Movie files recorded in 4K and 1080p are often very large with complex structures. When clips are played back as a sequence, this can result in poor playback where the footage can appear choppy, freezing or display lag. This could be due to the size of the files, the limitations of the computer used or the heavy workload caused by the compression structure of movie codecs such as H.264.
Below are some troubleshooting steps to test and may improve playback performance on your computer:
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Close down other open applications that could be using computer system resources intensively.
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Check if your media player is the latest version so it recognises the latest video and audio codecs.
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Test opening the movie clips with a different media player which might offer support for alternative codecs.
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If the movie clip is stored on an external hard drive, try loading the clips to the computer HD to check if that improves playback.
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To confirm if the issue is with a specific file, try playing other similar files.
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The video files may have been damaged during transfer, copy them to the computer again.
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Make sure you have the latest drivers for the PC graphics card, also consider installing the full card software package from the manufacturer to enable advanced features.
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Codecs such as H.264 are highly compressed and not ideal for playback/editing, convert the files to another format such as ProRes.
If the above options fail, you may have to consider that your computer hardware may not be powerful enough. A new graphics card, more memory or faster hard drive may be necessary or ultimately a computer with a faster processor.
