Reply to: Out of the stone age at last.

[d000hg]

It shouldn't be; it's all the same data compressed the same way. Of course Netflix could do different things at their end depending on the device it detects; if it detects Android for example it might assume you're on a smaller screen and therefore use a lower bitrate

I was watching via a tablet with an HDMI cable, which probably wasn't the best, possibly was only 720p and it would get a bit juddery at times. Now I have a Chromecast, which doesn't have the judder, but you still get the same blurriness and blotchiness.

I definitely don't see that issue. I definitely see a difference between my iPad and my wife's Android tablet. I wondered if they are forced to use different protocols on different platforms. For instance on PS3 it often is very blocky for the first 10s, then 'snaps' to be very clear - but on my iPad that just doesn't happen, which makes me think the caching or streaming work differently.
Also, the Netflix code has to be optimised to run fast enough.

[TheLordDave]

I went from 1mb to 40 a few weeks ago, life changer. The walking dead was ready for me in 720p when I got home from work last night.

[minestrone]

I moved to BT fibre last year and have been fairly unimpressed. Drops fairly often for 5 - 10 seconds.

I'm hoping to get virgin round my way now they are doing a second burst of installs, They cabled the street, just never done the houses which is fairly annoying.

[VectraMan]

Actually, it might depend what you're watching Netflix on... on the PS3 it's pretty great in my view, but set-top boxes or smart TVs might all be different internally. Anyone know... VM, NF?

It shouldn't be; it's all the same data compressed the same way. Of course Netflix could do different things at their end depending on the device it detects; if it detects Android for example it might assume you're on a smaller screen and therefore use a lower bitrate

I was watching via a tablet with an HDMI cable, which probably wasn't the best, possibly was only 720p and it would get a bit juddery at times. Now I have a Chromecast, which doesn't have the judder, but you still get the same blurriness and blotchiness.

[VectraMan]

Which is why I still get blu rays sent in the post, at least I know I'm watching uncompressed 1080p

[MicrosoftBob]

This is half the problem. By saying "HD" they get away with much lower quality as people think as long as they tick the HD box it's all the same. But that only tells you the resolution, not how much it's compressed, which is where the quality goes. Their HD service is 1080p (or i possibly), and "Ultra HD" is 4K. It's ridiculous that people will pay extra for a 4K service when the HD service is much lower quality than it could be. But that's marketing for you.

It's meant to be the future, but what we actually get is way below what the original TV engineers that worked on HD thought was the minimum possible acceptable quality.

Which is why I still get blu rays sent in the post, at least I know I'm watching uncompressed 1080p

[d000hg]

I thought they were going to do 4k separately - ultraHD has been around for quite some time. But hey ho - I guess I never use the ultraHD service as I don't have a 4k TV.

Actually, it might depend what you're watching Netflix on... on the PS3 it's pretty great in my view, but set-top boxes or smart TVs might all be different internally. Anyone know... VM, NF?

[VectraMan]

Maybe you have keener eyes, or a better TV

I don't really know what Netflix mean by HD and "ultra HD", I thought they roughly equated to 720p and 1080p but that's only a guess.

This is half the problem. By saying "HD" they get away with much lower quality as people think as long as they tick the HD box it's all the same. But that only tells you the resolution, not how much it's compressed, which is where the quality goes. Their HD service is 1080p (or i possibly), and "Ultra HD" is 4K. It's ridiculous that people will pay extra for a 4K service when the HD service is much lower quality than it could be. But that's marketing for you.

It's meant to be the future, but what we actually get is way below what the original TV engineers that worked on HD thought was the minimum possible acceptable quality.

[d000hg]

Maybe you have keener eyes, or a better TV

I don't really know what Netflix mean by HD and "ultra HD", I thought they roughly equated to 720p and 1080p but that's only a guess.

[VectraMan]

Surely it's good that they don't use loads of data? On our 40" TV the picture is sharp and pretty. I don't know if Prime has such a feature, but have you double-checked your Netflix settings on the website, where they let you set maximum quality/bandwidth?

Ours is set to:

Set to auto. Will try setting it to high.

It's good for them and your ISP as they save money. If you're paying for an unlimited connection as I am, how can it be good to not use it and have a lower quality service? I've had Sky HD for years, and Netflix in HD is substantially worse than any of the Sky HD channels, and the Sky HD boxsets, and that's a shame.

[tarbera]

I recently went from 3MB to 1GB fibre, 1GB both upload and download - it's fab

[d000hg]

Have you looked to see how much bandwidth these streaming services actually use? I have 40Mb fibre (too cheap to pay the extra for 80Mb); Netflix and Amazon Prime use a very poor quality 2Mb. iPlayer is worse. The Sky boxsets are best at about 8Mb, but then as it can download in advance it doesn't matter so much how fast your connection is.

Surely it's good that they don't use loads of data? On our 40" TV the picture is sharp and pretty. I don't know if Prime has such a feature, but have you double-checked your Netflix settings on the website, where they let you set maximum quality/bandwidth?

Ours is set to:

High (best video quality, up to 3 GB per hour for HD, 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD)

[DaveB]

I've been a BT infinity customer since last Wednesday which is the exact day the phone stopped working.

No longer with BT. Using Andrews & Arnold. Not cheap but the service has been fantastic and they seem able to get BT to fix stuff that had plagued us for years before we switched. We transferred the phone line to them as well so now if there are any issues we just ring A&A and they deal with it for us.

UK based, 1st line support staff who can actually fix stuff and dont just read from a script and will happily talk tech with you on the phone.

[Pondlife]

I've been a BT infinity customer since last Wednesday which is the exact day the phone stopped working.

[VectraMan]

Have you looked to see how much bandwidth these streaming services actually use? I have 40Mb fibre (too cheap to pay the extra for 80Mb); Netflix and Amazon Prime use a very poor quality 2Mb. iPlayer is worse. The Sky boxsets are best at about 8Mb, but then as it can download in advance it doesn't matter so much how fast your connection is.