Youtube, Netflix etc all fine. Video in Steam client keeps pausing.

[Zebitty]

Let me start by saying, I'd really appreciate if someone from Steam could comment here, to help me get this problem sorted out. Community assistance is also appreciated, of course, but I've posted this here in the community forum because I'm wondering if there are others who are also experiencing this problem. If enough people are having this issue, perhaps it will drive home the need for steam support staff to address this problem.

My internet connection is what I'd call average. I can watch youtube, in fullscreen, at 720p most of the time without buffering/stuttering problems. At quiet times of the day even 1080p is fine, although at peak times, I do get some choppyness with 1080p, but 720p works fine most of the time.

Same for Netflix, Stan and pretty much every other video steaming service I can think of.

However, when using the Steam client to watch videos on the steam store, the playback is _constantly_ all choppy, pausing often due to buffering or god knows what else.

I have this problem in both the windowed view and in full screen view, although it's much worst in full screen. Even when the video appears to be fully buffered (the load bar is full), I still get pauses in playback (like it's trying to buffer, but doesn't need to because the entire buffering 'bar' is already filled up)

Anyone else having this issue?

[gigguh]

speedtest.net come back with results please

[Zebitty]

No prob. http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5626560847

As I said .. 'average' :)

[Zebitty]

I've even found for game trailers etc on steam that I have trouble playing, I can find the exact same official game trailer on youtube and watch it full screen with no problems. Just can't get it to play smooth using the steam client.

[gigguh]

that is not average....
if that is average in Sydney i feel really bad.

anyway, probably a steam issue. the ui is programmed poorly lol. i rarely experience that issue, but how often do you watch trailers on the steam store?

[Zebitty]

It is average for where I live .. but average or whatever you want to call it isn't my main point ...

The main point is that with the connection i have, I can watch full screen youtube, netflix etc and the vast majority of the time they play smoothly in full screen, but the moment i try to watch any video on steam it does not play smoothly, stutters, pauses etc

As for your question "how often do i watch trailers on steam"? not sure what you're specifically meaning when you say "trailers", but how many "videos" do i (try to) watch on steam? the answer is lots: since that's the way the steam store is designed ... every game on the store has videos attached to its store page for the purpose of promoting the game

It's also worth mentioning that this isn't the first PC I've had these issues with, and my current gaming setup is more than capable of running full screen video without problems (2x gtx980ti, i7 6700k, 32g ram, ssd drives etc) so i'm quite sure it's not a hardware problem. I honestly can't believe I'm the only person having this issue, and I was hoping that others who have (or had) this problem might also pipe up so we can at least swap some suggestions on fixing it.

[The Giving One]

Go to Steam in the top left of the client, then settings, then Web Browser. Top button near the bottom is "Delete Web Browser Cache". Click that and let Steam refresh for a second. Then, test a YouTube video from the client only after that and see if you notice improvement.

[Zebitty]

Thanks for the suggestion. It seems like it might have made a small difference when viewing the videos while windowed, but not 100% sure after watching a few as a test. Will see how that goes over the next few weeks.

I should add though, it made no difference when trying to watch in full screen. Still the same stutters during playback. I can see the buffer bar filling up, the video plays, catches up to the buffer bar really fast, pauses, buffers some more and so on.

[The Giving One]

See if you maybe have any software that can possibly be conflicting with Steam and maybe affecting the lag you described.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9828-SFLZ-9289

Pay no attention to any fact you may have had any of that software for a long time without issues.

[Lunfel]

I have been having this problem for years now (but first time I look it up). I have a 960 Mb/s Internet connection. I have used Steam on Linux and Windows. It is more choppy when you go full screen.

I have developped the reflex of never using fullscreen for the video previews on Steam client or when it is still choppy jump to YouTube to find some trailers / gameplay footage of the same game.

This is a very annoying issue. Here we are 7 years since last post on this issue and still the problem persists.

[MonkaTwes]

problem still exists

[Katie]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.