Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video data usage compared

maybe better to measure cap related items on ummmm a capped service? ( mobile devices comes to mind).
most fixed line offers these days is uncapped (with a truck load of T&C's (yes i am looking at you Telkom), but still. -> CApped adsl packages is 15 plus years ago...
 
"Prime video surprised by using 7.4GB for the 2-hour session while streaming Wheel of Time"

Yeah, but their quality is leagues above the rest.
I'm no videophile but could clearly see the difference on my TV between Prime Video and the rest when streaming over the holidays.

Watching "The Expanse" on Prime was a glorious experience.
 
"Prime video surprised by using 7.4GB for the 2-hour session while streaming Wheel of Time"

Yeah, but their quality is leagues above the rest.
I'm no videophile but could clearly see the difference on my TV between Prime Video and the rest when streaming over the holidays.

Watching "The Expanse" on Prime was a glorious experience.
On boring shows.
 
It will be more interesting to have a 1080p and a 4k comparison with video quality on a large screen, yea, that will be subjective but a good indicator. Netflix started crunching files down since the beginning of the pandemic, it will be interesting to see if others are doing the same and if one is using better compression.
 
Does Chrome support 1080 (and higher) on Netflix? Last I read only Edge supported this
 
Does Chrome support 1080 (and higher) on Netflix? Last I read only Edge supported this
There is an extension you can download that enables it but yes Netflix on Chrome is limited to 720P.
 
Prime video is ridiculous if using the app on TV because you can't set the quality, so even if you only have a 1080p set it still uses like 7GB an hour.
 
Prime video is ridiculous if using the app on TV because you can't set the quality, so even if you only have a 1080p set it still uses like 7GB an hour.
If you cast to TV (if available), you can set the quality on your phone.
 
Prime video is ridiculous if using the app on TV because you can't set the quality, so even if you only have a 1080p set it still uses like 7GB an hour.
I fully agree the Prime TV app overall (webOS at least) lacks alot of controls. My use case is other way around than Steve's but ot comes from the same root problem - no user controls for quality. For me it auto selects a lower quality (looks like 720p) than what my link (25mpbs) allows and I can't force it upwards to 1080p or 4k. There's also no support to see what quality its on either.

For Steve's use case the only way to do that is to setup rate limiting rules on your router for prime video traffic, to try and coheres it into a lower quality.
 
If you cast to TV (if available), you can set the quality on your phone.
In my experience casting from once phone (while streaming) to the TV just ends up in bad picture quality on the TV. Perhaps there's some casting settings I need to go and fiddle with.
 
If you cast to TV (if available), you can set the quality on your phone.
Yes and this is how I get around the problem but I also find casting with prime video is hit and miss as in sometimes there isn't an option to cast where things like YouTube work flawlessly when casting.
 
A popular series was chosen on each platform and streamed for 2 hours to test the data use.
Ok but shouldn't you use the same series on each platform? Wouldn't audio (one series is 5.1 the other stereo) etc. factor into it?
 
Bit of a fundamental misunderstanding of how DCT encoding works. Different shows will have different sizes, you can't compare apples and oranges.
 
Yes and this is how I get around the problem but I also find casting with prime video is hit and miss as in sometimes there isn't an option to cast where things like YouTube work flawlessly when casting.
The same with me. Netflix and Youtube cast perfectly every time. Prime needs two or 3 tries.
 
In my experience casting from once phone (while streaming) to the TV just ends up in bad picture quality on the TV. Perhaps there's some casting settings I need to go and fiddle with.
1st world problem. 720p on a 32 inch TV and quality don't go together in my case.
 
The biggest annoyance with Prime Video is not the data usage, that's a moot point these days. It's the pathetically sluggish interface. Puts me off even wanting to open the app. Thankfully I only subscribe to it to watch Grand Tour, Wheels of Time and the upcoming LotR series...
 
The biggest annoyance with Prime Video is not the data usage, that's a moot point these days. It's the pathetically sluggish interface. Puts me off even wanting to open the app. Thankfully I only subscribe to it to watch Grand Tour, Wheels of Time and the upcoming LotR series...

This.
Especially when trying to watch stuff with many seasons. The UI is confusing and the performance is horrific.
Still better than Apple TV+ on my Mi Box though... when browsing with Apple TV I squint when looking in the direction of my TV Box just in case it blows up.
 
I don't quite get this article? Stream something like Silent Sea on Netflix and check the bandwidth quality. I got 4k etc perfectly fineat around 20Mbps on my 50Mbps line.
 
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter