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With more people staying home and streaming content than ever before (thanks, of course, to the coronavirus), sites like Netflix and YouTube have recently reduced the quality of their streams in Europe to ease the burden on providers.
And now comes the news that similar measures are being taken in the United States and around the world. In a move that shouldn’t surprise anyone, YouTube will start reducing video quality for users around the world today. Thus, the default videos will play in the popular definition, users retain the option to transfer to HD if they wish.
“We continue to work extensively with governments and network operators around the world to make our effort to minimize the strain on the formula during this unprecedented situation,” Google said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The decrease in video quality in YouTube videos will be maintained for the next 30 days. In an ideal situation, the coronavirus will be under control until then, lockdowns will have been lifted, and YouTube won’t want to keep its video quality artificially low.
In particular, Netflix is the first site to decrease the quality of its streams, a resolution taken at the request of regulators seeking to ensure that the structural integrity of the internet remains intact. Now, as for whether or not Netflix will stick to YouTube’s footsteps and decrease its streaming quality around the world, there is no indication that such a move will take place anytime soon.
At this point, Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, in a recent interview on CNN, said Netflix would comply with the demands of regulators in any country. In other words, unless otherwise requested, Netflix is unlikely to make any adjustments. to its video quality.
By the way, Netflix today reduced the bitrate of videos streamed to subscribers in India and Australia. A Netflix executive said lower streams in those countries will persist for about a month.
The good news is that Netflix compression is arguably the most productive on the market, meaning users in affected countries probably won’t notice any degradation in video quality.
“Given the crisis, we have developed a way to reduce Netflix traffic on telecommunications networks by 25% while maintaining the quality of our service,” Netflix’s Ken Florance said in a statement. “Therefore, consumers will need to continue to take advantage of the quality that comes with their package, whether it’s ultra-high definition, premium or popular. “
Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the technology industry in general for over 15 years. A long-time Mac user and Apple expert, his writings have been published in Apple Edible, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK and TUAW. Without discussing the latest events with Apple, Yoni enjoys attending improv shows in Chicago, betting on football and cultivating new addictions to television screens.
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