What kind of codec is used by netflix ? X264 or X265

[William Gaatjes]

I read about many versions, VP9 for android. X264 and x265 and libvpx. Then there is HVEC and AVC.


I find some articles on the netflix blog that x265 is more efficient but i cannot really determine if it is used by netflix. My browser seems to hardware support x264 through the dx11 api.

Then i read some articles :
http://techblog.netflix.com/2016/08/a-large-scale-comparison-of-x264-x265.html

https://www.extremetech.com/computi...on-video-codecs-like-x265-and-vp9-to-the-test

And i also read on a toms hardware article that x265 on radeon gpus is disabled.
I am lost.
Can someone give me some insights about what is going on ?
I understand vp9 is chosen for android applications because of google support for vp9.
But how does it all piece together on windows ?

 

[imported_bman]

Hit ctrl+alt+shift+q while playing to get stats. Unless you have Kabylake you will be using AVC (H264).

 

[William Gaatjes]

Hit ctrl+alt+shit+q while playing to get stats. Unless you have Kabylake you will be using AVC (H264).

🙂 I thought you were messing with me.
But i tried the key combination in netflix and lo and behold :

Playing bitrate (a/v): 96 / 2050 ( res: 1280x720, par: 1x1 )
Video Track: Codec: encv (avc)
it is H264.

Thank you.

I always thought i had hd because the image seems so sharp.
But i guess the image can be even sharper.

edit:
Maybe the bitrate depends on the content.

 

[Spjut]

For 1080p, you need to use Internet Explorer or Edge. Or the Netflix app for Windows 10. The app is also required for 5.1.

 

[William Gaatjes]

For 1080p, you need to use Internet Explorer or Edge. Or the Netflix app for Windows 10. The app is also required for 5.1.

Thank you. I installed the app. Now the power consumption is reduced as well in comparison to using firefox and i have 1920x1080p coded :enc (avc)


edit:
Added the link for people interested :

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/netflix/9wzdncrfj3tj

 

[at80eighty]

Hit ctrl+alt+shit+q while playing to get stats

I cant find one of those keys. then again, i have a crappy keyboard.

 

[happy medium]

Hit ctrl+alt+shit+q while playing to get stats. Unless you have Kabylake you will be using AVC (H264).

what about a gtx960 or 950?

 

[imported_bman]

what about a gtx960 or 950?

Even a GTX1080 will still playback in AVC right now, has to do with how Netflix certifies devices for playback. Only the iGPU of a Kabylake processor will receive HEVC, maybe Netflix will roll-out support for other GPUs.

I cant find one of those keys. then again, i have a crappy keyboard.

Needed to clean off my kayboard 😉

 

[happy medium]

Only the iGPU of a Kabylake processor will receive HEVC

The Nvidia Shield has HEVC support from Netflix.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shield-android-tv-review/7

 

[imported_bman]

The Nvidia Shield has HEVC support from Netflix.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shield-android-tv-review/7

I meant for Windows PCs only, you will get HEVC or VP9 on non-Windows devices.

 

[Denithor]

So Chrome in Windows 10 won't display 1080p Netflix?

More to the discussion, I was thinking about switching from my ancient GTX 650 Ti Boost (try saying that three times fast, LOL) to a GTX 1050 or Ti, but from this thread there wouldn't be any change in video codec/support? What if I then switched to the Netflix app instead of Chrome?

 

[imported_bman]

The app is still limited to AVC on non Kabylake right now. Though it will give you 1080p, I think Chrome is limited to 720p.