Video Repair

How to Fix Choppy or Jerky Videos


Summary: Choppy or jerky videos are quite annoying as they hinder the video viewing experience for users. This post highlights some of the common reasons that lead to choppy videos and shares how to fix choppy video recordings using 8 most effective methods.

Jacob Mild, a digital marketer by profession and a photographer by passion, encountered a video playback issue and was unable to fix it. Long story short, he went on a vacation with his friends and enjoyed every bit of it, but when it was time to view the videos captured during the trip, something unexpected happened. Most of the videos were found to be either choppy or jerky videos.

What does Choppy, Jerky or Broken Video Mean?

A choppy video can mean out-of-sync video, audio, missing sound, flickering or distorted visual. Such videos can really hamper your viewing experience and same was the case with Jacob.

So where could be the problem?

Choppy video playback can happen be due to,

  • Faulty storage drive – hard drive, SD card, pen drive, etc.
  • Device glitch
  • Audio/video codec issue
  • Outdated media player
  • Unsupportable video file format
  • The video file has turned corrupt
  • Choppy streaming video could be because of Chrome or other browser issue
  • Others

How to Fix Choppy or Jerky Videos?

1. Re-download /Copy Videos Again

It is possible that your video was not transferred properly or downloaded from the source. So try re-downloading or transferring the file. The method works if the video is not deleted from the source or you haven’t performed ‘Cut’ and ‘Paste’ action.

2. Play Videos on Another Media Player

Instead of playing the video in your default media player, try to play it on another media player. For instance, consider playing videos on VLC Player, who knows it might just work and fix the choppy or jerky videos. VLC Player is an open-source media player, which is compatible with all type of devices.

Fix Choppy, jerky or broken videos
Figure: VLC Media Player interface

3. Clear Browser’s Cache and Cookies

If you face choppy video streaming, clear your browser’s temporary and cache files. You can do this by going to the settings of whichever browser you are using.

Steps to delete browser cache & cookies on Chrome:

  • Open Google Chrome browser.
  • Click on Settings.
  • Go to Advanced > Privacy and security.
  • Click on Clear browsing data.

If the streaming videos in Chrome, Mozilla, or other browser shows error, learn how to fix it here.

4. Convert Video to Different Format

Video may not play properly in your media player due to incompatible format. Converting it to different format may help.

You may use trusted desktop converter application such as Stellar Converter for Audio Video that is quick to convert video file formats without degrading quality. It also lets you edit your videos.

There are online converter tools like Convertio and Zamzar available, which you can try.

5. Reduce the Video Size and Resolution

Try reducing the size and resolution of choppy video and then play it. This might work in case of high-resolution videos. For instance, if the video’s resolution is 1080p 30fps, reduce it to 720p resolution. Your system will have to work less in playing the low resolution video file.

How to reduce video size to smooth play choppy video

Compress the video file or resize it by trimming some video segments. You can use video compressor applications available for Android, PC or Mac.

Commonly used, VLC Media Player can also compress videos. To trim video segments and reduce resolution, frame rate, or bitrate Stellar Converter for Audio Video is a good option. The software is available for Windows and Mac.

For online videos such as YouTube or Vimeo, you can lower the video quality by going into the video settings option.

YouTube settings option to fix choppy playback
Figure: YouTube settings option to fix choppy playback

6. Update Your Computer Drivers

Is your driver outdated?

Your videos are choppy or jerky probably due to outdated video drivers. Try reinstalling the latest video and sound drivers.

Follow these steps to reinstall the drivers:

  1. Go to Device Manager and expand ‘Sound, video and game controller’.
  2. Locate the device that you want to update, right-click on the device name, and select ‘Update Driver Software’.
Fix Choppy, jerky or broken videos
Figure: Update driver software of the selected drive

If the problem still persists, then try to increase the system’s RAM or CPU capacity to enhance its overall performance and make your hardware more powerful.

7. Check Your Computer Configuration

Is your computer equipped enough to play high quality HD, UHD, or Full HD videos? Before playing the videos, ensure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements. To play videos with higher resolution (1080p 60 fps and higher), it is recommended to have at least 3.0 – 3.7 GHz of processors, at least 6 GB RAM with a robust video card (GeForce GT 650M). A stronger processor and graphics card improves your system performance as well as the HD video experience.

Read more: How to fix Nvidia graphics cards problems.

8. Use Video Repair Software to Fix Choppy Video Playback on Windows and Mac

Your video might be corrupt or damaged. A corrupt video will play choppy, stutter, or flicker. Bad sectors or virus infection in the SD card or storage drive can corrupt the file header, video movement, sound section, etc.

You can opt for a video repair tool to eliminate the issues and smoothly play the video. Stellar Repair for Video, an efficient and reliable tool can work wonders for you. It efficiently repairs video damaged due to read/write errors, changes in file formats, compression issues, etc. It repairs common MP4, MOV, FLV, AVI, AVCHD and many other video file formats.

Watch this Video to know how the software runs:

  1. Download and launch Stellar Repair for Video.
  2. From the home screen, select ‘Add file’.
  3. Click Repair. One-by-one, all the added video files are scanned and repaired.
  4. Next, preview the repaired video and Save it at the desired location.
Download for Windows Download for Mac

To Sum Up

Bid goodbye to choppy, jerky and broken videos as now you know the go-to methods to fix choppy or jerky videos. Whenever you experience choppy playback, the above solutions will definitely come handy.

In case changing format, upgrading system requirement or converting files etc., don’t help, it indicates severe video corruption. Get Stellar Repair for Video to fix choppy or jerky playback occurring due to file corruption. You can also opt for a free trial of the software to evaluate its effectiveness.

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About The Author

Sumona Chatterjee linkdin

Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.

21 comments

  1. I’ve been browsing online more than thгee hօurs today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. However, it’s pretty worth enough for me to finally fix my old choppy videos.

    1. Hi Bella, We always appreciate being of help to our readers facing such random issues with their videos not playing or being jerky and choppy. It gives us immense pleasure to come up with more resolutions. So keep up the spark by coming back and reading more about the new updates on resolving such new errors.

    1. Hi Talha,
      It seems like your media player is incapable of running 8K videos. Try another player or try the manual approach as per the blog. If you need assistance, feel free to contact our support, and we will be happy to assist.

  2. I’ve been experiencing jittery parts in videos for Youtube exported from editors, but only during sections of the video that include lots of motion. I suspect that it’s due to Windows Update being broken on my computer, but I’m unable to fix it right now. I’m glad to have found the video repair software. I’m hoping that with it I can repair the choppiness of my videos after exporting. Thank you for the help!

  3. Does this software repairs a footage that has missing frames? I filmed with an SD card that didn’t record at enough recording speed for the codec (Pro Res HQ).

    1. Hi Camila, You can try our software demo version and see the preview of repaired files. More information you can contact through email support[@]stellarinfo.com and call +1-877-778-6087. Thanks!

  4. I had a problem with VLC sometimes. When I play a video on Windows 7 shows error message ‘missing codec’. After used Stellar I am happy to troubleshoot this issue. Thanks for the valuable Information!

  5. I had an issue with Windows. When I was playing a video, it looks a low frame rate. It might be choppy or jerky. Now I’m happy to fix this. Thanks for the Solutions!

  6. Thanks for the Information. When I see that issue on my Mac, I used many recovery software’s. but some videos files are not recovered. After that I used your software, I ‘m happy to repair my video files. Again thank you!

  7. Hello,
    I just came back from vacation tour where I recorded a few minutes vacation trip video. I used GoPro Studio Hero 4 Sliver 200GB SanDisk Card, they appear choppy or jerky? Please let me know your software recover my video file or it’s a hardware issue?

    1. Hello Jeremy,

      Yes, our video repair software recovers your jerky video file from SD card on GO-pro Camera. Please check points.
       
      1. Connect the SD card to a computer using the card reader.
      2. Install and Run Stellar Repair for Video software on your PC.
      3. Press Repair Video icon
      4. Click Add/Remove button to insert/remove jerky video files
      5. Preview particular file from the list before repair
      6. Click Repair to start repairing
      7. Save the recovered video file to destination location

  8. Lately, I have noticed that whenever I play a youtube video in my chrome or Mozilla browser. Its play jerky and choppy. Then I found your blog link through a google search “how to fix corrupted or broken videos”. Thanks!

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