Due to Covid-19 EU Proposal to limit streaming quality (1 Viewer)

[Brian L]

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/03/19/eu-urges-netflix-to-limit-stream-quality-covid-19/

I don't do an awful lot of streaming (just Picard at the moment, and probably the Orville when they return), but I know a lot of you do and might find this interesting.

 

[Cranston37+]

Both my grandfathers were asked to fight in the Pacific. My father was asked to fight in Vietnam. If I'm asked to watch Better Call Saul in slightly less quality, I'll live.

 

[Johnny Angell]

My wife said CNN reported Netflix to stop streaming HD because of heavy demand. Ohhhh crap! Fortunately she was only half right. Netflix is dropping HD in Europe. Whew! Dodged a bullet.

However, I’ve always hear that digital infrastructure is more robust in Europe. Maybe there’s still an SD bullet out there for us.

 

[Malcolm R]

It's going to be something of a test, with all the kids out of school and wanting to stream all day every day.

I'm working from home for a while, but most all of my work in the office was done via online applications anyway, so transferring that to home would seem to be a net-zero change.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ve had inconsistent streaming quality in NYC over the past couple days, but it hasn’t been permanent. It’s been more of a case where it’s taking things a little longer to get started, but that they play fine after that. Companies here are being told by the governor that they must send at least 75% of their workforce out of the office in any given day so between the schools being closed and with that many extra people either working from home or just trying to pass the time at home, I’m not surprised. All things considered, Internet has been smoother than I expected.

 

[Brian L]

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/03/19/netflix-lower-streaming-quality-europe/

 

[Chris Will]

I've got no problem with Netflix doing this here in the US, just don't continue to charge me for 4K when/if they do.

 

[Mark Booth]

My library of 1,500 shiny discs suddenly seem a worthwhile investment!

Mark

 

[Edwin-S]

My library of 1,500 shiny discs suddenly seem a worthwhile investment!

Mark

Funny, I was sort of thinking along those lines just as I read your post; however, so far the streaming quality has been good so, right now, I'm hooked on watching "Midsomer Murders" on Amazon Prime.

 

[John*Wells]

My library of 1,500 shiny discs suddenly seem a worthwhile investment!

Mark

Yes Indeed. Physical Media forever

 

[Cranston37+]

Really don't think that's what we should be focusing on right now.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It seems maybe in poor taste to me to turn this into a “this is why discs are better” thread.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It seems maybe in poor taste to me to turn this into a “this is why discs are better” thread.

You're right! Lets leave the stream vs physical discs for a more appropriate thread(s) which are still active.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Fair point Josh!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think the key point here - what I think is great - is that they’re taking steps to keep services working for as many people as possible. If you’re asking the entirety of your population to stay home indefinitely, having streaming internet work is going to help with keeping people from losing their minds entirely. It’s better that everyone should have access to content at a slightly reduced technical quality than it would be if there were widespread outages.

I’m not in Europe but I’ve turned to streaming for new purchases in the past week or so. All NY residents except for providers of essential services are required to stay home. Shipping and delivery services are considered essential but I didn’t feel right ordering a non-essential item like a disc and potentially putting someone’s life at risk to deliver it to me. We’re all relying extra on delivery services and it also feels important not to burden them with inessential packages that could clog up the system and delay more vital things from getting where they need to go on time.

 

[Brian L]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...it-video-quality-around-the-world-for-a-month

 

[Cranston37+]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...it-video-quality-around-the-world-for-a-month

"Viewers will at first see YouTube videos in standard definition but will still be able to watch in high definition if they want, but will have to choose to do so."

 

[dpippel]

"Viewers will at first see YouTube videos in standard definition but will still be able to watch in high definition if they want, but will have to choose to do so."

Heck, in my experience that's the way Youtube operates about 80% of the time anyway!

 

[Worth]

It seems maybe in poor taste to me to turn this into a “this is why discs are better” thread.

Not to mention the fact that physical media is also going to be impacted by this.

 

[Worth]

It's happening in Canada now:

https://www.cp24.com/entertainment-...ada-to-lower-internet-bandwidth-use-1.4870122