Coronavirus and the resulting lockdown across Europe led to a considerable increase in internet traffic. Closed at home, people have relied on the network to pass the time. Some slung their heads down on social media, others discovered video calls, little used before the pandemic and now undergoing a real boom. Many have instead turned to streaming to spend the days, with Netflix, Amazon Video and Disney + to act as a lifeline against the boredom of the new daily life.
The increase in traffic, however, forced the main service providers to run for cover: to avoid the collapse of the network, it was therefore decided to reduce the quality of the streaming, however acting on the bitrate and not on the resolution. An understandable and necessary choice, provided that, with the gradual return to normal, the current quality does not become a constant.
Why cut the bitrate and not the resolution?
The choice to decrease the bitrate instead of the resolution makes perfect sense, both with a view to reducing the flow of data, and from a commercial point of view. Numbers in hand, the amount of 4K content is significantly lower than that in 1080p, so the amount of data transmitted is higher in this format than in the higher resolution. Cutting the bitrate and the resolution of UHD content alone would not have had the necessary impact to significantly reduce data traffic.
On a commercial level, the advantages are clear. For example, if Netflix had stopped streaming 4K content, its subscription plan would have caused problems, with refund requests from users, who pay to view content at this resolution. The same thing can also be applied to Amazon Video and Disney +, which at current rates include UHD content: why pay the same to have a lower service?
By cutting the bitrate only, it was possible to apply a soft transition that does not affect all users.
We think of those who use streaming mainly on tablets or smartphones, where the small size of the display makes the lower quality less evident than in the past. On large TVs, however, the difference can be seen, which is why, with the gradual return to "normal" in the coming weeks and months, it is good that the question of streaming quality should not be forgotten.
Sources are important
If you look at the TV market, the trends have always been the same for some time now. The dimensions grow year by year, today it is possible to take home a 75 inch for less than 1000 euros, a huge TV at the price that only a few years ago was dedicated to cuts under 50 inches. Who is looking for a high quality of vision then is spoiled for choice. In short, today it is not so much the televisions that are missing to see the contents well, but the sources of high quality. In this streaming, even without reaching the heights of optical media, has always defended itself well, managing to bring movies and TV shows in 4K and HDR to the mass audience.
Just in this period we tried a 65-inch Sony AG9, one of the best TVs on the market, and the limits deriving from the reduction of the bitrate have all been seen. Just look at the initial scene of Star Trek Into Darkness to understand that lowering the bitrate requires a price to pay in terms of video quality. Many small elements on the moving screen are enough to create a mess in the compression, which is filled with artifacts due to the lowered bitrate. In other scenes the problem is less evident, but it remains. In general, the contents in 1080p are the most affected, but also in 4K the high compression makes everything less defined.
In a period like this, where the return to normal is still a distant mirage, bitrate is certainly not a fundamental problem, we are aware of this. We are not even criticizing the streaming services, which have faced an unprecedented situation. Our request is simply to do not make this a standard.
With the progressive easing of the lockdown, internet traffic should decrease, which is why we need to monitor the situation, even if for now there is no indication of a return to the original quality in the short term. Netflix however, a few days ago, made it known that it was working together with the managers of internet services to improve the situation. A small signal of attention that is nice to note and that testifies how the giants of streaming have every intention of returning to normal as soon as possible.
