Getting smooth scrolling in BBC iPlayer

[pwfsmith12]

Hello,

I wonder if someone is able to help?

I've got a new laptop connected to my 42" plasma via HDMI cable. I am using Win7 Media Center with a DVB-T stick to view UK Freeview channels. To get smooth judder-free scrolling/panning I have set the graphics card refresh rate to 50Hz and this works perfectly.

However, I can't seem to get BBC iPlayer to display smoothly. I've tried running TunerFreeMCE within MCE and I've also tried exiting MCE and firing up a browser (IE11 or Chrome) and going directly to the BBC iPlayer website to view programmes and I still cannot get the picture to display without juddering.

Does anyone know how to get BBC iPlayer to display smoothly without judder - either inside or outside of MCE? Do I need a different refresh rate for iPlayer?


Thanks

Paul.

[mrphil]

You probably won't. When the BBC had WMV downloads, they were 50hz and played flawlessly. The BBC decided to improve the service by taking those files away, so you have to use the Flash version now which is optimised for 60hz but is converted from the 50hz material broadcast live, resulting in a less than perfect conversion. You'll get a smoother playback in iplayer by setting your desktop to 60hz, but you want WMC to be 50hz for freeview. I think its possible to have your desktop at a different refresh to WMC in full screen mode, but personally I gave up and just bought a Xbox 360 for streaming so not looked into it further.

[mark1234]

For iPlayer, I highly recommend Sky's NowTV box. Only a tenner and allows you to stream iPlayer, 4oD, Demand 5 and other sources with no subscription. Much easier than spending your life trying to make Media Centre doing things it doesn't want to do.

[joecrow]

I can't offer a solution but I can confirm that my setup plays iplayer and other uk catchups without judder in both MCE via TunerfreeMCE and via my browser (Firefox) and that is via a DNS server to a non-uk location (I do get occaisional pauses at peak internet usage times but other than that it plays great, SD and HD)! My refresh rate is set to 50hz. Given that you see the judder when viewing via your browser I would strongly advise you to troubleshoot further before following the advice in the previous post. How are you connected to the internet and at what speed? Try running the BBC iplayer speed test and see what it says http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/diagnostics

[pwfsmith12]

You probably won't. When the BBC had WMV downloads, they were 50hz and played flawlessly. The BBC decided to improve the service by taking those files away, so you have to use the Flash version now which is optimised for 60hz but is converted from the 50hz material broadcast live, resulting in a less than perfect conversion. You'll get a smoother playback in iplayer by setting your desktop to 60hz, but you want WMC to be 50hz for freeview. I think its possible to have your desktop at a different refresh to WMC in full screen mode, but personally I gave up and just bought a Xbox 360 for streaming so not looked into it further.

For iPlayer, I highly recommend Sky's NowTV box. Only a tenner and allows you to stream iPlayer, 4oD, Demand 5 and other sources with no subscription. Much easier than spending your life trying to make Media Centre doing things it doesn't want to do.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I had thought about getting an Xbox360 since it also works an a WMC Extender. However, one feature I find really useful with iPlayer is being able to rewind Live TV. Obviously, WMC does this if I'm tuned into a channel or recording a show but not if I've just stumbled across a programme that I fancy watching from the beginning.

Does the iPlayer app on the Xbox360 allow rewinding of Live TV?

[pwfsmith12]

I can't offer a solution but I can confirm that my setup plays iplayer and other uk catchups without judder in both MCE via TunerfreeMCE and via my browser (Firefox) and that is via a DNS server to a non-uk location (I do get occaisional pauses at peak internet usage times but other than that it plays great, SD and HD)! My refresh rate is set to 50hz. Given that you see the judder when viewing via your browser I would strongly advise you to troubleshoot further before following the advice in the previous post. How are you connected to the internet and at what speed? Try running the BBC iplayer speed test and see what it says http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/diagnostics

It's interesting that you don't get any judder at all. I get a DSL sync speed of 11Mbps so I'm sure its not my Internet connection causing this - also the BBC speed test that you linked to reports a broadband speed of around 9Mbps.

I'm slightly confused why you'd need to point your DNS at a non-UK location? I would have thought that once on the iPlayer website that your PC would have resolved any hostnames to IP addresses for BBC servers?

Cheers

Paul

[joecrow]

[quote="pwfsmith12"

I'm slightly confused why you'd need to point your DNS at a non-UK location? I would have thought that once on the iPlayer website that your PC would have resolved any hostnames to IP addresses for BBC servers?

Cheers

Paul[/quote]

Sadly the BBC block TV streams to non-UK IP addresses which since I don't reside in the UK mine is. The DNS server is located in the uk and allows me for a small fee to view UK TV programs via the internet, all be it with greater overhead and consequently slower speeds. I aggree your internet speeds look fine.
I took a look at the iplayer on my desktop and can definitey see what you mean by the judder. On my HTPC it is much much better however its video card has a much higher spec./price and the TV also has smooth playback features.

Joe