High-specced machine can't fluently play 4K UHD video

3

I have a machine that should in principle be able to play 4K/UHD uncompressed video. Here are some specs (tell me if you need more):

Operating System
    Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
    Intel Xeon E5 v3 @ 3.50GHz  39 °C
    Haswell-E/EP 22nm Technology
    Intel Xeon E5 v3 @ 3.50GHz  42 °C
    Haswell-E/EP 22nm Technology
RAM
    64.0GB Unknown @ 1064MHz (15-15-15-36)
    Memory slots
        Total memory slots  6
        Used memory slots   8
        Free memory slots   -2
    Memory
        Type    Unknown
        Size    65536 MBytes
        DRAM Frequency  1064.2 MHz
        CAS# Latency (CL)   15 clocks
        RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD)   15 clocks
        RAS# Precharge (tRP)    15 clocks
        Cycle Time (tRAS)   36 clocks
        Command Rate (CR)   1T
Motherboard
    LENOVO To be filled by O.E.M. (LGA2011-3 SOCKET 0)
Graphics
    W223 (1680x1050@59Hz)
    4095MB NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (NVIDIA) 38 °C
    4095MB NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (NVIDIA) 36 °C
    ForceWare version: 353.30
    SLI Disabled
Storage
    5587GB Lenovo MR9340-8i SCSI Disk Device (RAID)
    Interface   RAID
    Capacity    5587 GB
    Real size   5,999,532,441,600 bytes
    RAID Type   Software RAID
        S.M.A.R.T
            S.M.A.R.T not supported
        Partition 0
            Partition ID    Disk #0, Partition #0
            Size    100 MB
        Partition 1
            Partition ID    Disk #0, Partition #1
            Disk Letter C:
            File System NTFS
            Volume Serial Number    78A238AE
            Size    5573 GB
            Used Space  4423 GB (79%)
            Free Space  1150 GB (21%)
        Partition 2
            Partition ID    Disk #0, Partition #2
            Disk Letter Q:
            File System NTFS
            Volume Serial Number    FC7E0759
            Size    13.3 GB
            Used Space  11.7 GB (87%)
            Free Space  1.6 GB (13%)
Motherboard
    Manufacturer    LENOVO
    Model   To be filled by O.E.M. (LGA2011-3 SOCKET 0)
    Version SDK0E50510 WIN 2625072703488
    Chipset Vendor  Intel
    Chipset Model   Haswell-E
    Chipset Revision    02
    Southbridge Vendor  Intel
    Southbridge Model   X99
    Southbridge Revision    05
Graphics
    NVIDIA Quadro K4200
        Manufacturer    NVIDIA
        Model   Quadro K4200
        Device ID   10DE-11B4
        Revision    A2
        Subvendor   NVIDIA (10DE)
        Current Performance Level   Level 1
        Current GPU Clock   324 MHz
        Current Memory Clock    324 MHz
        Current Shader Clock    324 MHz
        Voltage 0.887 V
        Current Performance Level   Level 1
        Current GPU Clock   324 MHz
        Current Memory Clock    324 MHz
        Current Shader Clock    324 MHz
        Voltage 0.887 V
        Bus Interface   PCI Express x16
        Temperature 38 °C
        SLI Disabled
        Driver version  10.18.13.5330
        BIOS Version    80.04.fe.00.15
        Memory  4095 MB
    NVIDIA Quadro K4200
        Manufacturer    NVIDIA
        Model   Quadro K4200
        Device ID   10DE-11B4
        Revision    A2
        Subvendor   NVIDIA (10DE)
        Current Performance Level   Level 1
        Current GPU Clock   324 MHz
        Current Memory Clock    324 MHz
        Current Shader Clock    324 MHz
        Voltage 0.887 V
        Current Performance Level   Level 1
        Current GPU Clock   324 MHz
        Current Memory Clock    324 MHz
        Current Shader Clock    324 MHz
        Voltage 0.887 V
        Bus Interface   PCI Express x16
        Temperature 36 °C
        SLI Disabled
        Driver version  10.18.13.5330
        BIOS Version    80.04.fe.00.15
        Memory  4095 MB

I am trying to use VLC 2.2.2 (latest) to play raw, uncompressed UHD files, which are 10 seconds long, and have been stored as YUV 4:2:0, 24fps, 3840×2160px, in an AVI container. The size of a single file is roughly 2.8 GB.

When I play the file, it lags significantly. It stops at some point, then slowly proceeds, skips some frames, etc. Now, I have already tried changing the input buffer to a ridiculous 20 seconds:

The only thing that changes in this case is that the first frame of the video clip is shown, and the yellow buffering bar grows for a few seconds. Then, VLC stops the playback.

How could I find out what's going wrong with the playback?

I have also tried MPC-HC, whose performance is similarly bad, and ffplay. The latter works, but I cannot use it for my purposes. (No, not an XY problem, I know I could use ffplay, but I am wondering why VLC is that slow.)

slhck

Posted 2016-05-11T13:32:53.787

Reputation: 182 472

First of, don't use big buffers. They don't work well in VLC. I had a problem with network buffering and tought if I make it buffer a lot it solves my problems, but they just got worse. Smaller buffers seem to work best. Don't make them too small either. I think the problem might be that your video is being played with hardware accelleration, and thus using the NVIDIA card. NVIDIA is really good at 3D, but not that good in 2D. The CPU you have should be sufficient alone though, so disabling hardware accelleration might fix it already. – LPChip – 2016-05-11T13:37:20.837

Well guess what, it worked with 1000ms. Default was 300, so I didn't think it would actually change anything if I went for anything lower. I think hardware acceleration is disabled by default, but I could be wrong. Would you put that as an answer? – slhck – 2016-05-11T13:43:11.763

I was going to suggest to use something other then VLC, in order to eliminate, the possability this is a VLC problem not a hardware problem. I also was going to suggest storing the video on something other then the RAID array – Ramhound – 2016-05-11T13:45:45.520

@Ramhound Unfortunately I don't have any other means of storage. I am kind of dependent on VLC for some of its options. – slhck – 2016-05-11T13:47:41.000

@slhck glad I could help. Answer provided. :) – LPChip – 2016-05-11T13:47:46.807

@slhck - Just using say a USB Flash media would work, my suggestions would be, to eliminate hardware or software as the problem. – Ramhound – 2016-05-11T13:50:32.320

Answers

3

VLC does not work well with big buffers. I would suggest lowering the buffer. Too low values won't work either.

In addition, you are using an NVIDIA card and although NVIDIA is really good at 3D, it's not that good for 2D. The CPU you have should be sufficient alone though, so disabling hardware acceleration might fix it.

LPChip

Posted 2016-05-11T13:32:53.787

Reputation: 42 190

As mentioned above, a buffer setting of 1000ms worked. (I set it for all fields, but I guess it's not required for all of them.) – slhck – 2016-05-11T13:49:15.920

Yeah, I just kept the wording the same so anyone who has the same issue can read it as an answer of their own. :) I bet the 1000ms works for you due to the size of the video or resolution. May be different if that changes. – LPChip – 2016-05-11T13:52:06.567

Asked: 2016-05-11T13:32:53.787

Viewed: 725 times

Active: 2016-05-11T13:48:49.610