When watching videos in VLC playback is not smooth. There is a thin horizontal line that flashes through the center of the screen. It usually happens during bright or fast-paced action scenes. It almost looks like a screen refresh problem but I don't think it is. Thats as best as I can describe it. It's watchable but very irritating. It is not a problem with VLC because every video player dose the same thing. I don't think its a codec problem (though it my be) because I see a similar issue with certain screen savers. I have a e-GeForce GS PCI Express Nvidia Card using the NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (latest cards). Has anyone else seen this problem? is it a driver issue? is there a solution? I currently watch videos on Win XP and I want to abandon XP.

Thanks in advance.

Are you using compiz ("Desktop Effects")? This is a common problem with gl-accelerated applications on top of compiz because compiz and the application are effectively "competing" for the screen resources. Check and see if VLC provides an output plugin selection in its preferences. If so, try x11 or xv. (It's probably set to gl or gl2 right now).

Thank you Matir

This seems to work. I changed from default output to XVideo extension and it's working great. Indecently I thought after reading your post that disabling desktop effects would solve the problem (who needs bouncy windows anyway? :P). But when I did all VLC playback was sound and a green screen. odd eh? anyway, the Xvideo extention output works great in full screen but keeps the unsightly horizontal line in the small window view.

Thanks again

The horizontal line is odd. Out of curiosity, do other players exhibit the same behavior?

Yes absolutely. I see it in screen savers, video players, streaming video from Firefox, even VLC still but only in a window view it is working perfect in full screen mode now.

thanks

Hello again. I am having the same problem again using the XVideo output. I have installed and enabled Compiz which it likely the source of the trouble. But disabling Compiz is not fixing the problem nor do I want to have to turn off desktop effects just to watch a movie. Also note that VLC is playing files fine under KDE so why not Gnome? any thoughts? the symptoms are the same as explained in my first post.

sorry guys. I just tried again and disabling compiz dose fix the problem. But I don't want to disable my fun desktop just to watch a movie. Is there a way to get smooth playback with compiz enabled? let me know thanks.

Have you tried using the opengl driver for movies. Might also try re-installing the codex.

"Have you tried using the opengl driver for movies. Might also try re-installing the codex."

Yes I have tried the opengl output and VLC just crashes (program terminates not freezes). As far as the codex I am using ether w32codecs or gstreamer I'm not sure which. How can I make the opengl output work?

I am having the same video playback issue. The video looks like it "breaks" forming lines in the image; happens mostly when there is fast movement in the video.

It is called screen tearing and it tends to result from poorly written GPU drivers.

A number of things you can do:
- specify refresh rates in your xorg.conf
- experiment with the v-sync option of the video card
- enable buffering in your video player

What I have found to be the most convenient, though, is using the vdpau video driver. No more tearing and it shifts the burden of playing video from the CPU to the GPU. Unfortunately, vdpau supports only nvidia cards released in the last three to four years.

I am having this problem as well on ubuntu 10.10 with an nvidia 360m. I don't have an option for vdpau in VLC and have tried setting the "sync to VBlank" option in the nvidia X server settings panel. Playing around with various options in VLC still yields the tearing in full screen for me and it is frustrating...

I also have compiz, and have changed the refresh rate in the configuration from 50->60. Any other solutions to this problem?
thanks

I too am having this problem, which I didn't when running vista (changed about a week ago, loving it so much). Try as I can, the only thing I find makes a difference is maxing the buffer time, but it still happens. If it doesn't happen in other media players, I might consider dropping VLC after all these years.

Try going into CompizConfig Settings Manager (Alt+F2, "ccsm"), going into the General Options, and in the Display Settings tab, uncheck "Unredirect fullscreen windows" (if not already unchecked). This should stop the media player from gaining direct screen access when you put it in fullscreen mode; Compiz will redirect content to an offscreen buffer first so it can blit it to the screen buffer at its own discretion, allowing for things like VSync etc. to work.

EDIT: damn, old thread…zephyr707/farmerluk just resurrected it. Nonetheless, the above advice should still apply.

the instructions in this post:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1021773

worked like a charm for me. no little tearing/ripping/flickering at all now during any scenes! hope it works for others!

peace
z