EU Calls On Netflix To Switch To SD During Coronavirus (Update: Netflix agrees. YouTube too. See threadmarks)

[Vincent Alexander]

As someone who works in ISP, I think this is much needed. Networks and cell towers are getting hammered, and folks will really start complaining and freaking out when cell connections and quality start dropping. I don't know what the answer is, but I definitely see the impact of households being work from home and quarantined.

 

[Kwigo]

As someone who works in ISP, I think this is much needed. Networks and cell towers are getting hammered, and folks will really start complaining and freaking out when cell connections and quality start dropping. I don't know what the answer is, but I definitely see the impact of households being work from home and quarantined.

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Do you have access to statistics on what is using how much bandwidth ? That would be really interesting to see!

 

[Big Boy]

Finally, a good reason for Brexit.

 

[Trup1aya]

Surprised to see so much of a damn given about streaming quality when there's a pandemic going on outside.

I'd be more than cool with SD if it went helping my country out somehow

 

[EloKa]

Do you have access to statistics on what is using how much bandwidth ? That would be really interesting to see!

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Funny how you just proclaimed that it would be no help or solution if Netflix would get forced to lower its streaming quality because it would not make any impact.
And your next post is about asking for basic statistics about how much bandwith different services are creating because you obviously have no clue.

 

[Kwigo]

Funny how you just proclaimed that it would be no help or solution if Netflix would get forced to lower its streaming quality because it would not make an impact.
And your next post is about asking for basic statistics about how much bandwith different services are creating because you obviously have no clue.

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Some posts ago I've written that I know that Netflix is a bandwidth hog and I'm genuinely interested in knowing the details, but sure, let's go with me having no clue.

 

[ExInferus]

how are the peak hours now compared to the usual peak hours(evening)?

 

[EloKa]

Some posts ago I've written that I know that Netflix is a bandwidth hog and I'm genuinely interested in knowing the details, but sure, let's go with me having no clue.

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I'm not saying Netflix isn't a bandwidth hog, all I'm saying is that it isn't the end all be all solution to save our internet infrastructure. There are loads of other internet services that would need to do the same for it to have a real, helpful, impact.

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Also there is no secret EU agenda against Netflix as you stated.

 

[Wackamole]

Loooooooot of assholes in this thread who don't care about anyone but themselves.

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Hopefully most are joking. But yeah...

 

[bye]

There's no need to have 4K tv shows right now, 720 should be fine for everyone in this situation

 

[Nintenleo]

imagine actually caring about watching your shitty netflix shows in 4k when there's literally a global pandemic going on

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.

 

[Wag]

What about ban 4K and drop it to maximum 1080p? In other words a reasonable compromise?

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I don't think relatively speaking that many people have 4k yet.

 

[GasProblem]

Wouldn't mind. I'll just go for the cheaper subscription.

 

[Palette Swap]

Baffled by people ITT who can't understand that current measures are putting an incredible strain on every network, and that maybe quadrupling your video on demand bandwidth isn't more important than being sure it keeps running, particularly for people whose livelihood now relies on having an internet at all.

 

[plngsplsh]

The entitlement in this thread...

I'm fine with SD. I watch most of my internet videos in SD anyway.

 

[Lylo]

There's no need to have 4K tv shows right now, 720 should be fine for everyone in this situation

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I'm not a specialist, but by SD they would mean something like 480p. 720p (HDTV) is HD and as i said in my previous comment, would be the bare minimum for modern TV's...but what do i know...

 

[Vennt]

Limit it to 720p, make it free for all for the duration of the restrictions.

Make Broadband provision part of the necessary national infrastructure and it's workers part of the "key worker" designation such as the emergency services, utility services and food provision.

None of this is unreasonable in todays circumstances.

 

[Fuchs]

I'm paying for 4k, however...

imagine actually caring about watching your shitty netflix shows in 4k when there's literally a global pandemic going on

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Yup.

 

[MechaMarmaset]

Loooooooot of assholes in this thread who don't care about anyone but themselves.

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It's fucking pathetic. We're on a forum that constantly talks about helping out the poor and making society better, but muh 4k. No that's just a step too far.

 

[bye]

I'm not a specialist, but by SD they would mean something like 480p. 720p (HDTV) is HD and as i said in my previous comment, would be the bare minimum for modern TV's...but what do i know...

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right, was mainly commenting on those afraid of losing 4k

 

[Deleted member 18407]

Watching DVD quality streaming will not kill you but if you demand 4K streaming at a time like this, you might cause someone to die. Very easy choice. Don't be an asshole and stop your whining.

 

[Robaperas]

Lot of selfish people here, really disappointing.

 

[Mindwipe]

I think it's a reasonable idea, but honestly ISPs are much better placed to judge where their capacity constraints are, especially on cabinet contention, than Netflix is.

Broadly EU net neutrality already permits ISPs to traffic shape if necessarily to ensure the network stays up, so this is a solved problem tbh.

 

[Bluelote]

720P max would already be a huge bandwidth use saving

 

[Kompis]

How the fuck can the communication networks not handle people staying home working.. is it all the email or all the word and excel documents that use up all bandwidth? How can the load actually be greater than in the evening when everyone is home streaming as usual?

Im calling bullshit at most people actually working when they "work at home". They all be streaming Netflix.

 

[maximumzero]

I can't tell what posts in this thread are joking and which are serious.

 

[Deleted member 8741]

The greatest sacrifices require the strongest wills.

 

[PrintedCrayon]

Watching DVD quality streaming will not kill you but if you demand 4K streaming at a time like this, you might cause someone to die. Very easy choice. Don't be an asshole and stop your whining.

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This is a joke post, right? It has to be.

 

[Deleted member 4262]

Some of you need to chill lol. Everyone knows we're in a serious situation. Hell, I might actually die if I get infected.

I said I was bummed out about it, but it's not a big deal or anything. If we have to live with SD for a while then so be it.

 

[Cookie]

Fuck that, I'd cancel immediately.

 

[PrintedCrayon]

Some of you need to chill lol. Everyone knows we're in a serious situation. Hell, I might actually die if I get infected.

I said I was bummed out about it, but it's not a big deal or anything. If we have to live with SD for a while then so be it.

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Mate, I can't BELIEVE you would act so ENTITLED when people are LITERALLY FUCKING DYING.

Shame on you for wanting creature comforts when in self isolation!!!!

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

How the fuck can the communication networks not handle people staying home working.. is it all the email or all the word and excel documents that use up all bandwidth? How can the load actually be greater than in the evening when everyone is home streaming as usual?

Im calling bullshit at most people actually working when they "work at home". They all be streaming Netflix.

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It's more videoconferencing and having to stream simulation data to/from my place of work over a SSH/sftp connection than emailing Microsoft documents back and forth that will be increasing the data used.

 

[Wraith]

Not in the EU, but...

 

[Woffls]

During the day when people are working? Absolutely fine. In the evening... less fine, but if it has to happen then at the very least reduce subscription costs accordingly.

 

[Hopewell]

I am already doing my part. With my shitty connection i can't watch netflix in 1080p.
More seriously, maybe it's better for the world if there's a 720p cap rather than causing the infrastructure to shutdown. Some of the replies here are astonishing.

 

[Herb Alpert]

The world is falling apart but some people don't care as long as they can have 4K Netflix

 

[KDR_11k]

Are containment orders in place in Germany like they are in France, Italy or Belgium?

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Not much, Germany just has trash tier consumer internet (fiber is practically nonexistent, it's all DSL/VDSL and cable), REALLY low phone data caps (mine is 3GB for 8€ a month, a real beefy plan would have like 20GB for like 50€ or more) and a powerful backbone system (DE-CIX is reporting average loads of ~10% these days).

 

[Man with Knife]

You can count the good 4K content on Netflix on one hand anyway

 

[TheKeyPit]

I'm ok with them lowering the quality as long as they lower the price too.

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I pay for UHD. If they lower it to SD I want to pay 1/4 of the OG price.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Surprised to see so much of a damn given about streaming quality when there's a pandemic going on outside.

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You could make the argument that the less "interruptions" there are to daily pleasures and things you enjoy doing the more likely people will remain calm and just take the quarantine / self isolation in stride.

 

[Herb Alpert]

Imagine telling people to stay home and then limiting their entertainment options while at home.

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That's not limiting.

Netflix is a huge part of internet trafic.
Maybe it's better if everyone takes a resolution hit. Maybe it's just civility and "vivre ensemble" because we live troubled times and should except some downturns in our little comfort.

I'm really baffled by the selfishness, immaturity and sometimes even Sheer stupidity of some of the replies...

 

[Halbrand]

Please no

 

[Syriel]

That's not something they can do at the flip of a switch though. Sure, they should do that, but even if they start now, it won't have changed in a meaningful way before sometime next year.

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Depends on how much is due to physical limitations and how much is due to intentional peering limitations. The latter is real and also an easy fix.

But doesn't the quality scale by internet speed anyway?

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Yes.

IIRC the energy and environmental impact of 4k is like 10x higher than SD.

In terms of servers, basically. Tons more data and tons more serving to do per episode. We could slash the amount of server farms they need (and thus energy) if they used SD as standard. 4k should be VERY expensive to offset this.

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Netflix gives free servers to any ISP that wants them. The file encode used doesn't matter, as they store the most popular + new content. Kris the majority of traffic within an ISPs network rather than over the internet.

 

[Koukalaka]

This crisis, as horrific as it is - is a prime example of why way more investment in digital infrastructure is required.

We've been way to slow to roll out FTTP here in the UK, so many folks (myself included) are on Fibre/copper hybrid or Fibre/coax (via Virgin). It's only with new players coming into the market with billions in investment that has spooked Openreach and Virgin into expanding.

 

[Syriel]

EDIT: Also can't the broadband providers themselves just simply throttle the connection to Netflix etc when there is peak demand? Doesn't need any intervention from Netflix then.

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Yes. Certain ISPs used to do that when they wanted to demand money from Netflix.

IPTV is usually streamed from each individual ISP to customers of that ISP only, so it doesn't put stress on overall internet infrastructure.

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ISPs can do this with Netflix as well.

 

[Dunlop]

The world is falling apart but some people don't care as long as they can have 4K Netflix

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It's kind of shocking actually

 

[nature boy]

Do you have access to statistics on what is using how much bandwidth ? That would be really interesting to see!

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30% increase seems to be a good indicator of usage:

Coronavirus: Vodafone and TalkTalk report surge in internet use

An EU commissioner has suggested that TV streaming services should provide content in lower resolution.

www.bbc.com

4K Netflix isn't going to jeopardize the internet backbone (since Netflix and ISP place Netflix servers inside the ISP's network) but it will affect the "last mile" in your town (i.e. your local ISP infrastructure) which normally doesn't have as much bandwidth.

Would I urge Netflix to temporarily suspend 4K streaming? Absolutely

 

[Bedlam]

Y'all survive some non-4k streams for a while.

Also, the Netflix picture is shit anyway due to the terrible compression, and all that color-banding in darker scenes especially. Movies like Blade Runner 2049, for example, look ugly as fuck via streams. There is more to the picture than resolution but for some reason people only care about that aspect.

 

[Dog]

I can't tell what posts in this thread are joking and which are serious.

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Same lol

 

[Oniletter]

Imagine telling people to stay home and then limiting their entertainment options while at home.

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Oh no, imagine the horror of having literal months of video content at your finger tips in slightly lower resolution than usual.

An absolutely unacceptable price to pay to keep Europe's infrastructure running in a never before seen pandemic.