Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

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Red Squirrel
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Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

I have a decent machine with a decent video card but I feel that something is limiting my ability to actually fully utilize the hardware. This has been ongoing but I really hope to come to the bottom of it.

1: 4k Youtube content often won't play properly, it seems to depend on the particular channel and how they render it perhaps. This video for example will be super choppy if I try to play it at 4k: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgWuGA8cExo

2: I have 2 4k monitors which support 60hz but If I try to set both of them at 60hz, all hell breaks loose, they flicker and turn on and off and do all sorts of weird stuff. I have to set one at 30hz and other at 50hz, any other combination and I get weird issues.

3: Another issue I have is any time I go from normal view to full screen in Youtube (playing in HD), it does this weird "reset" thing where the video goes black, stops playing, then starts playing again, except it downgrades to lowest res from HD.

Is there a way to fix these issues? I feel something somewhere is not using the hardware and trying to do everything in software maybe. So hoping it's just something I need to enable somewhere. Oh and as my browser I'm using Firefox.

Here is info that should help:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.11.0-34-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B350-PLUS v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5407 date: 12/31/2019 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: AMD Ryzen 3 1300X bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Zen 
  rev: 1 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 27948 
  Speed: 1554 MHz min/max: 1550/3500 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1546 2: 1547 3: 1547 4: 1547 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:67df 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa tty: N/A 
  OpenGL: renderer: Radeon RX 580 Series (POLARIS10 DRM 3.40.0 
  5.11.0-34-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 21.0.3 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.1 
  chip ID: 1002:aaf0 
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 09:00.3 chip ID: 1022:1457 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-34-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 342.81 GiB used: 194.38 GiB (56.7%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: M4-CT128M4SSD2 size: 119.24 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 0309 scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37240G size: 223.57 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 71E0 scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 116.38 GiB used: 16.87 GiB (14.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 34.6 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 54 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 237 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/audio-recorder-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/audio-recorder/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 251 Uptime: 2h 01m Memory: 15.63 GiB used: 3.88 GiB (24.8%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 8/9 
  Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
1000
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by 1000 »

by attishno1 » Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:02 am
If you are using Cinnamon, it uses a compositor. That causes input lag.
viewtopic.php?p=2061623#p2061623

Try change / with other compositor or try install other graphic environment , run and check.
If you have, try also disable " Compiz ".
Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

Where would I go to disable that, I can't seem to find it. I recall at one point having to ENABLE that though, I'm pretty sure it was to stop screen tearing.

I don't really want to switch to XFCE either, happy with Cinnamon. I find it a bit TOO minimalistic, especially when it comes to file management, photo gallery etc. I deal a lot with photos as well as programming, so having a good file manager is a must.
1000
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by 1000 »

I don't use Cinnamon, but maybe this can help?
"Disable compositing for full-screen windows" in the General settings, which is disabled by default.
viewtopic.php?p=1513049#p1513049

Menu --> " System settings " --> " General " --> "Disable compositing for full-screen windows"
Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

Oh yeah while digging I found that option, I tried it, it's hard to tell if it did anything but it feels like it may have helped. Still not perfect but pretty sure it's better. I will need to see over time if the few times it was better was not just a coincidence.
Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

I did a bit of progress on the screen refresh rate issue. I bought another KVM switch for the 2nd monitor and that seems to have solved it, I can now run both at 60hz! The KVM also solved another issue, I don't get windows shuffling around all over the place on my work computer when I'm working from home and I turn the monitor off. I can turn it off now, and I can also use the KVM to switch between work/home. I was already doing that on the first monitor but now I can do it on both. Even Linux mint seems to have a bug with shuffling windows around but with HDMI oddly. In Windows it's only an issue with DP. I had found a HDMI dongle to fix the issue but now I don't need to use it anymore as the KVM fixes it. Maybe the dongle is what was limiting me from doing both monitors at 60hz.
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SMG
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by SMG »

Red Squirrel wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:10 pm I did a bit of progress on the screen refresh rate issue. I bought another KVM switch for the 2nd monitor and that seems to have solved it, I can now run both at 60hz! The KVM also solved another issue, I don't get windows shuffling around all over the place on my work computer when I'm working from home and I turn the monitor off.
That is good news. I recall working with you on the original HDMI dongle issue and wondered how things had been going. Different KVMs can make a difference!
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Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

I was hoping that going to 60hz would fix the choppiness issue but does not seem to be the case. It really depends on the video but on some videos when they pan the scene, it's just super choppy that it's very hard on the eyes. It's not as bad if I'm not in full screen though. But I wonder if that's just a limitation of 60hz. Most people are doing 120hz and higher now days.
Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

Yeah it seems this is not solved at all. I think the problem is that the CPU is doing all the work instead of the GPU. Watching Youtube the load average skyrockets to like 3. Is there a way I can make the video card actually do the processing since that's what it's made for? There's something called "RDD process" that seems to be killing the cpu any time I'm trying to play video. So any high quality video ends up being choppy, even 1k now.
ajgreeny
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by ajgreeny »

Is hardware acceleration enabled in the browser you use for youtube?
Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

It is, but it does not seem to be doing anything. Everything seems to be getting offloaded to the CPU.
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by jerson »

Not sure if I can help as I'm no expert in Linux.

Since you're using Cinnamon, try CTRL+ALT+L combination to reset the cinnamon desktop without destroying anything that is running.
Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

I don't remember what I did, but I seem to have eliminated at least one problem. The one where everything "resets" (video stops, goes black, then it drops to low res and I need to reenable HD) when I switch to full screen mode. I did not mention this in the OP as I kinda forgot about it, but just realized that it stopped doing that.

Some 4k videos seem to play, but some don't, it's still hit and miss but I'd say like 75% of them do play now.

Only issue I seem to have is panning scenes in videos, they are super choppy to the point of making me feel sick, I often have to not watch videos in full screen if there's lot of panning scenes. I do wonder if this is a limitation of having monitors that can only do 60hz though.
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by ajgreeny »

You say you have a "decent machine with a decent video card" but do not tell us what they are nor the driver used by the card?

Show us the output of

Code: Select all

inxi -Fzxxx
and someone might be able to help you more.
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by SMG »

This link Enable Hardware Video Acceleration (VA-API) For Firefox in Ubuntu 20.04 / 18.04 & Higher helped someone in a different topic who was having issues with frame drops in 4K video. However, they said it didn't work when they used their Nvidia GPU (using proprietary drivers), but it did for the Intel GPU. I seem to recall you having AMD GPUs so not sure how it might apply to your system.
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Red Squirrel
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by Red Squirrel »

ajgreeny wrote: Sun Nov 21, 2021 5:01 am You say you have a "decent machine with a decent video card" but do not tell us what they are nor the driver used by the card?

Show us the output of

Code: Select all

inxi -Fzxxx
and someone might be able to help you more.
Oh I thought I already did. Here is the output:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.11.0-38-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B350-PLUS v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5407 date: 12/31/2019 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: AMD Ryzen 3 1300X bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Zen 
  rev: 1 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 27946 
  Speed: 1547 MHz min/max: 1550/3500 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1547 2: 1547 3: 1547 4: 1547 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:67df 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa 
  resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz, 3840x2160~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Radeon RX 580 Series (POLARIS10 DRM 3.40.0 
  5.11.0-38-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 21.0.3 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.1 
  chip ID: 1002:aaf0 
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 09:00.3 chip ID: 1022:1457 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-38-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 342.81 GiB used: 222.52 GiB (64.9%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: M4-CT128M4SSD2 size: 119.24 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 0309 scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37240G size: 223.57 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 71E0 scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 116.38 GiB used: 21.24 GiB (18.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 31.2 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 55 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 828 
Info:
  Processes: 277 Uptime: 25d 21h 52m Memory: 15.57 GiB 
  used: 6.67 GiB (42.8%) Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
  gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 8/9 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal 
  inxi: 3.0.38 


Not sure what driver is in use, whatever is default I guess. I don't have any options under driver manager.
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by ajgreeny »

Whoops!!
I do beg your pardon; indeed you did paste the inxi output in your original post but I missed that somehow.

The driver in use for your graphic card is the amdgpu which I am sure is correct for your card as that will be the one installed automatically when you installed the OS. It is many years since I have used any amd hardware so I do not have any other suggestions for your graphics card apart from using the additional drivers utility, Driver-Manager
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Re: Why can't I play some 4k youtube content?

Post by SMG »

ajgreeny wrote: Sun Nov 21, 2021 4:41 pm It is many years since I have used any amd hardware so I do not have any other suggestions for your graphics card apart from using the additional drivers utility, Driver-Manager
The amdgpu driver is included in the kernel and there are no drivers for it available through Driver Manager. Driver Manager is only for third-party proprietary drivers.

One can upgrade to a newer kernel to see if the amdgpu driver in it might perform any differently. The 5.13 is available in Update Manager if the OP wants to try it.
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