4820TG HDMI audio stutter problem while playing movies

Hey all,

Anybody experience problem with HDMI audio output when you are playing movies on the laptop? I have my 4820TG hooked up to a 46" Samsung LED TV via HDMI cable (6 ft) and whenever I'm playing a movie the audio output stutters, sometimes doesn't work at all for several seconds.

However when I play just music or even games it has absolutely no problem with audio. I tried disabling regular audio output to see if it had any conflicts but to no dice. Anybody found solution to this issue? I'm running latest Catalyst and RealTek drivers from Acer.

 

So nobody else has this issue?

 

Ok I've found the issue. This happens only when you are playing movies with VLC and AMD powerplay enabled. As you know, if you monitor GPU core / memory clock, you will see the clocks dropping to powersave levels (100/150 ish) from normal operating levels (550/800) often to save power and keep the temps low.

When the GPU is in power save mode, VLC's audio is affected is and turned off. However GPU very often turns itself back onto normal operating clock and then the audio works again. So this is why I originally described this issue as "stuttering", in actuality it was just following the GPU powerplay clock levels.

I think VLC team is working on the issue, but the work around right now is to set default clocks with AMD GPU tool manually or disable powerplay in the ATI control center.