Why is the video streaming quality on the Android better than in Windows Phone 8.1?

[BluPwny]

Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

Hello!

This weekend, I made the switch from the HTC One M8 running Android over to the same phone running Windows. Netflix was one of the first apps I downloaded. However, I immediately noticed that the streaming quality on my new Windows phone is much, much lower than it was on Android. I?m using the same wireless network with comparable speed, in the same physical location. The video starts out extremely pixelated and eventually starts to clear up, but never reaches high definition. The Android experience always started out in HD and stayed that way.

Incidentally, the same is true when streaming YouTube videos.

Is this a known issue? Is there a fix that anyone is aware of?

 

[BluPwny]

Re: Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

...Anyone?

 

[Nahuel 1988]

Using YouTube HD on my 830, I can't see any difference with my HTC One (M7). And for Netflix, the app itself is very bad.

 

[tgp]

Re: Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

I don't have experience with the Netflix app, but I've found WP's streaming as a whole to be worse than on Android. Most of my experience where I could directly compare would be with the MLB At Bat app. Streaming live games on a WP with the app is barely acceptable. The picture is often fuzzy and it buffers a lot. An Android device and an iPhone on the same wifi network run the stream smoothly and crystal clear. It could be the result of differences in the app, but the devices I was using when I had all 3 would have been roughly similar in specs: a Lumia 920, a Nexus 4, and an iPhone 5.

 

[Nahuel 1988]

Re: Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

Yeah, I'm starting to miss using my Red M7 lol. I might just pop the sim card back in and when I get tied, come back to the L830

 

[BluPwny]

Re: Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

Thanks for the affirmation, guys.

I just called Netflix, who pointed me to their internal documentation which states that we only get as high as 480p on WP devices. This despite several reputable sources saying that Netflix had updated the app to support 720p as of 04/13.

I wonder if we're waiting on Netflix to iterate the app, or if the ball is in Microsoft's court.

 

[hprvez]

Re: Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

That's a limitation of their app, not of windows phone

 

[sejgiul]

Re: Android -> Windows Phone 8.1: Video streaming quality

This is due to your subscription with Netflix. If I were you, I'd double check you've got one of the newer subscriptions.

There's the cheapest at ?5.99 which is SD quality and limited to one device, then there's ?6.99 for HD and limited to 2 devices and there's another.I got the ?6.99 subscription and it streams at HD resolution on my Lumia 735.

When it starts streaming it can sometimes be pixelated to start with, but this goes after less than a minute.

Hope this helps!

Hello! This weekend, I made the switch from the HTC One M8 running Android over to the same phone running Windows. Netflix was one of the first apps I downloaded. However, I immediately noticed that the streaming quality on my new Windows phone is much, much lower than it was on Android. I?m using the same wireless network with comparable speed, in the same physical location. The video starts out extremely pixelated and eventually starts to clear up, but never reaches high definition. The Android experience always started out in HD and stayed that way.Incidentally, the same is true when streaming YouTube videos.Is this a known issue? Is there a fix that anyone is aware of?