Bupp wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:13 pm
Something additional I noticed while testing further.
If I stream in windowed mode AND drag the window-size down the stuttering becomes noticeably less and also the load on the GPU goes below 50%.
Enlarging the window size pushes the GPU load up and leads to stuttering.
To illustrate please have a look at the attached screenshots, I took while streaming a youtube video and streaming a video game using a cloud PC (shadow). Note that in both cases (small window vs large window) I run the same application on the same 4k TV and also under the same settings (4k at 60HZ).
To add to this, I noticed that in the case of shadow the load on the ethernet card is in opposite proportion (higher on small window, low on large window).
Might it be that the device can not handle high ehternet + video display load at the same time?
I just ran some tests to compare my results to yours... My monitor is a recent 4K LG monitor, NOT a TV.
With my desktop resolution set to 4k (3840x2160) at 100% scaling, I found that 1080p streaming from YouTube was fine with no dropped frames and did not feel "choppy" so long as I was not actively moving my mouse over top of the video stream viewing area itself. I could also perform other tasks without issue.
Setting YouTube to stream at 4k resolution on a 4k desktop at 100% scaling results in dropped frames as the buffer is initially filled then no additional frames being dropped while watching the video in 4k, whether windowed OR full screen, SO LONG AS YOU ARE NOT DOING ANY OTHER TASKS IN PARALLEL. If I move the mouse over top of the video as it is being streamed it freezes and starts dropping frames pretty much instantly...
One major note however, is that even after the 4k buffer initially filled and stopped dropping frames (according to YouTube's "stats for nerds") while not touching or doing anything but watching the video in 4k stream resolution on a 4k 100% scaled monitor, the playback still felt "choppy" despite YouTube indicating no additional frames were being dropped in that moment.
When moving the mouse about the desktop and NOT over top of the 4k video being streamed, you have to move the mouse much more before the 4k video starts dropping frames again, but it will continue to drop and freeze, just not quite as bad as when moving the mouse over top of the video viewing area itself. I also ran a speed test while streaming the 4k video and it did not cause dropped frames when the window size was small, but would cause dropped frames when the window (w/4k stream playing) size was larger (like 1080p+ window size).
Moving to a 1080p desktop resolution (1920x1080) I still found the 4k YouTube stream playback to "feel choppy" despite the "stats for nerds" indicating no frames being dropped while streaming (the indicator only showed dropped frames while actively changing window size / going between full screen and windowed / etc). A 1080p stream on a 1080p desktop resolution resulted in no dropped frames and smooth playback both in windowed AND fullscreen modes but again, with a MAJOR caveat. Moving the mouse over top of the video stream results in choppy playback of the 1080p stream despite the "stats for nerds" indicating no frames being dropped. If you look at the CPU usage while moving the mouse over top the viewing area of the video, moving the mouse causes CPU usage to spike to 100% and stay there, despite the Intel UHD 600 Graphics only experiencing ~40% usage. However, if you move the mouse about the desktop and NOT over top of the 1080p video's viewing area, playback of the 1080p video stream remains smooth. BUT if you look at CPU usage while moving the mouse about the desktop, in my case it jumps up about 15-25%, with a total CPU usage around 70+%. Stop moving the mouse and CPU usage drops into the 50-60% range.
So in conclusion,
this behavior has nothing to do with any quirks in the hardware of the GKV3 in particular but rather it's processing abilities being at their limits, which is to be expected for a low-spec, low-powered machine not intended for gaming.
I should also note, that all of this testing is with 2 game launchers idling (B.net & Steam), Windows PowerToys, ShareX, FindEverything, ThrottleStop, MSI Afterburner w/Riva Statistics Tuner & HWiNFO, AND Logitech Gaming Software with a 1000HZ polling rate for my G400s mouse. I also have an upgraded cooling solution which may be helping me out a tiny bit too.
TLDR; basically it comes down to the Intel UHD Graphics 600 being at its limit when handling 4k streams. YES, it can technically stream in 4K, but barely, and the experience isn't great despite it having support for YouTube's video streaming codecs. Also, the J4125 being as low powered as it is struggles with processing multiple tasks concurrently, especially when high polling rate mice and gaming is involved. If the Intel UHD 600 graphics aren't at their limit, the CPU likely is and vice versa, resulting in sub-par performance in the scenarios you are attempting to use the GKV3 in.
In all of my testing, despite temperature being well within their limits, we are also unfortunately power-limited thanks to Intel's 10W limit baked into the CPU. Clearly there is plenty of headroom remaining temperature-wise, so if we were able to configure the J4125 in a TDP-up mode to allow for 15+W of power consumption and/or overclocking, there could be a tiny bit more to gain in keeping the clock speeds higher, more consistently, more of the time, but the integrated Intel GPU (Intel UHD Graphics 600) would still be at its limits when trying to handle 4k streams.
HERE ARE SOME SCREENSHOTS OF MY TESTING TO SHARE:
1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM_FULLSCREEN:
https://snipboard.io/wYZNdp.jpg
- 1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM_FULLSCREEN
- 1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM_FULLSCREEN.jpg (274.18 KiB) Viewed 6164 times
1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM:
https://snipboard.io/4XzCAK.jpg
- 1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM
- 1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM.png (801.72 KiB) Viewed 6164 times
4kDESKTOP_1080pSTREAM_2560x1280WINDOW:
https://snipboard.io/YEM1xd.jpg
- 4kDESKTOP_1080pSTREAM_2560x1280WINDOW
- 4kDESKTOP_1080pSTREAM_2560x1280WINDOW.jpg (1.11 MiB) Viewed 6164 times
4kDESKTOP_4kSTREAM:
https://snipboard.io/plfGat.jpg
- 4kDESKTOP_4kSTREAM
- 4kDESKTOP_4kSTREAM.jpg (1.48 MiB) Viewed 6164 times
*** EDIT ***:
Also, regarding your blurry text complaint. That is likely because you are using a TV with Intel UHD Graphics 600. Could be a bit depth issue and/or your TV's pixel layout and processing style causing fringing / blurry text. Everything looks fine on my monitor whether 4k or 1080p. I did notice you said you tried both TV and monitors though, so I am not sure what to tell you there.
I have used this tool in the past and it worked well for me: http://windows10-dpi-fix.xpexplorer.com/
Let us know if it works for you.
Also, here are the full specs for the Celeron J4125 that specifies Intel's official video resolution output specs too:
- Intel Celeron J4125 Specs
- IntelCeleronJ4125Specs_cropped.png (282.28 KiB) Viewed 6003 times
