Netflix only streams 1080p to a PC if you’re using a Microsoft browser

froggyboy604

froggyboy604

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Manager
Full GL Member
Credits
20,137
Mature Board Viewing
Unlock full profile styling
Earlier this week, Microsoft released a blog post claiming that its own browser, Microsoft Edge, was the only option for streaming Netflix in 1080p on your PC. Websites set out to fact-check this claim for themselves, and found it true.

According to PC World, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera all cap at 720p in the real world while only Edge can stream up to 1080p. Netflix won’t stream 4K to any PC, even if you have a gigabit fiber connection and a 10-core CPU + GTX 1080 to decode it with. If you want the highest video quality in Microsoft Windows, you need to either use Edge, Internet Explorer 11, or the Netflix app itself to get it.

Read More

This stinks for people who don't want to use Internet Explorer 11, Edge, or the Netflix App to watch 1080P Netflix videos.
 
Why wouldn't you just use the netflix app from the start?
 
Demon_Skeith said:
Why wouldn't you just use the netflix app from the start?
Click to expand...

Some people prefer to use the Netflix website instead of the app because they are more used to using the website, the website may have more features, and they don't want to learn how to use the Netflix app.

There are also many poor reviews of Netflix App on Windows Store App page . Some users complained about Netflix's Windows app crashing a lot, and is unusable because of errors with the Netflix App.

Netflix app also has over 3000 poor user star ratings on the Windows Store who gave it a 2 star or 1 star rating out of 5, so there are many unhappy Netflix Windows app users who are forced to use their web browser because Netflix does not work well on their Windows PC.

The Netflix app also uses up to 29.81 MB of space on your hard drive. 29.81 MB is pretty big for an app which just streams Netflix video, and search the Netflix library. People who don't have much free space will probably just use a web browser to watch Netflix videos to save space on their storage drive.

I think you need an outlook.com account to use the Windows Store app in Windows 8/8.1 and 10. If you use a regular offline local non-outlook.com account to sign into Windows 8 and 10, you cant download the Netflix app from the Windows App Store because you are not using an outlook account which is needed to sing-into the Windows App Store.

Many users who are concerned with their computer's security and privacy would use a regular user account to sign-into Windows 8 and 10 because their afraid outlook.com will get hacked and the hacker will steal their password to access their Windows account which is linked to their Outlook account.

There is also no official standalone Netflix app for Windows 7, Vista, and older versions of Windows because they do not have an Windows Store app like Windows 8 and 10.
 
Last edited:
lb said:
So what's wrong with using Microsoft Edge if you really want to watch something in higher quality?
Click to expand...

I think it is inconvenient to open Edge for users who mainly use Firefox, Chrome, and other browsers most of the time. A user reading a blog about an older movie, and using Firefox may have a sudden interest in watching the old movie on Netflix. But, if they want to watch the movie in 1080P after reading the blog, they need to open Edge browser or use the Windows 10 Netflix app to watch the movie in 1080P. The user may need to fully close Firefox, for Edge to play a movie in 1080P smoothly because having two or more web browsers open at the same time can make slower computers slowdown when playing 1080P HD video. Playing back 1080P HD video requires more free RAM, CPU resources, and a modern video card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top