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Funniest thing: I've got a home cinema projector and somehow when I stream from Netflix (which I pay), it looks like shit. So I paid for an enhanced subscripti

Funniest thing: I've got a home cinema projector and somehow when I stream from Netflix (which I pay), it looks like shit. So I paid for an enhanced subscription, supposedly with better quality. Fiber optic at home: problem is not on my side. Still looks like shit. So I sail the high seas and pirate the very movie I was about to watch: 600 Mbit/s symmetric fiber, download using torrents takes a few minutes tops. Now I don't get it: how do the pirates who "webrip" those have access to the quality stream, when I get a shitty version? I mean: I get it when it's a BRRip (Blu-Ray Rip) but how can they do quality webrips? Why are they getting the quality version streamed when I get bad quality? It may not be noticeable on a regular TV but on the huge diagonal my home cinema projector does, it's night and day. I don't hoard. Pirating costs nothing as I pay for my fiber optic line and downloading a movie takes a few minutes, during which wife makes tea, kid puts pyjamas on and I pour myself some drink. > Streaming services still have significant service problems that need to be addressed. Yup. Pirates makes a better job at providing a quality media compared to the shitty streaming services. Now we plan to drop Netflix and take Disney for a while: I wonder if I'll also need to pirate the very thing they'll be streaming me or not.

xnorswap 4y ago
To watch 4k on a desktop you need either windows 10/11 and Edge or a Mac. My guess is you're either not using that combination or otherwise blocking DRM / features that prevent desktop 4k.
interestica 4y ago
Netflix won't play full quality stream except for on approved devices. If you have a projector that's running older version of Android it may literally be giving you a max 720p stream. Amazon prime video won't give 4k on a PC i believe.
cuttysnark 4y ago
> Now I don't get it: how do the pirates who "webrip" those have access to the quality stream The front-end players (sometimes) have a UI element that allows you to explicitly set which bitrate is streamed. Otherwise, the player is beholden to what the connection speed deems appropriate. Regardless, if the original file was transcoded to include 1080p, 4k stream, they exist even if your player is downgrading based on a poor connection. This can feel like a loss of control, because it is. "But it's for our the user's own good." When using tools like ffmpeg or similar, you can simply target the highest bitrate available. If you ever try to download a ".m3u8" file you'll see it's more or less a manifest that lists all available bitrates.

xnorswap 4y ago

To watch 4k on a desktop you need either windows 10/11 and Edge or a Mac. My guess is you're either not using that combination or otherwise blocking DRM / features that prevent desktop 4k.

interestica 4y ago

Netflix won't play full quality stream except for on approved devices. If you have a projector that's running older version of Android it may literally be giving you a max 720p stream. Amazon prime video won't give 4k on a PC i believe.

cuttysnark 4y ago

> Now I don't get it: how do the pirates who "webrip" those have access to the quality stream The front-end players (sometimes) have a UI element that allows you to explicitly set which bitrate is streamed. Otherwise, the player is beholden to what the connection speed deems appropriate. Regardless, if the original file was transcoded to include 1080p, 4k stream, they exist even if your player is downgrading based on a poor connection. This can feel like a loss of control, because it is. "But it's for our the user's own good." When using tools like ffmpeg or similar, you can simply target the highest bitrate available. If you ever try to download a ".m3u8" file you'll see it's more or less a manifest that lists all available bitrates.