BBC iPlayer freezing with good internet connection

[jonesy]

In the last few months I've found the iPlayer has a habit of freezing occasionally while the sound continues uninterrupted. It isn't the pause you get when buffering, with the little circle, download continues as normal, it is just the display that stops. I've got a fast BT infinity connection, so bandwidth is unlikely to be the problem. I've trawled the BBC iPlayer forums, and found other similar comments, but none that provide a consistent explanation. One suggestion that seems possible is that the latest version of Flash places too high a demand on my graphics card, the PC being about 6 years old, though I have upgraded the RAM recently. Anyone else had this sort of problem? Any suggestions? Is a new graphics card worth considering?

 

[marinyork]

It sounds very much like flash to me.

What graphics card have you got? Which version of flash are you using? Are you watching HD?

 

[jonesy]

It sounds very much like flash to me.

What graphics card have you got? Which version of flash are you using? Are you watching HD?

I've just updated Flash to the current version (it has automatic updates set); I've also just updated the graphics card driver (it's a NVIDIA FX F200). As the problem appears intermittently I don't yet know if this has improved matters, but I might watch a Dr Who repeat on BBC3 to test it out! I've watched HD as well as other resolution settings with the same problem.

 

[marinyork]

Is that a typo and it is a GeForce FX 5200 of either the desktop variety or go version for mobile? The flash question is not as dumb as it sounds, I've had betas of flash that significantly improve video playback.

 

[jonesy]

Is that a typo and it is a GeForce FX 5200 of either the desktop variety or go version for mobile? The flash question is not as dumb as it sounds, I've had betas of flash that significantly improve video playback.

Yes, sorry typo, it is a GeForce FX5200 in a Dell Dimension 8300. Getting on a bit, but a good PC and suits my needs, so don't want it to become obsolete before it wears out.

Flash version 10,1,85,3

Haven't done my Dr Who experiment yet. BBC News live streaming seems OK so far.