by Qyot27 » Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:00 pm
The only time a video will lag is when the computer's hardware can't keep up with how fast the video needs to be decoded, or the format's software decoders aren't optimized enough. Sometimes this is a matter of format, sometimes resolution, and sometimes it's a matter of framerate, although unless you're using H.264 and/or framerates like 60fps, or pretty much anything HD, especially with the other two points, you shouldn't run into it (each of these differs greatly based on how new the computer's hardware is). Even given those variables, however, playback lag is better attributed to bitrate spiking too high - something that resolution and framerate can contribute to, but only if one is using a Constant Quality mode. In fact, higher framerates actually tend to make motion look smoother, provided we're dealing with progressive video or stuff that's already been telecined.