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>DRM certainly has kept some (power) user-friendly features off the market. Is watching Netflix at 1080p or more a power user feature? Because currently that's

>DRM certainly has kept some (power) user-friendly features off the market. Is watching Netflix at 1080p or more a power user feature? Because currently that's heavily restricted by DRM. Not possible on any open-source operating system, restricted to a few browsers on Mac and Windows. 4K is only enabled on Microsoft Edge and only if you also activate a bunch of hardware DRM features. So I have to watch 720p content on a 1440p screen which is ridiculous. >But I don't see a lot of evidence that those limitations, if genuinely important to users, can't be competed away. Amazon Prime imposes similar restrictions and is only slightly better at providing 1080p. Meanwhile piratebay still has more choice with more quality and is the only hope at "competition" to make them change their minds. We are in a world where picking your devices freely is blocked by Amazon/Netflix and the content providers while at the same time those same companies want us to help them push for net neutrality. Commoditize the industries you depend on and capture the ones that depend on you seems to be the play and we should fight it wherever we can.

DrJokepu 9y ago
> Is watching Netflix at 1080p or more a power user feature? Because currently that's heavily restricted by DRM. Not possible on any open-source operating system, restricted to a few browsers on Mac and Windows. Consuming content anything else than the mainstream browsers on anything else than the mainstream operating systems or devices is definitely a power user feature, yes.
- pedrocr 9y ago
  I guess Google Chrome on Windows must be a niche thing then. Because that only gets 720p.
  - DrJokepu 9y ago
    > Not possible on any open-source operating system So where do you get more than 720p if you don't get it neither on open source operating systems nor on Chrome on Windows? If you get 720p max everywhere, why do you think this has anything to do with DRM?
    - ac29 9y ago
      Netflix's Windows Store app doesn't have the 720p limitation. I think it may just be a thin shell around Edge, but I'm not 100% sure. It definitely has to do with DRM.
    - slrz 9y ago
      You do get better quality, but only if your system has an OS-level DRM implementation and the browser uses it. This is the case for IE Edge on recent Windows, but not much else. Chrome on Windows uses its own Widevine DRM implementation instead of the OS-integrated one. This shitshow is referred to as "robustness requirements" and Netflix apparently agreed to serve high-resolution video only to DRM implementations of certain "robustness" level (OS-integrated DRM with video drivers that co-conspire in enforcing restrictions on the actual device owner).
      - jjeaff 9y ago
        All this complexity to protect the content and yet there isn't a movie or TV show out there you can't find in crisp 1080p on Usenet or torrent sites with one quick search.
        Freak_NL 9y ago
        That's the maddening part that's driving me away from Netflix and similar services. I am completely willing to a pay reasonable sum for content, and the current batch of media providers do a tolerable job, but limiting the image quality because my computer is too free is just silly. I can get the exact same episode or film — in any resolution — on my HTPC in five minutes, DRM free, by breaking the rules.
    - baddox 9y ago
      On televisions. Most 4k TVs and the increasingly common 4k streaming boxes support 4k playback for the major services that offer it (basically Netflix and Amazon AFAIK). I don't know if this has much to do with DRM, or if it's just a matter of supporting HEVC.
    - 9y ago

DrJokepu 9y ago

> Is watching Netflix at 1080p or more a power user feature? Because currently that's heavily restricted by DRM. Not possible on any open-source operating system, restricted to a few browsers on Mac and Windows. Consuming content anything else than the mainstream browsers on anything else than the mainstream operating systems or devices is definitely a power user feature, yes.

pedrocr 9y ago
I guess Google Chrome on Windows must be a niche thing then. Because that only gets 720p.
- DrJokepu 9y ago
  > Not possible on any open-source operating system So where do you get more than 720p if you don't get it neither on open source operating systems nor on Chrome on Windows? If you get 720p max everywhere, why do you think this has anything to do with DRM?
  - ac29 9y ago
    Netflix's Windows Store app doesn't have the 720p limitation. I think it may just be a thin shell around Edge, but I'm not 100% sure. It definitely has to do with DRM.
  - slrz 9y ago
    You do get better quality, but only if your system has an OS-level DRM implementation and the browser uses it. This is the case for IE Edge on recent Windows, but not much else. Chrome on Windows uses its own Widevine DRM implementation instead of the OS-integrated one. This shitshow is referred to as "robustness requirements" and Netflix apparently agreed to serve high-resolution video only to DRM implementations of certain "robustness" level (OS-integrated DRM with video drivers that co-conspire in enforcing restrictions on the actual device owner).
    - jjeaff 9y ago
      All this complexity to protect the content and yet there isn't a movie or TV show out there you can't find in crisp 1080p on Usenet or torrent sites with one quick search.
      - Freak_NL 9y ago
        That's the maddening part that's driving me away from Netflix and similar services. I am completely willing to a pay reasonable sum for content, and the current batch of media providers do a tolerable job, but limiting the image quality because my computer is too free is just silly. I can get the exact same episode or film — in any resolution — on my HTPC in five minutes, DRM free, by breaking the rules.
  - baddox 9y ago
    On televisions. Most 4k TVs and the increasingly common 4k streaming boxes support 4k playback for the major services that offer it (basically Netflix and Amazon AFAIK). I don't know if this has much to do with DRM, or if it's just a matter of supporting HEVC.
  - 9y ago