The coronavirus makes sure that we spend more time at home. While the parents work in the home office, the children look for replacements for school and kindergarten. As a result, data traffic increases. That’s why the Netflix quality in terms of resolution is now being reduced – for the time being.
It may sound a bit absurd at first. But because more people are at home as a result of the initial restrictions due to the corona virus, data traffic is also increasing enormously.
Studies have shown that since the corona virus has become extremely widespread in Europe and the USA, average data traffic has increased by more than ten percent. And in the coming days, the burden is likely to increase even further.
Lower Netflix quality in response to the corona virus
The increases in two sectors are particularly striking: Video telephony and video streaming. While the first sector is increasing mainly due to the shift of work to the home office, the second sector has its trigger in the private sector.
Or to put it simply: Because suddenly many more people are at home and, in some cases, have even more time to stream movies and series, the burden from Netflix, Amazon Prime and Co. is increasing significantly.
In order to reduce its own share of the increased traffic, Netflix has now announced that it will cut data rates in Europe for (at least) one month. This may mean lower or worse Netflix quality for us users.
Netflix streaming in 4K resolution is particularly data-intensive
With the announced step, Netflix intends to reduce its own data traffic by 25 percent. Nevertheless, the company still wants to guarantee “good quality”. What this looks like and whether premium customers will receive compensation is currently still unclear.
It is certain, however, that the 4K resolution in particular is contributing massively to the increased data traffic. The recommended data rate on the part of Netflix is 25 megabits per second. With standard (three megabits) and HD streaming (five megabits) the load turns out considerably lower.
Of course, it is understandable that Netflix customers want to receive the promised performance for the money paid. However, the Coronavirus represents an exceptional situation never seen before in our generation.
Do we really want to insist on our 4K resolution and possibly risk the collapse of relevant political, social or economic structures? Anyone who hesitates even for a moment in answering this question has not yet understood the seriousness of the situation.
