Choppy video while playing MOV file

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Choppy video while playing MOV file

I've been trying to help a friend figure out a problem with playing MOV videos on her Mac Mini. It is a 2011 or 2012 model. For an unknown reason the videos have a really low frame rate. The audio is OK. VLC Media Player on the same computer plays the videos without any issue. The videos were made using a new-ish iPhone. They play OK on the phone, too. She is using macOS Catalina 10.15.7 and QuickTime Player X. The friend has a large Photos Library with videos in it. If we try playing a video in the library then QuickTime Player is used to play the video and it is choppy. I thought I could just change the default video player to VLC Media Player but it seems that the Photos app uses QuickTime Player to play the video regardless of the default app and there is no way to change that. Or, is there? It seems my two options are to fix whatever is wrong with QuickTime Player or somehow change the player that the Photos app uses. Unfortunately I've found no solutions by Googling about this. What can I do?

Posted on Mar 8, 2022 7:48 PM

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Answer 1

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Urquhart1244

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Mar 9, 2022 5:18 PM in response to Theotherotherguy

Video: HVEC, 1920x1080, 30.000 fps, 8 544 kb/s - Core Media Video

HEVC, 1920×1080, 30 fps should run okay on older devices with Catalina. Perhaps then the issue is not with the file.

Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support

“On some older devices, support for HEVC is affected by the resolution and frame rate (fps) of the video. Resolutions of 1080p or lower and frame rates of 60 fps or lower are more broadly compatible with older devices. To reduce the resolution and frame rate that your capture device uses for recording video, go to Settings > Camera > Record Video, as well as Settings > Camera > Record Slo-mo.”

Try the general Mac troubleshooting:

Safe mode can help you to determine whether an issue is caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up. How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support
Starting up in another Mac user account can help you to determine whether an issue could be related to the files or settings in your user account. Test an issue in another user account on your Mac.

With the results from this, you would be able to have a targeted path to a solution.

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Answer 2

Mar 8, 2022 9:02 PM in response to Theotherotherguy

If the videos were shot in high frame rate (60 fps, 120 fps, 240 fps), then it may be too much for QuickTime Player on older Macs.

If the videos were shot in 4K, then it may be too much for smooth playback in QuickTime Player on older Mac.

If the videos were shot in HDR, then it may be too much for smooth playback in QuickTime Player on older Mac.

Please verify the video specification (codec, resolution, frame rate).

Convert the file to lower specs, and/or record next time with more compatible settings.

iPhone: Settings﹥Camera﹥

macOS Catalina is compatible with Mac Mini (late 2012 or newer), so I think it wouldn’t be a 2011 model. The About This Mac window would list the model year and season. Find out which macOS your Mac is using - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Mar 8, 2022 9:43 PM in response to Urquhart1244

IMG_7198.mov

File Kind: QuickTime movie

Format: MPEG-4

Size: 23.2 MB

Duration: 00:00:22 (8 805 kb/s)

Video: HVEC, 1920x1080, 30.000 fps, 8 544 kb/s - Core Media Video

Audio: AAC, 192 kb/s VBR, 44.1 kHz, Stereo - Core Media Audio

It must be a 2012 Mac Mini. However, I can't access the computer right now to check.

The videos have played OK in the past. The choppy playback in QuickTime Player seems to be a recent development. Seems to make no difference if the video was made more recently or much earlier in case the files were made by different phones/setting. The video from which I collected the above info from is dated Nov 25, 2021 but much older and newer videos all have the same problem.

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Answer 4

Mar 10, 2022 6:03 PM in response to Urquhart1244

It seems that QuickTime Player in Safe mode won't open files. It wouldn't open my test file and showed an error message.

The document "IMG_7198.mov" could not be opened. An unknown error occurred (-101)

I tried playing the file in a new user account while not in Safe mode and saw the same issue of choppy video.

I reinstalled macOS and tried playing the file again and still saw the same issue.

I thought maybe the choppy video was a throttling related issue (the Mac Mini does seem to be running a bit warm) so I opened Terminal and ran

pmset -g thermlog

but saw no reports of throttling. I also installed Intel Power Gadget for Mac. I still saw no signs of throttling but I did notice that when I played the file the GPU REQ went to max while playing. I think GPU REQ stands for GPU Requested Frequency. If I played the same file on another Mac Mini, same late 2012 model but only 1/2 the ram of the RAM of the computer with the issue, the GPU REQ barely blipped on the graph. It was as if playing the file took everything the GPU had on the Mac Mini with the issue while the GPU in the other Mac Mini played the file smoothly without much effort.

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Answer 5

Mar 11, 2022 6:57 AM in response to Theotherotherguy

Well, that’s the puzzle then, how are these similar Macs different, when one does so well and the other doesn’t.

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Choppy video while playing MOV file

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