Picking up the Pixels
Are you picking up the pixels on your TV screen while streaming a movie? Have you ever started watching a movie, via Netflix for instance, and it starts to pixelate? Or how frustrating is it when you are watching at an intense moment in a movie or TV show you’re streaming and it drops out all together? All I hear is “AAAHHHH”! Well, when the crisp HD stream jerks and snarls into a blocky mess of jumbled colors, it is the result of a network overload. If you remember not too long ago, video was not even mentioned when it came to being online. Just look how far the internet, communication and networking have come in this day and age thanks to adaptive bit rates, fiber optics and better routing techniques that help diminish those pixelated streams of color.
We all still experience troubles here and there, but it is nothing like what we used to deal with. When the network does bottleneck, there are really only a few reasons that could cause this to happen. Maybe your home network (Wi-Fi router) is not working properly and is having some glitches, your ISP could be having some issues with their side of things, or possibly the content provider them self (Netflix for example) is having difficulties with their system. But how do you know which one is causing the problem? It’s like putting together a virtual puzzle and the pieces constantly change. Once we determine the root cause, it all becomes clear, especially your streaming movie picture.
The release of the FCC’s 2014 measuring Broadband America Report has helped connect some of the dots with the streaming performance of data. The report stated that most ISPs are meeting or even exceeding their advertised speeds and that broadband providers are delivering those true speeds in their last mile networks. With this new found information, you can basically cross off calling your ISP as the troubles are probably not caused by them. An additional preliminary internet connection report by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), measured internet clogging and suggests that this network congestion is not widespread, ruling out systemic interconnection failure. And a third report from a consulting company, NetForecast, which zoomed in on the Netflix ISP Speed Index of ISP’s performance, factored in items that the ISPs have no control over when it comes to streaming quality and clogs in the performance path. The servers of online streaming networks like Netflix have had available capacity issues, basically saying end-user choices are what make up most of the pixel pieces.
Now let’s put the pixels together! The FCC shows that the ISPs are actually over delivering the speeds that they are providing to customers in the last mile; The MIT report tells us that the connections are not clogged except when you are using Netflix; And naturally, the consulting company for Netflix suggests that the ISP’s piece clogs up the network but, these are also items that the ISPs have no control over. So, if your home network seems to be functioning properly (not sure? call your ISP and they can let confirm this for you), then the provider (Netflix) could have a bit of traffic jam with the multitude of customers trying to watch the same thing as you. This can lead to a….stop….and….go…..jerking……motion…..pixeled….puzzle…..on……your…..television…..screen…..and…….you……get…..frustrated. So as a tip from your technical experts, try watching at non-peak hours or wait to watch that new Netflix release later.
