Netflix announced yesterday that it would
reduce data usage for its Canadian members in an effort to comply with data
caps in this area. Neil Hunt, chief product officer at Netflix, made the
announcement on the Netflix Blog allowing
Canadians to enjoy video streaming through Netflix without data cap worries.
Canadians
have experienced recent troubles regarding data, such as the CRTC's decision
to end unlimited use internet plans. Many Canadian ISPs
"enforce monthly caps on the total amount of data consumed." In
addition, AT&T is looking to place new data caps on
DSL and U-Verse customers here in the U.S.
Now,
Netflix is stepping up to make Canadian members' lives easier by lowering data
usage by two-thirds. According to Hunt, Canadians can now watch 30 hours of
Netflix video streaming per month and use only 9 GB of data. Before the data
reduction, 30 hours of video streaming would use 70 GB of data.
Hunt also
noted that the reduced data has only a small impact on video quality, but the
picture continues to be satisfactory. In fact, a Netflix member can adjust data
usage and picture quality with three settings that Netflix created.
The three
settings are "Good," which is the default setting with the low data
use per hour of 0.3 GB; "Better," which has better picture quality
and uses 0.7 GB per hour, and "Best," which has the highest picture
quality and uses 1.0 GB per hour or 2.3 GB per hour when streaming HD.
The
"Good" option allows 625 kbps/64kbps of video/audio while the
"Better" option limits video/audio to 1300 kbps/192 kbps and the
"Best" option can use up to 4800 kbps/384 kbps for 1080p HD video and
5.1 audio. For non-HD content, the "Best" option would limit
video/audio to 2200 kbps/192 kbps. With these settings, the "Good"
option would use up to 9 GB for 30 hours of content while "Better"
would use less than 20 GB and "Best" would use less than 67 GB.
No matter
which setting you choose, Netflix will stream additional
data as a buffer when content starts. Also, start, stop, rewind and seek
activity increases the data Netflix streams, but it will amount "to less
than a few minutes' worth."
In
addition, Netflix adaptive streaming may reduce the data rate stream for those
with lower speed, or to decrease interruptions in case of congestion.
Netflix plans to
improve its streaming service without the use of large amounts
of data. In the meantime, members can adjust their settings by going to
"Your Account" and the "Manage Video Quality" page.
