Last March, coinciding with the mandatory confinement in almost all European countries, Netflix decided to reduce the quality of its videos. The demand for their services increased with millions of people locked up in their homes, with the consequences that this could have for the quality of their content.
With a percentage reduction that was around 25% in the bit rate, the use of the bandwidth was reduced. As a toll, a quality significantly lower than what the platform’s customers were used to.
After almost two months of reduction, those responsible for Netflix have declared in the FlatpanelsHD port that “they are already working with Internet service providers to help increase capacity”
Although it has not been specified which countries have recovered the bitrate, users in Norway or Germany have claimed to have noticed an increase in quality in the videos.
YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, or online gaming platforms such as PlayStation Network also took the same measures to ensure that their service was not interrupted during the quarantine.
It is to be expected that all services will gradually reestablish their usual quality. Measures to alleviate the confinement of citizens across Europe have significantly reduced data consumption. Online data download companies have had a real litmus test in the COVID-19 pandemic for the quality of their services.
