Preview Issue: Audio Starts but Image Stays Frozen in After Effects

I've experienced that when I hit play to preview, the audio starts, but the image stays frozen and struggles to load. After about 4 or 5 seconds, the image starts to play back little by little. I'm not sure if this is a bug or due to my hardware, but with earlier versions of After Effects, like 2021, which is the one I've used the most, this doesn't happen. If it's not a bug and there's some configuration setting to address it, I'd appreciate any help, as this issue significantly disrupts the workflow. Thanks, best regards!