Daily US Times: Online video streaming service Netflix has announced that they will reduce the video quality on its service in Europe for the next 30 days, to reduce the strain on internet service providers.
As the large part of Europe are self-isolating now due to the coronavirus outbreak, the demand for streaming has increased high.
Netflix said though they will reduce the video quality, viewers would still find the picture quality good.
Lowering the picture quality would reduce Netflix’s data consumption by 25%.
The change appears to include the UK, but Netflix has not responded to BBC’s request form comment.
Video quality
Several things like video resolution and bitrate influence how much data is consumed when streaming a movie online.
Bitrate influences how clear and smooth videos look when streamed online.
Videos with a higher bitrate tend to look less blocky’ or pixelated, but use more data.
Out of Bitrate and resolution, Netflix says it will cut the first one.
The company announced the measure after a phone call with European officials.
The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton had earlier said people should “switch to standard definition when HD [high-definition] is not necessary”.
An hour of standard definition video uses 1GB data, while 3GB data will be used if the video streams HD.
Netflix also offers ultra-high definition 4K video for some of its programmes.
The company said in a statement: “Following the discussions between Commissioner Thierry Breton and [Netflix chief executive] Reed Hastings, and given the extraordinary challenges raised by the coronavirus, Netflix has decided to begin reducing bitrates across all our streams in Europe for 30 days.”
Mr Breton praised Netflix’s move saying it would “preserve the smooth functioning of the internet during the Covid-19 crisis”.
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