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Amazon and Netflix file size

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Greg Alex

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Hello,

I have noticed that on average, 1080p downloads from Amazon are almost double in size compared to Netflix. There are instances where there's the same movie on both providers in 1080p, but Amazon's file will be 4-5gb bigger.....

Does that mean that Netflix does not allow AS to download bigger streams (I know it's out of AS's control) or does Netflix use better compression that results in smaller sizes by comparison?

I'm by no means an expert on the subject but I was curious about this and was hoping that someone can provide a technical explanation.

I'm under the impression that the bigger the file size the better overall quality will be...am I wrong?
 
Greg Alex said:
or does Netflix use better compression
Click to expand...
I believe someone wrote exactly this a time ago.

Greg Alex said:
the bigger the file size the better overall quality will be
Click to expand...
I'm not an expert with encoding videos, but the bare size is not the most important thing.
It also dependence on the video codec, the bitrate, compression and resolution.
A movie can be 1080p or even 4k but looks like crap because it is only 2Mbp/s.
 
Greg Alex said:
Hello,

I have noticed that on average, 1080p downloads from Amazon are almost double in size compared to Netflix. There are instances where there's the same movie on both providers in 1080p, but Amazon's file will be 4-5gb bigger.....

Does that mean that Netflix does not allow AS to download bigger streams (I know it's out of AS's control) or does Netflix use better compression that results in smaller sizes by comparison?

I'm by no means an expert on the subject but I was curious about this and was hoping that someone can provide a technical explanation.

I'm under the impression that the bigger the file size the better overall quality will be...am I wrong?
Click to expand...
Yes and the bigger the file also. 1080p is about the best you can get (not using 4K).

I have noticed that on average, 1080p downloads from Amazon are almost double in size compared to Netflix. There are instances where there's the same movie on both providers in 1080p, but Amazon's file will be 4-5gb bigger.....
Click to expand...
You are correct.
 
RedFox 1 said:
Yes and the bigger the file also. 1080p is about the best you can get (not using 4K).

You are correct.
Click to expand...
Just so i don't misunderstand you, are you saying that the difference in file size between the 2 providers is less to do with Netflix' superior compression and more to do with what Netflix chooses to put out for AS to grab from them, compared to Amazon?

And you're confirming that overall Amazon provides the more superior quality streams?
 
Greg Alex said:
Just so i don't misunderstand you, are you saying that the difference in file size between the 2 providers is less to do with Netflix' superior compression and more to do with what Netflix chooses to put out for AS to grab from them, compared to Amazon?

And you're confirming that overall Amazon provides the more superior quality streams?
Click to expand...
Thats what I think, I am not confirming anything. But a bigger file size usually means better video, but if you have a small screen, even a small file size is going to look good.
 
Not sure if anynone else has noticed, but I am seeing an ever increasing number of N titles that are not available in 1080. Even N original titles showing at 1080 are only 1-1.5Mb rates. This seems very much like something on the CDN side that is increasingly filtering out AS clients. Also, every 720 only title is basically unwatchable, terrible blockiness. Even some titles that were once offered at 1080 are no longer doing so.
 
yrgnd said:
Not sure if anynone else has noticed, but I am seeing an ever increasing number of N titles that are not available in 1080. Even N original titles showing at 1080 are only 1-1.5Mb rates. This seems very much like something on the CDN side that is increasingly filtering out AS clients. Also, every 720 only title is basically unwatchable, terrible blockiness. Even some titles that were once offered at 1080 are no longer doing so.
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When you say unwatchable, what are they unwatchable on. I don't think these downloads were meant for 55 in TVs
 
Even VLC on my laptop with a 13" 768 resolution is blocky as hell. The most recent one I noticed is The Help, only 720 and the bitrate was like 700k I think. i couldnt even make out the faces on some actors. One of the N original examples is I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore. 1080p but only 1.2M rate.... some scenes are pure lego.

To clarify, this is a N only problem. AP never gives me issues.
 
What is N? What is AP? Please use full provider names.
 
Ch3vr0n said:
What is N? What is AP? Please use full provider names.
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I am new here but Im only following the pattern Ive seen others here use for referencing providers. I figured the less specific we are the less likely these forums will show up in search results directly. Its a deliberate attempt at obfuscation.

N is netflx and AP is Amazn Prime

Also, further to this issue, Ive noticed that Netflx titles sometimes look fine thru a good portion of the video, but at point will get blocky even on simple scenes without a lot of motion, complexity, etc. Almost if bandwidth detection is swapping me to another lower quality stream to compensate like it would if you were watching it live and bandwidth drops or whatever. Just a heads up though, it doesn't happen often.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
And that pattern is "wrong", and so is the logic. Basic text can't link to providers making them "aware" of anystreams existence. Unless you're aware of AnyStream, and use a specific search it's not going to show up in results. For example (and i just tried this), doing a google search on "Prime video download" and anystream (or the redfox forumos) don't even show up in the first 10 pages. Only if i did a specific search on "Grey's Anatomy Anystream" did i see a forum entry
 
Ch3vr0n said:
And that pattern is "wrong", and so is the logic. Basic text can't link to providers making them "aware" of anystreams existence. Unless you're aware of AnyStream, and use a specific search it's not going to show up in results. For example (and i just tried this), doing a google search on "Prime video download" and anystream (or the redfox forumos) don't even show up in the first 10 pages. Only if i did a specific search on "Grey's Anatomy Anystream" did i see a forum entry
Click to expand...

I used to be a search engine dev and then a security researcher. I am fully aware of how to get the search results I am looking for if I needed to, for example, if I were a NF forensic researcher. All the search spiders are indexing nearly everything here regardless of robot file. I feel better not referencing directly.
 
yrgnd said:
Even VLC on my laptop with a 13" 768 resolution is blocky as hell. The most recent one I noticed is The Help, only 720 and the bitrate was like 700k I think. i couldnt even make out the faces on some actors. One of the N original examples is I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore. 1080p but only 1.2M rate.... some scenes are pure lego.

To clarify, this is a N only problem. AP never gives me issues.
Click to expand...
I watch movies compressed to H265 just fine, so personally, I can't see 720p being unwatchable on a 13" screen, my computer screen is 27" and every movie or show from any of the providers have been just fine.
 
RedFox 1 said:
I watch movies compressed to H265 just fine, so personally, I can't see 720p being unwatchable on a 13" screen, my computer screen is 27" and every movie or show from any of the providers have been just fine.
Click to expand...
Exactly my point. Seems like it should never be that bad. I could post a screen shot I guess.
 
RedFox 1 said:
Not necessary, I believe you.
Click to expand...
Cool, I had deleted those files anyways I think. I am trying one of those titles again with 1.1.0.3b to see if anything has changed. Really its just an issue with Netflx only offering the lower bitrates.
 
Yay, maybe something has changed in the newest beta. I grabbed I Dont Feel at Home.. and its fine now. 6.5M rate vs 1.2 from the previous attempt.
 
Greg Alex said:
Hello,

I have noticed that on average, 1080p downloads from Amazon are almost double in size compared to Netflix. There are instances where there's the same movie on both providers in 1080p, but Amazon's file will be 4-5gb bigger.....

Does that mean that Netflix does not allow AS to download bigger streams (I know it's out of AS's control) or does Netflix use better compression that results in smaller sizes by comparison?

I'm by no means an expert on the subject but I was curious about this and was hoping that someone can provide a technical explanation.

I'm under the impression that the bigger the file size the better overall quality will be...am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Is there a way you can see the audio and video bitrates? I'm also curious to know what exactly is making it bigger, whether it be file type or video/audio bitrates. There is also a chance that it was converted for compatibility reasons, which can (in most cases) increase the file size of the video with quite literally no quality difference (unless you count the placebo effect as a quality difference, otherwise there is no noticeable difference). Another way you can see if just by seeing how quickly your video plays over the internet, but that's more difficult to do since you'd need the same player/streaming service to see, but that's just another way you can check if a video has a lot of data in it, despite it looking worse or better. I've had videos that look worse than the original take longer to load or play simply because of how unoptimised the encoding is, chances are the encoding is just really unoptimised if you notice no real difference, try see if you see discoloured "blocks" in dark scenes, that's usually an indicator of low bitrates or compression.
 
Yes, with a third party tool called 'MediaInfo'.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
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