Duke wrote: ↑31 Jan 2026, 01:43
Broadcasters prefer newer codecs because they use less bandwith for the same quality, much less bandwith. So at the end of the year the bill is much lower.
They assume no one should still own a device older than 10 years.
Bill is a flat rate.
Whether I watch zero hours per month or whether I watch 730.5 (365.25 * 24 / 12) hours per month.
Not only that, it's a flat rate whether I watch on one device or whether I watch on all six of my devices.
But yeah, on their end, that flat rate that is invoiced to me and to every other of their customers is based on an assumed level of "watchery".
I made up that word, free to use, no royalties.
And people like me that have it on as "background noise" are all very likely ABOVE the AVERAGE "watchery" level.
But this is the real "kickery" (again, free to use, no royalties), many websites discussing H.264 vs H.265 cite 265 as "about 50% bandwidth".
But, um, hello, shouldn't my bill now be "about 50%" of what it was before the upgrade ???
Here's the second "kickery".
With this "upgrade", they now have a MANDATED "inactive sleep mode".
There has ALWAYS been an option in the settings menu to "go to sleep" if the device indicates "no activity".
Defined by whether the remote is touched or not (I think).
I don't know the time span, I've always kept this feature *OFF*.
But now, REGARDLESS of that setting, streaming goes to sleep anyway!
I'm thinking about hanging the remote from a string and letting the cat swipe at it.
Or maybe a paint shaker on a timer?
