6 ms·

I recently watched Arcane using the Netflix Win10 app. The A/V sync was off by enough to noticeably break lipsync, the episode listing was broken (only the firs

by pinum 5y ago

I recently watched Arcane using the Netflix Win10 app. The A/V sync was off by enough to noticeably break lipsync, the episode listing was broken (only the first few were shown, but I could still watch the rest by allowing it to autoplay the next one), and the splash images shown while each steam started often served as spoilers for the episode that was about to play. I would've had a much better experience if I'd just went to thepiratebay and sought out nine MKV files instead.

1_player 5y ago
> I would've had a much better experience if I'd just went to thepiratebay and sought out nine MKV files instead. I did. I had none of your issues. "Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem." — Gabe Newell
bananamerica 5y ago
Why not use the website?
- hjadal 5y ago
  Afaik the resolution is lower and some audio features are not supported in most browsers. It is only Microsoft Edge on Windows and Safari on Mac that supports 4k, https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444.
  - p_l 5y ago
    It's DRM requirement
- isiahl 5y ago
  The website doesn't deliver 1080p video in any browser but Edge (and this may have changed with Edge being switched to Chromium)
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    > The website doesn't deliver 1080p video in any browser but Edge I'm pretty sure I watch HD Netflix in Safari. Surely I can't be watching 720p and be deceiving myself?
    - y4mi 5y ago
      HD starts at 720p. The difference between Netflix 1080 and 720p is often pretty small, so you might've really just not noticed. They're generally streaming with pretty poor bit-rates The first time I watched a pirated episode after years of streaming from Netflix was pretty eye opening for me wrt video quality.
      - chrisseaton 5y ago
        You’re definitely mistaken - you get up to 4K in the browser with Safari - it’s highlighted in the UI even I think.
        y4mi 5y ago
        It's great if it does, not sure how that makes me mistaken though. I never said anything about what was actually supported. My point was that the pixel density is pretty hard to determine with low Bitrate streams as you get them from Netflix.
    - endless1234 5y ago
      Safari is up to 4k on macOS 11+, as per https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55764 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55764
    - banana_giraffe 5y ago
      Safari on Mac OS can do 4k. Chrome will top out at 720p. You can check for yourself, hit Ctrl-Alt-Shift-D during playback to show a bunch of stats on the stream, including the current resolution being shown.
  - moffkalast 5y ago
- pinum 5y ago
  The last time I checked, the web version was limited to 720p. Although I guess that might have been better than broken lipsync. While I'm on the subject... about a year ago I tried subscribing to the 4K plan, since I bought a 4K monitor. Netflix only played in 4K if I used an HDMI cable, not DisplayPort, and only if I completely unplugged my secondary 1440p monitor (turning it off wasn't enough).
  - c0balt 5y ago
    That sounds more like your external driver (PC or some Box) or your monitor didn't share a supported Displayport Version that supported 4k60 and the HDMI interfaces did. Might've also been the calbe but display-standard supports often sucks on many devices in that regard for higher-level standards.
    - ewindal 5y ago
      I shouldn’t need a 4k monitor to watch at a better quality than 720p. The only reason I use Edge these days is because that idiotic (and purposeful) limitation isn’t present there (for some reason).
    - pinum 5y ago
      It turned out my monitor supported HDCP 2.2 over HDMI but not DP (edit: and Netflix requires that all connected monitors support 2.2, not just the one you're trying to watch the video on.) I would maybe understand enforcing that requirement if it was effective in protecting the content, but it isn't. 4K content (from UHD blurays and various streaming services) is widely available to pirate, and VLC doesn't care what kind of cable you're using.
      - codetrotter 5y ago
        > I would maybe understand enforcing that requirement if it was effective in protecting the content, but it isn't. 4K content (from UHD blurays and various streaming services) is widely available to pirate, and VLC doesn't care what kind of cable you're using. Speculation on my part but I wouldn’t be surprised if those kinds of requirements are mainly there to appease motion picture industry partners who Netflix is licensing content from. Furthermore, given the long experience the people of the release groups in the piracy scene have in fine tuning video codec parameters for optimal balance between quality and file size, and choosing video codecs that can be decoded on a wide range of devices, I think it is highly probable that many of the people working on the technical side of these things at Netflix have had roles in various piracy release groups prior to having come to work for Netflix. Not saying Netflix would actively seek out piracy release group members to hire them. In fact it’d probably count as negative to openly state any kind of involvement with the piracy scene, and especially to mention having been part of a release group. What I mean is just that the people who were members of these groups have both the skills and the technical motivation to work on these same kinds of things for Netflix.
- grujicd 5y ago
  Netflix/HBO in browser AFAIK doesn't have 5.1 audio, just stereo. That's the main reason I download "unofficial" content while still paying for these two services for kids/wife to watch or for shows where surround sound doesn't matter. The other reason is subtitles.
progbits 5y ago
I've given up on offline Netflix access after the third time the content I downloaded before a plane/train/... trip refused to play once I left wifi. It always said it expired due to changed region or something silly. Now I just torrent things and play them in VLC. Same or better quality, no buffering, custom subtitle size if I want. And 100% reliable.
- m-p-3 5y ago
  For me it's how you quickly reach the download "limit". Especially annoying when my kids can't put all the shows he might want to listen to during a road trip..
bsedlm 5y ago
It reminiscent of when I bought a blu-ray and I couldn't watch them because of DRM; as I had already downloaded that show I didn't really care, but those disks are pure waste. Now that I think about it, the physical disks feel like real-world NFTs.
- stelonix 5y ago
  That's how I do it: download first, if it's worth it, buy it but never open or use it, just keep it as a token.
  - saiya-jin 5y ago
    and if you will be lucky, some of those (and games) unopened might be worth quite a bit 20-30 years down the line
    - stelonix 5y ago
      Yeah, I already got my money back from old copies of SNES games. Newer games, I'm waiting some 10 years or so to sell. They don't take much space after all.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
  People have been treating vinyl records as collectibles ever since music became pirate-able in the cassette era. I know many people who stream music 95% of the time, but have a big collection of their favorite albums on vinyl, some of them unopened, as a way to support the artist / a piece of art / keepsake / speculative long term investment, etc. Real-world NFT is a fun analogy.
  - bananamerica 5y ago
    A vynil os something you can play on a record player, even if you choose not to do so. How do you play am NFT?
- nebula8804 5y ago
authed 5y ago
I pay for Netflix but I don't use it to watch episodes....
- yepthatsreality 5y ago
  I would agree with any streaming service. My main gripe is that if my network connection weakens and the streaming quality dips then a lot of stuff isn’t worth watching (especially in the age where everything is “visually stunning”). I can’t let it buffer or watch it later on a lot of services. I just have to tolerate a lower quality stream… no thanks, I’ll watch it elsewhere away from your terrible drm experience.
webmobdev 5y ago
In fact, that's exactly what I do - I have access to Prime and Netflix, but I like to download and watch stuff later (sometimes days or weeks later) on different devices (TV, computer, tablet etc.). All the spying, DRM, crappy UI, poor usability etc. of both apps get in the way. The solution - download a good copy from the internet. No need to feel guilty since Amazon and Netflix still get paid.
- acomjean 5y ago
  I always find it odd too pay for content with more restrictions than the “pirated” version. Though honestly I stream now. I used to strip the drm of iTunes shows but when that got broken I stopped buying.. The only trouble I see is that streaming service use those metrics to decide which shows to not cancel and that way of watching doesn’t get counted. (I have a bad record of enjoying many shows that didn’t get renewed… still grumbly about the dirk gentley)
  - webmobdev 5y ago
    When I was student, I didn't feel guilty about pirating. Now that I make money, and know how hard it is, I do feel an occassional guilt (when I pirate something) and often try to either reduce the consumption or pay for it. But I still hate DRM with a passion, and hate this "renting" business instead of owning something - that gives too much control to the distributor and is detrimental to our consumer right.

by pinum 5y ago

1_player 5y ago

> I would've had a much better experience if I'd just went to thepiratebay and sought out nine MKV files instead. I did. I had none of your issues. "Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem." — Gabe Newell

bananamerica 5y ago

Why not use the website?

hjadal 5y ago
Afaik the resolution is lower and some audio features are not supported in most browsers. It is only Microsoft Edge on Windows and Safari on Mac that supports 4k, https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444.
- p_l 5y ago
  It's DRM requirement
isiahl 5y ago
The website doesn't deliver 1080p video in any browser but Edge (and this may have changed with Edge being switched to Chromium)
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > The website doesn't deliver 1080p video in any browser but Edge I'm pretty sure I watch HD Netflix in Safari. Surely I can't be watching 720p and be deceiving myself?
  - y4mi 5y ago
    HD starts at 720p. The difference between Netflix 1080 and 720p is often pretty small, so you might've really just not noticed. They're generally streaming with pretty poor bit-rates The first time I watched a pirated episode after years of streaming from Netflix was pretty eye opening for me wrt video quality.
    - chrisseaton 5y ago
      You’re definitely mistaken - you get up to 4K in the browser with Safari - it’s highlighted in the UI even I think.
      - y4mi 5y ago
        It's great if it does, not sure how that makes me mistaken though. I never said anything about what was actually supported. My point was that the pixel density is pretty hard to determine with low Bitrate streams as you get them from Netflix.
  - endless1234 5y ago
    Safari is up to 4k on macOS 11+, as per https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55764 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55764
  - banana_giraffe 5y ago
    Safari on Mac OS can do 4k. Chrome will top out at 720p. You can check for yourself, hit Ctrl-Alt-Shift-D during playback to show a bunch of stats on the stream, including the current resolution being shown.
- moffkalast 5y ago
pinum 5y ago
The last time I checked, the web version was limited to 720p. Although I guess that might have been better than broken lipsync. While I'm on the subject... about a year ago I tried subscribing to the 4K plan, since I bought a 4K monitor. Netflix only played in 4K if I used an HDMI cable, not DisplayPort, and only if I completely unplugged my secondary 1440p monitor (turning it off wasn't enough).
- c0balt 5y ago
  That sounds more like your external driver (PC or some Box) or your monitor didn't share a supported Displayport Version that supported 4k60 and the HDMI interfaces did. Might've also been the calbe but display-standard supports often sucks on many devices in that regard for higher-level standards.
  - ewindal 5y ago
    I shouldn’t need a 4k monitor to watch at a better quality than 720p. The only reason I use Edge these days is because that idiotic (and purposeful) limitation isn’t present there (for some reason).
  - pinum 5y ago
    It turned out my monitor supported HDCP 2.2 over HDMI but not DP (edit: and Netflix requires that all connected monitors support 2.2, not just the one you're trying to watch the video on.) I would maybe understand enforcing that requirement if it was effective in protecting the content, but it isn't. 4K content (from UHD blurays and various streaming services) is widely available to pirate, and VLC doesn't care what kind of cable you're using.
    - codetrotter 5y ago
      > I would maybe understand enforcing that requirement if it was effective in protecting the content, but it isn't. 4K content (from UHD blurays and various streaming services) is widely available to pirate, and VLC doesn't care what kind of cable you're using. Speculation on my part but I wouldn’t be surprised if those kinds of requirements are mainly there to appease motion picture industry partners who Netflix is licensing content from. Furthermore, given the long experience the people of the release groups in the piracy scene have in fine tuning video codec parameters for optimal balance between quality and file size, and choosing video codecs that can be decoded on a wide range of devices, I think it is highly probable that many of the people working on the technical side of these things at Netflix have had roles in various piracy release groups prior to having come to work for Netflix. Not saying Netflix would actively seek out piracy release group members to hire them. In fact it’d probably count as negative to openly state any kind of involvement with the piracy scene, and especially to mention having been part of a release group. What I mean is just that the people who were members of these groups have both the skills and the technical motivation to work on these same kinds of things for Netflix.
grujicd 5y ago
Netflix/HBO in browser AFAIK doesn't have 5.1 audio, just stereo. That's the main reason I download "unofficial" content while still paying for these two services for kids/wife to watch or for shows where surround sound doesn't matter. The other reason is subtitles.

progbits 5y ago

I've given up on offline Netflix access after the third time the content I downloaded before a plane/train/... trip refused to play once I left wifi. It always said it expired due to changed region or something silly. Now I just torrent things and play them in VLC. Same or better quality, no buffering, custom subtitle size if I want. And 100% reliable.

m-p-3 5y ago
For me it's how you quickly reach the download "limit". Especially annoying when my kids can't put all the shows he might want to listen to during a road trip..

bsedlm 5y ago

It reminiscent of when I bought a blu-ray and I couldn't watch them because of DRM; as I had already downloaded that show I didn't really care, but those disks are pure waste. Now that I think about it, the physical disks feel like real-world NFTs.

stelonix 5y ago
That's how I do it: download first, if it's worth it, buy it but never open or use it, just keep it as a token.
- saiya-jin 5y ago
  and if you will be lucky, some of those (and games) unopened might be worth quite a bit 20-30 years down the line
  - stelonix 5y ago
    Yeah, I already got my money back from old copies of SNES games. Newer games, I'm waiting some 10 years or so to sell. They don't take much space after all.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
People have been treating vinyl records as collectibles ever since music became pirate-able in the cassette era. I know many people who stream music 95% of the time, but have a big collection of their favorite albums on vinyl, some of them unopened, as a way to support the artist / a piece of art / keepsake / speculative long term investment, etc. Real-world NFT is a fun analogy.
- bananamerica 5y ago
  A vynil os something you can play on a record player, even if you choose not to do so. How do you play am NFT?
nebula8804 5y ago

authed 5y ago

I pay for Netflix but I don't use it to watch episodes....

yepthatsreality 5y ago
I would agree with any streaming service. My main gripe is that if my network connection weakens and the streaming quality dips then a lot of stuff isn’t worth watching (especially in the age where everything is “visually stunning”). I can’t let it buffer or watch it later on a lot of services. I just have to tolerate a lower quality stream… no thanks, I’ll watch it elsewhere away from your terrible drm experience.

webmobdev 5y ago

In fact, that's exactly what I do - I have access to Prime and Netflix, but I like to download and watch stuff later (sometimes days or weeks later) on different devices (TV, computer, tablet etc.). All the spying, DRM, crappy UI, poor usability etc. of both apps get in the way. The solution - download a good copy from the internet. No need to feel guilty since Amazon and Netflix still get paid.

acomjean 5y ago
I always find it odd too pay for content with more restrictions than the “pirated” version. Though honestly I stream now. I used to strip the drm of iTunes shows but when that got broken I stopped buying.. The only trouble I see is that streaming service use those metrics to decide which shows to not cancel and that way of watching doesn’t get counted. (I have a bad record of enjoying many shows that didn’t get renewed… still grumbly about the dirk gentley)
- webmobdev 5y ago
  When I was student, I didn't feel guilty about pirating. Now that I make money, and know how hard it is, I do feel an occassional guilt (when I pirate something) and often try to either reduce the consumption or pay for it. But I still hate DRM with a passion, and hate this "renting" business instead of owning something - that gives too much control to the distributor and is detrimental to our consumer right.