Microsoft: Only Microsoft Edge Will Play Netflix Content At 1080p On Your PC (pcworld.com)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via PCWorld: Microsoft made the bold claim on Wednesday that its Edge browser was the only browser of the big four browsers -- Chrome, Firefox, and Opera -- to play Netflix content at a 1080p resolution. PCWorld tested the four browsers and found this claim to be valid. The other three browsers capped out at a 720p resolution. Microsoft has been trying to boost Edge's reputation. Microsoft recently claimed that its Edge browser is more power-efficient than Chrome. (Opera later denied those claims.) This is the latest bold claim to come from Microsoft in regard to its Edge browser. Microsoft has even publicized a Netflix support document to show that Netflix streams at 1080p on Internet Explorer and Edge, and 720p on the other browsers. PCWorld used the "secret Netflix menus" that were first unearthed by Reddit users (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D) to display the resolution and bitrate and confirm that Microsoft's claims are true. "In a blog post, Microsoft claimed Microsoft Edge was built to take advantage of platform features in Windows 10, including the PlayReady Content Protection and the media engine's Protected Media Path," reports PCWorld. "The company said it is working with the Open Media Alliance to develop next-generation media formats, codecs, and other technologies for UltraHD video, and with chipset companies to develop Enhanced Content Protection that moves the protected media path into peripheral hardware for an even higher level of security, and one that could be used to protect 4K media."

Comments

Why a browser ??

[PIBM]

You aren't even getting 5.1 channel audio with a browser, please use the netflix app for your ears. Well, at least in Canada, they should improve the audio bitrate all around, that would be even better!

Re:Why a browser ??

[corychristison]

Why a browser? Because that's the only choice we have on Linux.

Chrome, Chromium, or Firefox with Pipelight. Those are my options. I chose Chromium, only because it doesn't require the headaches of Pipelight, and no spyware of Google.

Re:Why a browser ??

[macs4all]

There isn't a screen in my house that is capable of handling 5.1 audio. Stereo from the tv speakers are good enough for everyone in my family. Not everyone cares about big bassey explosions.

What does Shirley Bassey have to do with this? And why would she explode?

That's nice

[rsilvergun]

can it also upgrade my eyes so I can tell the bloody difference? And get me a bigger TV while I'm at it. And unplug the $100 Amazon FireTV and replace it with a $300 ($400?) Windows 10 PC?

Re:That's nice

[jellomizer]

Would you say that if Firefox had 1080 and edge had only 720, or would you make fun on how behind the times Microsoft is.

Re:That's nice

[Shinobi]

Holy shit, how bad is your vision?

For me, being somewhat nearsighted and using glasses, the difference between 720p and 1080p is as stark as night and day, when the encoding is clearly optimized for each respective format, especially when there's lots of small details. For me, the absolute biggest difference is when watching nature documentaries.

Re:That's nice

[Bengie]

People can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p in the same way people can't tell the difference between 30fps and 120fps. I guess most people are blind.

That little rant being over, you can tell the difference if you know what to look for. The same way I can point out to people that the music the DJ is playing is a low quality MP3 because I hear audio artifacting.

The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[ilsaloving]

First of all, big 4? Hardly.

Secondly, there is exactly one and only one reason why Edge would play in 1080p but everyone else plays at 720p. Settings. There is nothing technical about Edge that the others lack. This whole thing screams of Microsoft yet again playing some shifty game, most likely involving backroom deals that would be very interesting to read about if made public. This isn't a new thing. It's how Sony won the BluRay vs HDDVD war, after all.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[Dracos]

Settings in a way, but not something as mundane and friendly as a checkbox exposed to the user anywhere. This shell game of truthiness is about which browsers are allowed to play 1080p content by the media consortiums and which browsers are following the DRM rules bullshit.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[ilsaloving]

Exactly. This is what I was talking about, but I guess I wasn't clear enough in my post. Thank you for clarifying.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[tezbobobo]

Firstly, between those 'big four' browsers share > 95% of the market. So yeah - big four. Also it doesn't make sense to compare Edge to browsers that don't run on the same platform, so wtf would you include Safari - it doesn't make sense. If you factor out Safari, the remaining browsers make 2% of the market. So that description was entirely appropriate.

Secondly. it doesn't matter what the reason is. Does it matter whether its a technical limitation? It isn't Microsoft that is stopping its competitors - it is them stopping themselves. Microsoft hasn't magically disabled 1080p in other browsers - they did it themselves.

So Microsoft is right, and that's all people will care about if they want 1080p.

Also, Chrome sucks at memory management.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[guruevi]

Microsoft did magically disable 1080p in the other browsers, it's right there in the summary. Edge is the only browser that (can) use PMP and PlayReady which the content cartels require for 1080p playback on Windows systems.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[magamiako1]

No, they enabled copy protection that the content producers want to see enabled before they let you stream 1080P/4K content. That's just how it is. It sucks, but don't go after Microsoft on this one.

The good news is that since 4K will be so hard to obtain--then most end users will ultimately just use 720P content anyway. There's no demand for 4K content in the sense that if it's too fucking difficult to access nobody will want it.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[guruevi]

So how can others make use of this copy protection? That's right, they can't because Microsoft is the creator of the 'standard' and controls the keys to the kingdom and doesn't really publish anything about it. There is no way that you can get your program to work with DRM in Windows without jumping through major hoops (both technical and bureaucratic) and even then, the thing is barely documented.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[Anonymous Coward]

Its not though. As someone who helped put it on a set top box recently, your org just has to sign with MS to be a playready developer and pay your license fee. After that you are free to go use it and generate keys. They have full docs and specs on how playready works and how its implemented. You then have to pass netflix's certification suite (which is mostly fully automated, choose test, tell it which device, run test, look at results/errors) to their satisfaction and your good to go

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[exomondo]

Microsoft did magically disable 1080p in the other browsers, it's right there in the summary.

The other browsers never had 1080p so please feel free to explain how Microsoft could disable something (magically or otherwise) that they never had? What they did was create a DRM solution that was acceptable for the content producers, the other browser makers have failed to do this. If Microsoft didn't create their DRM solution then Edge would max out at 720p content just like the other browsers.

Re:The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[Anonymous Coward]

You're being a crybaby bitch. PMP has been out since Vista. Firefox doesn't support it because they were too busy fucking with the UI, fighting H264, and adding in bullshit like Pocket. Opera has completely jumped the shark, threw out their flagship browser, and now just distribute a half-baked blink browser. Google? They're too busy implementing tracking features.

Re: The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[slazzy]

I'd use a different browser than edge if I had to crank the computer by hand while I ran it.

Re: The bullshit is fresh and steamy

[ranton]

So you get to move the goalposts wherever you want then. That makes you a hypocrite, especially when it comes to Chrome.

The difference is Chrome follows web standards and only adds its own functionality when there are no HTML / CSS / ECMA / etc standards to use. They may not be perfect at this, but they are better than any other browser. Microsoft on the other hand often ignores standards to do things its own way. I am pretty close to a Microsoft fanboy for many of its products, but Microsoft browsers have been a plague on the industry for two decades.

Microsoft Edge a big step in the right direction for Microsoft though, and probably would have been a big PR boost in the eyes of techies if Microsoft hadn't rammed Windows 10 down users' throats so forcefully.

Ok but my Windows Mint editions

[future assassin]

doesn't have it in the repos?

Get off my blurry lawn!

[Tablizer]

I got old worn-out eyes; I don't see the difference and don't fricken care.

I only care when I want to zoom into Natalie Portman's [censored], but don't want to pay extra for that.

Re:Get off my blurry lawn!

[Dracos]

Just get cold grits, they look the same as hot grits.

That old trick again?

[Opportunist]

Back to using undocumented features to gain an unfair advantage?

Re:That old trick again?

[tepples]

The PlayReady DRM system is documented. It's also documented that any entity implementing it must pay beaucoup bucks for certification to get a player key.

Unclear

[Anonymous Coward]

The article is kind of unclear as to why Edge is the only one that can do 1080. Is it because it supports the DRM that others don't? Is it because the others don't support the right codec? Is it a partnership between Microsoft and Netflix? What's actually going on?

Re:So Tired of "One Microsoft Way"

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, folks, it's all about open hardware and software.

Wrong, wrong and wrong. Nobody outside of your mom's basement gives two shits about open anything. What matters is shit that works. Open, closed, nobody cares as long as it works. Make stuff that is open AND works better than stuff that is closed, and then you've got something.

wrong story

[Gravis Zero]

here's what the real focus should be:

DRM Slows Down Videos; Most Browsers Only Capable Of 720p From Netflix

Where's the anti-trust and RICO action?

[qubezz]

Microsoft Edge was built to take advantage of platform features in Windows 10, including the PlayReady Content Protection and the media engine's Protected Media Path," reports PCWorld. "The company said it is working with the Open Media Alliance to develop next-generation media formats, codecs, and other technologies for UltraHD video, and with chipset companies to develop Enhanced Content Protection that moves the protected media path into peripheral hardware for an even higher level of security, and one that could be used to protect 4K media."

So essentially, Microsoft, in the pocket of big media, is working against the consumer to manipulate hardware manufacturers into taking control away from users of the data on their own computers. This is not a feature, this is anti-consumer racketeering. There's the headline.

Regarding the performance, I wouldn't be at all surprised that Microsoft is again leveraging its position on the OS to engage undocumented and secret OS APIs to gain this anticompetitive advantage in the browser.

Re: So Tired of "One Microsoft Way"

[Type44Q]

You're lubing-up? What a softie.

I can haz?

[ArhcAngel]

So where is the link to download and install Edge for my Android device? Or my friends iPhone? My customer's Mac? or my neckbeard brother's Linux box? I still use a Windows machine but more and more people are consuming most of their content on a mobile device. If I can't get Edge on the device it will never get the traction IE did.

Follow the money

[gumpish]

Remember that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sits on Microsoft's board of directors.