How much data is Netflix consuming?

We live in an era of online communication.It is undeniable that these online TV viewing applications have contributed to people's lives becoming more modern and convenient, in which one of the most prominent names is Netflix. Hundreds of millions of users worldwide.However, this convenience also entails some consequences, for example, the cost of data Internet packages is constantly increasing.Therefore, it is very important that you know and calculate the amount of data Netflix actually uses.

Quality Netflix videos and calculations

On Netflix's Account Preferences page, it gives users some basic estimates of the amount of data consumed by video quality: 'low' (240p), 'average' (480p) and 'high' (720p, 1080p and 4K).However, the numbers offered by this provider are still vague, especially for high quality videos (ranging from 720p to 4K depending on your TV) these numbers are really brings huge differences in resolution as well as data usage.

Therefore, a number of experiments have been conducted to give users more specific numbers.

What is the amount of Netflix data consumed for each of the different video quality options?

To check Netflix data usage, some videos were used for testing.These videos are called Netflix Test Templates (Test Patterns on Netflix), they are categorized and sorted by resolution, number of frames per second (fps) and display the current bit rate.These numbers will be displayed in the upper right corner of the screen.

After that, the bit rate will be closely monitored after each video resolution change, while converting kbps (Kilobits / sec) to Gigabyte per hour.And here are the specific numbers that the researchers have obtained, shown in the following tables:

23,976 fps

Most of the videos on Netflix play at 23,976 frames per second, so the table above applies to most current Netflix videos.However, Netflix also offers users the experience of 59,940 frames per second video.Let's look at the numbers in the table below as well:

59,940 fps

And now, compare this ratio with Netflix's estimated rate mentioned above, you will see that the above two tables are a bit more detailed, but the numbers that Netflix offers are also possible. acceptable.The maximum number of video resolutions you can watch on Netflix is ​​16000 kbps, which is equivalent to the 4K Ultra HD standard and the data consumption will fall to about 7GB per hour.So if you are concerned that Netflix is ​​using more data than required, you can rest assured that it is not.The figures proposed by the firm are very close to the results of the researchers' experiments.

How to optimize resolution and data consumption level.

The problem is, if you set the 'high' resolution for your videos, Netflix will play at the highest resolution that your TV can support.Assuming you are using 4K TV, a huge amount of data will be consumed, up to 7GB per hour!If you want to use less data, Netflix basically suggests you move down to the "average" video quality setting, which is not very satisfactory.

However, there is a trick to solving this problem.Suppose you don't want to watch videos in 4K format because it consumes too much data and you realize that 1080p video is a more reasonable choice because it still has a high resolution, but the data usage drops to about half.To do this, you can change the resolution of the streaming box, accept only 1080p format for videos from Netflix and other online video services.

Here are some of the most popular streaming boxes and how to set up the necessary settings:

1. Roku: Settings> Display Type
2. Fire TV: Settings> Display & Sounds> Display> Video Resolution
3. Apple TV: Settings> Video and Audio> Resolution
4. Android TV: Settings> Display & Sound> Resolution

In addition, some streaming boxes may not allow you to reduce the video format to 720p unless you are using a 720p TV (such as NVIDIA SHIELD).

Wish you success in choosing and balancing the amount of data used for online communication services to be reasonable with your financial ability.

See more:

1. Instructions for downloading movies from Netflix in Windows 10
2. How to view hidden categories on Netflix?
3. How to control Netflix, YouTube, VLC on PC by phone