Popular Streaming Platforms To Lower Video Quality To Save Internet

by Sanjana Shenoy
Popular Streaming Platforms To Lower Video Quality To Save Internet

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Lockdowns wouldn’t have been possible to bear 15 years ago. Why? We did not have the variety of streaming options to choose from. In a move that is a sigh of relief for everyone, major streaming platforms have promised to reduce their video quality in India. This move is a response to the appeal by the Cellular Operators Association of India to help reduce their internet traffic as the strain on the internet bandwidth in the country is increasing amidst this lockdown.

Picture Credits: dw.com

What’s In It? 

As many countries are observing nation-wide lockdowns during this coronavirus pandemic, internet bandwidths have taken a massive toll. To support this, video streaming channels like Amazon Prime Videos, Netflix and even YouTube, Facebook and Instagram have announced that they will be reducing their video quality. YouTube, for example, stated that from Tuesday, all their videos will play in standard definition (SD) by default. Users looking for High Definition (HD) content will have to switch to HD at their behest.

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India, for most of the streaming platforms, is a large user base and this lockdown will see an unprecedented surge in internet traffic. Even Facebook and Instagram have announced to drop the bit rate of their video streaming in India. This move is meant to help towards lessening the load on the internet bandwidth in the country.

Picture Credits: medium.com

What’s More?

Does this move mean no more HD content? No. The video streaming sites have reduced the bit rate of the videos and will have a negligible impact on the video quality. Viewers will also have the option to choose High Definition content as they please. This is considered a win-win situation for all as the increasing number of internet users means that the internet bandwidth suffers a heavy toll. The reason is that half of India is at home in their WFH situations. This means that the average internet users have increased exponentially across the country. That is why such entertainment activities will have to limited in quality to ensure maximum internet bandwidth for all. Here Are Hand-Picked Funny Memes For You To Survive This 21-Day Lockdown Due To Coronavirus