Netflix is reducing due to the corona crisis and a push by the EU commission Europe-wide the bitrate for 30 daysas reported by the Reuters news agency. This should save around 25 percent of data traffic and relieve the pressure on the networks. Is there now only SD instead of HD and UHD?
In short: no. Netflix does reduce the picture quality, but it does not do so by lowering the resolution, but by reducing the amount of data transferred. In practice, the lower image quality should hardly be noticeable, however Henning Dorstewitz quotes Netflix via Twitter
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What is the difference between bit rate and resolution?
While the resolution, e.g. Full HD (1,920 x 1,080), specifies a fixed value for the amount of pixels output, the bit rate stands for a variable number of bits transmitted per second (transmission rate). How good the quality of a video is then also depends on the frames per second.
- Pixels per second = resolution x frames per second
- Bits per pixel = bit rate / pixel per second
The image quality depends crucially on the number of bits per pixel. In practice, most of you will probably find a 720p video that looks better than its 1080p counterpart.
Why should the bit rate be lowered at all?
Since many citizens are working from home due to the Corona crisis, there are fears that the network capacity will not be sufficient because at the same time many people could spend time in their own four walls with video streaming.
The Federal Council warned its citizens in Switzerland already reasonably deal with corresponding services and even threatened to block streaming services. Deutsche Telekom, on the other hand, sees itself as well equipped, and there is no threat of an internet failure.
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, on the other hand, had only asked users to use the network infrastructure in solidarity just a few days ago to ensure the stability of the Internet.
Important phone conversation with @ReedHastings, CEO of @Netflix
To beat # COVID19, we #StayAtHome
Teleworking & streaming help a lot but infrastructures might be in strain.
To secure Internet access for all, let’s #SwitchToStandard definition when HD is not necessary.
– Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) March 18, 2020
Some users seem to be reducing the bit rate However, they do not agree and therefore also demand to cut prices accordingly by 25 percent. Like Twitter users painted hanover.
However, one would be Price reduction probably not justified at all, because those who pay for UHD continue to receive the full resolution. As described above, just with a lower bit rate, which reduces the image quality somewhat.
In summary: What does throttling mean for the individual?
- the bit rate is reduced in order to relieve the network infrastructure, keyword solidarity
- Resolutions are not reduced, whoever pays for UHD continues to receive UHD
- According to Netflix, the image quality should not be affected too much
