The advent of digital era has been witnessing the visual content rolling forward with an irresistible force, immersing people in delight and joy. And yet grumbles about choppy video playback that crops up here and there still remains. It is truly annoying as people are continuously hit by choppy, stuttering, or jerky video while failing to find the reasons at length. But worry not, in this post, we are going to take you on a full journey, explaining the leading causes behind the choppy playback issues and how to fix choppy video with top 7 solutions.

Why My Videos Appear Choppy or Lagging
Bumping into a jerky video, as in it stutters, stops, or is generally not smooth at all, is like sailing choppy water, rough and agitating. An impaired playback quality, either being out-of-sync audio, blurry image, glitches, distortion or variable stream speeds, boils down to the following 7 key reasons:
- An outdated video driver.
- Obsolete media players.
- Video/Audio codec issues.
- Incompatible video file formats.
- Corrupted or damaged video files.
- Large 4K UHD video size and resolution.
- Choppy streaming video due to chrome or other browser issues.
Directing at the possible causes brought above, we have presented 6 corresponding solutions. Though there must be other explications to consider, these are the top fixes within your range.
How to Fix Choppy Video
1. Update the Graphics Driver
An outdated video driver could be the prior reason to be blamed when it comes to video stuttering, The graphics driver is crucial for your operating systems to communicate properly with your graphics card, and a graphics and video card driver related error might inhibit the system to access or make the best use of the functionality of your graphics or video card, triggering lagging and choppy videos. Follow the steps to update your device driver:
Step 1. In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager.
Step 2. Under "Display adapters", right-click your graphics card and select Properties > Search automatically for updated driver software.

Step 3. Follow the instructions to finish the update.
2. Check with other media players
Such default media player as Windows Media Player or QuickTime might sometimes not be able to run a wide array of video formats, thus eliciting stuttering or sluggish video playback issues. If this is the scenario you run into, go check out other media players, and find out which program works best with your file types. Some worth pursuing include VLC, SMplayer, Winamp, GOM player, etc.
3. Convert videos formats and codec
If it is the incompatibility issues that should be considered responsible, then the easiest way out is to convert the video to a more adaptable format. Truly, the rise of sundry video converting tools out there in the market has helped ease the task. But in terms of integrating both quality and speed while answering all the complicated transcoding needs, no piece stands the chance to content with VideoProc Converter.
Encompassing 370 input codecs and 420+ output without third-party codec packs, VideoProc Converter enables you to convert video to universal formats and codecs on both Windows and iOS. Powered by Full Hardware Acceleration and unique algorithmic design, this conversion tool can expedite video transcoding and processing while optimizing file size and output video quality.

4. Re-download and reload the videos again
Videos files could be damaged for various unknown reasons that some might occur due to unstable internet connection, improper system shutdown, virus or malware infection, while others might fall to the extraction of videos from unsecured websites, or interruption during video download. If the latter happens to be the case, try re-download the file from the source. Yet you can also resort to some reliable video downloading tools like VideoProc Converter.
Designed as a solid video solution provider, VideoProc Converter, with its trusty built-in downloading engine, enables you to download video streams, live videos, video playlists, channels, and music from Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and other UGC sites, and save them in different resolutions & formats. Simply input the video link in the downloader, select your desired output format and quality, and then leave the rest to the program.

5. Reduce Video Size and Resolution
The large file size that high-quality videos bring leads to longer uploads, higher hosting costs, and more high-speed bandwidth from the users, and whichever is absent might generate choppy or stuttering video playback. Thus, if you are dealing with a video that comes with a large file size or high resolution, try to consider reducing video size and resolution.
But how exactly to minimize the file size with the least amount of image quality reduction? VideoProc Converter will land you a satisfying solution. Armed with the advanced coding method, the video processing program jumps to the top list of the best video compressors, and empowers you to achieve a high-quality video after compressing large video files like UHD 4K and HD 1080P videos.

6. Clear web browser's cache and more
It is discouraging to stream a video online only to be greeted with choppy video playback. If so, try to clear your browser's cache and cookies; uninstall all extensions; turn off hardware acceleration; uninstall or reinstall chrome.
Step 1. Open Google Chrome browser > settings.
Step 2. Go to Advanced > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data.
Conclusion
A choppy video playback can really spoil the whole viewing experience. However, the possible causes presented above along with the further discussions on how to fix choppy video might help you get things into shape when bumping into such annoyance again! Go try to address your video playback issues with these top 6 fixes!