Knowledge Base

Problem

There is a significant delay (seconds to minutes) between pressing the Start Acquisition/Recording button and data acquisition actually beginning. The software may also feel sluggish or unresponsive during acquisition.

Details

Common causes include: (1) NVIDIA driver conflict causing GPU-based video processing to stall before recording begins (same root cause as 0 KB video files). (2) The computer monitor is connected to the integrated Intel graphics rather than the dedicated NVIDIA GPU. (3) Multiple versions of EthoVision installed simultaneously competing for resources. (4) The PC has been running for an extended period without a reboot (>40 days). (5) Video files being saved to a network drive instead of a local drive. (6) GPU-based video settings active when the GPU or driver is incompatible.

Solution

**Step 1 – Switch video processing to CPU:**
1. Go to **File > Preferences > Video settings**.
2. Set **'Play back and record video with'** to **CPU**.
3. Restart EthoVision and retest.

**Step 2 – Check monitor connection:**
1. Confirm the monitor cable is plugged into the dedicated **NVIDIA GPU** output port on the back of the PC, not the integrated Intel graphics port.

**Step 3 – Reboot the PC:**
1. Restart the computer. Frequent (ideally daily) reboots ensure EthoVision has access to the PC's full resources.

**Step 4 – Save video files locally:**
1. Ensure experiment and video files are saved to a **local drive** (e.g., C: or D:), not a network share. Saving to a network drive can introduce significant delays.

**Step 5 – Remove extra EthoVision installations:**
1. Uninstall older versions of EthoVision that are no longer needed.

**Step 6 – Update/roll back NVIDIA driver:**
1. If the delay persists and is related to an NVIDIA driver update, follow the driver rollback or upgrade steps described in the '0 KB video files' article.