Netflix to cut streaming quality in Europe for 30 days

[Psycho Sonny]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51968302

complete BS. I pay them the same money for 25% less quality. welcome to the future

 

[Psycho Sonny]

You do realise why they are doing this don't you?

to supposedly help ISP's out which is BS.

I have 400MB internet my ISP can hand 20MB no issues no need to downgrade me.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Aahh... So thats the reason why Castlevania looked lower quality compared to last week!

I can see why they are doing it but come on Netflix...give at least the top tier payers a months discount! Not as if you don't have the money to do so!

pretty much this. ISP's can cope with people streaming. it's not as if it's the only media is netflix. people will be using youtube, amazon prime, etc.

i haven't seen them come out and say they are downgrading their quality.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I don't have netflix. But I'd suggest this is more an issue with their own data servers than the Internet in general.

Yup. They don't want to pay for upgraded servers for this temporary peak.

So they should refund their customers.

Microsoft been suffering with their teams service. Vpn's are getting hammered too.

What did they do in response? Up their own service to be capable to provide the customer demand.

Netflix though decided to cheap out.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Noooo... netflix have one of the best core networks around, integration into AWS, massive presence in pops around the planet. Literally if anyone has bandwidth to deliver it's them. This is a step to ease the congestion on ISPs.

Can you provide a source saying isps were struggling?

I mean wasn't the champions league final broadcast for free on YouTube in 4k last year?

 

[Psycho Sonny]

So what, people are self isolating around europe hence the reason for doing this.

I'd be more worries about losing loved ones than 4k quality!!

People who haven't read the article.

They have reduced all Bit rates 25%.

Not just the top tier.

All I said was they are still asking us for the same money and not a 25% discount.

Had they given everyone a month free or whatever it would have been fine but to not compensate sets a dangerous precedent for other companies to follow suit.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

https://amp.ft.com/content/b4ab03db-de1f-4f98-bcc2-b09007427e1b



That should put the argument to bed and before anybody mentions that cloudflair said the internet is holding up, remember this is going to get a whole lot worse as more countries enter full lock down.

Finally a source that isps are struggling. Fair enough. I don't like how a paid for service is the first to react.

Facebook should have been the first as it's free. Along with others. A decrease in quality in a paid for product should result in a cheaper price.

Sky updated their terms and conditions to stop people from wriggling out of contracts due to no sport on.

They have introduced a pause service which when I tried never worked.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Just read that BT say there is plenty of headroom atm and Netflix haven't needed to do this really

Also, even though the daily load is higher, its probably better spread now

I'm betting its the mobile network operators that are struggling most.

Like I said before my line is 400MB it can handle streaming fine.

Otherwise my provider shouldn't be offering me a 400MB service.

If they truly are struggling then it's funny that Facebook which is a complete waste of bandwidth and full of fake news hasn't been asked to be blocked at government level or by the EU. Or at least provide a reduced service.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I understand but if Netflix are having to reduce the service then surely they need to refund the difference. Me personally I will cancel everything anyway if things get bad as Mortgage payments are top priority.

which is what I posted in OP but people seem to think that means your entitled and don't care about people dying.

All i said was if they are going to reduce by 25% they should compensate customers accordingly.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

It's not about that, reducing the quality fine but not reducing the monthly fee to reflect that.

That's the problem.

Pretty much this. It sets a dangerous precedent.

Fair enough if they have to drop quality so the networks can cope. But they should also compensate their customers much like sky are willing to do.

Not everyone just watches Netflix there are alternatives available.

YouTube, amazon, sky, music, gaming, hobbies, etc.

I pay for prime, I also pay for youtube premium too. I have the full sky package in 2 rooms, uhd sky q, sports and cinema. So if they were all to cut their price by say even 10% it all adds up to compensate for the reduction in service.

Sky is the only one that has done so.

Asda today donated £5 million to charity. I wouldn't mind if Netflix done the same rather than pocket it.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Are you comparing this to the lack of content available on sky sports? It's not the same at all.

What would you say is the percentage drop in visual quality as a result of this and what reduction do you think you should be offered?

I was watching last night and the picture seemed much softer. As if parts had been meshed together. Finer details missing. It is impossible to quantify.

I'd say the fair thing would be to give a month free I've been a customer for half a decade if not more. I've stuck with them through the good and seen their subscription more than double in those few years.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Without this thread I wouldn't have known they'd done anything, 4K HDR stuff is still looking absolutely top drawer and noticeably better than before I bumped my sub up to the top tier.

It depends on a lot of factors. Quality of TV. Size of TV. Viewing distance. Quality of eyesight.

I mean if you are blind and watching it on a 14" piece of crap then yeah no doubt it looks brilliant still.

TV enthusiasts that have 2 fully functioning eyes, large decent quality screen and sit a reasonable distance will be able to notice it.

The general public generally won't notice as much like GD they don't care about the finer details. They wouldn't know if the sound was mono either. As most are ignorant to proper quality and buy cheap crap.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

What were you watching? And you'll need to try and quanifiy it if you want to justify that 25% cost reduction you were asking for !

Without an a to b comparison it would be impossible to quantify I'd need access to both bit rates at the same time and identical TV's side by side.

Even then it would be guesswork as to exactly how much quality had been lost as how do you measure quality in a quantifiable manner when it comes to image quality? It's not just resolution that matters but a combination of many different parts. Frame rates, type of interpolation used, colours, resolution, etc.

It's not as easy as you would think. If they are donating 100 mill to charity then I'm happy for that in response. I therefore now knowing that I am okay with the action taken.

Had they just pocketed the cash though as it would cost them less to provide a worse picture then I would rightfully be peeved at them taking us for a ride for their own benefit.

Much like the milk man analogy. If due to unprecedented demand he could only provide me with 3/4 of the milk as before I'd expect a discount. He would be raking in more money anyway due to the increase in custom.

Much like Netflix will be raking it in. Which I guess is why asda donated money. They realise they are making billions out of this crisis. Whilst others suffer.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

What bit rate are you getting currently?

Interesting if you're getting lower than the standard 15-16Mbps 4K HDR normally is on Netflix when others aren't - it would suggest they're not reducing quality universally.

the standard is 20-25Mbps. It's already been lowered.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

No, because that's what Netflix and all adaptive streaming already does. And also what the internet already does.

The point was, if 13% of all internet consumption is Netflix, and ISPs are now finding they're saturated at peak times with contention for traffic, lowering the maximum bandwidth of Netflix streams would take a substantial load off.

exactly - is there even a need for this with adaptive streaming?

if my ISP can't cope it throttles me and then my netflix stream would automatically reduce in quality.

for example if i could only get 10MB then i wouldn't be able to watch in 4k anyway.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

But while your Netflix is being throttled to a lesser image quality, or even before...

The kid next door watching YouTube is also being throttled

Their sister watching a webcast from their teacher on how to do long division is going too blurry to read the text

Her mum is on a business call which is dropping quality.

It's about consumption. Keeping the broadband network saturated as a norm isn't in the design and isn't desirable. We're presently in a time of massively increased demand.

I get that but surely we should be holding isp and mobile operators to account for lack of provisions for emergency situations.

I mean I'm trying to make calls on my mobile. Only one in twenty are connecting. I'm not exaggerating either.

There will be peaks and troughs. I'm not doing any streaming of anything currently. So I'm not making much use of my 400MB connection.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Good comparison - at New Year, call often fail and texts go through hours late. The system's over capacity, we see it every year. But because it's a few hours once a year, the networks don't feel that justifies a capacity increase.

mobile calls are a joke just now. even if it connects it's breaking up, lag, pausing, then comes back. i can't believe no extra capacity is built in just in case. capitalism for you.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

The picture jumps between 480p to 1080p scene by scene.

Some shots all the edges are really pixellated....their servers must be struggling.

what ISP?

i've had zero issues. however my setup is way above normal or average.

VM - 350MB but I get close to 380MB download.

I have a ubiquiti router, 3 switches and 2 accesspoints. a NanoHD and a AC PRO.

Basically I can get a strong signal anywhere in my house and even my mobile can download at 380MB wireless through walls.

People running stock routers, far away will be having wi-fi issues as well as their 10MB line struggling.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

lol, I think it is hilarious that you started this thread screaming from the roof top and then said that.

I don't really care, half the time i am not paying attention to the TV but thought just pointing it out my experience that's all, and its BT infinity.

It's not.

Basically my isp can handle 15MB so why should I have my streams limited because others have crap Internet?

Which is the issue here.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Can you post what the info button on your TV shows on a particular netflix film/series for the bitrate? None of your wifi stuff makes a difference as others are using hardwired connections, with superior bandwidth to yours (although that's not the issue as others have pointed out).

Fort instance, I am watching Rampage right now. A bit pixely and you can see the compression in dark scenes, but not unwatchable. Tv shows 1.43Mbps 1080 resolution and 5.1 sound.


rp2000

7.62Mbps
2160