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…
kagis
It sounds like specifically 4k resolution requires a trusted hardware stack, and I assume that the things you’ve tried are going to result in untrusted components somewhere in the stack, as all of those would permit untrusted hardware to be able to grab the frames.
I doubt that Airplay provides a path under the control of trusted hardware.
EDIT: It sounds like some Macs should support 4k, at least playing directly:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/mac-users-can-finally-watch-netflix-in-4k-hdr
Say you want a ham sandwich. I’m going to sell you a ham sandwich. However the sandwich you get is missing the titular ham of said sandwich. There is still good bread and mayo and cheese. But did you buy a cheese sandwich? Would you complain?
This is the crux of OPs post. They’re not getting what they pay for.
I honestly think that their 4k premium plan is a scam. I pay more for 4k but can’t use said 4k… SO THEN WHY EVEN OFFER IT
https://proprivacy.com/vpn/comparison/best-no-logs-vpns
https://github.com/Rick45/quick-arr-Stack
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin
https://signup.easynews.com/bonus-offer/?a_aid=urz&a_bid=ef2f9ea1&chan=en_urz_nzb
https://www.howtogeek.com/66214/how-to-forward-ports-on-your-router/
https://shop.gandi.net/en/domain/suggest?search=netflixisacheesesandwich
https://www.paulcostan.com/2024/06/how-to-setup-dynamic-dns-with-cloudflare/
I get every resolution I download. Natively on my linux and mac machines. Follow the above recipe and you can too.
Edit: added vpn search. Honestly do some deeper research there. I went with https://www.vpnsecure.me/?xyz=3278 way back when but there might be better out there now.
4k works great on most TV devices, that’s where they expect people are consuming it. I think the crux of the complaint is actually that they don’t make any of that clear before you waste money on it.
Isn’t it more like buying a 4K texture pack dlc for a game and finding out your GTX 1070 can’t run it? The problem here seems to be getting max settings on unsupported hardware.
I think Netflix sucks and that OP should get a refund…but I also think Netflix provided what was paid for
No, linux and Firefox are both capable of running 4k resolution.
If you want to use the gaming analogy this is like buying a triple star game but not being able to play it due to buggy performance from kernel level anti-cheat.
You cannot place the onus on the consumer with this.
You can see here that Netflix is throttling the bitrate even on compliant hardware.
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1602743673
No, the thing is, I never even mentioned Linux because I paid for Netflix, knowing it won’t work on it. My problem is that even on supposedly “supported” platforms like my M3 MacBook air, I’m still not getting 4k.
It’s an unmodified, unfiddled with, bog standard MacBook air. If that isn’t “supported” or “trusted” hardware I don’t know what is…
And if we’re talking hardware capabilities, this thing can play multiple 8k streams at the same time without even warming up so… I highly doubt it’s a hardware capability issue.
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
It’s ludicrous that the original pirate-killer service has become such a bad deal. 13 years ago it was such a good deal that it didn’t really make sense to pirate anymore. Now it’s triple the price, 1/3 the quality content, and a worse experience.
I would have had less issues had I pirated
This right here is the problem. Consumers are being punished for paying for their service. I would be more than happy to hand over my hard earned money for products and services that are good value. I’m not trying to get something from nothing here. It’s absurd that we could get better than they’re promising, let alone actually delivering on, and it could cost us nothing.
Yesterday, I learned that several titles on Netflix are locked out from the ad-supported tier “due to licensing restrictions”. Inexcusable. Pay, still sit through ads, get a fraction of the library. I think I’m gonna start building a NAS and home library this year. BDs and DVDs can be snatched up for cheap from pawn shops and eBay. I’ll do it legally just so I can tell any FBI pricks to go fuck themselves if they should ever decide to check on my shit.
I have no issue with paying for services and software in general. If the service provides me with what I expect from it. For eg, I can very easily pirate games but choose to buy a lot of them, especially indie games on steam because steam offers and has offered me an excellent service for years…
But when 🏴☠️ becomes more convenient, easier and can provide a better experience for less effort is the moment when I stop paying… I’m not gonna pay for the privilege of maybe, if the fcking stars align getting permission to watch 4k. I pay for 4k, you give it to me or I stop paying, simple as that.
https://proprivacy.com/vpn/comparison/best-no-logs-vpns
https://github.com/Rick45/quick-arr-Stack
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin
https://signup.easynews.com/bonus-offer/?a_aid=urz&a_bid=ef2f9ea1&chan=en_urz_nzb
https://www.howtogeek.com/66214/how-to-forward-ports-on-your-router/
https://shop.gandi.net/en/domain/suggest?search=netflixisacheesesandwich
https://www.paulcostan.com/2024/06/how-to-setup-dynamic-dns-with-cloudflare/
I get every resolution I download. Natively on my linux and mac machines. Follow the above recipe and you can too.
I’m not against piracy, but publicly posting about intending to pirate would just invite cops to come and snoop around. I’m not dumb. I should either shut the fuck up about this topic and feel free to pirate or I should not pirate so I can freely speak up about how bullshit it is to pay for these things when piracy is far and away the better experience. I chose the latter, and especially now that resources have been provided to help others to choose the former, others can do so without even asking where to start.
I can afford to buy my media, but I wasn’t always so financially stable and I refuse to forget those chapters of my life. People are really struggling right now, so I wouldn’t dare judge anybody for pirating instead of paying these absurd streaming bill amounts just to get a dogshit selection, bad UI, and pisspoor video quality. As everything in life seems to be going to subscription model, I’m becoming more interested in owning my media. It also just seems like building a NAS and ripping my discs to build a library within it could just be a fun tinkering tech project.
Wrong community. You should join !piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com ;)
Edit:
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…
Sounds less like a Microsoft/Windows rooted issue but rather your debloating process fucked with the fragile internals of Windows.
It’s the same as fucking with the permissions on /sbin (don’t have a better example) and being surprised why you can’t access binaries in there anymore.
You should absolutely not be pirating anything. That just puts a target on your back and isn’t necessary
