Q: OSX Lion + 2011 iMac 27'' + Video = Freeze

This is so true. We saw 2 updates to iOS within a week, iOS 5 and iCloud are getting updates, betas and fixes on a 2-3 times a week schedule, but those of us who were stupid enough to buy and upgrade to Lion..... we get ignored by Apple. TechCrunch lets you in on the disturbing trend right now with Apple:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/02/apples-tech-support-is-not-as-good-as-it-used-t o-be-study-claims

I have an update from Apple technical support with a solution.  MATT was quick and to the point in letting me know how to FIX the problem.  He said just uninstall Adobe Flash and don't use it anymore.

Yea for the GENIUS phone support!

Wow, this is bad since we know that is not flash related, based on all the replies on this thread...

I took richrc with a grain of salt....

Not sure I understand your usage of "grain of salt" (in jest perhaps) but would be happy to provide you with  the case number off line if it helps your peace of mind.  I just think that removing Flash would be a solution that technical support would put forward is 100% asinine.  I just don't get it at all, but maybe you've have had better luck with support.

Every time you call support you get a different answer from them and it takes 20 min just to explain it to them over again wastt of time only thing to do is wait for an update

Doesn't help uninstalling Flash when I haven't installed Flash.  It freezes when I watch a video podcast on iTunes.

I've had the same freeze issue when watching a video after iMac sleep. But now it seems to have disappeared (I hope). I updated flash to the beta version for Lion. http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and did a PRAM reset. At first, it did not prevent the iMac from "freezing" when watching a video. Then Perian ( http://perian.org/ ) had an update and now I haven't had a video related freeze for some time. I'm still not sure if the Perian update did the trick or something else. Cheers, Peter. http://identityzoom.dk

If it is indeed related to Perian or Adobe, why are people who have completed a fresh install of Lion still experiencing a problem unless of course the fresh install was not a nuke and pave.  I to received a Perian Update and thought this may be the issue. 

However, why would it not cause the Mac to freeze anytime?  I will try to restore my Energy Saver settings to let my Mac sleep upon my return home from work, but I am not convinced this is the reason for the freeze issue. 

One note, flash is not issue as I uninstalled it and my Mac froze when watching a QuickTime video so please stop suggesting it is flash, because it is not. 

I am also having this problem and I don't have Perian installed.

I'm also experiencing this on my brand-new iMac. Sometimes, it happens on the 2nd or 3rd video I watch after sleep. Is frequent hard-restarting of the computer harmful? I've done it a couple of times because of automatically-playing videos or out of forgetfulness.

I stand corrected. Just now, I had another freeze using NetNewsWire while trying to watch an embedded Vimeo video. Sorry. Perian & Flash updates + PRAM reset does not fix the problem I have with my Mac. Sorry to get your hopes up :/ It seems like I/we will have to wait for an update from Apple. Crap! Hopefully it'll turn up very, very soon :-)

Having the same issue here.  I've got a mid 2011 iMac 27" 3.4Ghz i7 with 16Gb Ram & AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2Tb and 250G SSD + 2TB hhd. Updated to Lion shortly after release from SL. Video freezes mac, cursor moves but nothing else works. 

So I shut my iMac 21.5" Mid 2011 i7 Quadcore off last night, since I had not let the Drives power down since switching my Energy Saver to never let drives sleep.  Started up today and got a Kernal Panic right off.  Heading to the Apple Store at this point to shove this up somebodies you know what. 

I find it ironic that the video I was trying to play was on the Adobe site!  Freeze!