Stuttering video playback - help with troubleshooting

ChunkySocks wrote:
So if I use VLC on my laptop to playback a video file from the ReadyNAS, am I right in thinking that using ReadyDLNA will not be involved?

The fact that you can play these videos on the laptop means that NAS and the network have enough throughput to deliver the content. It would be useful to get a rough idea of the needed throughput though. A typical MKV 1080p movie runs about 8 to 12 GB. Is that approximately what you have? Or are you streaming full bluray quality (typically 25-50 GB)?

The run of the mill 1080p MKV is about 12 mbit/s, the full BluRay version runs about 40-50 mbit/s

ChunkySocks wrote:
If so, then that makes it unlikely to be streaming/data issues from the ReadyNAS or issues with throughput via the router and makes it more likely to be an issue, as others have already suggested with the BluRay/DVD player or TV.

Basically yes. There are several possibilities

(a) ReadyDLNA might have trouble processing the MKVs for some reason - header compression for instance will sometimes get in the way.
(b)The BluRay player uses dedicated hardware to decode the H.264 video in the MKV, and is specifically designed for the H.264 profile used in BluRay disks (and in some cases also the profile used by AVCHD). It is possible that your MKVs aren't compliant with those specifications.

Posting a mediainfo analysis of one of the videos would help sort that out. http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mediainfo is one download source - you will want to opt out of the adware installs. If you right-click on the MKV, you should be able to launch mediainfo. Select the text view, and cut/paste the analysis into a followup post, and I can take a look at it. (You can PM me with the analysis if you prefer).

Another approach is to find a short video (perhaps a downloaded 1080p movie promo), and attempt to play it on the BluRay player from a flash drive.

(c) There might be other incompatibilities between the ReadyDLNA server and the Panasonic DLNA client.