Minimize Excessive Player Processor Use?

[Scott Rossi]

Recently, Josh Mellicker wrote:

> Incidentally, the docs on qtIdleRate have an error, they say:
> 
> 
> "A higher idle rate will result in smoother playback but will also require
> more cpu time."
> 
> but they should say:
> 
> "A LOWER idle rate will result in smoother playback but will also require more
> cpu time."

I wouldn't say the docs are wrong, just ambiguous.  "High" could refer to
the duration of the idle interval (a high number), or could refer to the
frequency of updates (high frequency).


> Lowering the qtIdleRate from 20 (30% CPU) to 1 (50% CPU) improved playback
> performance dramatically for me.

I don't see how setting the qtIdleRate to 1 leads to 50% CPU.  Doing this
sets the delay between player updates to 1 millisecond.  Over here, doing so
spikes CPU usage to 100%, which is in keeping with any other message sending
that occurs with a frequency less than 1 second (ie a send loop like send
"updateMe" to this card in 1 millisec).  Are you also doing something with
the idleRate? (not qtIdleRate)


> I wonder what the qtIdleRate represents - maybe a "tick" (1/60 sec)?

The docs say the qtIdleRate is the time in milliseconds between one update
of a player and the next.

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, UX Design