Earlier this week, Netflix posted an extremely complicated-sounding blog post about algorithms and definition and bitrates and bandwidth.
If you looked like Justin Bieber does below while reading it, don’t feel bad; you are not alone.
It sounds super bloody complicated, but it’s not. Basically, Netflix is playing around with something called ‘per-title encoding’.
This means that rather than stick with one recipe for everything, they’ll give a little more to visually complex shows that need definition, and a little less to show that don’t – for example, animated shows.
So basically, they’ve reworked their magic algorithm to make sure you have the highest quality video you possibly can, without blowing out your Internet bill.
- Low-bandwidth conditions: per-title encoding will often give you better video quality on titles with ‘simple’ content. Shows like BoJack Horseman will now be streamed at a higher resolution for the same bitrate.
- High/adequate bandwidth conditions: per-title encoding will often give you even better video quality for complex titles, such as Marvel‘s Daredevil, because they’ll encode at a higher maximum bitrate than they do RN.
So, you’re using only the bandwidth you absolutely need to, but getting an optimal viewing experience.
This change is expected to come in early in 2016, so get ready for your Netflix to look better and use less data. Fuck yeah.
If this is too simple, you can read the full Netflix blog post HERE, ya giant nerd.
Source: Netflix.
Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand / Getty.
