Adobe Flash Player 10 problems on Safari (Leopard)

[rp2000]

Just tried playing some of the new BBC HD streams on iPlayer in Safari (Version 3.2.1 (5525.27.1)) with Latest OS X 10.5.6 and am having some problems.

In the past I have always found Flash player works better in general on Windows machines, but it has never been as issue for me as I have a fairly powerful MBP (2.53 ghz early 2008 model).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...ight_with_Jonathan_Ross_Series_16_Episode_11/
This is the stream (There is only about 10 HD shows atm). Weird thing is this clip plays OK in Firefox making me think it is a browser/memory/overhead issue of sorts.

I came across a similar problem with 720P Youtube stuff a few months ago, but found updating to latest Flash Player (Check and update here: http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/) Jerky on OS X (Firefox and Safari) until I applied version 10,0,22,87

Now I find the same problem with the BBC HD files I stream. (Even though I have the latest player version).

My Mac is up to date, my Internet lets me sustain speeds of 1.7MB a sec so bandwidth/throttling/limits etc are not an issue.

Can someone test please with various macs and let me know if they get similar problems?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-n-IKfEgIk

This is also a good test file, Jerks for me only very slightly in firefox, moreso in Safari.

I am finding it hard to believe Flash Video is streaming content at a bitrate too high for my computer to decode in real time, so am thinking some sort of OS X issue tbh.

Please do not reply to this thread unless you have access to a Mac, have latest Flash Player version, Latest OS version etc and are able to test using my links.


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

I played that Star wars clip loads of times now. With other stuff open, other stuff closed, let it buffer fully, stream on the fly etc.
There is no real pattern in terms of other apps being open and system resources etc.

If I just open safari, goto that Youtube Video, hit "HD" then I get it playback and it jerks (watch the smoke to be certain) if I move the slider back to the beginning then sometimes it plays perfectly (smoke movement is "smooth").

At least I am not the only one who notices these flash player issues on OS 10.5

Also one other thing I always notice with Flash (again only on Macs) is a "judder/skip".

It is on nearly all Youtube videos, you will notice a jerk between 9-10 secs of all videos (SD, HQ, HD, whatever). Cannot explain it but it has always happened. I have seen it on multiple Macs tbh so I know I am not imagining it. I am very curious as to whether you 3 get this issue as well.

Ross jerks slightly at full screen but loads when windowed!

Total opposite for me!!!. For some reason the button in iPlayer says "resume in fullscreen" by default on HD streams, so it went fullscreen and seems fine (but grainy as I am running 1440x900 and the video is much smaller) When I go windowed I see a slight lag/delay/dropped frames/skips etc.

Weirdly one of the support pages I read earlier says if you have Flash Player/iPlayer probs running fullscreen is better than windowed, which mirrors my experience.

I noticed the same problem with Wossy on my launch model MBP (10.5.6, 3.2.1, 10.0.22.87) the other day when I first spotted the BBC HD streams. Problem goes away however when I run it full screen...

Same for me, The only logical reason I can think is that it is only rendering the stream and "stretching it" whereas windowed it additionally is rendering the rest of the webpage and streaming (but seeing as the webpage is just HTML etc).


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

Another bad playback thing for me is playing 1080p trailers from apple in quicktime. VLC play fine!

Got a link? I used to play the 1080p files on my 1.83 mini (From Apple's site). Unless they have upped the bitrate since shouldn't struggle in Quicktime. Not tried any recently on my MBP though, so maybe newer Quicktime's messed it up or something?

Just trying this one now: http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox/wolverine/wolverine-clip_1080p.mov

Edit: 100% flawless on my MBP. (Maybe you have other applications open? I only had QT and Safari open).


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

That wolverine plays fine but this;

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/isanybodythere/

Still stutters for me! But if downloaded and played in VLC it's fine.

EDIT - Just noticed that it will only stutter when opened in the actual Quicktime program, if it plays in my browser like the link rp posted it plays fine. Can you tell me if it plays alright if it's played in the actual quicktime program?

VLC is a red herring. It uses a totally diferent decoder to play x264 so don't compare the 2.

Perian and flip4mac should only "kick" in for non Native quicktime formats, (I have both installed as well).

RE: in browser/out browser If you click on links through Apple's sites they will always launch in an external Quicktime window (for me) The only time they play using the embedded plugin is when I click on links from sites etc.
The links in Apple's sites are coded to spawn Quicktime, whereas if you just copy and paste the link or click it from an external source, they will use the plugin.

i.e. clicking this: http://movies.apple.com/movies/independent/isanybodythere/isanybodythere_1080p.mov will open it in your browser, but going through your link and then clicking will make quicktime open it.

Plays flawlessly for me in or out of browser. Like I say, it has always worked as it is Apple's codec optimised for their player. Possibly you have something conflicting, Do you have anything apart from Perian and f4m?

Is it possible your machine is using the wrong GPU? (I know you can "select" between the onboard and discrete GPUs).

Not sure if this is going to help any of you guys but I had the exact same problem (sometimes the damned thing wouldn't even start). If you right-click on the player and go into the Flash settings, then move the buffer-slider up to 'unlimited' it solved all of my problems. Worked for me in both Safari 4 and Firefox 3.

Panzer

Just loaded a Youtube clip and went to settings and see no options for buffering. I think you may be using/referring to an older Flash Player? The 5 settings tabs I see are Display, Privacy, Local Storage, Microphone and Camera.


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

The machine isn't using the wrong GPU, it's always set to the 9600m GT as i play WoW on it and if it's using the 9400m it's a very noticable performance drop.

It's only the 1080p video that stutters out of browser.

I'll go try the 2.33Ghz 17"

EDIT - Tried it on the 2.33 and it plays perfect aswell. Must be something conflicting or a setting that's wrong. The 2.33 doesn't have Perian or flip4mac installed...

Also, does anyone elses flash videos stutter when right clicking?

Yes. Doesn't matter where you right click on the screen whilst the context menu is there video jerks and (in Youtube) the buffereing bar freezes even though in the background more data is being streamed (confirmed with activity monitor).

It is bizarre that so few people mention such problems on Mac tbh. At the end of the day Flash video is one of the big new things on the web last few years and most people use it at some point. You think all the other mac users here never spotted the problems or they keeping quiet for some reason?


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

I'm not sure, i have noticed the stuttering with right clicking for years though. I thought Leopard may improve it, it didn't, i hoped that browser revisions would fix it, it didn't and also the obvious flash updates which also didn't fix it.

Try this for me a second, while a youtube vid is playing, click on the toolbar and see if it skips and stutters? It should, now click the desktop so the finder is be used, now click the toolbar menu and see now? It doesn't skip!?!? Weird :-/

Also, another one is GIF images, gif images suck on macs :-/

One thing i have just noticed on the 17" is that the screen is horrendously awful, got this background on it, and it looks terrible, all the colours merge into each other and it doesn't look right.

What do you mean by "toolbar" The Menu? I play the video and clicked it but nothing changes? If I right click the toolbar I get stutter (but we did hat already).

Are you wanting me to focus another application like Finder and have youtube still visible? (i.e. let the toolbar show Finder menu, but have no finder windows open and Safari visible). I have done that and it does not affect playback. Even in Expose normal videos do not skip.


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

I mean the tool bar as in the translucent bar at the very top with battery info, time and application etc. If you click on the toolbar (with it saying safari next to the apple logo) with a youtube vid playing it'll skip like when you right click but if you click to the desktop so that it says finder in the corner and again click the tool bar menu e.g. file, edit...it won't skip...

Clicking the toolbar makes no difference, or video issues. Selecting a Safari Menu DOES (is that what you meant) But I expect this as this is same as the right click problem, the focused application has a menu over it using fancy OS X graphical crap which slows down the video.

The reason it will not affect you when Finder is focused (which I Alt+Tab for as my Safari is maximised) is because the problem is not with right click/menus in general, just Safari's menu and video playing at the same time whilst Safari is the active application. (Almost like Safari cannot cope with so much at once).

I will agree that it defies logic that Flash video almost seems to work "better" when Safari is not the highlighted application, but I think this is a Safari, not Adobe issue.


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

Thought I would bump this and see if people have the same issues still (seeing as OS X and Safari have both updated since this thread began).

Can anyone try these ones for me?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lyqrt/hd/Dragons_Den_Series_7_Episode_3/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lyljl/hd/Coast_Series_4_Lands_End_to_Porthcawl/
Watching the first 20 seconds of Coast fullscreen and in browser you can really see the performance difference, and it baffles me.

On my MacBookPro, both stutter/judder slightly when windowed, but it is 100% OK in fullscreen. Fans were on maximum within 3 minutes


rp2000

 

[rp2000]

Windowed: Buggered
Fullscreen: Fine.
Fans: 3000RPM after 15 seconds.
Model: June 2007 2.4Ghz 15"
Not good!

Can you try it on your Mac Pro? I am just wondering if the fans in the laptops are oversensitive, or whether h.264 video in flash player makes the CPU work so hard in OS X that the fans go mental (I am assuming this is because in Mac no GPU acceleration can be used for video playback, whereas in windows it can).

My model is Feb 2008, 2.5Ghz 15"


rp2000