I am trialing youtube tv, which I am receiving via a new fiber 1000 (mbps) internet connection. So the signal is wireless, since all new fiber services spread their signal via a wireless box in the house.

The setup right now involves running an HDMI cable out of the laptop into the TV, and on the laptop (Win 10) I am connected to wireless and then log in to tv.youtube.com.

I noticed that on a slower laptop with an Intel i5 CPU, there was some ghosting of players (ice hockey), and when the picture panned left and right in the arena the image jumped a little, like there is a slight memory lag. However, on a very fast laptop (Intel i7), there was no ghosting or jitter.

Given the above, do you suppose the slower CPU laptop can't push the bits (bytes) as fast as the faster laptop, or would the Windows DAC be slower in a slower CPU? I am just curious if the ghosting/jitter on the slow laptop is due to a slower DAC (hardware/software) on the slower laptop, or the slower CPU just can't push the bits as fast.

[FYI - I do stream Qobuz music via the Windows app on the faster laptop, and use an external Schiit MODI DAC, for which output goes to a vintage EQ, then vintage Sansui AU-7900, then to Klipsch R51-m and two Realistic Minumus speakers wired up via the Hafler surround setup (+/+) -- so for music I am good to go.]

The DAC caused visual ghosting?

That's a good one! In response to your great response, I just upgraded and bought a new Roku box. So no ghosting now and don't need the laptops. But fundamentally, if a slower Intel i5-based laptop caused picture delay, but not the faster i7, and now the Roku box has no delays/ghosting, where is the DAC in the Roku-TV chain? Do modern thin-screen TV's contains DACs inside? Also, if the Roku box can transmit bits so fast, it must be loaded with some fast chips?