Tweaks to Speed Up Internet Streaming Video

By Gaelim Holland

The birth of "Guerilla Video" sites, such as Peekvid.com, Alluc.org and Youtube.com have given users instant access to a plethora of free media files. Although streaming video technology offers instant access to video files, zero loading time is not always possible. There are many factors that attribute to your computer's ability to start videos immediately. Other factors such as choppy PC video playback and slow video streaming also hinder your viewing experience.

There are easy fixes to these problems. Sometimes choosing another site for the source of the video streaming or a lower quality version of the video can award you with instant play. These alternatives are not always available. However, there are a number of tweaks that help speed up your streaming video startup times, eliminate choppy PC video play and stop slow streaming video.

Before we start with the tweaks to speed up slow streaming video, lets get a basic understanding of streaming video technology in order to stop choppy video. Streaming video is a prerecorded video files that can be distributed as part of a live broadcast "feed." The video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a Web server.

This server is able to be multicast the same file to multiple users at the same time. When you click on the on the video it is partially loaded before you can access it. This is known as "buffering". This helps you to load and play the video instantaneously. Now lets take a look on how to cut down on buffering time, stop slow streaming video and eliminate choppy PC video playback.

Common Streaming Video Problems

Problem Number 1: Choppy PC Video Playback - Choppy video is usually a PC performance related issue. Here are a few things you can try to stop choppy playback and improve computer performance.

Solution A. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration - All media applications require different aspects of your computer's hardware. Depending on the task, the requirements may change. Turning off hardware acceleration allows the application to set the requirements itself and not be forced to use one universal setting. Hardware acceleration has been to known to cause choppy PC playback, application crashes and slow streaming video problems.

You can eliminate the problem below:

1. Click on "Start"
2. Click "Control Panel"
3. Select the "Settings" tab and click on the "Advanced".
4. Click on the "Troubleshoot" tab.
5. Disable the hardware acceleration completely by dragging the slider to the extreme left.

Solution B. Turn off Video Acceleration-The reason for this tweak is the similar to hardware acceleration. This act frees up resources in your media player and not your hardware. However you will need to decrease video acceleration in your chosen player. Some sites like Youtube.com don't offer this option. However, Windows Media Player gives the ability to easily alter this problem, follow the steps below. Other players' instructions will vary.

1. In Windows Media Player
2. Click the "Tools" menu tab
3. Click on "Options"
4. Select the "Performance" tab.
5. Move the Video Acceleration Slider to "None"

Solution C. Adjust your Windows Desktop Visual Effects-You computer will get a significance boost in speed. This tweak will also free up more resources for your media player and PC performance.

1. Click "Start", and then click "Control Panel".
2. Click "System" and Choose "Display".
3. Find the "Advanced" tab and Click
4. Under "Performance", Click "Settings"
5. Under "Visuals Effects", you may choose from a list of options such as "Adjust for best performance" or custom. If you choose Adjust for best performance all the features will be unchecked.

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