This did mean that we had to do more back and forth than originally hoped but we wanted to be as certain, as possible, images were locked in the mind. Our Modus Operandi altered somewhat during the process from what we set out to do, in order to take account of the difficulty in switching between the TVs’ Netflix app and the source input for the Blu-ray player but thankfully the processors in the TVs used were of sufficient speed to ensure that the delay was only brief. The Blu-ray player used was Panasonic BDT-300 which we know produces a flawless 1080p24 output. To ensure maximum local bandwidth, pretty much every other device was disconnected from the router, prior to viewing and that’s no mean task. Our main areas of interest where in perceptible resolution differences and motion handling but were also looking out for any picture anomalies, such as posterisation (colour banding) and compression artefacts as well – particularly in the case of the streamed content.įor reference, our internet connection is via fibre optic cable from Virgin Media and is billed as 30Mbps, although according to various speed tests, we normally receive closer to 20Mbps. Each display was calibrated to the Rec.709 standard, to ensure a level playing field and whilst gleaning hard scientific evidence is difficult we took great pains, and many scene re-runs, to provide the most studied comparisons feasible.
Our default seating position is 7.5 feet away from the centre of the screen but we’ll make mention of any time we had to move closer to perform an analysis. Our tests were carried out with the Samsung 48HU7500, Sony 55X8505 and Samsung 65HU8200 to look at a spread of different screen sizes.
#Netflix 4k rentals series
As we love both, this task has proved no hardship but to keep comparisons simple, we’re concentrating on the second series of House of Cards, as that’s what we’ve spent most time with. The Netflix 4K catalogue is not large but if you’re a fan of either/or House of Cards and Breaking Bad, you’ve got a fair bit to go at with both series of the Netflix original, HoC, and all five series of Breaking Bad available to stream via the Netflix service. Still, that would suggest you would want 60-70Mbps to view 4K at its best. Step forwards HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), aka H.265, which uses around 50% of the bitrate of the video codecs typically used on Blu-ray discs.
#Netflix 4k rentals 1080p
There is four times the resolution information compared to 1080p (Full HD) and when you consider a typical Blu-ray will replay at somewhere in the 30-40Mbps range there’s a gap that needs to be filled in the compression techniques.
This is all well and good but there are questions over just how much benefit 4K can bring when streamed, at what are considered relatively low bitrates. Those kinds of speeds are readily obtainable for many, however, and the network infrastructure can only improve. There are some provisos, of course, the biggest of which is the need for a minimum broadband speed of around 16Mbps and ideally you’ll want more like 20Mbps to ensure you’ll not have to endure buffering issues. The UHD TVs released in 2014 by Sony, Samsung and LG all have this capability and Panasonic promises the upcoming AX900 series will also carry the 4K Netflix app, after rather dropping the ball with the AX800/802.
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