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Question about 4K tv

F

futurefields

Diamond Member
If ypu get a 4k smart tv does Netflix start trying to stream in 4k?

Already at 1080p, using Netflix as my primary source of TV, I go through about half my 1tb monthly data cap. I have to assume if I go 4k i will blow right through that cap.
 
It depends if you subscribe to Netflix with 4K.

If you don't want 4K, then downgrade to the 2 device or lower plan, or don't use your 4K TV's built in app use Netflix on a 1080p only device (like a 1080p only BluRay, roku, etc.)
 
It does by default if you have the 4K plan, but you can lower the streaming quality (even per device, IIRC) if you want to save bandwidth.
 
This May 2016 article mentions about 11.25GB/hour of streaming 4K video via Netflix.
https://www.techhive.com/article/30...t-data-caps-will-stifle-video-innovation.html

To stream in 4K Ultra HD with HDR, Netflix recommends you have a consistent minimum download speed of at least 25 megabits per second. That multiplies out to roughly 11.25 gigabytes per hour. With the average Netflix user now streaming two hours of video per day, according to one third-party estimate, HDR TV owners would consume 675GB of bandwidth to watch just one Netflix stream.
Click to expand...
 
futurefields said:
If ypu get a 4k smart tv does Netflix start trying to stream in 4k?

Already at 1080p, using Netflix as my primary source of TV, I go through about half my 1tb monthly data cap. I have to assume if I go 4k i will blow right through that cap.
Click to expand...

What plan do you have with Netflix? If you want 4K, you have to subscribe to their $11.99 plan that allows 4K and up to 4 devices.
 
futurefields said:
If ypu get a 4k smart tv does Netflix start trying to stream in 4k?
Click to expand...

The features depend highly on the client software for the TV or other device. You'll usually get 4K, but do you get HDR, Atmos, etc? That's completely random at this point. To give you an idea, an update to the YouTube app on my TV recently caused it to not even provide 4K.
 
SKORPI0 said:
This May 2016 article mentions about 11.25GB/hour of streaming 4K video via Netflix.
https://www.techhive.com/article/30...t-data-caps-will-stifle-video-innovation.html[
To stream in 4K Ultra HD with HDR, Netflix recommends you have a consistent minimum download speed of at least 25 megabits per second. That multiplies out to roughly 11.25 gigabytes per hour. With the average Netflix user now streaming two hours of video per day, according to one third-party estimate, HDR TV owners would consume 675GB of bandwidth to watch just one Netflix stream.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
That is terrible. Evey time I see things like this I am reminded of the Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer Blu-ray which was double-layer (BD-50) at 50GB capacity for a movie that ran only 92 minutes, or about three times Netflix offering for 4K. Laughable. But I guess this is meant for people that could less about the image quality.
 
BarkingGhostar said:
That is terrible. Evey time I see things like this I am reminded of the Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer Blu-ray which was double-layer (BD-50) at 50GB capacity for a movie that ran only 92 minutes, or about three times Netflix offering for 4K. Laughable. But I guess this is meant for people that could less about the image quality.
Click to expand...

4K movies are encoded with HEVC (h.265) and usually on a dual-layer UBD66 disc. Also, a good bit of that space is used by things like a Dolby Atmos track.
 
Dang I didn't know Netflix offered 4K! I just looked and while sure you can upgrade to HD or UHD you gotta increase the number of screens you can view it on too. Figures... I just am interested in viewing it on one screen but I guess if I want 4K I'll have to do the 4-screen plan. Oh well, I guess it's only $4 a month more in the end.

Huh, I'm only on the standard def. plan but I thought I was streaming 1080p. Kinda weird that you can watch YouTube in 1080p for free but Netflix only streams in 720p by default. Man I'm gonna notice such a difference, lol.
 
Aikouka said:
4K movies are encoded with HEVC (h.265) and usually on a dual-layer UBD66 disc. Also, a good bit of that space is used by things like a Dolby Atmos track.
Click to expand...
Unless h.265 is eight times more efficient at compressing raw video then I will continue to keep my reservations. Not knocking what Netflix is doing because the average cowsumer sits too far from their 4K display to even benefit from the increased pixel resolution. Sure, they'll get a benefit of other things like a wide color gamut, but as for resolution and compression Netflix is catering to the ignorant cow on its books.
 
As a quick note, if you have a 4K HDR TV and use a Windows 10 computer on it, disable HDR in the display settings. Leaving it on will just cause your picture to look awful (drained of color, dim, etc.). I couldn't figure out why my picture looked so bad on my HTPC, but once I turned that option off, it went back to looking like normal. To my knowledge, turning off Windows's setting will not affect any game or full-screen/exclusive mode application that uses HDR.

BarkingGhostar said:
Unless h.265 is eight times more efficient at compressing raw video then I will continue to keep my reservations. Not knocking what Netflix is doing because the average cowsumer sits too far from their 4K display to even benefit from the increased pixel resolution. Sure, they'll get a benefit of other things like a wide color gamut, but as for resolution and compression Netflix is catering to the ignorant cow on its books.
Click to expand...

As a side comparison, I've watched 4K content from YouTube on a 4K TV, and it looks fine. Would it be as good as a UHD Blu-ray? No, but it doesn't look bad at to me. Honestly, I'd care more about HDR/Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos than I would simply getting 4K. Although, keep in mind that using streaming apps directly on the TV will not allow you to use fancy audio modes as HDMI's ARC will not support object-based sound files (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X) until HDMI 2.1 and S/PDIF only supports lossy formats. So, you'll want a secondary player, and as I mentioned earlier, secondary players may not support 4K settings out of the box on certain video apps. (It's a pretty big mess.)

EDIT: As a quick note, YouTube uses VP9 not h.265.
 
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