Jerky Playback Options

[Planorez]

I recently purchased a WDTVHD v2 and have tried playing .dvr-ms files recorded off the air into a LG 37 inch 720p HD tv. I am getting jerky motion on playback of scenes having a building either panned from side to side or vertically. This problem does not show up on scenes following people or animals. I play these same files on two different large computer monitors and no jerkiness on these scenes. Anybody have any ideas?

[WDUser]

If the file otherwise plays fine and it's just those few scenes, possibly the bitrate jumps and becomes a bit too high for the player to handle.

P.S. On re-reading your post, are you saying the player plays the same scenes fine when connected to computer monitors, but not your LG TV?

[Rev Drew]

it would also be good to know how the files in question were played back on the computer monitors, through the WDTV or a computer.

[WDUser]

Yes, indeed. Far too many people complain that "it plays fine on my PC!" So what if it does? What does the WD TV have in common with a software player on a much more powerful PC?

[Planorez]

Thanks to you all for answering.
The word I left out of my original post was "computer". I played back the same file on two different computers and their monitors to compare the playback through the WDHDTV Media player and the HD TV. On both computers, scenes that panned buildings horizontially or vertically were smooth with no jerkiness. In using the WDHDTV player to play the file, all panned building scenes were noticeably jerky and not smooth. The videos I am watching are travelogs so there is a lot of panned buildings.
What about different file types?

[WDUser]

File types don't really matter. If you re-encode the files you have keeping the same codecs (as long as they're supported by the player), and reduce the max. bitrate (those peaks) to levels the player can handle, the files should display fine. Of course, any re-encoding always leads to quality loss, so that's a trade-off you'd have to endure.

Do make sure you're playing back from a fast HDD inside an externally-powered enclosure though. USB-powered drives may not get sufficient power from the port and also may not be as fast, which may also cause issues such as jerky playback. Fast USB pen drives may also suffice, since these don't require as much power as a full fledged hard disk with moving parts.

[Planorez]

Thanks for your response. I will try using a fast 16 GB USB pen drive. Can you recommend some fast 16 Gb USB pen drive models?
Thanks
Planorez

[WDUser]

http://www.usb-drive-flash.com/fast_faster...sb_flash_drives

[Rev Drew]

the read speed is the important one, a slower writing speed means more time to transfer the file, a slower reading time means (possibly) the issue you are experiencing.

having said that and going by the chart WDUser has linked to, I have an OCZ ATV 16GB flash drive that was around $70.00 with my discount. it is way faster than the 'fastest' ones in that chart, it's write speed is over 22MB/s and the read speed is 35 or so.

I also have a 'Staples' brand that was around $35, it falls into the medium class at best, I have used it for TV shows @ 720p for over a year without any issues, I formatted it to NTFS long enough to play a couple of 1080p movies, again without issue, it is FAT32 again and used for shows only, I have lots of hard drives full of movies.

the $$ I quoted were Canadian, I have had both for a year or more, prices will vary and only quoted for comparison as they are both 16GB flash drives.
you get what you pay for is the point.
looking on the package, if you find it's rated speed, good, if not, well if they aren't willing to put the specs in print, don't waste your money.

[WDUser]

having said that and going by the chart WDUser has linked to, I have an OCZ ATV 16GB flash drive that was around $70.00 with my discount. it is way faster than the 'fastest' ones in that chart, it's write speed is over 22MB/s and the read speed is 35 or so.

The "fastest drives" category on that page does list the OCZ ATV and Rally2 Turbo, both rated at ~30.0 MB/s for writes and ~35.0 MB/s for reads.