How to change the Netflix video quality on your computer

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 16, 2018
Music and Video
|
5

As a Netflix customer, you may know that the stream quality on Netflix depends on a number of factors. Your subscription plan may give you access to HD or Ultra HD streams, but the Internet Connection and device you watch Netflix on may influence the video quality as well.

We talked about this previously already. If you watch Netflix on a computer, you get 4K playback only in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 or the Netflix app on Windows 10. If you don't use these applications or Windows 10, you get full HD streams or even less on Netflix on a computer.

The situation is different if you use a Smart TV or a streaming device as you may get full 4K playback using those.

Sometimes, however, you may run into streaming issues when you watch Netflix shows or movies on your computer. Examples? Constant buffering because of Internet connection issues, or a stream quality that is really bad.

Change the Netflix video quality on your computer

You have two main options when it comes to the Netflix playback quality. I mentioned the first in Improve Netflix's cellular data video quality already and suggest you check it out for a full rundown.

  1. Load https://www.netflix.com/HdToggle in the browser to open the Netflix Playback Settings.
  2. Data usage per screen defines the video quality.
    1. Set it to high to make sure you get the best video quality (for the selected plan) provided that the Internet connection supports it.
    2. You may set it to low or medium to reduce the quality. This may be an appropriate option if the Internet connection is not overly reliable or fast, or if something else uses most of the bandwidth.
  3. Click save after you have made the change.

The second option that you have is to open the Bitrate menu with the shortcut Ctrl-Shift-Alt-S. This displays all audio and video bitrates based on the selected plan, video and application.

Just click on an entry under video bitrate to switch to its quality. The higher the bitrate the better the quality and the higher the bandwidth use.

If you notice buffering issues, select a lower bitrate. You can experiment with CDNs that Netflix offers as well to see if choosing a different content distribution network server resolves issues that you are experiencing.

Related articles

Summary
How to change the Netflix video quality on your computer
Article Name
How to change the Netflix video quality on your computer
Description
As a Netflix customer, you may know that the stream quality on Netflix depends on a number of factors. Your subscription plan may give you access to HD or Ultra HD streams, but the Internet Connection and device you watch Netflix on may influence the video quality as well.
Author
Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
Logo
Advertisement

Tutorials & Tips


Previous Post: «
Next Post: «

Comments

  1. Anonymous said on August 1, 2010 at 12:43 pm
    Reply

    Why not make use of the mplayer.conf?

  2. Mike J said on August 1, 2010 at 2:58 pm
    Reply

    Huh, I have never even seen this “font cache” pane; videos play at once for me, using VLC & XP SP3.

    1. Martin said on August 1, 2010 at 3:39 pm
      Reply

      Mike, in theory this should have only been displayed once to you, at the very first video that you played with VLC. The time this window is displayed depends largely on the number of fonts in your font directory.

      1. Mike J said on August 2, 2010 at 2:30 pm
        Reply

        huh, I lucked out for a change?? Amazing!!
        Apparently VLC keeps this info through version updates, but I didn’t see this message after a fresh OS install about 8 weeks ago, & a new VLC.

  3. myo said on August 1, 2010 at 5:52 pm
    Reply

    yes, yes, i have the same problem. sometimes, VLC crashes when it is playing .mov file.

  4. Kishore said on August 13, 2010 at 2:55 pm
    Reply

    Error:
    Buidling font Cache pop-up

    Solution:

    Open VLC player.

    On Menu Bar:

    Tools
    Preferences

    (at bottom – left side)
    Show settings — ALL

    Open: Video
    Click: Subtitles/OSD (This is now highlited, not opened)
    Text rendering module – change this to “Dummy font renderer function”

    Save
    Exit

    Re-open – done.
    Progam will no longer look outside self for fonts

    Source – WorthyTricks.co.cc

    1. Martin said on August 13, 2010 at 3:10 pm
      Reply

      Great tip, thanks a lot Kishore.

  5. javier said on August 14, 2010 at 1:50 pm
    Reply

    @Kishore, I’ll try your tips, but does this mean it will no longer show subtitles either?
    I do use subtitles, but the fontcache dialog box pops up (almost) everytime I play a file.

    Could this be related to the fonts I have installed? Or if I add/remove fonts to my system?

    I’ll try to do a fresh install also, if your tips does no work. I’ll post back here later…

    /thanks
    /j

  6. Kishore said on August 15, 2010 at 12:38 pm
    Reply

    @ Javier, The trick i posted will show up subtitles too. If not,

  7. Kishore said on August 15, 2010 at 12:39 pm
    Reply

    @ Javier, The trick i posted will show up subtitles too. If not,Dont worry, VLC is currently sorting out this issue and the next version will be out soon.

    No probs @ Martin !! Its my pleasure

  8. Ted said on October 22, 2010 at 3:57 am
    Reply

    Try running LC with administrator privileges. That seemed to fix it for me

  9. Evan said on December 8, 2013 at 1:48 am
    Reply

    I am using SMplayer 0.8.6 (64-bit) (Portable Edition) on Windows 7 x64. Even with the -nofontconfig parameter in place SMplayer still scans the fonts. Also, I have enabled normal subtitles and it is still scanning fonts before playing a video. Also, it does this every time the player opens a video after a system restart (only the fist video played).

  10. Mike Williams said on September 6, 2023 at 1:26 pm
    Reply

    Does that mean that only instrumental versions of songs will be available for non-paying users?

Leave a Reply

Check the box to consent to your data being stored in line with the guidelines set out in our privacy policy

We love comments and welcome thoughtful and civilized discussion. Rudeness and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Please stay on-topic.
Please note that your comment may not appear immediately after you post it.