YouTube and Netflix Begin Bandwidth Rationing

With us all being advised (well, technically ordered now) to remain at home wherever possible, it’s hardly surprising that many have turned to the internet to provide us with some entertainment. I do hope, incidentally, that us here at eTeknix are helping you out with that as best as we can!

There are, however, concerns as to how well the internet can cope with such huge boosts in traffic. As such, it was hardly surprising when we heard that both Netflix and YouTube had started lowering the default quality of their videos. In a report via Bloomberg, however, it seems that things are being taken a step further during peak periods!

YouTube & Netflix Start Rationing Bandwidth

While not limiting the amount a person can use on their platforms (as you might expect from traditional rationing), during peak periods both Netflix and YouTube will limit videos so that they only display in 480p. In other words, standard definition.

So, how is this different from the prior move? Well, instead of users being able to manually ‘upgrade’ their quality (which was an option), during these ‘high traffic’ periods, all videos will be locked to the 480p resolution.

What Do We Think?

Honestly? I first noticed this myself on YouTube yesterday. Albeit, I didn’t quite put 2 and 2 together at the time. This is, however, perhaps the best attitude we should take. Did I notice the quality was lower? Yes. Did I care? Not really.

Ultimately, with more and more people on the internet, there is going to need to be some form of social responsibility to ensure that we can all access it without any problems or notable disruption. If the solution to that is a reduction in the visual quality of videos, they’ll get no complaints from me!

What do you think? – Let us know us in the comments!