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Quality Constantly Changing Throughout A Season

Aceso

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Jul 27, 2020
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I was wondering if there is some setting that I might be missing that causes a Netflix season to drastically jump around in quality throughout a season.

For instance, I looking at Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Netflix. When I rip a season the episodes vary from 500 MB to 2GB and that is ripping it with the following settings:

Video Resolution: 1920x1080
Audio language: English [Original]
Audio Track: 192 kbps DD+ 5.1 5.1

I could see some variances in file sizes with probably say ± 100-200mb, but there's up to 1.5GB gap in between some. When you look at the < 1GB files you can see the artifacting and pixels that occur when you stretch an image to a higher resolution with low file sizes.

I am also aware that it can only grab files that Netflix offers the browser and I’ve matched the videos up with playing it in the browser. The one that Netflix offers the browser is a lot higher quality than it has been downloading,

I'm attaching a copy of the .astlog that it produces as it'll likely give more information. Since I'm not sure if it gives file size that I am seeing as well I'll list here too. I'll also include runtime just in case someone thinks that might be the factor.

S05E01
  • 501 MB
  • Runtime 43 mins 05 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 1,431
S05E05
  • 2.23 GB
  • Runtime 43 mins 05 secs
  • Video Bitrate -7,243
S05E07
  • 1.22 GB
  • Runtime 41 mins 02 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 4,092
S05E13
  • 935 MB
  • Runtime 42 mins 30 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 2,880

I didn't attach all 22 episodes since I figured that might be enough, but if needed I can attach all 5 seasons I've done so far with each having 22 episodes that have the same variances.
 

Attachments

  • Netflix-Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D_S05E01_Orientation (Part One).astlog
    161.5 KB · Views: 2
  • Netflix-Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D_S05E05_Rewind.astlog
    680.1 KB · Views: 0
  • Netflix-Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D_S05E07_Together or Not at All.astlog
    943.8 KB · Views: 1
  • Netflix-Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D_S05E13_Principia.astlog
    1.7 MB · Views: 0
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Is the video bitrate the same from all episodes?

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

That can't be the case in this instance. While the logs I provided are from 1.9.0.3 I went back and looked at the Season 01's log's (ripped earlier this month) which have the same problem and they were ran with 1.0.9.0 that wasn't in Beta. I also looked at some from last month and they had varying sizes too, but not as drastic. It is possible it existed before then, but if that was the case I'd probably see comments about it then too.

Just to add more info to it I downgraded to 1.9.0 and downloaded S05E01 and it is only at 5,391 bitrate. So while it is higher than 1.9.3 it is still quite a bit lower than some of the other versions. A couple more episodes seem to be all over the place.

Is the video bitrate the same from all episodes?

It is impossible for them all to have the same video bitrate since I was showing the runtimes to be about the same with small variances.

To further illustrate it though (and I'll mention it the OP too).

S05E01
  • 501 MB
  • Runtime 43 mins 05 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 1,431
S05E05
  • 2.23 GB
  • Runtime 43 mins 05 secs
  • Video Bitrate -7,243
S05E07
  • 1.22 GB
  • Runtime 41 mins 02 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 4,092
S05E13
  • 935 MB
  • Runtime 42 mins 30 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 2,880
 
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I find it very frustrating not to be able to replicate this. I am not saying it's not happening but after using the program extensively, I never found this issue. Numbers mean nothing to me, it's the quality of the picture I see when I watch the episode or program. I am not a fan of D+ so maybe that's where the issue is, but I find 1920X1080 as good as any I have ever seen.
 
to be honest, this is quite normal for NF to do this. there are wild fluctuations sometimes from one episode to the next. hpl uses variable bitrate to encode so that explains the filesize difference but they often use a different CRF value from one episode to the next which is annoying. when i see that the quality of one episode is worse then thankfully i have a friend that can download the mpl version and often is better than the poorly encoded hpl version. of course most of the hpl version is as good as the mpl version but there are more than a handful of occasions that there are visible differences between the two. so i do hope we get the option to choose between the two, but AS is still a good product nonetheless.
 
I find it very frustrating not to be able to replicate this. I am not saying it's not happening but after using the program extensively, I never found this issue. Numbers mean nothing to me, it's the quality of the picture I see when I watch the episode or program. I am not a fan of D+ so maybe that's where the issue is, but I find 1920X1080 as good as any I have ever seen.

Well these are from Netflix and not D+, unless I'm misunderstanding something.

Normally after I finish a season I move it over to another directory, but didn't this time until I was finishing up the show. That's when I noticed it. As far as replicating it I haven't seen anything "specific" that causes it and replicates it. Comparing 110 episodes they are all over the board with not consistency, which shows it will be hard to replicate. Though the only thing I know is the options in the pop up box were all the same.

Yeah I've been trying to upgrade things to 1080p lately. For instance this show I had 480p rips from ABC's site that I did when they were originally airing so it was long overdue.

I'm not sure if it helps with comparisons, but I'll attach some screenshots too.

So the first image is from S05E01 in the 1.9.0.3 Version. This one has a mix of color and black.
The second image is from S05E01 in the 1.9.0.3 Version at the same frame and you can see some variances in the quality due to this one having smaller bitrate.

The third image is from S05E05 in 1.9.0.3 where the video bitrate was at 7K versus the 1K and 5K versions.

The next two images are of a black scene where it is a lot more noticeable as well.

The fourth is from version 1.9.0.0 with the fifth being from version 1.9.0.3.


V1.9.0.0.jpg V1.9.0.3.jpg V1.9.0.3 HQ.jpg V1.9.0.0 Black.jpg V1.9.0.3 Black.jpg

to be honest, this is quite normal for NF to do this. there are wild fluctuations sometimes from one episode to the next.

hpl uses variable bitrate to encode so that explains the filesize difference but they often use a different CRF value from one episode to the next which is annoying. when i see that the quality of one episode is worse then thankfully i have a friend that can download the mpl version and often is better than the poorly encoded hpl version. of course most of the hpl version is as good as the mpl version but there are more than a handful of occasions that there are visible differences between the two. so i do hope we get the option to choose between the two, but AS is still a good product nonetheless.

If that was the case then one rip should be in the 1K range while the next rip of the same episode is in the 5K range. Different episodes possibly, but not to the extent that I have at the moment. Unless you are saying that when AS goes and grabs the video it is essentially throwing a dart at a dartboard and saying "Hey grab this bitrate this time" With that said I'm not saying you are wrong with the whole HPL/MPL thing, just I think in this case it is something else differently.

To expand on my response and show it with an example:

S05E01
  • 501 MB
  • Runtime 43 mins 05 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 1,431
  • Version 1.9.0.3
S05E01
  • 1.68 MB
  • Runtime 43 mins 05 secs
  • Video Bitrate - 5,391
  • Version 1.9.0.0
The other thing is 1.9.0.0 managed to grab both sets of subtitles while 1.9.0.3 only managed to grab one set of the two (both were English). Which is odd because 1.9.0.3 managed to grab the main English set for all the episodes minus one or two on a different occasion.
 
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Well, the bug report I pointed to contrasts with 1.0.9.1 not 1.0.9.0...

You have three choices basically: very stale CDN node, user error (wrong rate/subscription), or the manifestation of symptoms described in the previously mentioned bug:-

Yeah, looking at your file size for your S05E01 it is different than my V1.9.0.0 version. Which one did you grab yours with, if you recall?

Mine is at 1.68 GB (1,805,770,752). Comparing your ffmpeg info to mine it looks the same so it might be the audio being different since yours is showing a 89% stream size while mine is at 96%.

Not sure what you mean about the CDN though since I didn't see any settings related to that, unless its region which is NA still for me.

Subscription isn't the issue as we have the "UltraHD" for the 4K and at the time so up to 4 could watch it. Though I just noticed today when I looked at it that they now offer unlimited devices for each, but that's a different subject altogether lol.

As for the bug then maybe it existed prior to 1.9.0.3 then but because more noticeable now?
 
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Literally shown on the first picture :p I just pulled it to show you that my diagnosis was right.

Ah, you are right. I'm sorry I didn't see that. Already started teaching this morning and was replying in between breaks and they've done killed my brain :p
 
I do not have any of these issues at all. Ever since I installed 1093 it has been perfect for me, maybe its what I am downloading, maybe it's my computer, maybe its because I don't use subtitles frequently, only once in a while, but everything has worked perfectly for me, now you may think I am saying this because I am a Mod here, but believe me that's not it, I try to reproduce every issue, but since I am in a different region and maybe I have a better network connection can all come into play here. I am not saying that these issues do not exist, obviously, you are having issues, but did these issues come after you bought the program, was it the updated versions that caused this? When you tried the trial version were you unhappy or were you happy with this program? I am at a loss here. I just don't understand.
 
Hang on, but how do you know you're downloading the best version when you're only using 1.0.9.3? The videos downloaded with 1.0.9.3 are perfectly watchable but not at the same bitrate as 1.0.9.1...
Why would anyone use an old version? That's going backward. If you like going backward so be it.
 
At the very least



You can accept bugs (especially now that there some glaringly obvious bugs) or having identified bugs revert to the version that doesn't have those bugs...
I am not getting into this conversation but I know it all has to do with bandwidth. Which is different for everyone here. Bitrate is the amount of data encoded for a unit of time, and for streaming is usually referenced in megabits per second (Mbps) for video, and in kilobits per second (kbps) for audio. From a streaming perspective, a higher video bitrate means a higher quality video that requires more bandwidth. Read it again, a higher quality video requires more bandwidth. Please dont respond.
 
All I know is that going backward is not the correct thing to do, a newer version will most probably be coming soon, maybe that will help you all.
 
Perhaps, and knowing how hard devs works, it likely will, but reverting back to an old known-to-be-good version is the standard operating procedure when one encounters show-stopping bugs with development/alpha/beta versions...
and for your information I was talking about the actual Netflix, Amazon streaming, if you do not have enough bandwidth to stream it correctly how do you think the download will look.
 
What's streaming got to do with AS, let alone OP's particular problem? Want to have a chat about what each of us had for dinner? I had a very juicy and tasty brisket... but that is not getting closer to fixing OP's problem...
I think he should wait for the next version instead of wasting time going backward as per your suggestion. Going backward will only give him the issues that were fixed in the new 1093. Go backward and you will wind up where he started. Tell me why 99% of the AS users do not have these issues. Let him post a logfile, the developers will help him.
 
You're talking plain nonsense: AS is not using real time streaming, otherwise downloading at more than real-time would not be possible; it's using good old HTTPS retrieval over TCP. You can download highest bitrate video that a provider offers using AS even over 28.8 kbps modem, granted it would take a long time, but you can still do it! All bitrate ladder decisions for streaming services are done on the client end, not server side! You simply don't know what you're talking about.

I agree. Using 1.0.9.3 i was getting great downloads with some episodes then really small files on others. On checking on my plex server the bitrate was so low i was getting pixelation on scene changes and busy scenes. I Reverted back to 1.0.9.0 just to test the theory in this thread. Instantly file size was larger and bitrate higher quality much better. As for network speed i run AS on a dedicated RDP connected to a 1gbps dedicated line so network has nothing to do with it.

I love AS and have no doubt this will be sorted but ill keep running the old version for now to make sure i get a consistant bitrate
 
I do not have any of these issues at all. Ever since I installed 1093 it has been perfect for me, maybe its what I am downloading, maybe it's my computer, maybe its because I don't use subtitles frequently

The subtitles shouldn't cause issues as I tested it without doing any as well. I haven't tried it with Amazon or D+ at all so I can't say if any issues exist with them at all.

maybe I have a better network connection can all come into play here.

In theory network connection should not have any issue with it at all. Since it is downloading it, and not recording it, it would just download it at the speed it would deem appropriate. Network connection was also debunked when it gave me two different sizes with v1.9.0.0 and v1.9.0.3. If there any issues or limitations with a computer, network or anything like that then both should've been really close in the test. Instead there was a drastic difference between the two which shows something lies between version differences.

I am not saying that these issues do not exist, obviously, you are having issues, but did these issues come after you bought the program, was it the updated versions that caused this? When you tried the trial version were you unhappy or were you happy with this program? I am at a loss here. I just don't understand.

I've had the program for awhile. So any issues I had in the trial wouldn't exist as they are now since there have been a few upgrades since then. So in this case trial vs retail doesn't pertain to this issue.

The issue is I was trying to see if there was a new setting that was introduced that would cause the varying quality sizes and seems a few others are experiencing it as well.

Why would anyone use an old version? That's going backward. If you like going backward so be it.

It's not that people like going backwards. It's that in this case it rectifies the problem (at first I thought it was a new setting, seems it might be a bug). Sometimes you have to downgrade in programs in order to get a desired feature such as a bug that wasn't there before or features that were removed. Also 1.9.0.3 is a beta and usually when an Alpha/Beta have issues you revert back to a "Retail" or "Release" candidate version and diagnose the differences between the two.

I am not getting into this conversation but I know it all has to do with bandwidth. Which is different for everyone here.

Eh, at least in this case it doesn't have to deal with bandwith. Downloading in both versions gives extremely different results on the same machine and same bandwith. Two different versions giving different results rules that out especially when each versions gives their same result over and over.

Secondly, if it is downloading it then bandwith shouldn't be a factor at all except for the speed you receive the file. If it was recording the stream and converting it over then it'd likely be a factor there too depending on how it grabbed the chunks. Since AS is a downloader this shouldn't be a factor.

From a streaming perspective, a higher video bitrate means a higher quality video that requires more bandwidth. Read it again, a higher quality video requires more bandwidth. Please dont respond.

Yeah, if we were streaming it this would be correct. If this was the case for downloading then what you would be suggesting is that AS is grabbing an optimized version based on your speed. Even then that wouldn't explain why two different versions give me two different sizes with 1.9.0 being at least "close" to what it should. It still isn't at the max quality like some, but it is at least 1.1GB bigger than the 1.9.0.3 version.

All I know is that going backward is not the correct thing to do, a newer version will most probably be coming soon, maybe that will help you all.

Agreed. Going backwards shouldn't be the correct thing to do (unless features get completely removed that are in an older version). With that said I'm not permanently downgrading from 1.9.0.3 to 1.9.0.0. I installed 1.9.0.0 to test and see the differences to rule out different possible factors. Now that I see there is a problem with 1.9.0.3 and to a lesser extent 1.9.0.0 I know now to just wait until a new version gets released. Which is fine with me.

My whole initial point of making the post was to double-check and make sure I didn't miss something obvious in the settings that could be affecting this and then saw a few others with the same issue.

I think he should wait for the next version instead of wasting time going backward as per your suggestion. Going backward will only give him the issues that were fixed in the new 1093. Go backward and you will wind up where he started. Tell me why 99% of the AS users do not have these issues. Let him post a logfile, the developers will help him.

Gah you two keep posting as I type my previous posts! lol

With that said in my other post I mention I'm not rolling back. I just won't use it for it a bit until some issues get sorted. I'm also noticing the same issues even with the last working Release version so it is something that has been there, but got "worse" or more noticeable in the newest beta.

Also, I did post four log files in the first post so that part is taken care of.

Though one thing I did want to mention I don't think 99% of AS is fine and doesn't have the issues. The thing with anything is only a few people will comment on any issues they have or notice them. What this means is there could be a huge chunk experiencing the same thing but they don't notice it because their videos downloaded and they think the sizes are normal. For others it could be they are just fine with the quality. Which is fine either way, but that doesn't mean that others aren't experiencing the problem.

and for your information I was talking about the actual Netflix, Amazon streaming, if you do not have enough bandwidth to stream it correctly how do you think the download will look.

The streaming isn't the problem. I mentioned in my original post too that I can load the file up in the browser and it looks a lot better than the downloaded version does. If bandwith was a factor, which again with how the program works it can't be, then I'd be seeing similar issues but I'm not.
 
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Hi there,

I have the same problem with Travelers on Netflix (1080p).

For example:

S01E01
File size : 1.55 GiB
Duration : 50 min 13 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Video Bit rate : 3 771 kb/s

S01E02
File size : 816 MiB
Duration : 46 min 36 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Video Bit rate : 1 802 kb/s

S01 E04, E06, E08, E10 and E12 also have much lower bitrate and are pixelated. E01, E03, E05, E07, E09 & E11 look fine.
 
Just wanna chime in and say me too.

Complete name : F:\Videos\AnyStream\Netflix-Grey's Anatomy_S01E04_No Man's Land.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (mp42/iso6)
File size : 1.56 GiB
Duration : 43 min 13 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 5 165 kb/s
Movie name : No Man's Land
Encoded date : UTC 2021-03-26 23:22:05
Tagged date : UTC 2021-03-26 23:22:05

Complete name : F:\Videos\AnyStream\Netflix-Grey's Anatomy_S01E05_Shake Your Groove Thing.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (mp42/iso6)
File size : 2.37 GiB
Duration : 43 min 8 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 7 872 kb/s
Movie name : Shake Your Groove Thing
Encoded date : UTC 2021-03-26 23:41:55
Tagged date : UTC 2021-03-26 23:41:55
 

Attachments

  • Netflix-Grey's Anatomy_S01E05_Shake Your Groove Thing.astlog
    435.6 KB · Views: 0
  • Netflix-Grey's Anatomy_S01E04_No Man's Land.astlog
    352.2 KB · Views: 0
Try the lower bitrate episodes with 1.0.9.1 (you can install it in a different directory to the 1.0.9.3 if you want, just don't have them both running at the same time)

Thank you, but I can not download 1.0.9.1. It seems like it isn't available for download anymore.
 
I've seen the same (with 1090 and 1093). I sometimes even had differnet bit rates on differnt times of the day. A Netflix episode I downloaded yesterday resulting in a 600MB file was more than 800MB today.
 
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