Netflix quietly rolls out free upgrade for millions of users – and it cuts down on dreaded buffering

Scottish Sun

5 days ago

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NOT-FLIX Netflix quietly rolls out free upgrade for millions of users – and it cuts down on dreaded buffering
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NETFLIX has quietly made some big improvements to the platform that will boost the picture quality - and reduce annoying buffering in the process.
Errors and re-buffering are sadly commonplace when trying to watch movies and TV via any streaming app.
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The upgrade was quietly implemented in March
Credit: Alamy
But Netflix says it has worked out a way to reduce re-buffering by 10 per cent.
And even if you are unlucky enough to be hit by re-buffering it should drag on a little less, with a 5 per cent cut to the duration.
The firm has also managed to make start play faster, as well as decrease playback errors by 3 per cent.
It's all thanks to some visual improvements going on behind the scenes at Netflix.
The biggest part of all this is maintaining that film grain effect you'll be familiar with from cinemas.
"Camera sensor noise introduces its own characteristics, while filmmakers often add intentional grain during post-production to evoke mood or a vintage feel," Netflix explained in a blog post.
However, this can be tricky to maintain when compressing big videos down so they stream faster.
Netflix says the feature has been rolling out since March - and you don't need to do anything to benefit from it.
It's not clear which titles have been converted in this way.
However, the blog post did show examples of how it had been achieved in They Cloned Tyrone, starring John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx.
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