Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
Jomarip
Newbie

"If you're already a Verizon customer, your video resolution will be reduced to 720p on phones and 1080p on tablets whether you have a limited or unlimited data plan. Customers who purchase any Verizon limited plan in the future will see the same restrictions.

Moving forward, HD video on all legacy plans will also match Beyond Unlimited's HD quality," Verizon said."

-ArsTechnica

I have stuck with Verizon a long time and I am and have always been a power user. I am part of that 2% in all honesty. However, I have always been willing to pay to get the data the way I want it, when I want it. I love the Verizon network and have been with them for over 15 years. I understand the network congestion and need to provide balanced service, but this is not the best solution by any metric. This is directly going to affect innovation. I mean, what about the further development of virtual reality and virtual augmented services over the smart phone. This is an issue and I want to know what is the best way to contest this direction.

Looking for ideas and thoughts. Also, this doesn't just affect power users like me, but think about the regular customers who want to adopt the latest technologies. They will be limited and the option will not be there for them. This is truly a direction I do not desire for Verizon.  This is just asking for a competitor to come with a forward thinking philosophy.

Verizon apparently won't be converting videos to lower resolutions itself. Instead, it will set a bandwidth limit that video applications will have to adjust to. "We manage HD video throughput by setting speeds at no more than 10Mbps, which provides HD video at up to 1080p video," Verizon told Ars. The Mbps will presumably be lower than that in cases where Verizon limits video to 480p or 720p.

The 1080p limit will apply when customers use their mobile devices as hotspots, Verizon said. That means you won't be able to stream 4K video on a laptop by tethering the laptop to a Verizon-connected smartphone, for example.

"More than 96 percent of customers have not used 4K video," Verizon also told us.

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Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

Does a person really need to watch a 4k video on a smartphone, tablet or even a laptop? Is there that much visible difference between 720p, 1080p or 4k on a phone?

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
zellerandy
Specialist - Level 1

No you cant, however probally can tell the difference between 480 and 720

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Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
teeshot
Contributor - Level 1

Been getting tired of the big red for some time and I'm a long time customer.  No, I can't tell the difference between 4k and 1080 on a 5-6 in phone screen, but I sure as [Removed] can tell the difference when it goes to 480.  It seems all the carriers have acceptable or close to acceptable calling.  All they seem to focus on now days is data and are doing everything they can to stretch the advertising verbiage to suit their needs.  Root metric, speed test, or any other, I give a [Removed].  I care about real time use in areas that I travel.  Having been testing t-mobile and at&t phones in my area of use, and right now, Verizon is at the bottom of the heap. As I own my unlocked phones, I'll shortly be making a move.

inappropriate content removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service

Message edited by Verizon Moderator

Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
Jomarip
Newbie

I tend to pick it up in the refresh rate and crispness. Especially since I tend to run other applications in the background. The bandwidth cap during video sessions are vary likely to have cascading issues

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Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
KCW0002
Newbie

I just switched from 12yrs of AT&T to verzion 90 days ago. Paid for multiple S8+ flagship phones, five lines. Now they are changing the deal. These phones were bought for video and screen quality and with this change they will never live up to the full potential I paid for and pay for each month on the device contract. Seems there should be some consumer recourse based on how your locked to device payments and service offered at time of entering into that agreement.

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Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
rcschnoor
Legend

KCW0002 wrote:

I just switched from 12yrs of AT&T to verzion 90 days ago. Paid for multiple S8+ flagship phones, five lines. Now they are changing the deal. These phones were bought for video and screen quality and with this change they will never live up to the full potential I paid for and pay for each month on the device contract. Seems there should be some consumer recourse based on how your locked to device payments and service offered at time of entering into that agreement.

The "phone" purchase only has to do with the phone, not for any "promise" of level of service. The phones can still live up to their full potential. Many streaming services offer the option to download the video to be played. Once downloaded, you can watch however you would like. Netflix and Amazon Video are two providers who offer shows to be downloaded in order to watch. There are many other options.

Movies you purchase and then download to your phone will also be able to be viewed in full 4K if you want.

You can also pay off your phone and move to another provider which will allow your phones to live up to their "full potential".

Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
Jomarip
Newbie

I appreciate you joining the conversation and I do agree that downloading a video can provide you access to the quality of video we are discussing, but I don't understand how you consider it living up to the full potential when the service is explicitly limiting the capability.

It is like purchasing a tablet, but the the battery is being limited so you have to always stay plugged up. You can still use the tablet, but you are surely not able to maximize the tablet's functionality and abilities.

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Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
tneknived
Newbie

1440p Vs 720p no difference? WRONG!!!!!!! - YouTube

The biggest issue I have with this is the reasoning.  If there is no difference (which my crude video clearly shows there is even on older technology) then why sell devices like the Galaxy note 8 or S8 that have higher resolution screens?  I really feel like I am continuing to be a customer with my head buried in the sand.  If the reasoning behind this is to 'Keep a title that says they are the most reliable network', but still not fully delivering on what they advertise I wonder if it is worth staying?  Verizon has always said 'Look at the fine print' when it comes to their competitors but it seems now it's only look at everyone else's fine print.

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Re: Verizon to throttle all smartphone videos to 480p or 720p -What should we do?
tneknived
Newbie

again why sell a device with the selling point of 'capable of more than 1080p' if i can't use said function on your network.  only on wifi, I can go buy a no cell service tablet for a lot less than 850/24 months and watch 1440p on wifi.

1440p Vs 720p no difference? WRONG!!!!!!! - YouTube

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