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What's going on - Netflix Quality?

36K views 35 replies 17 participants last post by  practicalgeek 
#1 ·
I don't understand this at all. Here's my scenario:


I'm in Toronto, Ontario streaming Netflix from my Xbox 360 and I'm getting mediocre picture quality at best. My isp is Velcom and I'm currently on a 6mb DSL plan. I tried both wireless and wired connections and I don't see any differences in quality. I tried to watch a movie that's supposed to be in HD and the movie looked like dvd quality at best....no where NEAR high def material.

Now, I've tried running Crackle on my 360 and the movie and tv show quality is way better than Netflix. Someone told me that speed is the most important thing when it comes to Netflix's quality on screen. Why then is Crackle so much better? If it's my speed, Crackle would look just as bad right?

I know for a fact that my isp doesn't throttle my speed...is it possible that Netflix does? I tried to watch an X-Files episode and it looked like a youtube video running with 240 lines of resolution. My speed is adequate to run Netflix....or is it? On their website they state that you need a 5mb or higher. Has anyone else had this happen and do I need to upgrade my web speed in order to get better video quality?

This makes no sense to me as Crackle content looks so clean. I recently watched "Crossroads" and the video was really good....no HD good but clean enough on my 32" set. I wish my Netflix movies looked as good.

Can someone suggest something? I hate the fact that Netflix doesn't give us the choice as to which quality stream we want. I read somewhere that they toned it down to something like 625kps. You'll never get HD quality on that.

Why can't I just let my console buffer (put my console on pause for a while) and get the chance to see it in better video quality? I honestly thought that by going wired it would improve the quality. What gives??? Crackle may not have the same amount of content compared to Netflix but it's a deal breaker for me if the quality sucks real bad.

Any comments or help?
 
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#7 ·
I stream Netflix through a PS3 and I too enjoy decent to quite good picture quality (4-5 MB|sec that is).

Now it is my understanding that the availability of the PQ preferences option depend on the type of device you activate on your account. For instance, on a Wii system, you will not have to decide between PQ options, it will default to the lowest quality setting because of the device's limited connectivity options (480p component).
 
#9 ·
I have had Netflix for several months and the HD quality has never been an issue. However, for the past 10 days in February, the video quality has significantly declined and I am unable to watch movies in HD (they appear like SD or worse).

Anyone else have this issue (I live in the Greater Toronto Area)? Have contacted Netflix and my ISP and done a whole bunch of trouble shooting...problem still not resolved.

Thanks for your help.
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Try hooking up to a wired connection. I notice that going wireless, my connection only has 2 bars whereas when it's wired, I usually get 3 bars. I've never gotten the "hd" logo lit as of yet. So I guess you could say that we're getting dvd quality rather than 720p.

But hey, it's only 8 bucks....what do you expect for that rate???

If you're looking for quality, you'll need to subscribe to Bell, Rogers etc and pay a hell of alot more. My friend has Rogers and his movies look stunning in 1080p.
 
#11 ·
I have had Netflix for several months and the HD quality has never been an issue. However, for the past 10 days in February, the video quality has significantly declined and I am unable to watch movies in HD (they appear like SD or worse).

Anyone else have this issue (I live in the Greater Toronto Area)? Have contacted Netflix and my ISP and done a whole bunch of trouble shooting...problem still not resolved.
Exact same problem here: I have a 30Mbps Internet cable connection (ISP: Videotron) and picture quality was awesome until like the past 10 days in February. I'm in Quebec City. I have this problem with every device I own, either via wire or wifi. I wonder if this problem could be related to the announcement about eyeIO?
 
#12 ·
Netflix HD ?

So I signed up for my free Netflix trail and tried it out this aft - I have to say at first glance, I'm pretty disappointed in the quality of the HD - I didn't really know what to expect, but tons of artificating on an "HD" choice wasn't one of them. I guess I was expecting something more like Rogers on Demand. I guess the "pipeline" just isn't the same (??)

For reference, I'm viewing on a 50" viera plasma... SD looks like crap on this TV, so maybe this is really what I'm viewing ?
 
#16 ·
Netflix quality

I have to say that I started watching netflix on a bluray player lately and Im blown away by the quality - its superb. I have always viewed netflix on a wireless to wii connection or via my pc and its been fine but the bluray player is head and shoulders above what Im used to.

Of course - I better watch my download limits now Im viewing more in HD!
 
#17 ·
I am completely baffled as to why Netflix defaults to the lowest quality setting. I've been with Netflix from the start and most of the time when a friend signs up they complain to me about the pq. After I tell them how to change the setting they're quite happy with the pq. If no one had told them about that setting they likely would've cancelled. Which makes me wonder how much business Netflix loses due to this boneheaded setup.
 
#18 ·
Well they're choosing not to risk having you sign up for a free trial, watch like crazy in HD for a month and then get blindsided with a massive bill of overage charges from your ISP. Or constant rebuffering issues if you're bandwidth restricted. It's as simple as that. What they could do is send you an email after you sign up for a trial to tell you about the option.

(Glad I live in the west where we don't have overage issues ;))
 
#19 ·
Or constant rebuffering issues if you're bandwidth restricted.
Well, that isn't a issue with adaptive streaming tech like what Netflix uses.

Even with the highest quality setting configured Netflix is initially pessimistic about the internet connection (and sends the lowest quality stream) and then upgrades to a high quality stream if the connection can handle it.
 
#21 ·
Most do not? All the devices I've used Netflix with support adaptive streaming. They include:

- Desktop Browsers (Silverlight client)
- Xbox 360
- PS3
- iOS devices
- Android devices
- Roku 2 devices
- Apple TV
- Samsung TV (UN55D7900)

While I'm sure there are devices out there that don't support adaptive streaming all the devices above do, and even if there are a number of devices that don't do it, I imagine the above devices make up the vast majority of Netflix traffic. Of all the devices on that list I suspected that the Samsung TV might not support it, but I just double checked and it does indeed support adaptive streaming.
 
#22 ·
I am using both a PS3 and a new Western Digital Live TV box. Quality is poor on both. I have a 6 meg/sec DSL line and a 24 meg/sec cable line and the quality is the same on both. I've also tried ethernet and wireless. Can't see any difference. I am set for the best quality on the Netflix site. I will say the quality gets better the longer I watch but after 5 minutes I'm still at low or medium SD quality based on the display option on both the PS3 and WD TV live apps. It never seems to get to "HD" on that display. I thought maybe my choices at signup might be limiting me. I checked computer, Xbox 360, PS3 and WD Live (other). I also checked Wii, since we have one. I have now tried disconnecting all devices and will try reconnecting the PS3 and WD only and see if deleting the Wii made any difference.
 
#23 ·
Using the ps3, you should be able to get the xtreme HD. If you can't, suggest you run the speedtest.net using 2 different servers and report your speed. Also, what shows/movies did you watched? Try an HD one such as breaking bad or Thor. Are you connected using hdmi and 1080?
 
#24 ·
Update... After removing all devices from my profile and re-enabling only the PS3 and WD Live I can get to XHigh/HD quality on my cable connection on both devices and High/HD quality on my DSL connection. It takes about a minute to achieve these quality levels but once there the picture is beautiful. I can only assume the Wii was limiting me in some way.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Netflix Canada suddenly streaming content at lowest setting

Having a problem with Netflix suddenly streaming all content, including material available in HD, at the lowest SD setting across all my devices -- laptop, Xbox, PS3. This began about two weeks ago. Previous to that, I've had Netflix for a year with generally excellent video quality. And yes, I've had the account settings set to the highest video quality. As I said, I haven't had any problems almost the whole time I've been a subscriber. This is new and unprecedented.

I checked my router and couldn't find anything unusual in the logs or traffic reports. I am far under my Telus bandwidth cap, and on a high speed turbo service. I also tried other video streaming services on my Xbox, including Zune video, and they came in at HD no problem.

A call to the Netflix help desk yielded a suggestion to reinstall the Netflix apps on the devices and Silverlight on the laptop. I tried reinstalling Silverlight, but saw no improvement.

Curiously, I then went to Netflix USA using my American VPN. It immediately began streaming content in HD. I turned off the VPN, thus going back to my regular Telus connection, and the same show when it resumed on Netflix Canada stopped streaming in HD.

So, is this a Telus problem? I know they don't throttle. Or a Netflix Canada problem with congestion? Suggestions? Anyone else encountering this?
 
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