Does Netflix look better on your 4K TV lately? Well, it should be, especially if you are a subscriber to the expensive Premium level. As described in a post on the Netflix technology blogthe company recently completed an upgrade to its streaming library that specifically improves video quality for 4K HDR titles, something it accomplished using a video encoding method called dynamic optimization – more on that later.
The news couldn't have come at a better time for Netflix Premium subscribers who may already be struggling with the reality of absorbing another price increase from Netflix, one that has increased the cost of Premium from $19.99 to $22.99 per month in the US, and £15.99 to £17.99 in the UK. The highest quality ad-free tier may be expensive, but Netflix remains one of the best streaming services, and getting an HDR upgrade to boost performance on the best 4K TVs can help ease the pain that Premium subscribers may be experiencing again. feel like the service puts pressure on their wallets.
From fixed to dynamic
While Netflix's tech blog post is full of arcane technical terms (and graphs, lots of them), it's clear that the upgrades follow the introduction of an HDR variant of VMAF (Video Multi-method Assessment Fusion), the company's video . quality measure. The 'multi-method' component of VMAF consists of a series of objective and subjective video quality measures to evaluate parameters such as motion and visual information fidelity, along with loss of detail.
The newly developed HDR-VMAF is a collaboration between Netflix and Dolby Laboratories and involves “subjective testing of 4K HDR content using high-performance OLED panels in calibrated conditions created in participants' homes,” according to Netflix's post . Additionally, HDR-VMAF is format agnostic, measuring quality equally and independently for Dolby Vision and HDR10 programs, and calculating scores based on an “ideal display,” one that is “capable of capturing the full luminance range and display the entire color range. by the video signal.”
A key benefit of HDR-VMAF is that it allowed Netflix to move from fixed bitrate video encoding to using dynamically optimized (HDR-DO) encoding for 4K HDR video streaming. Netflix's technical blog post also notes that HDR-DO not only delivers higher quality than fixed-ladder encoding, but is also more efficient, taking up only 58% of the same storage space on average.
Here's how Netflix summarizes the improvements made by HDR-VMAF and HDR-DO:
- 40% fewer rejections
- Higher video quality for both limited and unlimited bandwidth sessions
- Lower initial bitrate
- Higher initial quality
- Lower playback delay
- Less variation in video quality delivered
- Lower internet data usage, especially on mobile phones and tablets
Analysis: Netflix gives us better HDR everywhere – for a price
Netflix began upgrading its entire 4K HDR library using HDR-DO in the first half of 2022, and the process was fully completed by June 2023. At this point, Premium subscribers can expect any Dolby Vision or HDR10 high dynamic range movie or series they stream. will be optimized using the company's new 4K HDR picture quality metrics.
The visual benefits the upgrade brings should be obvious when viewed on any 4K TV, but it also aims to improve the experience of watching Netflix on tablets and phones, many of which now have HDR and even Dolby Vision HDR supports. I recently saw David Fincher's new movie The murderer (a Netflix original production) on my iPhone during a long flight and was impressed with how detailed and vibrant the image looked, even on a small screen.
Is incredible-looking video on phones and tablets worth maintaining an expensive Premium Tier Netflix account? In my case the answer is no, but when I looked at it again The murderer in 4K and Dolby Vision on a 65-inch TV, the picture looked fantastic. Nevertheless, I'm impressed that Netflix can dynamically scale its 4K HDR streaming to maintain performance across a range of screen sizes and internet bandwidth conditions. In an increasingly competitive streaming landscape where viewers are more likely than ever before to cancel subscriptions on the fly, HDR-DO is an advantage that Netflix can take to the bank.