skillzdadirecta Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 In order to not break the internet. Quote The European Union is urging Netflix and other streaming platforms to stop showing video in high definition to prevent the internet from breaking under the strain of unprecedented usage due to the coronavirus pandemic. With so many countries on forced lockdowns to fight the spread of the virus, hundreds of millions working from home and even more children out of school, EU officials are concerned about the huge strain on internet bandwidth. Netflix and Google (GOOGL) together account for nearly 25% of the data transmitted via the internet. European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is responsible for the EU internal market covering more than 450 million people, tweeted Wednesday evening that he had spoken with Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings. Breton called on people and companies to "#SwitchtoStandard definition when HD is not necessary" in order to secure internet access for all. In a statement on Thursday, Breton said that given the unprecedented situation, streaming platforms, telecom operators and users "all have a joint responsibility to take steps to ensure the smooth functioning of the internet during the battle against the virus propagation." Physical media for the win! In all seriousness if they do this, then Netflix should refund the cost for those paying for HD plans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Your cat 6 cables could catch on fire! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Times like these that I'm happy to have Blu-Rays and some Ultra HD Blu-Rays at the ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Just now, SaysWho? said: Times like these that I'm happy to have Blu-Rays and some Ultra HD Blu-Rays at the ready. I'm one of those weirdos who still have a netflix disc plan! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said: I'm one of those weirdos who still have a netflix disc plan! DOESN'T FEEL THAT WEIRD NOW, DOES IT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Quote The Commission said that while there has been a sharp increase in internet usage, no outages or adverse affects have so far been reported. Yeah, there has been a sharp uptick in usage, but I'd love to know if internet infrastructure in general is actually at risk of being overwhelmed. My sense has been the opposite. We've seen AT&T, Comcast, and pretty much all Canadian ISPs remove their data caps, which to me says that they have an excess capacity if anything. Maybe Europe is much worse off than North America, but I doubt that's the case everywhere on the continent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLeon Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 23 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said: I'm one of those weirdos who still have a netflix disc plan! 22 minutes ago, SaysWho? said: DOESN'T FEEL THAT WEIRD NOW, DOES IT? I’m almost ready to resubscribe to that. I’m so used to get getting dvds from the library when something isn’t readily available to stream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Is anyone's streaming service or internet in general on some sites being REALLY slow? Hulu won't load on my laptop or PS4, can't get into my health insurance site, but I'm able to do d1p, Resetera and Facebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairslinger Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 2 hours ago, SaysWho? said: Is anyone's streaming service or internet in general on some sites being REALLY slow? Hulu won't load on my laptop or PS4, can't get into my health insurance site, but I'm able to do d1p, Resetera and Facebook. My internet was acting up on Tues/Weds but it seemed to be normal Spectrum fussiness. I reset the router today and haven't had any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimpleG Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 2 hours ago, SaysWho? said: Is anyone's streaming service or internet in general on some sites being REALLY slow? Hulu won't load on my laptop or PS4, can't get into my health insurance site, but I'm able to do d1p, Resetera and Facebook. We have been having the same issues with Hulu, I assume they are being hammered right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 4 minutes ago, Chairslinger said: My internet was acting up on Tues/Weds but it seemed to be normal Spectrum fussiness. I reset the router today and haven't had any problems. Just now, SimpleG said: We have been having the same issues with Hulu, I assume they are being hammered right now. If it's just a few sites and not others, reset your router. I did and everything's working. Not that ultra peak times aren't gonna be an issue, but this fixed a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 I'm at my parent's place and they have fios. That internet is amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Youtube will default to SD streaming worldwide Quote Last week, Google announced that it would be temporarily defaulting all videos on YouTube to standard definition in the EU. Today, that decision has been expanded worldwide. “We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” a Google spokesperson told IGN. “Last week, we announced that we were temporarily defaulting all videos on YouTube to standard definition in the EU. Given the global nature of this crisis, we will expand that change globally starting today.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSpreader Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 On 3/19/2020 at 12:17 PM, Keyser_Soze said: I'm one of those weirdos who still have a netflix disc plan! Coronadisk RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoberChef Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Default...but can you manually change it back to HD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 minute ago, SoberChef said: Default...but can you manually change it back to HD? I believe so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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