A few days ago I was really bored and thought… Fck it, it can’t really be that bad and paid for a month, wouldn’t hurt to try…
Well that was a waste of money…
1st issue: Can’t stream over airplay.
A common thing i do because I’m a lazy piece of sh!t is I have a piece of software called “uxplay” which is a software airplay server that works way better than it has any right to. So what I do when I’m too lazy to get up from my couch is I connect my Mac with the uxplay server and just watch things that way. It’s a bog standard M3 MacBook air, nothing done to it, nothing…
So imagine my surprise when I tried to play Netflix while streaming over airplay and just saw a black screen… Yep, it just did not work… I couldn’t believe it at 1st but yep, apparently it’s a part of their DRM…
Issue 2: 4k is a lie…
Ok, I thought to myself, fine, I’ll watch it on my Mac directly… But the quality looked… Off. Sure enough, it was streaming at 1080p with a bit rate so low I could practically count the pixels… Ok, I thought to myself, I’ve heard of Netflix having issues on Linux (why I didn’t even try it on my PC) maybe I have something setup wrong… So I look at their docs and they state that safari should be able to play 4k full quality (yk, the thing I’m fucking paying for), I was trying to watch it on Arc (chromium based browser) so I thought, fair enough, I’m just gonna use safari… I log in do everything.
Still 1080p with an ass bit rate
Wtf
At this point I’m proper pissed off, I would have had less issues had I pirated the fcking show I wanted to watch at this point… But I gave it one last attempt, windows.
3rd issue: Windows… It’s by itself an issue
So, I have a stealth windows GPU passthrough virtual machine… The kind that most kernel level AC can’t detect. So I went “eh, if kernel level AC can’t detect it, surely Netflix won’t be able to”. And to it’s (the virtual machine’s credit) it was not detected… Problem is, 4k still didn’t fucking work. On Netflix’s own fcking website it states that edge should be able to play 4k no issue, so I relented and reinstalled edge to my debloated VM… Well that was a waste of time, the bit rate was a bit better but it was still 1080p… I tried extensions, changing flags, nope, Netflix just did not wanna stream at 4k… DESPITE ME FUCKING PAYING FOR IT… Ok, I thought, I have one last option, Netflix has an official windows app, except it’s only on the Microsoft store which just sat there for 5 minutes and then threw an error “unable to apply update” when trying to install the app…
Idk why people would ever pay for this shit, honestly. I didn’t expect anything and I was still disappointed. I didn’t expect it to work on Linux which is my daily driver but to be having issues on supposedly supported platforms, both Windows and Mac is completely unacceptable.
Afaik, their 4k plan is a straight up scam as I could not get it to stream at 4k, regardless of what I tried…
And I know it’s not my internet or my setup, I have gigabit internet ffs…
Sorry for the rant, I’m just really butthurt about having spent money on a service that doesn’t fcking work…
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AIUI Netflix will limit stuff if it sees anything at all creative going on because they are afraid of you screen recording.
Part of the resolution issue is probably caused by Netflix silly requirements. You can use hardware that is perfectly capable of handling 4k@60 or even higher, in whatever codec they deliver. But if your hardware is not considered as supported, good bad. An argument can be made for ease of use and general consumer base, but these things shouldn’t punish everyone else for that.
My M3 MacBook air isn’t supported?
I honestly don’t know. Could be they rated it that way.
Just wanted to point out that Netflix in general is pretty iffy about fulfilling their promises when it comes to 4k.
Sort of a tangent, but I’m curious what advantage Uxplay has over the built in macOS AirPlay server. I’m unfamiliar with it
UxPlay is a airplay server that allows you to remotely stream from your Mac to a Linux PC… You don’t run uxplay on the Mac itself, you run it on the machine you want to stream the display to
Ohhhh, it’s an AirPlay server for Linux! That’s awesome!
4k thing may not be Netflix itself. There’s a ton of DRM that has to be working just right built into a lot of hardware and software. Many things can cause it to have issues and it’s designed to break if there is anything it considers abnormal. Problem is that it’s kinda, sorta new and hardware can’t be updated. Same issues happened with 1080p at the time. My PS3 HDMI port broke multiple times during warranty and then I gave up after it expired. Just the slight distortion caused by the defect made the TV and all the other devices decide it was being used to pirate content and so they refused to work. These days the devices are more stable and the media industry has stopped aggressively enforcing the DRM to be so aggressive. But they still are doing it with 4K. Any little bug in a driver, software, or hardware firmware and it falls back to 720p or 1080p if you’re lucky.
Buy physical media and read it into Jellyfin.
Stremio with the torrent plugin. Entire web at your fingertips.
Yesterday I was watching Netflix on my phone and tried to switch to my iPad. Because my wife was also watching downstairs, I got the “you are already streaming on two devices” block screen. It even told me that one of them was my phone. So I went to my phone and quit the app. But nothing would convince Netflix that I was no longer streaming on my phone. It took about half an hour for this to naturally clear on its own. Being unable to switch devices is a major technical failing, and should be totally avoidable.
I’m not sure if this will fulfill your needs entirely, or how you feel regarding piracy to obtain source material, however I’ve been running Jellyfin for a while with an overall good experience. Subtitles are found and automatically applied, and it’s rather snappy.
I use it to watch an episode or two when I’m at the gym.Jellyfin doesn’t require or need piracy. Physical media is pretty common for most things.
Yeah but that’s not as fun. Yarrr
all paid streaming is not worth it,
Not sure about the Mac environment, but I had the black screen issue when screen mirroring through Chromecast. It’s fixed by disabling hardware acceleration in the browser.
Does anyone else read comments that self-censor swearwords in a squeaky voice? Like the commenter is 12 or so?
Heckin heck!
Not really. I let people use the language they’re comfortable with and I don’t pass judgement or attempt to make people be like me.
God what a self-righteous bore 😴
You asked 😂. Sh*t man what you want.
Fuck self censors itself into fuxk too much and I am too lazy to fix it.
Who knows, maybe that’s my whole idea :)
I’ll stick your post on the fridge and ruffle your hair, if you like
Oh, please do
Another hero we didn’t know we needed.
Have my grateful uovote.
I know I may come off bad with this question but I ran into it a while back and felt like a fool.
What show were you trying to watch, and does that show come in UHD.
When I had it I would stream to the TV so it may be different but not all shows and movies Netflix has comes in 4K.
It may all not give you that option because the resolution of the M3 MacBook Air is 2560x1664 and not actually 4k (3840 x 2160) I understand the pixel density changes things but the native resolution is what I am referencing. Unfortunately Netflix is not going to stream a higher resolution than the display natively supports from my understanding. May not hurt to hit up support with Netflix to see they can do anything to get it to stream 4K. Maybe they’ll even refund your money.
Here’s the thing though, even if you’re right, I shouldn’t have to call support to get the resolution I’m already paying for. I pay extra for 4k, what my screen is, pixel density, etc shouldn’t matter. I am paying for 4k, I should get 4k.
Ohh I totally agree if the show or movie is 4K then you should be able to stream it that way. The main point I guess I was making is be sure that the show or movie is 4K, some are not and if that’s the case it won’t work no matter what you do.
There is a list of them that support 4K.
https://hd-report.com/list-of-4k-ultra-hd-movies-tv-shows-on-netflix/
Have you tried an actual TV?
I haven’t met anyone under the age of 40 that still uses a TV to watch stuff
Then you are pretty isolated
Nah not really, watching TV is a boomer thing
Ok boomer
Lmao, have fun with your crappy modern tvs. Relevant Lemmy post: https://sopuli.xyz/post/21162974
Why use small screen when have big screen?
Then use small screen and big screen!
Projectors are also a thing.
Bought a 65inch TV for like $300 at Walmart. Hooked it up to my Pc to watch shows. Works good. Never connected it to the internet and never will. Just need an HDMI cord
No, I don’t have a tv… Nor do I have any intention of buying one…
So, you are complaining that a TV streaming service, with primary focus on streaming onto smart TVs, don’t perform on devices which are not main devices it caters for?
Precisely, it’s never marketed as a TV-only service anywhere so I have the full right to complain when I’m getting screwed over.
Hey hey Felix! Back with your shit takes again, i see!
Another way of seeing it is they’re pissed about a service not working as advertised.
Examples for your reading comprehension impaired self:
So I look at their docs and they state that safari should be able to play 4k full quality (yk, the thing I’m fucking paying for)
On Netflix’s own fcking website it states that edge should be able to play 4k no issue
Obviously they’re the stupid ones for simply believing what the company stated. Next time they’ll know to ask you for your input first!
Back with your shit takes again, i see!
No, I don’t shag your wife anymore.
Another zinger!
And “shag?” Really? You can curse on the fucking Internet, Mr. Powers.
Are you 12? What kind of response is that?
He called out your bad take and all you can say is ‘i fucked your wife’.
OP is right, if advertised, it should do 4k via one of the supported browsers.
Are you 12?
Are you suggesting your wife prefers children? That’s concerning.
Have you experienced what passes for “an actual TV that plays Netflix” these days?
Miss me with that shit.
Say what now?
I feel like a detail got added and then missed. “Have you tried a TV” means using a TV as a display. The reply jumped to Smart TV with the Netflix app.
Always-online locked down ad-riddled spyware on cheapass unfixable planned obsolescence hardware.
Are you a bot?
Yes, but don’t ask me for cake recipes. I’m not in the mood.
Are you?
Modern “Televisions” are pretty much smartphones with a big ass screen connected to them, and as such often requires an internet connection and some form of a login to use, even if you’re hardwired directly to it.Modern tvs aren’t just a screen that displays the data you send it, they’re a standalone ad serving machine
Modern “Televisions” are pretty much smartphones with a big ass screen
So, don’t you think watching on good quality “big ass screen” is nicer?
Is it worth giving up your data for a bigger screen?
Know how to stream Netflix in 4k on a PC? Install the Winstore Netflix app. It’s legit that easy.
