# Why do some pause while others play?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-pause-while-others-play/544306>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 24, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-pause-while-others-play/544306 "2010-06-24T01:57:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-pause-while-others-play/544306/1 "2010-06-24T01:57:51Z")

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The question concerns YouTube videos. Why do some play straight through without a pause to buffer more data while others of similar lenght constantly pause to refresh the buffer (or cache?)??? It’s so annoying!

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-pause-while-others-play/544306/2 "2010-06-24T03:20:54Z")

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There are many factors other than the length of a video that affect how long it takes to load. These include the resolution, the compression, the load on the server, how much other slow-loading junk is on the page, what you have in your cache, and the load on your connection.

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**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-pause-while-others-play/544306/3 "2010-06-24T03:59:09Z")

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Although it doesn’t do a good job of explaining why, YouTube’s help section tells you how to solve this problem. Both of these articles apply to the situation, but the only solution that has worked consistantly for me is to pause the video and wait.

> **[Troubleshoot video errors, buffering, and freezing - Android - YouTube Help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3037019?hl=en&visit_id=638289253887085466-1645360442&rd=1)**
>
> Many factors can cause video playback issues, such as internet or device connection.
> If a video is freezing, buffering, or you get one of these errors, you may be experiencing a video playback issue:

> **[Troubleshoot video errors, buffering, and freezing - Android - YouTube Help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3037019?hl=en&visit_id=638289253903701603-58061581&rd=2)**
>
> Many factors can cause video playback issues, such as internet or device connection.
> If a video is freezing, buffering, or you get one of these errors, you may be experiencing a video playback issue:

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**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-pause-while-others-play/544306/4 "2010-06-24T09:17:38Z")

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What is particularly annoying is when the progress bar is progressing nicely but the video still pauses.