Category: Video

When watching a video that’s streaming across your home network, it’s annoying to get the “stutter effect”. With a simple tweak in VLC and Windows Media Player we can help prevent this annoyance.

There could be other factors that cause network video streams to stutter, such as the type of hardware you’re using or streaming wirelessly. But before you go out and spend a bunch of money for a full Gigabit network, a simple setting change to the read buffer cache in VLC or WMP can definitely help.

Increase Caching in VLC

To change the buffer cache size in VLC click on Media \ Open Network Stream.

At the bottom right of the screen, check Show extended options.

Now increase the number in the Caching field. By default ours was set to 200ms and we bumped it up to 500ms or 0.5 seconds. When done click the Play button.

Now you should be able to enjoy your video stutter free.

Windows Media Player

To increase the read buffer in Windows 7 Media Player open it up and click “Alt+T” to bring up the menu and go to Tools and click on Options.

Now click on the Performance tab and under Network buffering change the buffering from using the default (which is 5 seconds) to a larger number. Notice in WMP it’s not in milliseconds like VLC so just increase it to whatever works best. When you’re done click OK.

Now you should be able to watch your favorite streaming video content on Media Player without any stuttering in the feed.

Windows Media Player 11

You can also do this in WMP 11 in XP and Vista following the same process…

Conclusion

If you’re annoyed by stuttering when streaming video over your network, changing these settings can help. You’ll probably have to experiment a bit with the caching until you get it where you want it. You should be able to do this in other video players as well, just read the products documentation. Depending on how much you increase it by, it may take videos longer to startup, but you should be able to enjoy stutter free video!

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It’s funny — we remember the day that YouTube began supporting plain ole HD like it was yesterday, and we’re guessing today will hang in our memory banks for quite awhile, too. Over at the VidCon 2010 conference, YouTube officially announced support for videos shot in 4K (a reference resolution of 4096 x 3072), which means that the famed online clip portal now supports “resolutions from 360p to 4,096p” (their words, not ours). Granted, only a handful of humans even have access to a 4K camcorder, and 4K projectors aren’t exactly simple to find (or afford), but we couldn’t be happier to see YT staying way ahead of the curve here. If you’re up for putting a severe strain on your broadband connection (and just pretend that your monitor can actually support a legit 4K feed), feel free to hit that first source link and attempt to watch any of those videos at their “Original” resolution. Godspeed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

YouTube moves solidly into the future by supporting 4K content originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like teardowns? Ever worn a loose resistor in your pierced 80s earhole just to show the world how geek-punk you really are? Man, have we got the Android Live Wallpaper for you. aCircuit Board is a ¥99 (a bit more than a US buck) animated wallpaper available on the Android Market. Moving fan; binary clock; GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth status lights; a pulsating Android bot; and active circuit paths depending upon where you touch the PCB. Of course, it's all configurable too, via the options menu. Buy hey, don't take our word for it, see it in action after the break.

Continue reading aCircuit Board live wallpaper is aMazing (video)

aCircuit Board live wallpaper is aMazing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment that will attempt to do just that: document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera. You can film the ordinary — a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary — a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.

Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director of films such as The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void and One Day in September, will then edit the most compelling footage into a feature documentary film, to be executive-produced by Ridley Scott, the director behind films like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner and Robin Hood. LG Electronics is supporting “Life in a Day” as a key part of its long-standing “Life’s Good” campaign and to support the creation of quality online content that can be shared and enjoyed by all.

The film will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and if your footage makes it into the final cut, you’ll be credited as a co-director and may be one of 20 contributors selected to attend the premiere.

Want to take part? Here’s what to do.

1. Visit the “Life in a Day” channel and learn more about the project. Be sure to read through the steps you need to take to participate and the guidelines for creating your video(s). Also check out some of the sample videos for inspirational ideas.

2. On July 24, capture your day on camera.

3. Upload your footage to the “Life in a Day” channel any time before July 31.

Regardless of whether your footage makes it into the final film, your video(s) will live on on the “Life in a Day” channel as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.

Posted by Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, watching “Life in a Day” trailer

Robonaut2 may have fantastic biceps, but raw muscle won’t put a man humanoid on the moon — that takes rockets. Rockets like the one in this RR-1 prototype lander, recently outfitted with a Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment (GENIE) system to let the craft safely descend to the lunar surface. On June 23rd, NASA and partner Armadillo Aerospace put the system to the test, hoping it could figure out the complex algorithms necessary to process volumes of data from the laser altimeter, GPS and inertial sensors, and quickly enough to steer the rocket engine accordingly… but the machine performed like a charm. See its first solo flight in an inspiring, flame-filled video after the break, and skip to 4:12 for the good stuff.

Continue reading NASA successfully tests autonomous lunar lander navigation system, codename GENIE (video)

NASA successfully tests autonomous lunar lander navigation system, codename GENIE (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like gadgets? Ever stand in line for one or over-consume just to slake your obsession? Yeah, us too. Then prepare for a humorous yet brutal look at yourselves, and the impact of your lifestyle, in the newest Futurama episode that aired tonight on Comedy Central television. We suggest curling up into a protective fetal position before clicking through for the video scraps.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Futurama critiques modern gadget and social media obsession using 1950s technology (video)

Futurama critiques modern gadget and social media obsession using 1950s technology (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Toshiba Libretto W100 made a guest appearance on the Engadget Show last week, and since we got to spend a bit more time with the dualscreen laptop we thought it was only right to release some more impressions into the ether. We also got confirmation from Toshiba that the somewhat-of-a-concept-PC will be hitting retail channels in August, including Amazon, and will cost $1,100. It may be one of the only dualscreen tablets on the market, but no matter how you break it down that price seems a little outrageous. But you wouldn’t make up your mind before reading some further impressions and watching a close up video of the screens working in tandem, would you? Well then, we’ll see you after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba Libretto W100 preview

Toshiba Libretto W100 preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not interested in waiting until the 23rd for Verizon’s big announcement? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered right now! The Motorola Droid X has probably been one of the worst kept smartphone secrets in recent memory, but after spending two hours with the phone we sort of see why. In short, it’s pretty awesome. Call it a superphone or a mega-smartphone, but the 4.4-inch handset is absolutely Verizon / Motorola’s answer to the HTC EVO 4G, and makes the Droid Incredible look like a bench warmer. What do we mean? We’ll let you see for yourself just after the break in a breakdown of exactly what this phone is all about — and in a video or three of it in action. Oh, and on your way down, make sure to feast your eyes on the gallery, too.

Continue reading Exclusive: Motorola Droid X preview

Exclusive: Motorola Droid X preview originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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