Why does Netflix never buffer where Directv Now does ?

[pcslookout]

What is the difference?

Both are set to stream at highest quality. 1080p.

 

[XavierMace]

Netflix does buffer. But they also have very good compression.

 

[bbhaag]

I also believe that Netflix is paying certain ISPs for better traffic routing. There are a few older articles from around 2014 detailing Netflix paying Comcast and maybe Verizon for better routing on their networks. I don't know if this is still the case but it was at one time.

 

[DaveSimmons]

From those old articles Netflix also locates servers in the data centers of Comcast, etc. so that content skips several network transitions and goes from the ISP to the customer almost directly.

 

[nblinks]

I think Netflix buffer well and it also have good compression. If you are having problem with it, it may come from your internet speed.

 

[Cogman]

Lots of reasons really.

DirectTv is doing live tv, which is a harder problem to solve. Netflix can take a new show throw it at a server farm, and crunch on it until they get every desired resolution and bitrate combination that they want. They can work on the problem for a day, week, month. Whatever. They have time.

When they are serving it up, switching to different resolutions or bitrates is easy peasy, they just switch which file they are pointed at.

Direct tv, on the other hand, pretty much HAS to do all of this work on the fly. That means they have no choice but to limit the bitrates and resolutions they are handling based on the hardware available to them. Further, it is going to look worse because they have to encode it live.

For them, it is a lot harder to switch resolutions around so they try and avoid it more by buffering instead of switching.

That doesn't mean they couldn't be better at it, just that doing it better is going to be more complex for them.

It is pretty much the same reason why netflix looks so much better than youtube. Youtube has to handle WAY more content coming in than netflix does. They have limited server farm capacity for that so they pretty much have to prioritize what gets the good compression vs what gets the fast compression based on things like viewer numbers. (well, there is also the problem of garbage in/garbage out... but that isn't really the same thing).

 

[Fir]

Try fast.com and compare to speedtest.net especially at night.

More information on Netflix than anyone would want to swallow here!

https://medium.com/@NetflixTechBlog

 

[Gary Stamey]

I don't believe that Netflix buffers, buffering happens FROM the ISP...
Programs/videos played on Netflix ONLY work FROM ISP's, the ISP's bandwidth is the reason buffering happens at all...

 

[sportage]

Directv Now is still very much in beta mode.
They don't even do cloud DVR, well not supporting most devices thus far.
DirecTV Now buffers AND is very laggy when going into a channel.
Selection time and the moment the show appears on the screen is painfully slow.
SlingTV is just as bad. I thought it was their servers but on SlingTV I think they do some short of handshake / verify each and every time, then when you pass mustard THEN your show finally displays. Ridiculous, and extremely annoying.

HuluTV buffers, and has this weird tendency on live TV to screw up the voices, the tempo, and jump thru portions of the show with catching up to live.
Really strange.

The only streaming TV service that is fantastic with no lagging, no buffering, immediate channel selection with immediate on screen display is YoutubeTV.
And naturally, they know a little something about servers.
AND, they have unlimited cloud DVR at no additional charge.
On the down side, few add-ons.
No HBO, no Starz, no Cinemax, only Showtime the soft porn channel.

For me, and after trying them all, I kept HuluTV.
Cloud DVR recording is limited but included at no charge, or add more DVR time for $$$.
And a simple HuluTV guide is fairly non existent, but eventually you figure it out.
And, AND they have HBO for $5 a month for 6 months (promo).
All recordable.
Also, offers Showtime and Cinemax as extra add-ons.
Most of the time all goes very well, but a few live TV shows can lose lip-sync and tempo.
MSNBC can lose sync, and watching Bill Maher on HBO talking in slow-mo is strange. Then it snaps out if it, at least for a while. This is on live TV.

On DirecTV Now issues? I think it's their servers.
And this streaming thing is fairly new for them.
Definitely still in beta mode.

 

[techmanc]

I would say that DTVN network cant handle as heavy a load as Netflix but DTVN has gotten better on buffer problems since they just came out with newest version this week but any show that has too many viewers at once will most likely still cause problems.

 

[Ichinisan]

Even small ISPs get the box that Netflix provides for free to have all of Netflix's popular content cached locally. Netflix benefits and so does the ISP.

 

[Ichinisan]

I don't believe that Netflix buffers, buffering happens FROM the ISP...
Programs/videos played on Netflix ONLY work FROM ISP's, the ISP's bandwidth is the reason buffering happens at all...

No.

 

[lakedude]

HBO Now has offline (not live) content that could be optimized like Netflix but HBO Now's streaming performance pales in comparison to Netflix. Netflix pretty much always comes in smooth as silk while HBO Now suffers from temporal issues (it stutters, a lot). It seems to me that this could easily be solved buy just waiting a minute to start playing and building up a local buffer.

Sometimes when Netflix first starts a show will be low quality for a few seconds and then it will pop into a better quality stream.

 

[robvas]

From those old articles Netflix also locates servers in the data centers of Comcast, etc. so that content skips several network transitions and goes from the ISP to the customer almost directly.

Yup, they have 1,000+ OpenConnect boxes serving video all over the world

 

[Ichinisan]

HBO Now has offline (not live) content that could be optimized like Netflix but HBO Now's streaming performance pales in comparison to Netflix. Netflix pretty much always comes in smooth as silk while HBO Now suffers from temporal issues (it stutters, a lot). It seems to me that this could easily be solved buy just waiting a minute to start playing and building up a local buffer.

Sometimes when Netflix first starts a show will be low quality for a few seconds and then it will pop into a better quality stream.

HBO Go works pretty well on my Apple TV. Buffering is rare if it ever happens at all. Picture quality is excellent. Small local cable company as ISP for the last few years. Recently acquired by WOW! cable.

 

[Ichinisan]

Yup, they have 1,000+ OpenConnect boxes serving video all over the world

...even at the small local ISP where I worked for almost 13 years. Not sure when the network guys got the Netflix box, but it was many years ago.

 

[Cogman]

...even at the small local ISP where I worked for almost 13 years. Not sure when the network guys got the Netflix box, but it was many years ago.

Really, no reason NOT to get the boxes. Netflix is a huge bandwidth sink, so cutting down the backbone traffic is a win for everyone. Netflix wins because they get better quality from the ISP, the ISP wins because they have a bunch of extra bandwidth for non-netflix apps for their customers.