1080 vs. 480 streaming capacity

[John Laninga]

So I have been using T-Mobile streaming to watch my shows. That downgrades to 408p images, but that isn't so bad. I just upgraded my VZW to Unlimited so I can use that and cancel my T-Mobile. And I can now stream in full HD quality.

 

But I was thinking -- HD obviously will use much more data. So do you think it will affect streaming quality? In other words, will I see more service interruptions downloading HD than 480? My DW is always not too happy when you get that little circle while waiting for a download...

 

== John

 

[Bill Joyce]

When I see buffering happening on YouTube, I know they increased my video size automatically and manually reset it lower. Yes, higher video sizes causes more buffering, at least for me.

[BlueLghtning]

If you don't have higher bandwidth available for the HD video, yes you will get a lot more buffering. HD Video will us a lot more data and buffeting. You might be able to get it just to 720p and see a nice increase in quality, without too much buffering I'd rather watch lower quality then have the buffeting.

 

I'm still new to the T-Mobile Binge on and I have only used it a couple times in my house just to see how it works, but I have not changed anything in the quality of my videos and on a 37" 720p TV, they actually look fine. I was quite surprised it looked pretty good. Maybe on a larger TV, I'd see issues. I have verified that the videos are counting against my binge on data too.

[A&KHayes]

If you read their agreement, Verizon even tells you that you may be restrict speed somewhat once you reach the standard usage of ( I think I read ) 22m. ATT and Sprint also do the same. I've not switched yet to the new plan yet.

[docj]

 

 

But I was thinking -- HD obviously will use much more data. So do you think it will affect streaming quality? In other words, will I see more service interruptions downloading HD than 480? My DW is always not too happy when you get that little circle while waiting for a download...

 

 

 

We do a lot of streaming and most of it is in HD. If you have a connection that is ~>5Mbps you can watch in HD without interruptions.

 

Furthermore, most streaming services such as Netflix use dynamic control of resolution so the resolution of your picture is slightly degraded to accommodate for reductions in your internet speed. This eliminates most of the "rebuffering" pauses which we used to experience. If look for the resolution changes you can spot them pretty easily, but most people hardly notice them.