NETFLIX has a habit of hiking its prices every couple of years as it battles to keep pace with rivals Amazon and Disney.
The U.S. streaming giant argues that squeezing consumers helps it to pay for new TV shows and movies while subscribers lament the ballooning burden on their wallets.
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Netflix payment plans explained
Netflix has three price tiers in the U.S. and U.K., with higher prices offering better picture quality and additional screens to watch on.
The Basic plan provides content at standard definition. That means no HD or 4K streaming, which isn’t great if you’ve got a larger telly.
Under basic pricing, you can only watch Netflix on one screen at a time.
That means you can’t have one member of your household watching on their phone while you watch something else on your TV.
If you’re willing to pay a little extra under Netflix’s Standard plan, you can watch content in HD quality – though not in 4K.
Standard tier subscribers can also use the app on up to two screens at the same time.
The priceiest tier, Premium, offers even more.
Pay for that and you can watch on up to four screens at once as well as gaining access to the platform’s 4K content.
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When has Netflix raised prices?
Netflix has hiked its prices a number of times down the years.
The first rise in May 2014 took Basic to £5.99/$8, while Standard set you back £7.49/$9 and Premium cost £8.99/$12.
Prices were frozen for two years but jumped again in October 2017 as competition with the likes of Amazon Prime kicked up a notch.
Basic remained the same at £5.99/$8 while Standard and Premium soared to £7.99/$10.99 and £9.99/$13.99 respectively.
Netflix said at the time that the price change reflected the additional content added to its service.
Fastforward to 2022 and Netflix’s U.S. and U.K. prices have climbed again.
After subscription fees were pushed up twice in the space of twelve months, the current lay of the land makes for grim reading.
Basic now costs £6.99/$9.99, while Standard is priced at £10.99/$15.49 and Premium sets you back a whopping £15.99/$19.99 per month.
Are you paying too much?
Millions of Netflix lovers paying top dollar for the best package might be wasting money for quality they can’t even receive.
The streaming platform’s most expensive premium subscription is the only way to get superior 4K.
But those that think they’re getting impressive cinematic results, think again.
Especially if you’re watching from a PC, as it turns out you could be getting short changed with 720p quality instead.
That’s because there are some strict standards for anything above that, meaning poor equipment and software might be holding you back.
How to check 4K on Netflix
The best way to know if you are actually able to receive 4K is to do a test.
Netflix has a series of test patterns available, just search ‘test patterns’.
Play one and check to see if it says ‘3840 x 2160’ in the top right corner.
If you see that, you’re all good, but anything below means you’re not getting the full 4K experience.
What you need to watch 4K on Netflix
Make sure you’re actually subscribed to Netflix’s Premium package, as that is the only plan that allows you to watch 4K movies and shows.
And obviously remember, not everything is available in 4K – so check that it actually says Ultra HD in the description.
You’ll need streaming quality set to Auto or High as well.
On the technical side, your monitor has to be a 60Hz 4K display that supports HDCP 2.2.
For Windows, the integrated graphics need to be an Intel 7th generation Core or newer CPU, or AMD Ryzen CPU.
And on the dedicated graphics front, it’ll have to be an AMD RX 400 or newer, or one of Nvidia’s GPUs.
You will also need a so-called HEVC codec installed.
If you don’t have this already – some PCs come with it – you’ll have to pay to get it from the Microsoft Store.
Regarding internet connection, nothing below 25 megabits per second will do the job.
But crucially, you’ll need the right web browser or app, as we explain below.
What browser to use for 4K on Netflix
If you’re using Google Chrome to watch Netflix on your PC and think you’re getting beautiful 4K, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
4K Netflix does not work in Chrome, nor does it for the vast majority of popular web browsers.
On Windows, you have two options – either watch through the Microsoft Edge web browser, or download the official Netflix app for Windows 10.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
