(Checked with VLC 2.0.1 for Mac, 2012-04)
HD 1080p playback problem
On a lower end machine, loose visual quality but get rid of lagging & skipping! Change…
Preferences >> Show All >> Input/Codecs >> Video Codecs >> FFmepg >> Allow speed tricks >> Skip the loop filter for H.264 decoding >>
…from “None” to “Non-ref” and restart VLC player. If the video still doesn’t play smoothly, then change the settings to “All”
Slow start up time problem
Preferences >> Show All >> Video >> Subtitles/OSD >> On Screen Display Text rendering module
Change from “Default” to “Dummy”
Caching time value settings moved in VLC 2 !
Greater value should be more robust but makes manual skips to a new point in the file slower. Change
Preferences >> Show All >> Input / Codecs >> (scroll long way down, don’t click on the submenus on the left) >>
Then use the sliders to adjust the caching of Live capture, Disc or Network.