SHORT: No more choppy video in VLC

VLC choppy video fix
VLC media player will play just about any audio or video file you throw at it. Version 3 supports hardware acceleration so that it SHOULD play even hi-res vids smoothly. But when you try to play a 4K (2160p) video, the playback stutters and is basically unwatchable. What gives??

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No more choppy video in VLC!

VLC choppy video fixVLC media player is free, popular, and just awesome. It’ll play just about any audio or video file you throw at it.

Beginning in version 3.0.0, it supports hardware acceleration so that it should play even hi-res vids smoothly.

But quite often when you try to play a 4K (2160p) video, the playback stutters and is basically unwatchable.

What gives??

Turns out there’s a very simple fix that works 95% of the time! And it’ll take you all of about 10 seconds to do it…

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HDMI Cables: Which type should I use for 4K?

I recently had some fun with HDMI cables – specifically, how best to connect a 4K UltraHD Blu-ray player to a 4K TV?

As a follow-up to my Display Cable Madness vid, I dive a bit deeper into the different flavors of HDMI cable: 1.4, 2.0, and 2.1.

Obviously, the latest and greatest cable is always recommended for new components. But what about existing setups?

Would your upscaled Blu-ray to 4K setup benefit from a newer HDMI connection?

It’s not just about resolutions and refresh rates, but also stuff like UltraHD Deep Color and High Dynamic Range (HDR)…

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A crash course in 4K UHD, or Ultra High Definition

4K for SmartiesFor awhile now, the talk of the town has been “4K”. We hear a lot about it, and you can even buy a 4K television.

On the other hand, 4K content hasn’t really hit the mainstream yet. In fact, it hardly exists at all.

We do have plenty of new TVs and Blu-ray players that have “4K” printed on them, though.

So what is this magical new format? What is 4K? What is UHD? More importantly, should you care?

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