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1080p 60fps YouTube content stutters on Gen 1 Chromecast

Ridion
Community Member

This issue has existed for years, whenever connected to a 1080p panel and playing a video with 1080p 60fps support the gen 1 Chromecast will frequently lost Audio while video keeps playing, audio starts again and video pauses while audio catches up. There are several Reddit posts about this issue and I don't understand why there hasn't been an update from Google to fix this. For a while I connected my Gen 1 Chromecast to a 720p projector and didn't have any issue but have since tried using it on a 1080p panel again and discovered the issue still exists. There are suggestions to enable 50hz mode or disable 50hz mode and neither makes any difference. Videos that only support 30fps play fine. My internet is not an issue as it has done it in several locations and my other Chromecasts will happily stream 4k60 FPS from the same location on the same network. I have also experienced this with multiple Gen 1 Chromecast devices in multiple houses for the last 2 or maybe even 3 years. I have factory reset the device and it has made no difference. I have always had the latest versions of YouTube, Google home and Chromecast firmware throughout this time. Currently Home is V2.45.1.8, YouTube is v16.43.34 and Chromecast firmware is 1.36.159268. 

Please update either the YouTube Chromecast app or the Chromecast firmware to disable 60fps 1080p playback on YouTube on the Gen 1 Chromecast. 1080p 30fps content works fine and 720p 60fps content appears to also work fine.

14 REPLIES 14

djtetei
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Bronze

Chromecast 1st generation don't support 1080 at 60 fps.

So if you encounter full HD at 60 fps content, just skip it or select a lower resolution, like 720.

Alternatively, you can enter YouTube video settings and disable HFR.

Ridion
Community Member

It's pretty clear that it doesn't support 1080p60 as I am having issues but that doesn't stop the player from trying to play the content. Seeing as most content I watch these days supports at least 1080p60 that rules out a lot of what I want to watch. If I'm watching video on my phone or any other device I can select a lower frame rate but all my other devices play the content fine. When chromecasting quality options are not available as the Chromecast negotiates the best available stream and my device has no say over what stream is selects. I would be happy to disable HFR if I could do it selectively and only have HFR content disabled when playing to this specific chromecast but as far as I know that's not an option. I don't understand why the Chromecast tries to play content at a higher quality level than it is able to do, it seems like this was an unintended side effect of an update a long time ago and never fixed.

djtetei
Bronze
Bronze

Is not the Chromecast who tries to play it, but YouTube, which is playing whatever it is said to play.

On another note, if your TV has support for 60 FPS, why not upgrade Chromecast to a later version, like Ultra or Google Chromecast with Google TV?

There more and more video content available at high frame rate online, so an equipment upgrade, with scaling support, would make sense.

Also, take into consideration that more and more applications are discontinuing support for Chromecast 1st generation.

Ridion
Community Member

I'm sorry but I think you are either mistaken or have misunderstood something. The chromecast does indeed play the video using it's youtube reciever app. When casting from a phone you have the ability to chose the video that gets sent to the player but not the quality as this is negotiated by the reciever app on the chromecast.

I have a chromecast with google TV for my 4k TV and various other chromecast devices that play higher quality video without issue, this is a spare chromecast for a spare TV. I don't want to contribute to landfil by throwing away a device that works perfectly fine but has just been made obsololete through a software update. Google has the power to force these older devices to negotiate a more reasonable stream that they would have no trouble playing.

djtetei
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You can use YouTube video settings for adjusting the quality of the content being played.

Screenshot_20211105_121122_com.google.android.youtube.jpg

Ridion
Community Member

Yeah, those settings have zero effect on your stream on a chromecast. What you are changing there is the behaviour of the YouTube app on your phone. As I have said before, the Chromecast has it's own YouTube reciever app and your phone settings have no effect on the player. I've attached some screenshots below, you can see when I'm not chromecasting I can set the data saver settings as you have suggested while the video is playing. What you are changing on that settings page is the default profile to use when on WiFi or mobile data. When chromecasting that option is unavailable as the video is not being played through your phone, it is simply directing the Chromecast to play the video, the Chromecast then loads it's reciever app and grabs the stream it thinks it can best play from YouTube. I think it's clear you've misunderstood how a Chromecast functions. To prove that it's not your phone playing the video you can start casting and then turn your phone off. You'll see that the video keeps playing on the Chromecast.Screenshot 1.jpgScreenshot 2.jpgScreenshot 3.jpg

djtetei
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The content available at 60 FPS is available for you to watch on Chromecast 1st generation, but you have to select a lower resolution than full HD.

Alternatively, instead of casting directly from YouTube app, you can choose to cast your screen from Google Home app, and any settings you apply to your YouTube on the phone will be mirrored on your TV.

Regarding your remark about the device trying to play content above its capabilities, it may be true, but that's because it selects the stream based on available bandwidth and not based on final device hardware capabilities. The last part is left to you, the end user, to choose and adjust the stream that is compatible (if a available).

If the video content of a clip on YouTube is uploaded by its creator or publisher in a certain format, that may very well be superior to your hardware specifications, the one who hits the play button is you at the end and knowing your hardware isn't capable of playing that stream you should not hit the play button or set the player in auto-pay mode.

Also, for Chromecast 1st generation, the ideal way to negotiate video content is to let the YouTube player in auto quality mode, to allow the receiver to autoadjust its resolution, because frame rate conversation will never happen.

It will be nice if Google can implement device compatibility protocols to prevent incompatible content from playing, but this is its prerogative.

Ridion
Community Member

It seems you really don't understand the way Chromecasting works, please stop giving suggestions unless you know for a fact a method that will let me play to my Chromecast at a lower quality than what it auto-negotiates. You also seem to contradict yourself saying "it selects the stream based on available bandwidth and not based on final device hardware capabilities" while also seemingly being under the impression that you have some control over the stream it negotiates.
I always leave my youtube in auto quality mode until I felt the need to prove you wrong about that setting having any impact on my Chromecast.

djtetei
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Bronze

Chromecast receiver will play the stream based on your network speed. So if your network is capable of high speed, the "dumb" Chromecast device will automatically try to play the stream at its highest quality, even if its hardware is not able to.

When you hit the cast button on your phone's YouTube application, the video starts playing on your TV, right?

Wile the video plays, if you press again the cast button on your phone's YouTube application, do you see a menu with a remote option? If you see it, use it!

Ridion
Community Member

When casting to a smart TV or a Chromecast with Google TV I do have the remote option you mentioned which gives me access to some pretty useful functions on those devices. When casting to a Gen 1 Chromecast I don't have the remote option from the cast menu. I think it's clear the issue I've posted is a bug with the youtube receiver app on the Gen 1 Chomecast and there's no advice you can offer that will fix it. I've posted my issue on a Google forum in the hopes that someone at Google can fix this with a few lines of code and push out a bug fix or offer a workaround solution that doesn't involve putting an EDID minder inline programmed with a maximum input of 1080p30(which I'm fairly confident will fix the issue).

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there Ridion,

 

Following up on this bug/feature request, I would suggest that you re-create that casting issue, then submit feedback via the Google Home app with logs enabled. That way, our engineering team can look into this issue and take the appropriate steps. However, I am not too sure if it's going to be possible with the hardware limitations of that 1st Gen Chromecast to play that content, but there may be a workaround they can look into.

 

Best regards,

Jeran

Ridion
Community Member

Thanks for the suggestion Jeran

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Of course! In the meantime, did you have any other questions or concerns?

 

Thank you,

Jeran

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there!

We haven't heard back from Ridion, and it's been a few days, so I'm locking the thread. As always, feel free to make a new thread if you have any more questions or concerns.

Thank you for your help, djtetei!

Best regards,
Jeran