Summary: Choppy or jerky videos are quite annoying as they hinder the video viewing experience for users. This post highlights some of the common reasons that lead to choppy videos and shares how to fix choppy video recordings using 8 most effective methods.
Jacob Mild, a digital marketer by profession and a photographer by passion, encountered a video playback issue and was unable to fix it. Long story short, he went on a vacation with his friends and enjoyed every bit of it, but when it was time to view the videos captured during the trip, something unexpected happened. Most of the videos were found to be either choppy or jerky videos.
A choppy video can mean out-of-sync video, audio, missing sound, flickering or distorted visual. Such videos can really hamper your viewing experience and same was the case with Jacob.
So where could be the problem?
Choppy video playback can happen be due to,
It is possible that your video was not transferred properly or downloaded from the source. So try re-downloading or transferring the file. The method works if the video is not deleted from the source or you haven’t performed ‘Cut’ and ‘Paste’ action.
Instead of playing the video in your default media player, try to play it on another media player. For instance, consider playing videos on VLC Player, who knows it might just work and fix the choppy or jerky videos. VLC Player is an open-source media player, which is compatible with all type of devices.
Figure: VLC Media Player interface
If you face choppy video streaming, clear your browser’s temporary and cache files. You can do this by going to the settings of whichever browser you are using.
Steps to delete browser cache & cookies on Chrome:
If the streaming videos in Chrome, Mozilla, or other browser shows error, learn how to fix it here.
Video may not play properly in your media player due to incompatible format. Converting it to different format may help.
You may use trusted desktop converter application such as Stellar Converter for Audio Video that is quick to convert video file formats without degrading quality. It also lets you edit your videos.
There are online converter tools like Convertio and Zamzar available, which you can try.
Try reducing the size and resolution of choppy video and then play it. This might work in case of high-resolution videos. For instance, if the video’s resolution is 1080p 30fps, reduce it to 720p resolution. Your system will have to work less in playing the low resolution video file.
How to reduce video size to smooth play choppy video
Compress the video file or resize it by trimming some video segments. You can use video compressor applications available for Android, PC or Mac.
Commonly used, VLC Media Player can also compress videos. To trim video segments and reduce resolution, frame rate, or bitrate Stellar Converter for Audio Video is a good option. The software is available for Windows and Mac.
For online videos such as YouTube or Vimeo, you can lower the video quality by going into the video settings option.
Figure: Vimeo settings option to fix choppy playback
Is your driver outdated?
Your videos are choppy or jerky probably due to outdated video drivers. Try reinstalling the latest video and sound drivers.
Follow these steps to reinstall the drivers:
Figure: Update driver software of the selected drive
If the problem still persists, then try to increase the system’s RAM or CPU capacity to enhance its overall performance and make your hardware more powerful.
Is your computer equipped enough to play high quality HD, UHD, or Full HD videos? Before playing the videos, ensure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements. To play videos with higher resolution (1080p 60 fps and higher), it is recommended to have at least 3.0 – 3.7 GHz of processors, at least 6 GB RAM with a robust video card (GeForce GT 650M). A stronger processor and graphics card improves your system performance as well as the HD video experience.
Read more on how to fix Nvidia graphics cards problems.
Your video might be corrupt or damaged. A corrupt video will play choppy, stutter, or flicker. Bad sectors or virus infection in the SD card or storage drive can corrupt the file header, video movement, sound section, etc.
You can opt for a video repair tool to eliminate the issues and smoothly play the video. Stellar Repair for Video, an efficient and reliable tool can work wonders for you. It efficiently repairs video damaged due to read/write errors, changes in file formats, compression issues, etc. It repairs common MP4, MOV, FLV, AVI, AVCHD and many other video file formats.
Watch this Video to know how the software runs:
Bid goodbye to choppy, jerky and broken videos as now you know the go-to methods to fix choppy or jerky videos. Whenever you experience choppy playback, the above solutions will definitely come handy.
In case changing format, upgrading system requirement or converting files etc., don’t help, it indicates severe video corruption. Get Stellar Repair for Video to fix choppy or jerky playback occurring due to file corruption. You can also opt for a free trial of the software to evaluate its effectiveness.
Also Read:
Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.
My 8K videos are showing similar problems while running, How can I fix it?
Hi Talha,
It seems like your media player is incapable of running 8K videos. Try another player or try the manual approach as per the blog. If you need assistance, feel free to contact our support, and we will be happy to assist.
I’ve been experiencing jittery parts in videos for Youtube exported from editors, but only during sections of the video that include lots of motion. I suspect that it’s due to Windows Update being broken on my computer, but I’m unable to fix it right now. I’m glad to have found the video repair software. I’m hoping that with it I can repair the choppiness of my videos after exporting. Thank you for the help!
Hi Rosy! Thanks for choosing our software for repairing your videos!
Does this software repairs a footage that has missing frames? I filmed with an SD card that didn’t record at enough recording speed for the codec (Pro Res HQ).
Hi Camila, You can try our software demo version and see the preview of repaired files. More information you can contact through email support[@]stellarinfo.com and call +1-877-778-6087. Thanks!
I had a problem with VLC sometimes. When I play a video on Windows 7 shows error message ‘missing codec’. After used Stellar I am happy to troubleshoot this issue. Thanks for the valuable Information!
Hi Davis, Thanks for using our software!
I had an issue with Windows. When I was playing a video, it looks a low frame rate. It might be choppy or jerky. Now I’m happy to fix this. Thanks for the Solutions!
Dear Kraemer,
Thanks for reading our post!
Thanks for the Information. When I see that issue on my Mac, I used many recovery software’s. but some videos files are not recovered. After that I used your software, I ‘m happy to repair my video files. Again thank you!
Hello David,
Thanks for using our software.
Hello,
I just came back from vacation tour where I recorded a few minutes vacation trip video. I used GoPro Studio Hero 4 Sliver 200GB SanDisk Card, they appear choppy or jerky? Please let me know your software recover my video file or it’s a hardware issue?
Hello Jeremy,
Yes, our video repair software recovers your jerky video file from SD card on GO-pro Camera. Please check points.
1. Connect the SD card to a computer using the card reader.
2. Install and Run Stellar Repair for Video software on your PC.
3. Press Repair Video icon
4. Click Add/Remove button to insert/remove jerky video files
5. Preview particular file from the list before repair
6. Click Repair to start repairing
7. Save the recovered video file to destination location
Hello Lee,
I hope our software resolve your problem.
Please follow us on Twitter for more updates!
Lately, I have noticed that whenever I play a youtube video in my chrome or Mozilla browser. Its play jerky and choppy. Then I found your blog link through a google search “how to fix corrupted or broken videos”. Thanks!