Netflix Enables Video Quality Settings To Help Customers Manage Data Usage

Netflix has added the ability to control the quality (and data usage) of your Netflix streaming, helpful if you have a capped bandwidth account or are using a mobile device. Netflix added a similar setting for Canadian subscribers in February when ISP's up north started capping bandwidth.

You can access the Manage Video Quality settings under Your Account:

"We know that some of you have Internet data caps and we want to make it easier for you to manage how much data you use. We offer 3 video quality settings to help you manage your data usage. No matter what level you choose, your Netflix membership price will remain the same."

Thanks to JackH for sending this in.

Comments

[Complication]

Again, NF has over-simplified this setting. It would be much more useful to me if I could set it by device.

I want full blown HD on my PS3 because it is connected to my home theatre. I don't mind that sometimes my ISP can't handle the HD stream because the PS3 adapts by downgrading the quality instead of stopping to buffer. Love the almost instant start too.

My Roku, however, is attached to a smaller TV in the bedroom with only stereo output. I'd like to force it to use 3-dot quality all the time to escape the long startup buffering for HD and re-buffering when the Roku chooses too high of a stream. Although, I haven't seen it do the re-buffering in a while so maybe the Roku went to adaptive too.

[gir]

For what it's worth, on my Roku:
- Good quality gives me 2 dots
- Better quality gives me 3 dots
(and IMO good quality should be called not-so-good quality).

I did a little informal bandwidth checking and it seems my Roku comes in a little lower than the 0.3/0.7 GB/hr estimates, at least for the video I tested with. At Good quality, my Roku buffered the entire video (a 22 minute children's cartoon) in an initial burst of 83 MB. At better quality, the Roku initially buffered approximately 85 MB, then refilled the buffer every two minutes with a burst of 12-15 MB. I assume the final 10 minutes or so would have played without any additional bandwidth use.

By my calculations, on my Roku, with this video:
- Good quality used approximately 0.23 GB/hr (226 MB/hr) with an average bandwidth a touch over 500 kbps.
- Better quality used approximately 0.40 GB/hr (405 MB/hr) with an average (but bursty) bandwidth of around 900 kbps.

[CJ]

Nice if Netflix had a default setting - none of my boxes are checked. So what setting am I currently seeing?

[Michael]

Can't set it, netflix site throwing an error

[Brent Syverson]

You can easily tweak your Roku settings for bandwith. See below...

Bitrate Screen - set bandwidth, stream profile mode (main/advanced), debug
In home screen....
[HOME] 5 times, [REW] 3 times, [FF] 2 times

If you have issues accessing content, voice sync issues, try switching stream profile mode.
Set debug mode in this screen to see connection rates.

Secret Screen - update, debug options
[HOME] 5 times, [FF] 3 times, [REW] 2 times

Reboot
[HOME] 5 times, [UP] once, [REW] 2 times, [FF] 2 times

Factory Reset via reset button
Hold down the reset button on bottom/left back of box for 15 seconds. (from the manual

[Jeff Hay]

Looks like they've added different bitrates as well, 2350, 1750, etc. A new low end feed of 235 kbps is there too.

[Rawmeatcritic.wordpress.com]

So now you can get even worse quality than before when streaming for the same price. Maybe we should be grateful they didn't increase the price for adding a new feature.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=661000669]

Ugh. This is why I can't stand broadband companies. This is the sort of thing that naturally happens when they offer a product unlimited for 14 years, then decide it's better to cap the data instead of upgrading their networks.

Why innovate with new technologies in the coming years when companies do things that inherently limit innovation? And why do these same companies keep advertising higher and higher speeds...just so you can meet your cap even sooner?!