Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Talk about NVIDIA G-SYNC, a variable refresh rate (VRR) technology. G-SYNC eliminates stutters, tearing, and reduces input lag. List of G-SYNC Monitors.
Wooohah
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Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Wooohah » 27 Dec 2018, 20:09

So this has been something that's been going on ever since I got this. I came from a 1080P 60hz monitor and netflix/ youtube videos were always... relatively smooth and fine. I didn't really notice any problems.

With my PG279Q (144hz Gsync), youtube videos and netflix movies just look extremely stuttery. Like its skipping every other frame.
Its the worst when a scene is panning from side to side. The best way to describe it, would be the cameraman has Parkinsons and the frame is just shaking and microstuttering as a scene is panning.

I understand that this is caused by a misalignment with the screens refresh rate and the videos refresh rate. Is there any way to really fix this? I've tried setting my monitor to 60hz or 120hz and it doesn't really help.

Any help is appreciated. I've been watching movies on my new TV and my god....... the difference is staggering. No stutter.

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RealNC
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by RealNC » 27 Dec 2018, 21:51

Maybe for some reason g-sync gets activated when watching video? As a test, disable g-sync in the nvidia panel and reboot.

Also, always use 120Hz on the desktop. 144Hz will result in microstutter when watching 30FPS and 60FPS videos.
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Kheri
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Kheri » 27 Dec 2018, 22:04

How's the monitor otherwise? Curious.

Wooohah
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Wooohah » 27 Dec 2018, 22:15

So I disabled Gsync and set my global FPS to 120.
It seems like 60 FPS videos on youtube are relatively smooth. I think the problem with me testing before is I didn't reboot the computer after turning on/ off Gsync.

However netflix is still the same. I think the issue is with their movies mainly playing in 24FPS.

Do you have a 144Hz Gsync monitor? Are netflix movies and everything smooth for you without issue?

Wooohah
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Wooohah » 27 Dec 2018, 22:16

So I have the FPS set to 120 by changing the "resolution".

Can I make it so all my games and 3D applications play in the highest refresh rate and its only my desktop thats in 120FPS?

Wooohah
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Wooohah » 27 Dec 2018, 22:35

Actually. Scratch that. There's really no difference. This is difficult because there aren't really any true good panning benchmarks on youtube and Netflix.
On youtube it seems like if its a true 1080p60hz video shot in HD, it will be smooth. If its a bad camera, the stutter might be from the camera.

The official benchmarks in Netflix are 24FPS. The movies there when panning still looks like someone with parkinsons.

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RealNC
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by RealNC » 28 Dec 2018, 00:08

Yes, I have a g-sync monitor. Very similar to yours, using the same 165Hz IPS panel (XG2703-GS).

To make your games run at 144Hz, you set "preferred refresh rate" to "highest available" in the nvidia panel's 3D section. Note this only affects real fullscreen games. For borderless mode games, you still need to change your desktop refresh to 144Hz.

I don't have Netflix though. But at 120Hz, everything is smooth, including 24FPS video. 120Hz is suitable for 24FPS (120/5), 30FPS (120/4) and 60FPS (120/2) video. 144Hz is only suitable for 24FPS (144/6) and 48FPS (144/3) video.

I think your issue with g-sync is that you had g-sync enabled for windowed mode too, not just fullscreen. I use fullscreen g-sync only. However, you can add the browser or the video player exe as an application profile in the nvidia panel (if it doesn't already exist; I think firefox, chrome and popular browsers in general already have an app profile) and set monitor technology to "fixed refresh" there. This should prevent g-sync from activating.

G-Sync can be used for watching videos though, but it needs a compatible media player. I use MPV (through SMPlayer) which works fine with g-sync. However, there's no real benefit in doing so really, unless you case about exact FPS, like 29.97FPS vs 30FPS and 59.94 vs 60. But players will simply adjust the audio in these cases and play the video smoothly at a slightly adjusted speed.

As for Netflix, maybe try a different browser. Chrome for example has a totally different video player compared to Firefox. One might work way better than the other (usually, Chrome works best for video.)
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Wooohah
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Wooohah » 28 Dec 2018, 20:49

I have Gsync for fullscreen only. I thought that Gsync was kicking in as well, but I had it disabled for testing and the result was the same.
It might be something mainly with netflix then I think. I was using their "24 fps" testing video which was actually like 23.9 something.

Ill try a different browser (im using firefox) and ill try the netflix app as well maybe.

So I have my display set to 120hz in the Nvidia control panel. I set the prefered refresh rate to "highest availible" for 3D games and it should go up to 144hz in fullscreen games?

Thanks

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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by RealNC » 28 Dec 2018, 20:51

Wooohah wrote:So I have my display set to 120hz in the Nvidia control panel. I set the prefered refresh rate to "highest availible" for 3D games and it should go up to 144hz in fullscreen games?
Yes. But you should verify by opening the monitor's OSD. It says what the current refresh rate is.
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Wooohah
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Re: Netflix and youtube videos stuttering with PG279Q Gsync

Post by Wooohah » 28 Dec 2018, 21:47

So it looks like setting the monitor to 120 fps in nvidia control panel and having max refresh rate set does make games run at full refresh.

But... I think im having an issue where over 120 FPS, Gsync doesn't work. Or something like that. I have Gsync and Vsync on and my FPS capped at 142. I launched minecraft just to test (reliably gets over 120 FPS). Game was stuttering and at 142 FPS.

Does Gsync not work over 120 FPS if I have that setting set?

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