After the European Union’s request, YouTube has also decided to show videos in standard definition (SD) quality instead of high definition (HD) and Full HD on the way to Netflix, though it has taken this decision only for Europe at the moment. On YouTube’s decision, a company spokesperson told Techcrunch that even though users have decided to watch videos in SD, they will get good quality.
Let’s say that half the world is imprisoned in homes due to coronavirus. Millions of people are working from home. Those who are home are spending their time watching videos online and playing games. In the meantime, the European Union had recently asked platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video streaming to stop showing videos in high definition (HD) quality, otherwise there may be a problem of Internet outage with the increase of users.
In a tweet, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said that all UK companies should do video streaming in standard definition (SD) quality for a few days. Thierry has made this tweet on the basis of a conversation with CEO Reed Hastings for Netflix.
He used #SwitchtoStandard and said that it should be discontinued when HD is not necessary. After this conversation, Netflix has turned off HD videos. However, Amazon Prime Video has not yet come out with any statement.
Stacy is the Hardware Editor at Get Ignite. She worked for a number of leading tech publications, including Engadget, PCMag, Laptop, and Tech Times, where she served as the Managing Editor. Her writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. She hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares her Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.
