Apple TV 3rd generation stuttering on buffer

Just to clarify my stuttering that im talking about is not network related for all of those posting here my network is 1000baseT and is running cat 6e wiring. The stuttering im talking about is the little glitches here and there that happen even though the movie is in the cache in the apple tv already. It is not my network that is causing this it is the apple tv itself, whether playing apple movies bought from them or my own. Its like the apple tv has a nervous tick and it is random.

Message was edited by: mechanic43

Sorry but when i turn WMM on, I can't even stream music from iPad to apple tv. It immediately stops working. And it works again when I turn it off.

I'm not the only one. I read about this issue here in the apple support community.

I had exactly the same problem as Macalicious. Streaming from the internet is fine, even at 1080/720. Streaming from wireless LAN devices is extremely laggy (badly stuttering music and very long movie buffering).

This solution is working for me so far:

1) Assign static IP addresses to all wireless devices.

2) Open all the ports required by Apple TV listed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2463

There has been an immediate improvement in wireless LAN streaming. Buffering times are now in the order of a couple of seconds and the stuttering music problem has gone. I will report back in a couple of days if anything changes.

IMO there are several posts in this thread that should really be in another thread; they are distracting from and obfuscating the real issue that is being discussed. With all due respect, please take the network setup and troubleshooting items to a new or different thread.

The issue for this thread is that the Apple TV generation 3 device exhibits video stutter issues when playing back whilst the buffer is filling over the network, be it wired or wireless. It is understood that the content being viewed is buffering to the Apple TV faster than the playback itself; in other words, no pausing while the network “catches up” if your connectivity is slow. Slow connectivity is not what is being discussed here. Additionally, myself and others have pointed out that the stutter issue still remains after the buffering is completed. The Apple TV device should not do this under any circumstances, and that’s the real issue here. No one should have to mess around with their standard network/firewall settings in an attempt to work around a problem that is inherent in the Apple TV hardware or software itself, when their network is functioning normally.

As part of my experiment comparing fully-buffered Apple TV playback, to playing back the *exact* same video file stored on a USB key attached directly to our TV, I had my wife do “blind” comparisons with me – I would leave the room while she set the playback to be from Apple TV or USB (without telling me which), and then I’d come back and watch the playback, and *every time* I could identify if the playback was happening from the Apple TV or USB, because the stuttering is present with Apple TV, and not there with USB.

If you have the ability to, please try the same or similar test that I did, which has nothing to do with your network setup, and report your results.

I did not try the comparison test, but I'll follow up again. My stutter issues (and frustration) are gone when my ATV2 is connecting directly to my network through the Time Capsule. My thought is because it is hitting the 5GHz band and that's good enough to get a nice buffer. I turned it on yesterday and was trying to watch a movie and there was stuttering, turns out my husband had plugged in the airport express again to boost the wifi signal for his PS3. I unplugged it and BAM, there went the ATV again flying through the buffer as it was connected solely to the Network through the TC.

I'm not seeing any stutters, if I just walked into the room & started watching, I wouldn't know if the system was set to ATV or just HBO.

Although, on a side note, at one point the movie did stop and there was a message to turn on home sharing. I had to come back to the iMac, turn HS off and on again and it was fine after that.

Good day all,

Sorry to be late to the party. I just got my ATV yesterday. I too have a stutter problem during and after the video loads. Thus far it has been during HD content. I am hardwired at 1000Mb.

Here is one thing I noticed.

During playback of the Apple content streaming preview of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (US version) I noticed the stutter at exactly the same points every time. Same thing with the trailer of MIB3. I tried a TV show that was SD and saw no stutter.

The odd part was the stutter was at the same point in the video every time.

Has anyone a) gotten a resolution or b) seen the same stuttering at the same points in the streaming HD video as I have?

BTW, good thread. Nice to see actual comments and testing.

Hey Bud,

I'm going to perform another comparison test and report back. As far as seeing the exact same stutter at the same points in the video, I have not experienced that with "known good" content. I'll look at those two pieces of content you mentioned (if they're still available) later tonight.

My setup has evolved since my last post in April. I still use the ATV to stream TV shows that I have encoded with Handbrake, or purchased through iTunes. The ATV also services the several iOS devices in the house. There was an ATV software update since my last post, and I haven't attempted to stream any HD movies with it since that update. It does seem like the video glitchiness went down on the TV shows since the update, or my brain has grown used to it and is now ignoring it.

For HD movie playback, I'm now using a WD TV Live device, with a 2.5" USB hard drive attached to it for local storage. The WD device does wireless streaming too, but doesn't seem to have much of a buffer (if at all), so doesn't do well with dense content sreaming over wireless. For my HD content, I rip my Blu-rays to ISOs with ImgBurn, and then copy those ISOs to the USB hard drive. The WD device can mount and play back the ISOs directly, so that I can keep the Blu-ray discs in a safe place and unhandled.

I also replaced my Windows PC, so it is now powerful enough that I can use Handbrake to encode Blu-ray discs directly (no need for intermediary MKV and encoding on my Mac). I'm doing that right now with a Star Wars movie. I will then compare playback of that same file between the WD device (content stored on the USB hard drive) and the ATV (streamed from my Windows PC).

So I did the comparison test last night with the Star Wars content. The M4V file playback was smooth via the WD TV Live device (content stored on the local USB hard drive, WD device connected to TV via HDMI). Playback of the same M4V via ATV had subtle glitches as before, and my wife saw the same glitches.

It is difficult to describe the video glitches without seeing them firsthand. In this thread we're calling the problem "stutter," which may mean different things to different people. To me, it means that a moving object, or set of moving objects, does not move "smoothly" across the screen. It's not pixilation, nor dropped frames of the entire picture - almost like pieces of the moving object(s) either don't display, or display in the wrong place. I think it would take a high-speed camera taking video of the TV screen itself, and then watching the resultant video frame-by-frame to see what is happening.

At any rate, I do see glitches in the "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" preview, but not always in the same places. However, that preview video does have a part that illustrates what I'm trying to describe above. Try this as an experiment - watch that preview with your sound completely off (so as not to distract your brain), and carefully watch the motorcycle beginning at 3:02 in the video, to about 3:04 (two seconds of movement). If you watch that same two second stretch several times, the motorcycle will "glitch" at different places. For me, the motion will be perfectly smooth for each two out of three times I repeat that part, but will have a subtle glitch about one out of three times.

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else experiences what I do with that stretch of video, or with the problem in general. It is such a subtle problem, that I can see why "normal" people wouldn't notice it, or care.

With the setup of the ATV in general, there are so many things that can be pointed at as a potential contributor to the problem - your network, your HDMI cable, your TV, the source content, etc. It feels almost impossible to prove that there is a problem with the ATV itself.

Thanks so much for your replies, and testing.

I agree that stutter may not be a good description. To me it is a short hesitation. We watched "This Means War" from iTunes (enough chick flick for the boss and enough manly fighting for me.). It too showed the same glitches.

I contacted Apple support and went over what I had done and was seeing. I tested the same videos on my MacBook Pro (wireless) and had no problems whatsoever. I went back and tested the ATV again (wired) and still the same issue.

At this point Apple thinks it may be bad hardware. I'm doing a return to them so they can test it. I love Apple support but I'm not hopeful on an answer for this one.

I'm in the midst of work at the moment. When I'm thru for the day I'll take a look at your notes and test. On The Girl preview I usually saw the issue right out of the gate as he comes down the stairs. And you're right, it is not exactly the same spot each time. But real close.

Thanks again. I'll let everyone know how the proceeds.

Thanks Bud, it's certainly plausible that we just have bad units. If you have success with a replacement, I'll go down that road as well. 🙂

Well PleasantSpectrum, I took a look again last night and early this morning (ET). This time I checked the clips I know were problems and checked out the motorcycle scene you mentioned.

No stutter, hiccups, whatever you want to call it. The places that had problems were flawless. Checked a couple of other videos and saw no problems.

This seems to be one of those problems that defies explanation.

We ruled out source file - plays fine on Macbook.

We ruled out network - system was wired and file buffered well ahead of playback.

We ruled out cached file - I restarted the system and cleared the cache.

We ruled out software version - I restored the system.

The only thing left was hardware. But now it seems to be working.

I suppose it could be an intermittent hardware issue. Although those are usually heat related.

I feel like I'm trying to swat an elusive gnat. I can hear it, but can't quite see it. I'll update if an answer presents itself.

I restored my ATV to factory defaults this morning, but still have the video glitches in the same places. I guess the gnat is still trapped in our house 🙂

I have been watching things off and on the last two days, including the clips with known issues. Not one blip. It has hit that point called intermittent issues. I won't even go into how difficult those things are.

For the moment I am hanging onto the ATV and going to watch as much as possible over the next few days.

Ironically, as I type this there is a fly buzzing about my desk...

Should there be any changes I'll let you know.

OK, I promised changes. Looks like Apple did an ATV iOS update today. Applied it. And checked. The 'stutter' issue is back. So off to the Apple goes the device for them to diagnose.

Perhaps someday I'll be able to actual use it... Perhaps...

I have been having the same stuttering problems:

- All apple network, Cat6 cables, top-spec iMac, ATV3.

Last night I couldnt connect my ATV3 to my iTunes library, tried rebooting my ATV3 with no success. Rebooted my iMac and all problems solved. Watched 2.5 hrs of 1080p TV shows (iTunes store) with no stuttering, no lag, it was beautiful.