Netflix availability of 1080p content vs mere 720p

[taltamir]

I am trying to decide if I should replace my old roku devices (gen 1 and gen 2) that can do 720p with a newer roku express that can do 1080p. (no point in getting the 4k version in 2017)

The problem is that I cannot find any hind anywhere of the availability of 1080p content on netflix. I can find a full list of 4k shows (all 101 of them). But I cannot find any hint or mention anywhere whether something marked with HD is 1080p or 720p; even if I could find it marked on the show specifically, I would like an overview of what % of all shows is 1080p rather than going show by show.

It does not help that back in the day netflix decided to use their own language instead of english and decided to say
720p = HD
1080p = SuperHD

despite the fact that everyone else knew it as
720p = Half HD
1080p = Full HD

So... does anyone know where I can find out about said availability? Because I want to know if its worth upgrading the roku

 

[taltamir]

Ok... so I had the idea to just call netflix customer support and ask.

The guy there claimed that 100% of their lineup is 1080p already. And that only 4k has limited availability. So that is good to know.

edit: well, I managed to find some old shows that are definitely not 1080p... so... who knows.

 

[Fardringle]

I think all of their content can be streamed at 1080p resolution, but a lot of the old stuff was never even 720p originally so while the screen output resolution may be set that way, it can't increase the quality of low resolution source content...

 

[13Gigatons]

Some old shows were recorded at 4:3 480p, netflix can't fix that.

 

[LoveMachine]

Also, the Netflix servers decide what resolution to send based on connection speed and traffic at that moment. Just because the source file is 1080, doesn't mean it's streamed at 1080.

 

[LoveMachine]

Oh, and in answer to the root question, I don't think upgrading Rokus for the sake of 720 vs 1080 is worth it. Unless the newer gadgets have other apps/features you need, the perceived improvement in resolution won't be much unless you sit close to your TV or have a very large screen. I have a few movies transcoded in both 720 and 1080, and I can barely tell the difference on a 50" plasma at 10 feet.

 

[JeffMD]

I can definitely tell the difference between a GOOD 1080p encode on 50". I also have a 1080p 32" and it is less noticeable, but the sharpness still exist. If this is a guest bedroom 32" then I wouldn't bother, but if its your living room then I would just for the sake of upgrading such an old box and getting a unit with faster response.

As for netflix, yea their encode resolutions are all over depending on the source. OLD shows like full screen shows and movies tend to be 480p. Now back many years ago 1080p was rolled out in netflix a little while after it started, so while movies were encoded with 720p, they would need to go back over their old stuff to create 1080p versions of it. As you can imagine I suspect that process was very low priority. Unfortunately there is now way to know the status of that backlog even today.