Poor h.264 playback in iTunes 9 and Quicktime 7 but fine in Quicktime X

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Level 1

15 points

Poor h.264 playback in iTunes 9 and Quicktime 7 but fine in Quicktime X

Hi,
I have a recent problem, I have a short test HD video file converted by handbrake (0.94) to an allegedly "appletv legacy" compatible h.264 m4v file at 2.5mbps and 1920x800 resolution. This plays fine under VLC and quicktime X, it also plays fine on a PS3 and in Windows 7 (WMPlayer). However, when I import it into iTunes 9, playback stutters and jumps. This stuttering also occurs in quicktime 7 pro.

I am utilising Mac OSX 10.6.2 on my Mac Pro (2007) 2xDual Core Xeons at 3GHz,8GB RAM and an ATI X1900. Quicktime 7 pro came over from 10.5 on the Snow Leopard upgrade (I didn't do a clean install). I haven't had a chance to test on my other Macs yet.

It seems to me that iTunes is using QT7 Pro for playback. How can I change this to QTX? Can I remove QT7 fully and if so will this remove the problem.

Cheers
LBJ

Mac Pro (2007), iMac (2009), MacBook Air (2009), MacBook Pro 17" (2006), Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jan 6, 2010 5:49 AM

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Answer 1

LBJ_UK Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 8, 2010 2:13 AM in response to LBJ_UK

Out of interest I install a new (not upgrade) installation of 10.6.2 (snow leopard) without Quicktime 7 on my Mac Book Pro. The HD h.264 movie again plays fine in Quicktime X but stutters in iTunes 9. Therefore I conclude that iTunes must come with a core of QT7 playback and doesn't use QTX at all. As such I will never be able to get this to play right via iTunes. This has implications for front row and potentially the Apple TV, which I was considering purchasing. I'll need to figure out a recode.
Cheers
LBJ

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