AfterDawn: News

Netflix has begun testing 4K streaming

Netflix has confirmed they have begun testing 4K streaming, hoping to become a major provider by the end of 2014.

The company has added a handful of 4K UltraHD videos to its streaming library this week, with a much wider rollout expected in the next few months. Additionally, the company says it "hopes to launch Ultra HD next year."



For now, the titles are really just reference footage, including one title called "El Fuente: 24 MP," with a description that bluntly reads, "an example of 4K at 24 frames per second." The footage is kids playing in a fountain and people riding on bicycles, showing the streaming in different conditions.

Netflix is expected to make its own original content offerings in UltraHD next year, along with some other major content from licensing partners.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Nov 2013 12:36

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• 6 comments

• Bozobub

  Considering most ISPs have monthly data caps, this isn't going to go very far. How long will it take to eat up Comcast's 250 GB limit with 4K, FFS?

  2.11.2013 14:35 #1

• A5J4DX

  first of all, isps need to remove the bloody caps and give us speeds for what we pay for!
  

  2.11.2013 15:39 #2

• Bozobub

  I agree, but I doubt that's going to happen too soon.

  2.11.2013 16:03 #3

• xaznboitx

  Originally posted by A5J4DX: first of all, isps need to remove the bloody caps and give us speeds for what we pay for! um... you said "Pay for", mean you have to pay more to get more bandwidth.
  

  3.11.2013 00:52 #4

• Bozobub

  No, it means ISPs should give us fair value for what we pay. Once the actual physical connection is made to the consumer, costs to supply bandwidth are actually rather low. It's a cash cow.
  
  ISPs (at least in the US) don't even come close to spending what they should on expansion and upgrading of their systems, either, which is exactly why a 20-50+ Mbit connection is limited to something silly like 250 GB (in the case of Comcast); they're counting on no one actually USING that bandwidth.

  3.11.2013 01:50 #5

• pcrazy99

  I went over my 400 GB cap recently because of Netflix. HD streaming can add up to at least 20 to 30 GB per day. The only way to pay for extra bandwidth is to upgrade to a business account with slower speeds.
  

  3.11.2013 12:07 #6