Why is the android Netflix app so bad?

[SLHQC]

Hello

I am a relatively new participant to these forums since purchasing a Ugoos UT1 which I have managed to get humming along very nicely thanks to the talent and help from many Freaktab people like Finless Bob, wasser, Riley, southpole to name a few.

Since installing the finless neoX7 1.8 rom along with a kernel extracted from an updated stock rom, the unit works just about perfectly. Plays any video format I throw at it, outputs Dolby digital and DTS, smooth 1080p streaming over WiFi etc...

However...

The image quality of Netflix is horrible! It cycles between unwatchable to less-than-mediocre. Blurry to pixelated... Compare this to my ps3 which streams Netflix in 720p without trouble over WiFi from the same room I can't understand why it has to be so bad.

It seems obvious that the problem is the Netflix app itself. YouTube streams in HD without any issues, WiFi signal is strong, system stable etc etc...

I've trawled these forums and the internet for a solution, tried a heap of *fixes*, different roms, tweaks, customised Netflix apks -everything I can think of - all to no avail.

Doors anyone have an opinion or suggestion on this? Is everyone happy with the image quality of Netflix? I would be very surprised if this is the case.

Cheers and thanks for all the help.

[morias]

Why is the android Netflix app so bad?

Yes, the image quality is horrible in my experience as well. I expect it looks good at 4 inches but not at 50.

[SLHQC]

Yes, the image quality is horrible in my experience as well. I expect it looks good at 4 inches but not at 50.

So it's not all in my mind! Good to know!

It seems counterintuitive that people put so much effort into tweaking roms and such to get their units to play high quality content smoothly yet there seems to be a casual acceptance of Netflix's mediocrity...

[budgetgeek]

Hardware?

I thought it was a hardware issue. I haven't had a chance to test these versions for full effect but I did test the netflix 3 linked in the post today. I watched a cartoon with my kids and it worked okay. I'll do some more tests with the 2.4 versions because the developer says it is better than 3 for quality.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305091

[tinyhands]

My experience with Netflix on a variety of platforms (Wii, PC, tablet, BluRay, etc.) is that the initial quality sucks, but after a minute or two it improves. It starts out so horribly pixellated that I don't want to watch it, but given a little time to catch up, it's fine. I haven't tried it with an android stick on a large screen tv, so I can't confirm that it isn't the hardware in this case, but the Wii hardware is pretty old by modern standards.

[SLHQC]

My experience with Netflix on a variety of platforms (Wii, PC, tablet, BluRay, etc.) is that the initial quality sucks, but after a minute or two it improves. It starts out so horribly pixellated that I don't want to watch it, but given a little time to catch up, it's fine. I haven't tried it with an android stick on a large screen tv, so I can't confirm that it isn't the hardware in this case, but the Wii hardware is pretty old by modern standards.

That is also the case with the Sony PS3 - after a minute or so the quality improves and it tends to *stick*. On the PS3 you can display an overlay which shows the resolution - it usually starts at 240p, then cycles to 384p, 480p and finally 720p (if it's a HD stream) and stays that way.

With the android box connected to the same TV, using the same internet connection, even though it doesn't display the resolution, it looks like the best I get is about the equivalent of the PS3's 384p state. Sometimes it appears to get a bit better, but it usually cycles between the very lowest resolution and something just below standard definition. It also stutters each time the resolution changes, making for a fairly unpleasant viewing experience. It can't be the hardware or my admittedly mediocre internet speed because it copes with all other forms of HD material just fine (Youtube, network streams etc).

[Javinator]

I have no issues with my CX919. it's possible that you're not getting good wifi performance on your stick with Netflix running. Not sure as to the cause though, especially with you saying you get good YouTube performance. Do you use a proxy for Netflix?

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk

[Overworld]

Same thing here on an mk 819. The box plays 1080p ac3 audio at high bitrates without problems for example using xbmc. Youtube HD is spotless. Netflix is crap.