Unable to play 1080p HD videos smoothly? "Possible Solutions".

Question

Have you read many similar issues of people running into problems viewing 1080p HD or higher videos once they upgraded to OS X Lion, Mavericks or Yosemite? Have you read that once they reverted back to Snow Leopard everything played fine again? That may be true, but such a headache! Before going through all of that hassle, you may first want to try something else before ruling out the latest operating system is the main cause for your mac slowing down. Your RAM cache could be the main culprit.
After exhausting all research and options I thought were available, I decided to finally call Apple tech support. Since I thought this was an issue after upgrading to operating systems beyond Snow Leopard, after hearing many others experiencing the same issue after upgrading to mountain lion or mavericks, I assumed it was the new OS X causing this slow down. Anyhow, I got connected with a tech support for free based on this issue happening after the OS X upgrades as far as I was aware of. We walked through a "screen share" on how I can free up RAM usage that might help speed things up a bit and help video display in 1080p work more smoothly; sure enough this helped a lot!
So if you're reading this and have experienced similar issues, there's no need for upgrading your ram if possible "just yet", and no need to revert back to snow leopard either "just yet". The cache in your library folders is more than likely the culprit, causing cluttered extra unnecessary things to run in the background and doing a "P RAM reset" and clearing out 2 different library cache folders on your system (should) clear things up like new again. If not, then you may need to upgrade your ram or have the graphics card or processor looked at b a technician to make sure those are running smoothly.
First I want to thank Kim the tech support representative for walking me through this, it helped a lot!
Here are the steps you'll first need to take to clear your ram and cache.
1. need to shut down your computer
2.hold down the option/command/P/R keys before you start up your macbook pro again. You'll see it restart and hear the bong chime again, then release all keys knowing you reset your RAM.
3. click on your desktop, then go to the GO menu for your system, then click on "Computer" on the drop down menu, followed by "Library" then "Cache" folder. select all and empty all contents of that folder into the trash.
4.Go to your "Finder" menu Hold down "option" key then scroll over to "Go" menu, you'll see the hidden library folder. Click on that library folder, then click on the cache folder, select all and empty all contents in that folder to the trash.
5. You'll need to reset your computer again before you can empty all contents in the trash.
6. try watching 1080p or larger videos on youtube or on your desktop again, you should be able to watch those high resolution videos again just fine, unless your RAM size is  too low, then you may need a RAM upgrade, or you may want to have your graphics card looked at to see if everything is working properly on it.

Answer 1

I think my settings are fine... and I've waited for the entire trailer to finish downloading so that I'm not streaming it. It's playing a local file. Did you play it on your iMac or MBP?
If some MBPs are able to play the clip and others aren't perhaps the issue is with my hardware.
ewww,
I did consider that the trailer itself is defective... I noticed that the bitrate on that particular trailer is quite a bit higher than normal at around 12mbits/s, compared to the norm of around 7-8. However to my knowledge at least, 12mbits/s should not be outside the realm of possibility on these machines.
In any case, I continue to anticipate the results from other MBP owners. I'd like to try to ascertain whether this is a software/firmware issue or whether something is amiss with my hardware.
--Travis
Message was edited by: Travis A.