diff --git a/src/constants.js b/src/constants.js
index 8dcbba2..44abf88 100644
--- a/src/constants.js
+++ b/src/constants.js
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ module.exports = {
     TVGUIDE_MAXIMUM_FLEX_DURATION : 6 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
     TOO_FREQUENT: 1000,
 
+    // Duration of things like the loading screen and the interlude (the black
+    // frame that appears between videos). The theory is that we don't need 
+    // it to last longer than one frame, but I am not so sure.
+    GAP_DURATION: 83,
+
     //when a channel is forcibly stopped due to an update, let's mark it as active
     // for a while during the transaction just in case.
     CHANNEL_STOP_SHIELD : 5000,
diff --git a/src/ffmpeg.js b/src/ffmpeg.js
index 30a6895..42a0800 100644
--- a/src/ffmpeg.js
+++ b/src/ffmpeg.js
@@ -198,8 +198,9 @@ class FFMPEG extends events.EventEmitter {
                 iW = this.wantedW;
                 iH = this.wantedH;
 
+                let durstr = `duration=${streamStats.duration}ms`;
+
               if (this.audioOnly !== true) {
-                ffmpegArgs.push("-r" , "24");
                 let pic = null;
 
                 //does an image to play exist?
@@ -216,6 +217,7 @@ class FFMPEG extends events.EventEmitter {
                 }
 
                 if (pic != null) {
+                    ffmpegArgs.push("-r" , "24");
                     ffmpegArgs.push(
                         '-i', pic,
                     );
@@ -235,6 +237,8 @@ class FFMPEG extends events.EventEmitter {
                     //this tune apparently makes the video compress better
                     // when it is the same image
                     stillImage = true;
+                    this.volumePercent = Math.min(70, this.volumePercent);
+
                 } else if (this.opts.errorScreen == 'static') {
                     ffmpegArgs.push(
                         '-f', 'lavfi',
@@ -269,7 +273,7 @@ class FFMPEG extends events.EventEmitter {
                     videoComplex = `;realtime[videox]`;
                 }
               }
-                let durstr = `duration=${streamStats.duration}ms`;
+
               if (typeof(streamUrl.errorTitle) !== 'undefined') {
                 //silent
                 audioComplex = `;aevalsrc=0:${durstr}[audioy]`;
@@ -549,6 +553,7 @@ class FFMPEG extends events.EventEmitter {
         if (this.hasBeenKilled) {
             return ;
         }
+        //console.log(this.ffmpegPath + " " + ffmpegArgs.join(" ") );
         this.ffmpeg = spawn(this.ffmpegPath, ffmpegArgs, { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', (doLogs?process.stderr:"ignore") ] } );
         if (this.hasBeenKilled) {
             console.log("Send SIGKILL to ffmpeg");
diff --git a/src/video.js b/src/video.js
index 9f1ff4d..152ad94 100644
--- a/src/video.js
+++ b/src/video.js
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ function video( channelService, fillerDB, db, programmingService, activeChannelS
       let redirectChannels = [];
       let upperBounds = [];
 
-      const GAP_DURATION = 750;
+      const GAP_DURATION = constants.GAP_DURATION;
       if (isLoading) {
           lineupItem = {
              type: 'loading',