Clearer video for everyone! Or at least for some.
Netflix is now offering Super HD, its highest-quality streaming video, to all of its customers, the company announced in a blog post on Thursday, expanded from a limited rollout in January.
But some customers still might not be able to use Super HD all the time, because some Internet service providers haven't joined a network Netflix designed to keep Internet congestion low.
When Super HD was introduced in January, it was available only to people whose Internet Service Providers were using Netflix's Open Connect Network, a system of servers connected to local ISPs designed to help ease Internet congestion.
Netflix customers account for up to a third of Internet traffic at peak hours in the U.S., Netflix's vice president of Content Delivery, Ken Florance, explains in a video (which you can also watch below). Open Connect is supposed to ease the burden on the Internet.
But not every ISP has joined Open Connect. Which means that not every Netflix customer will be able to use Super HD all of the time. Customers of Time Warner Cable, for example, might have to watch slightly grainier video, and they may experience sluggish Internet speeds when Netflix viewing is high, VentureBeat points out.
In its post, Netflix says, "the ability to receive Super HD depends on broadband quality and performance."
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