Chromecast w Google TV frame rate stutter

[salputrid]

This happens across all apps some more than others.

I am using the Google TV interface.

This was not an issue with the Chromecast 3rd gen when I cast from my iphone.

[amh15]

For what it's worth, my 4k unit, purchased 25 November 2021 from Argos in the UK, has the stuttering problem. That's not to say your theory about new vs old must be wrong (who knows how long these stick around in the supply chain). But it's clearly not only recent units misbehaving.

Just installing the update.

[cgtvdude]

Agreed, my 4K unit bough in Sept 2021 in US definitely has the problem since previous update and not showing an update available.

[RomanSeano]

Add me to the list: The micro-stutter / judder issue was not fixed for us.

But we got their "improved" user interface, removing the Shows and Movies tabs, relocating them elsewhere on the home screen.

[D3V4]

my 4k unit is 2 months old, problems since android 12. nvidia shield on the way..

[Nkaiste]

Just bought a CCGTV HD today. It stutters. To bad that I did not see these posts before......

[D3V4]

Return it?

[Nkaiste]

Yes I can. But it is still a hassle. Anyway it is borderline insane that these problems persists for months. 

[Jaxione]

Works perfectly for me after the update. Such a relief

[Kadius]

How did you get the update? I checked it maybe 12 hours ago and there was nothing can you share the software version that you have now

[Jaxione]

When there was talk in the thread about an update i just assumed that that it updated itself because the device have been almost unusable and now it's super smooth in playback. But I can now see that it has version STTE.220621.019.A2.9082754 which I guess is the old one? Super strange if nothing changed. Because I have not changed anything and it works fine now all of a sudden. I was about to throw it out

[Kadius]

This is the exact version that I have. And nothing is resolved I still have to switch the framerate manually. Well, I will check it also today maybe reboot the device. 🤞

But happy for you!!! Enjoy!

[Jaxione]

It's just so weird. It has stuttered like hell since Christmas when I got it and now suddenly stopped. Guess it could come back just as quick now when its obvious nothing changed 

[Jaxione]

And its back..........lasted for 5 episodes of viewing

[cgtvdude]

I got an update on Tuesday and it has improved things a bit but we still have stuttering, probably reduced it by about 50% of what we were getting previously.  This is non-scientific testing and only from watching an hour of 4K Disney Plus and an hour of 4K AppleTV or Netflix each of the last two nights.

[havsgaard]

UPDATE:

HBO Max now moved to not fixed - after watching a whole movie.

I am currently watching Edge of Tomorrow, lots of action, on HBO Max and unfortunately the issue with judder still appears, though it is mostly visible during scenery panning. It can also be noticed on low action scenes, but you would have to be a little more aware of what to look for.

Seems as the latest software did improve something on some streaming services.

Test setup:

I have now both chromecasts - old and new - connected to same TV, for easy switching between them for comparison of performance. General conclusion on this setup - no stutter on any streaming service on old chromecast.

Apparently improved with new software on GCTV 4K:
Disney+

Not Fixed with new software on GCTV 4K:
Amazon Prime
Viaplay

HBO Max - move to this section since watching a whole movie

Switching to old chromecast on other HDMI port - flawless playback on Amazon/Viaplay

Additional general comments:
On GCTV 4K, the jutter is instantly on Prime and Viaplay, and I can switch from either service to Disney or HBO, where playback will run smoothly, then back again to Prime or Viaplay, where it instantly starts with stutter.

[Vintage]

havsgaard, thanks for the well written report.

Question: when you say judder: do you mean the occasional/random frame drops, or a constant type judder, like in panning shots where it skips every couple frames, typically from content that was originally shot at 24fps.

I ask because I personally had the vocabulary confused. My complaint was about frame drops. They would happen randomly but frequently.

[havsgaard]

I would say it is a combination and veru difficult to distinguish between the two terms - it is seen even in small movements, by the slightest camera movement, even two persons talking to each other and the camera slowly pans from one to the other, is horrible watching.

I will see if I can get the time to watch some heavier action scenes during the weekend on both disney+ and HBO.

[Kadius]

For me that is constant dorps, only switching manually to other framerate helps.

For example, when I watch His Dark Materials on HBO switching to 4k 50hz(fps) helps but when I was watching Star was on Disney I have to switch to 4k 24hz(fps). Other apps other settings....
So the new adaptive framerate feature in the new release made it manual.

[cgtvdude]

I think I am seeing more "judder" by your definition, for example saw some tonight on my 1-day ago updated 4K CCWGTV while watching Obi Wan Kenobi on Disney+, particularly on panning scenes.  I think it is less than previous but still there. NEVER happens on my Samsung TV apps, only on CCWGTV.

[D3V4]

There is only 1 app that doesnt has the judder. And that is plex. Because you have the option to match framerate to content. It has something to do with the refresh rates. For me judder equals. A lttle pause of like 100 milliseconds.

[Ljandi3]

Anyone else notice that this judder/stutter also happens when clicking through the Google TV home screen?

I agree with some of the other comments that the problem is most noticeable when the scene is panning. Disney+ and Apple are the worst so far. 
I’m not a fan of my Samsung tv interface but that’s what I’m left having to use because of this. For whatever reason this device just can’t keep up. 

[Playmo77]

We really need to decouple the judder from the frame dropping issue discussed in this post.

the judder comes from the CC not changing frame rate to match the content you are watching. Basically what the update was supposed to add … however it seems that it is up to individual plateforme to add it to be supported by the device… what happens is that the cc send the information to your tv that the content is 60fps (based on your settings) and when you try to watch 24fps content of course there are some frame mismatch which causes the judder. Even though this issue is annoying it was there from the start even before the update (i think you don’t notice the problem when using your tv apps probably because it knows that it needs to adapt the framerate)

Unfortunately the update added some noticeable frame drops, like the system was struggling to handle what’s happening on the screen meaning that you could see movie lagging like you would on a badly optimized video games.

My guess is that people are witnessing frame drops since Android 12 and now pay a lot of attention to any problems and discover judder along the way. What seemed to be ok yesterday is not anymore…

however those are imho two different problems which will have different solution (fw update for frame drops + app update to automatically match framerate to content) 

I’m sorry in advance if my explanation is oversimplified and inaccurate, here are some more information on the matter :

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/motion/24p

[Vintage]

Judder: seen repeatedly and evenly as the camera pans across a scene or as an object crosses the screen. Like a little constant skip that you see when the camera pans: skip,,,,skip,,,,skip,,,,skip,,,,. This is caused by a mismatch between the source content and the display. Modern TV's with high frame rates have ways to fix this. 

Frame drops: Scene freezes for a moment, happens occasionally and unevenly. A character on the screen might be talking, and then their lips stop moving for a moment, and then the video catches up. Happens unevenly. Is caused by one or more video frames being missing.

Stutter: Like a very fast very even "Judder". Seen in fast panning shots as a constant little skip between every frame. Caused by the quick response time of OLED TVs: There is a harsh sudden change from one frame to the next and the viewer can see this with quick panning shots. Sometimes alleviated by features like black frame insertion or motion smoothing.

[Vintage]

I'm starting another thread for "Frame Drop" drop reports here:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Chromecast/Chromecast-w-Google-TV-4K-FRAME-DROPS/m-p/358401#M...

Hopefully this will get more attention on the issue.

[amichie]

Yes I agree, even just navigating on the Chromecast includes judders and is not smooth and yes panning is the worst. I also have a Samsung TV and even though I don’t prefer the interface I’m using that instead now.

[D3V4]

Ok I found a work around via Kodi with add ons for different apps, like netflix and disney etc. I use a shield pro now. And its better but still judder is present within disney plus.

Kodi (and plex) use content frame rate matching with their native media player. You need to turn this on in settings.

And de judder is gone when I use Kodi with disney add-on! So it is not really google's problem but the apps themself.

[bertarada]

So why did it start to work badly after the update to android 12?. 

[Kadius]

As they introduced a new frame rate match function that doesn't work...... For me, it looks like they skipped testing it... This is how the modern world and user testing work in a live example. 

[CliveC]

In fairness they did say the app developers need to update their apps to take advantag eof the frame rate changes.  So we don't know it doesn't work until the app developers try to use it.  

The issue here is that before the Android 12 update that ability for an app to request frame rate changes wasn't there, yet we didn't have this issue.....   So something else seems to have made it suddenly start to happen.

[Kadius]

Yep, and also they wrote:
 "Our Developers team and Engineering team are working on this and several cases have already been resolved but there are still units affected and new ones being reported that's why as of now we still don't have an estimated time of resolution."

[Vintage]

This would explain judder... but not the frame drops.

[m4rvell0us]

Unfortunately I also have random stutter/frame rate drops using Netflix or HBO Max. Tried everything. I bought Chromecast 4K three days ago and I'm a bit frustrated at the moment 😞 Any news about some kind of fix?

[bertarada]

No news... But not good news

[m4rvell0us]

This has been happening to pretty much everyone since around November 2022. Strange that Google isn't doing anything about it. I'm thinking whether to send the Chromecast in for warranty or request a full refund. I bought this so I could watch movies on Netflix smoothly, but it works even worse than on my TV.

[dfluff]

Having gone through the motions of getting a replacement and the replacement (unsurprisingly) still having the issue, I once again raised a support case.  This is the response:

---

As it seems, the issue is not specific to the unit itself because the problem persists even with a new one. I strongly suggest that you send feedback directly from the device via Google TV settings. Be specific when you give information such as OS versions, Firmware, etc. of your devices.

The importance of sending feedback (directly from the device) is it registers itself with a particular report. Then with strings search or the algorithm that counts multiple specified similar strings, the developers team/engineering team recognizes related reports due to numbers of units reported. And with multiple reports sent with each providing details, the unison of the specifics (OS version, Firmware, etc) helps them identify the problem (by replicating then diagnosing) and work for a resolution.

I'm sorry about the hassle that this has caused but as of now, let's have this unit counted.

---

So I guess as many people as possible need to report the issue as feedback via the device directly.

[hamshi]

The frame rate stutter issue with the Chromecast with Google TV could be caused by a few different things. Here are some steps you can try to resolve the issue:

1. Check your internet connection: Make sure your internet connection is strong and stable, as a weak connection can cause stuttering during playback.

2. Restart the Chromecast device: Unplug the Chromecast from the power source, wait a few seconds, and then plug it back in.

3. Update the device software: Go to the settings menu on your Chromecast with Google TV and check for any available software updates. Installing the latest update could resolve the issue.

4. Disable background apps: Background apps can use up system resources and cause stuttering. Make sure to close all background apps before streaming.

5. Check for interference: Make sure there are no other devices in the same room that could be causing interference, such as a microwave or baby monitor.

6. Factory reset the device: If none of the above steps resolve the issue, you can try a factory reset. This will erase all settings and data from the device and restore it to its original state.

[havsgaard]

As have already been stated on numerous accounts in the former many posts - the issue is google and a software update, no reset to default will help this - that is a fact.

[m4rvell0us]

Same here! I tried everything on three my friends TV's. Nothing helps.

[D3V4]

Its not your tv. Its the google device. I switched to an nvidia shield with auto refresh rate app overlay. And problems are gone. Such a joy watching stutter free on all apps. 

[Kadius]

None of this solves issues.

What actually works is:

1. Changing the refresh rate manually based on what you want to watch (has a lot of downsides)
2. Not use Chromecast (solve stutter and frame drops) (to some of us course money loss)