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Are you talking about their 1080p quality or their 4K quality? Netflix has done a lot of work on better compression via optimized shot-based encoding for 4K: h

by mdasen 3y ago

Are you talking about their 1080p quality or their 4K quality? Netflix has done a lot of work on better compression via optimized shot-based encoding for 4K: https://netflixtechblog.com/optimized-shot-based-encodes-for-4k-now-streaming-47b516b10bbb https://netflixtechblog.com/optimized-shot-based-encodes-for.... The highest 4K bitrate now averages around half of what it used to be (8Mbps rather than 16Mbps), but Netflix does encode highly complex 4K video at higher bitrates (even if they're higher than the previous 16Mbps). However, there have been complaints about this. Whether it's people actually noticing a quality difference or just feeling like they do, I can't say. I don't personally notice details that small in video. Maybe it's other changes you're noticing. I believe Netflix has started rolling out the AV1 codec for compatible players.

SirMaster 3y ago
Netflix has among the lowest 4K quality among services though. Compared to AppleTV+ and Disney+ and HBO MAX.
tomjen3 3y ago
At some point Netflix started to compress really dark scenes to be bands instead of gradients - which wouldn't have been that much of an issue, but it also happened when the movies started to do a lot more with dark scenes.
dns_snek 3y ago
I don't buy their numbers, they're a prime example of lying with statistics. Their averages might be good enough, but it's always the edge cases that stand out and make all the difference. Their dark scenes in particular are full of compression artifacts that ruin the premium experience they're trying to sell. This was back in late 2020. More worryingly, if their metrics show that video quality barely improves past whatever bitrate they're serving now, then their metrics must be completely wrong. I'm not paying for that, especially with how they often fail to deliver 4K in the first place through their native apps. I could never get my 4K stream working on a Windows 10 machine at the time, so I switched to the high seas which does so perfectly. I rarely watch any of their original shows anymore for other reasons (their tendency to abruptly cancel shows for one), but the video quality difference between Netflix and HBO/ATV+ is staggering.

by mdasen 3y ago

SirMaster 3y ago

Netflix has among the lowest 4K quality among services though. Compared to AppleTV+ and Disney+ and HBO MAX.

tomjen3 3y ago

At some point Netflix started to compress really dark scenes to be bands instead of gradients - which wouldn't have been that much of an issue, but it also happened when the movies started to do a lot more with dark scenes.

dns_snek 3y ago

I don't buy their numbers, they're a prime example of lying with statistics. Their averages might be good enough, but it's always the edge cases that stand out and make all the difference. Their dark scenes in particular are full of compression artifacts that ruin the premium experience they're trying to sell. This was back in late 2020. More worryingly, if their metrics show that video quality barely improves past whatever bitrate they're serving now, then their metrics must be completely wrong. I'm not paying for that, especially with how they often fail to deliver 4K in the first place through their native apps. I could never get my 4K stream working on a Windows 10 machine at the time, so I switched to the high seas which does so perfectly. I rarely watch any of their original shows anymore for other reasons (their tendency to abruptly cancel shows for one), but the video quality difference between Netflix and HBO/ATV+ is staggering.