Not quite sure where to ask this question.. but here goes.
So, I have a little 26 TV inch screen in the bedroom attached to a laptop for watching Netflix via HDMI.
The screen is 1360x768.
My netflix quality is set to Auto.
Question… is Netflix's Win 10 app intelligent enough to realize that the screen is NOT 1080p and only send me the lower resolution image instead (hence saving bandwidth/data). Or does it still send me 1080p and it just gets downscaled at my end for the lower screen res?
Not a bad idea… unfortunately the laptop doesn't have a functioning screen (scored from roadside rubbish collection like a true ozbargainer). I could however hook it up to another 1080p screen I have and compare that way.
You would think that it should be operating like this to save data for both parties, but consider that several years ago Youtube used to buffer an entire video even if you weren't going to watch it. These days they are smarter though and suspect Netflix would be similar.
yes, yes it does.
That's good to know… I guessed it probably would, otherwise it would be trying to send 1080p screens 4K streams on the highest setting (at least for any 4K content).
Stream for a while, let it get up to max quality, then press Ctrl+shift+alt+D. Then you can see the resolution near the middle next to the Playing Bitrate section.
Note that oversampled resolution can be advantageous in that it essentially gives you a higher bitrate.
Nice tip… thanks for that.
Well well well…. after trying the Ctrl+shift+alt+D tip above I found that the video resolution of the stream being sent is actually 1920x1080 even though neither the TV or the internal screen of the laptop native resolution is that high.
Thankfully I'm on unmetered data for netflix so its not a big worry, although my local network would be more congested because of this. Likewise this would place more strain on my ISP than necessary.
Regarding oversampled resolution, Im guessing you mean I'll see a crisper image even at the lower resolution screen because of less artifacts/muddiness??
I guess I could always set up a separate user for this particular screen and adjust it's settings to only send 720p to that user, but that seems like a clumsy step.
Im guessing you mean I'll see a crisper image even at the lower resolution screen because of less artifacts/muddiness??
Yep, that's pretty much it.
I guess I could always set up a separate user for this particular screen and adjust it's settings to only send 720p to that user
Can you? I thought you could only select HD or SD.
Yeah seems the Medium setting is SD so likely not 720p.
"Low (0.3 GB per hour)
Medium (SD: 0.7 GB per hour)
High (Best video quality, up to 3 GB per hour for HD and 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD)
Auto (Adjusts automatically to deliver the highest possible quality, based on your current Internet connection speed)"
I would say so. Netflix wouldn't want to be streaming 1080p when they don't need to. Bring up Task Manager or Resource Monitor and check the amount of data transferring yourself. Edit: If your laptop has a native 1080p screen, compare streaming to that vs to your 720p TV.