Quarantine has degraded the streaming quality of Netflix, YouTube and other services
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:35 am
The coronavirus epidemic has forced most European countries to impose strict quarantine restrictions , forcing their citizens to stay at home instead of going to work. Some of them have been able to switch to remote work, but a significant number of people are simply watching TV during quarantine, including videos using such well-known streaming services as Netflix and YouTube.
has resulted in a sharp spike in Internet traffic, which has led to overloading the channels of many Internet providers. In addition, the well-known service Pornhub has added fuel to the fire, opening up free access to a premium subscription for residents of Italy and some other European countries until the end of the country's quarantine. This means that subscribers will be able to download even more videos in high quality. According to experts, people staying at home due to the new coronavirus can cause an almost 60 percent increase in traffic.
But while for some it was just an inconvenient interruption in israel number data video playback, for others it was a serious problem, as people could not access web resources that were critically important to them, such as medical institution websites, government portals, online learning tools, etc.
The EU is sounding the alarm
As a result, Netflix and other entertainment companies have begun to urgently reduce the bitrate of video streaming in Europe. Such a restriction is planned to be implemented for the next 30 days, but it can be extended further. Such measures are estimated to reduce video traffic on European networks by about 25 percent.
This is not the first time Netflix has reduced the bitrate of its video signal. Back in 2011, the company introduced technology that supports a stable video stream in areas of the Internet with low bandwidth. Today, Netflix also began using an adaptive system that automatically adjusts the quality of streaming video based on the available bandwidth. The essence of it is that this tool automatically determines what stream size is most optimal for the viewer so that there are no delays in the signal transmission. If the channel bandwidth is low, the video will automatically be transmitted at a lower resolution . Therefore, you should not expect signal quality at the level of HD or 4K.
YouTube and Amazon Prime will also reduce the quality of their broadcasts in the EU to avoid overloading internet channels as tens of millions of Europeans, restricted by quarantine measures, switch to working from home.
"We are committed to temporarily switching all traffic in the EU to standard quality by default," Google said in a statement.
has resulted in a sharp spike in Internet traffic, which has led to overloading the channels of many Internet providers. In addition, the well-known service Pornhub has added fuel to the fire, opening up free access to a premium subscription for residents of Italy and some other European countries until the end of the country's quarantine. This means that subscribers will be able to download even more videos in high quality. According to experts, people staying at home due to the new coronavirus can cause an almost 60 percent increase in traffic.
But while for some it was just an inconvenient interruption in israel number data video playback, for others it was a serious problem, as people could not access web resources that were critically important to them, such as medical institution websites, government portals, online learning tools, etc.
The EU is sounding the alarm
As a result, Netflix and other entertainment companies have begun to urgently reduce the bitrate of video streaming in Europe. Such a restriction is planned to be implemented for the next 30 days, but it can be extended further. Such measures are estimated to reduce video traffic on European networks by about 25 percent.
This is not the first time Netflix has reduced the bitrate of its video signal. Back in 2011, the company introduced technology that supports a stable video stream in areas of the Internet with low bandwidth. Today, Netflix also began using an adaptive system that automatically adjusts the quality of streaming video based on the available bandwidth. The essence of it is that this tool automatically determines what stream size is most optimal for the viewer so that there are no delays in the signal transmission. If the channel bandwidth is low, the video will automatically be transmitted at a lower resolution . Therefore, you should not expect signal quality at the level of HD or 4K.
YouTube and Amazon Prime will also reduce the quality of their broadcasts in the EU to avoid overloading internet channels as tens of millions of Europeans, restricted by quarantine measures, switch to working from home.
"We are committed to temporarily switching all traffic in the EU to standard quality by default," Google said in a statement.