollystereo said:
Very processor intensive task anyway.
=P
Click to expand...

Yeah, but it's the same processor under XP as well (Boot Camp). The funny thing is that Quicktime is Apple software. I thought it would run better under OSX, instead it runs at 50-60% of the frame rate under OSX.
 
do you have something else running at the same time that is keeping the processor happy?
 
Mr. DG said:
at a guess - your cpu is being throttled. OSX doesnt let the macbook pro run at full speed - windows does. if you delete a kernel extension file, it lets the mbp run at full cpu speed, though it adds heat and extends startup time.

check here:

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38128&macbook+kext
Click to expand...

The machine should not be throttled when running plugged-in. Additionally I thought OSX should automatically adjust processor usage based on need.
 
No, they are throttled. The energy options are gone from system preferences. this discussion at apple mentions it:

here

and from the ableton forum:

here

check page 2. It's a speedstep issue within OSX. Windows has no problems.
 
Mr. DG said:
No, they are throttled. The energy options are gone from system preferences. this discussion at apple mentions it:

here

and from the ableton forum:

here

check page 2. It's a speedstep issue within OSX. Windows has no problems.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's just shocking! Why would Apple put out a product of a certain spec and then actively reduce it's performance. That just seems like half- a*sed engineering to me. Perhaps this product really was rushed out.
 
Yep its pretty crazy. My guess is this was put in to help with battery life, but somehow it affects thge MBP when plugged in too. I Dont know if the 17" has this issue or not, but the core due imac appears not to.

@ kkapoor: try doing something else processor intensive, maybe rip a DVD or something at the same time as trying to watch 1080p, that might work (it'll jack up the CPU).
 
When playing the video, could you open up Terminal, and type "top -ocpu"?

This will display the cpu load, where most cpu load will be on top (which should be the QuickTime player).

If the QuickTime player shows cpu load > 100 %, then it does utilize the 2nd core.
If it stays below 100 %, but the framerates drop below 24 fps, then somehow the 2nd core is not used, while it should be.
 
MacsRgr8 said:
When playing the video, could you open up Terminal, and type "top -ocpu"?

This will display the cpu load, where most cpu load will be on top (which should be the QuickTime player).

If the QuickTime player shows cpu load > 100 %, then it does utilize the 2nd core.
If it stays below 100 %, but the framerates drop below 24 fps, then somehow the 2nd core is not used, while it should be.
Click to expand...


I did the above while the MBP is plugged-in. Quicktime usage never goes above 85%. It hovers on average at about 75%. Total CPU usage never exceeds 50%. FPS between 12-14.

If I half the resolution of the 1080p video by pressing Command + 0 the FPS jumps to 24 and the QT processor usage increases to above 100%. This is the strangest thing I have ever seen.
 
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