When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works

Home / News / Netflix’s new encoding means better video quality with less bandwidth

Netflix’s new encoding means better video quality with less bandwidth

All good news for the data-guzzling streaming giant, if you ask us

Netflix has just undergone a significant overhaul – but you won’t see it on the menus or even the ever-changing content selection. No, this is all backend tinkering for the streaming service, but it’s a pretty significant enhancement.

According to a lengthy blog post on the matter, Netflix has just begun rolling out something it calls pre-title encode optimization. What that means is that Netflix is now using an algorithm to decide the quality at which it encodes each piece of content at each resolution tier, dependent both on the content itself and the device you’re using.

Why is this important? Before, the company had a fixed bitrate ladder that produced good results in most instances, but the one-size-fits-all approach meant some content was hurt by that approach. As the blog shows, an animated show like BoJack Horseman was likely to display a fuzzier image than you’d expect at 1080p resolution (below left). With the new encoding process, it looks dramatically crisper (below right).

And a live-action show like Orange is the New Black looked nearly identical at a lower bitrate range, so with the new system, you get the same image quality while using potentially 20% less bandwidth for streaming. That’s right: Netflix has not only made its streams look better overall, but some may even use quite a bit less data to reach your device.

Since Netflix currently accounts for approximately 37% of all North American web traffic, those savings are kind of a big deal. "Our continuous innovation on this front recognizes the importance of providing an optimal viewing experience for our members while simultaneously using less bandwidth and being better stewards of the Internet," reads the Netflix post.

If you’re looking for a much more detailed and complex description of the changes, be sure to hit Netflix’s blog for the full story.

[Sources: Netflix, Engadget]

Read MoreNew on Netflix UK

Profile image of Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Freelance Writer

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.

Areas of expertise

Video games, gadgets, apps, smart home

Enable referrer and click cookie to search for eefc48a8bf715c1b ad9bf81e74a9d264 [] 2.7.22