Netflix Announces Upgrade to 1080p Streaming Video for “Basic Subscription with Ads”

IT House News on April 19th, Netflix is ​​upgrading its basic ad-containing subscription plan to support streaming video quality higher than the current 720p resolution.

Netflix will launch a “basic subscription with advertising” for $6.99 per month (IT House Note: currently about 48 yuan) in the United States in November 2022, but this subscription level has been criticized for its limited video streaming resolution.

Since then, rival Disney+ has launched the “Disney+ Basic” ad-supported plan for $7.99 per month (currently about 55 yuan). Allows users to stream in FHD, HDR10, 4K UHD, Dolby Vision and extended aspect ratios with IMAX Enhanced support.

In its earnings report for the first quarter of 2023, Netflix said,Will increase video quality to 1080p for “Basic Subscription with Ads” at no additional cost. also,It will also increase the number of simultaneous video streams from one to two.

The 1080p resolution and additional video streaming capabilities will be available immediately to subscribers in Canada and Spain, and the upgrade will roll out to all markets by the end of April, Netflix said. More affordable subscription tiers are also available in the UK, US, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

Netflix revealed that the “Basic Subscription with Ads” plan has brought in more revenue than the standard subscription, which is priced at $15.49 per month and provides streaming media in HD high-definition quality. The company also announced that it was shutting down its DVD-by-mail service, which was the main source of revenue when Netflix first started nearly 25 years ago.

Netflix announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2023. According to the report, Netflix’s revenue in the first quarter was US$8.162 billion, an increase of 3.7% compared with US$7.868 billion in the same period last year; net profit was US$1.305 billion, an 18% decrease compared with US$1.597 billion in the same period last year; Diluted earnings per share were $2.88, compared to $3.53 in the prior year period.