How to see if Netflix is downgrading your picture quality

Article excerpt

Netflix may be reducing video quality for some subscribers without their knowledge, but the company doesn't make it obvious how to check. The streaming service encodes content at different bitrates depending on your plan and internet speed, meaning a standard definition tier gets lower quality than premium. To verify your actual stream quality, you'll need to connect a keyboard to your TV and pull up Netflix's secret stats menu, a clunky workaround that reveals bitrate, resolution, and frame rate. The article walks through the process and explains what the numbers mean, helping subscribers determine whether they're getting what they paid for.