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Netflix is arguably the numero-uno when it comes to online video and movie streaming category. Now, it has taken its game to the next level by delivering a ‘studio-quality’ sound upgrade for Android users.
Notably, Netflix provides some of the best video quality content. In the audio department as well, Netflix offers eligible content in Dolby ATMOS and 5.1 channel surround sound. But you require a compatible device in order to really experience such advanced audio technology.
Taking another step in this direction, this time for Android viewers, Netflix will now stream Extended HE-AAC with MPEG-D DRC (xHE-AAC) on compatible Android devices.
Technicality aside, this basically promises studio-quality sound. It achieves this by using AI and intelligently removes noises from the environment, adapts to the flaky cellular connections, and finally scales the audio to studio-quality.
The new format offers variable bitrate. This quality helps Netflix to improve the audio quality depending on the speed of your connection.
Loudness management is another feature that this new streaming format supports. When the scene of a movie shifts from a loud action sequence to a situational scene, this new feature prevents sudden volume changes.
Apparently, as per the official blog, the main aim of Netflix Loudness management is to “play all titles at a consistent volume, relative to each other.”
Android users need to be on Android 9 Pie or above to use Netflix’s new xHE-AAC format
The Netflix studio-quality upgrade allows the user to watch their favorite content, till the end without the need to flicker the volume control.
Users can set the volume to a comfortable level, and could easily switch over from a movie to a documentary without adjusting volume levels for each content.
Moreover, this new format also allows users to listen to the dialogues clearly from their phone’s speakers negating any struggle to understand them.
Since Netflix has introduced this new studio-quality upgrade for Android viewers, you need to meet some requirements in order to fully experience the change.
You need to make sure that your Android phone runs on Android 9 Pie or above to use xHE-AAC. The already available sound quality is excellent when watching on your TV with a home theater setup.
However, this could drastically improve the sound quality when watching via mobile phones. Consistent sound is something that can elevate your content watching experience and is a nice move by Netflix.
Netflix says that this feature will not be limited to Android. It plans to deploy xHE-AAC or ‘studio-quality’ upgrade to other platforms that support the new codec in future.