Flash playback jerky

Hmm, that doesn't make any sense.... I don't see how a machine rendering at 3fps could possibly watch a video on Hulu and it would run totally smooth. That's basically impossible, logically speaking. I'm not saying you're lying, of course, only that maybe we're misunderstanding each other. If only we could each actually see what is on each other's screen, eh?

But, I will say this: I think this is a Hulu issue, and here's why. If I go here:

http://www.formula1.com/play_video.html

and I play the highest quality vid, which streams at 2400Kbps, it runs totally smooth, and looks like I'm watching a DVD. So, this tells me that it isn't so much that I'm having a problem with Flash, but with Hulu's output.

Also, I didn't tweak the quicktime streaming setting, both because when I stream in quicktime, say trailers from the Apple website, they run totally smooth. And then also there's the formula 1 site. Again, this must have something to do with the way Hulu encodes their stream? I'm not technical enough to know how that works, but it certainly does seem as though not all Flash streams are created equal.

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. When I'm watching Hulu, it drops frames to maintain the correct speed. That's what I mean when I say it skips, or jumps, or is choppy, or jerky. Again, maybe we're just dealing with defining our terms here....

But, if you watch Hulu and it drops frames to keep up, then that's not what I define as "smooth." "Smooth" to me is no dropped frames.

Okay, I see what you're saying now. The thing is, on my MBP, I still get a dropped frame 2-4 times a minute on Hulu. I wonder if, given that you can easily not let all the dropped frames on your G4 bother you, the MBP is so much better that it is essentially perfect to you, even if it does drop a frame here and there. It's a matter of finickiness, perhaps.

The Formula 1 vids I linked to above are truly like watching a DVD--not one dropped frame. I am beginning to seriously doubt that most people get that quality on Hulu--not one single dropped frame. Again, it might be a matter where some people are less finicky than others, and one or two dropped frames a minute don't bother them at all, so they say "it runs perfectly for me," and that kind of thing.

Hey, thanks for your input on this. Much appreciated.

Right. The sound is fine.

Okay, then, what we have had here was a difference of semantics. What I call jerky, you don't. No problem. I don't call a video which is dropping frames smooth, you do. Cool. Bottom line, our systems are running similarly, and we're seeing the same thing, regardless of what we call it.

I don't think we should be seeing dropped frames on Hulu with our MBPs. And, hey, I also don't see this as the end of the world. But I wanted to understand what was going on, and I think I do better now.

It just seems to be the way it is, until Adobe and Hulu get their act together for us mac users. C'est la vie, for now, I guess...

Okay, well, anyway...thanks for taking the time to try and help me figure this out. Cheers.

Really? What's the application?