Netflix Reducing Video Quality Across Europe Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

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'That VDSL Cat'
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#2446739 25-Mar-2020 23:11

Has been all good for me... I still hold to what I previously said. I don't belive netflix should make such a heavy handed change.

I speak to many in the telco world and there are quite a few camps on this though.

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rugrat

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#2446749 25-Mar-2020 23:40

200/20 plan 2degrees on ultra HD plan.

Just finished watching Sabrina, about 1030.pm to 11.30pm, didn't notice any difference.

Test patterns was still going up to 16000kbps, which I'm sure was maximum before. (Checked old post and was.)

If they cut data for all plans the HD quality will go down on that plan as well.

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#2446811 26-Mar-2020 08:22

Interesting they have done this as my days in Spark there was always plenty of Netflix capacity.

Seems like an arbitrary decision by Netflix for New Zealand that really has no tangible impact on any of the large ISPs as they will all have local in network CDNs that should have plenty of spare capacity.

But it will be interesting if any Telcos make public comments on utilisation right now with everyone at home vs the normal weekly Sunday evening peak.

Talkiet

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#2446869 26-Mar-2020 09:48

Netflix will be doing this over the next few days for all ISPs in NZ. The news article made it sound like it would be deployed last night - unsurprisingly, that was not accurate.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

rb99

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#2446928 26-Mar-2020 11:06

So it means they're offering the same plans with the same resolutions but using less data. Doesn't that mean a bit more crush (or whatever its called), but not a lot else ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#2446975 26-Mar-2020 11:40

rb99:

So it means they're offering the same plans with the same resolutions but using less data. Doesn't that mean a bit more crush (or whatever its called), but not a lot else ?

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/03/netflix-lowers-video-quality-to-aid-broadband-isp-congestion.html

“ a higher level of compression will be applied to their streams. The result is likely to be that, while the resolution will probably remain the same, you might instead notice more artefacts in the quality of the video (distortions, fuzzy areas, more blur etc.).”

”

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#2446977 26-Mar-2020 11:43

rugrat:

rb99:

So it means they're offering the same plans with the same resolutions but using less data. Doesn't that mean a bit more crush (or whatever its called), but not a lot else ?

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/03/netflix-lowers-video-quality-to-aid-broadband-isp-congestion.html

“ a higher level of compression will be applied to their streams. The result is likely to be that, while the resolution will probably remain the same, you might instead notice more artefacts in the quality of the video (distortions, fuzzy areas, more blur etc.).”

”

I'm guessing like GoT was on neon with the dark scenes

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#2447038 26-Mar-2020 12:14

Must admit I'm not enough of a connoisseur to notice small differences and doubt they'd go for big ones.

Don't know much about GoT / Neon. Thats what blurays are for, I'm up to S07E07 for GoT BR's.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#2449592 29-Mar-2020 17:00

It's maxing out at 9600kbps now.

The UHD picture is still better then HD, and if I hadn't read about the data drop doubt would've noticed anything.

The sound is good to.

I'm only watching Sabrina as just try to work through one program at time, so not much movement in that program of background scenery.

Finished watching Picard on Prime Video last night, that one running well to.

I'm still working at moment so my watch time is limited.

bigbadkiwi

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#2455077 5-Apr-2020 13:52

I am with orcon gigabit and it seems that the Netflix Ultra HD bitrate has dropped more than 25%. I tried three netlfix originals and they all had the bitrate of 7.62mbps at 2160. From memory I remember Netflix "Ultra HD" bitrates always being in the mid 14mbps whenever I checked the 'info' on my Samsung smart TV. Is this an Orcon Netflix CDN issue or has Netflix done a blanket global bitrate reduction of a lot more than 25%?

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#2455078 5-Apr-2020 13:55

It's not going to be exactly 25%, it varies based on the predetermined bitrate steps. This has been active for NZ since the 26th according to Netflix and it applies to all RSPs in the country - it's not configured RSP by RSP.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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#2455094 5-Apr-2020 14:15

I have Gigabit Fibre with Orcon, and I am struggling to stay at anything non blocky. It's horrible. My other streaming services like Disney and Prime Video are flawless.

bigbadkiwi

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#2455218 5-Apr-2020 17:28

Talkiet:

It's not going to be exactly 25%, it varies based on the predetermined bitrate steps. This has been active for NZ since the 26th according to Netflix and it applies to all RSPs in the country - it's not configured RSP by RSP.

Cheers - N

Mathematically, it appears to be a lot closer to 50% than that of 25%.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2455221 5-Apr-2020 17:33

networkn:

I have Gigabit Fibre with Orcon, and I am struggling to stay at anything non blocky. It's horrible. My other streaming services like Disney and Prime Video are flawless.

No problem with my own Blu-rays. Flawless 1080P off the NAS.

Streaming will replace optical media? I hope not.

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#2455225 5-Apr-2020 17:45

bigbadkiwi:

Talkiet:

It's not going to be exactly 25%, it varies based on the predetermined bitrate steps. This has been active for NZ since the 26th according to Netflix and it applies to all RSPs in the country - it's not configured RSP by RSP.

Cheers - N

Mathematically, it appears to be a lot closer to 50% than that of 25%.

Except you're looking at one stream, I am looking at a network with over half a million customers on it. It's not 50%

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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