On Google TV and Android TV devices, Netflix is now using a feature that was introduced with Android 12. Labeled Match Content Framerate, content that supports higher framerates can be streamed natively.
Netflix now supports more framerates on Android TV and Google TV. Source: Dima Solomin via Unsplash
Do you have an Android TV or Google TV device and a Netflix subscription? It’s the ideal combination to take advantage of a discrete feature that was introduced with Android 12 last year…and hasn’t been supported by the SVoD platform until now. This feature, called “Match Content Frame Rate,” now allows Netflix to broadcast its content at a higher number of frames per second if it was filmed appropriately. Conversely, content with a frame rate slightly below the standard will also be displayed natively unchanged.
For example, FlatPanelsHD, which has been able to test this feature, reports that it aired The Witcher series at 24 frames per second, compared to 23,976 IPS, very accurate for the recent Arnold documentary. The latter uses an old format that filmmakers should gradually abandon, but which is still widely used. More advantageous is the documentary series “Tour de France: In the heart of the peloton”, broadcast at 50 to 60 IPS depending on the case.
Support more than welcome… but there is a but
Therefore, if you have a TV with Google OS or a Chromecast 4K, you will soon be able to enjoy this novelty … but beware, only on Netflix. As Android Police points out, Netflix is currently the only platform that supports Android 12’s Adjust Content Frame Rate feature. Hopefully, as the leader in the SVOD market, Netflix will push competing platforms (Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, etc.) to take on this role as well.
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Another disappointment: the Nvidia Shield TVs aren’t currently compatible…despite using Android TV. These are still based on Android 11, which does not offer the “Match Content Framerate” function. Nvidia would still work to roll out this feature on its Shields… but it wouldn’t have passed beta yet.
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