[Iggyman]

As an experiment I thought I'd download the BBC's iPlayer desktop program and download the latest Dr Who episode to watch.

First problem - The 700MB program took nearly half an hour to download <sigh>

Second problem - go to play it and it's jerky as hell. Worth noting that if I stream the same Standard Def program via iPlayer it plays okay. So why is it jerking all over the shop under iPlayer Desktop? What a load of carp ..........

Third problem - how do you dispose of all the extraneous garbage in iPlayer Desktop, ie the information bars at the top and the bottom?

Thanks

[The Phazer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggyman

Second problem - go to play it and it's jerky as hell. Worth noting that if I stream the same Standard Def program via iPlayer it plays okay. So why is it jerking all over the shop under iPlayer Desktop? What a load of carp ..........

Your computer isn't fast enough to play it. The streams don't have to perform the DRM decryption, which takes extra resources from the processor.

Quote:

Third problem - how do you dispose of all the extraneous garbage in iPlayer Desktop, ie the information bars at the top and the bottom?

Thanks

You mean when the programme is playing? There's a full screen button.

Phazer

[Iggyman]

I see, so I can play 720p HD files from, say, a DVD with no problems, yet iPlayer Desktop, due to the DRM decryption, won't even play an SD file? What a load of carp.

As for the information bars at the top and bottom - fullscreen mode doesn't seem to get rid of these.

Memo to BBC - this is rubbish.

[bogbean]

The iplayer seems pretty good to me, most of the time.
However on panning shots it seems to get really jerky.

This is particularly noticeable at the end of Doctor Who, Eleventh Hour, where the camera pans across Amy's collection of dolls and drawings of the Doctor. It stutters and makes my eyes go funny!

The static camera shots are fine.

This is using a quad core 2.5GHz machine with 4GB RAM. Surely that ought to be able to play it smoothly?
Or is there something inherently wrong with the iplayer?

[KennyT]

Just as a matter of policy, I always do some tidying up and defragmenting of my HD if I find I'm getting this sort of thing (not just in iPlayer, but in general). If the downloaded file managed to get "scattered to the four winds" while it was being downloaded, that might explain the performance problem. Maybe. Always worth a try!

K

[KennyT]

Also, there was a discussion some time ago about getting smooth playback with HD downloads and it seemed to work better fullscreen rather than in a window...

K

[Iggyman]

Not on my PC it doesn't. SD is very jerky via iPlayer Desktop but okay via iPlayer. HD is unwatchable via both iPlayer Desktop AND iPlayer.

However, my PC, using VLC Media player or similar, plays back (legally downloaded!) SD videos very smoothly and 720p HD videos (demos) with only the occasional stutter.

In other words, iPlayer Desktop is a bag of shite.

[KennyT]

OK, I downloaded the HD version of DW and initially it was v.jerky in a window, less so (but quite noticeable) in fullscreen. So I defragged, shut down some apps (my own Fortran ones with a tight event loop that nicks all the CPU it can get!) and tried again and it was much better (although I also got some small "shuddering" during the closing scenes as mentioned above).

There is an issue with scrollbars sometimes appearing in fullscreen mode. This is what the FAQs say:

In fullscreen mode, there are sometimes scroll bars around the video window
If you encounter this problem, return to normal view mode and then go back to fullscreen view mode. The scroll bars will disappear.

Also, there's a WMV download option for the SD versions of programmes. It might be worth trying that?

My PC specs are:
Dell Vostro 1500
Dual Core (T7250@2GHz)
2.99GB RAM
Running XP Professional

Hope this helps.

K

[Iggyman]

Thanks, have been experimenting all day with the things that you suggested but no luck with HD, it's still jerk-o-vision. What annoys me is that it's obviously their rubbish iPlayer Desktop programme which is causing the problem.

SD is now better (with the occasional stutter), not sure why though as I'm playing the same programme (DW) as I was before.

But as for HD - I know that my PC can play HD programmes with other software, which makes it all the more irritating that the BBC's own software can't manage it, therefore I can't watch their programme content in HD. <sigh>

[bogbean]

It sounds like the jerky bits I was talking about are just a "feature"! I get it in full screen or windowed.

Like I said, the non-panning shots are pretty much OK.

Iggyman seems to be getting a lot worse! If it's completely unwatchable.

[KennyT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggyman

Thanks, have been experimenting all day with the things that you suggested but no luck with HD, it's still jerk-o-vision. What annoys me is that it's obviously their rubbish iPlayer Desktop programme which is causing the problem.

SD is now better (with the occasional stutter), not sure why though as I'm playing the same programme (DW) as I was before.

But as for HD - I know that my PC can play HD programmes with other software, which makes it all the more irritating that the BBC's own software can't manage it, therefore I can't watch their programme content in HD. <sigh>

Just as an experiment, have you tried the WMV version of the SD version? That may isolate whether it's Adobe AIR in particular or something generic on your PC?

K

[Iggyman]

Oh, it's definitely Adobe AIR as the WMV version of the SD download plays okay too.

Really not impressed by this at all - was hoping that I could download and watch legally downloadable (but time restricted) BBC HD programmes with the BBC's (Adobe's) iPlayer Desktop, but seemingly not.

Memo to BBC - substantially improve your rubbish software.

[KennyT]

So, probably the best idea is to post something on the iPlayer messageboard (maybe in the suggestions forum http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbiplayer/NF7331806) asking if they can make WMV versions of the HD progs available too!

K

[Iggyman]

But will they take any notice?

[KennyT]

Well, they won't if you don't!

K

[Iggyman]

True .......... I don't know, my faith in the BBC actually listening to those who pay for it has been dwindling rapidly over the years .........

[KennyT]

Well, all I can say in their defence is that I sent in a suggestion to have playlists for the radio3 show "Through the Night". I'm sure I wasn't the only person to suggest it, but in the next major upgrade it was included, so I was rather pleased about that!

K

[The Phazer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggyman

True .......... I don't know, my faith in the BBC actually listening to those who pay for it has been dwindling rapidly over the years .........

Of course, it couldn't possibly be something like HD capable reliable WMV encoders costing a fortune when the format is used by less than a twentieth of iPlayer users...

It must be some determined conspiracy to not listen to people, even if those people are in a tiny minority compared to those who'd have to pay for it!

Phazer