Quote:

Open,save,play is consistently playing perfect.
Open, play is causing the Video to consistently stutter.
...........
I've done all the tests, done all the configs.



Have you tried Procmon from Sysinternals? (I gave link in other thread.) You can compare those two operations at an extremely granular level. So granular, that you'd need to manipulate the filter. Suggested starting points: 1) monitor the RB process tree; 2) monitor selected IRP's.

This is only a diagnostic approach that *may* provide a clue. Can be very time consuming, but hey, look at the time already invested.

-Ron