With the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak, a number of people are spending a significant part of their day at home. With social distancing and all, people have time as they do work from home while others are taking time off work.
With all these people spending time at home, they will definitely want to stay entertained and one of the ways is to stream their favourite movies, shows or just listen to music through the different platforms including YouTube, ShowMax, Netflix etc. With all these people, there is some strain on the ISPs as the rise in demand is unusual and unexpected.
Across the world, we have seen platforms like YouTube and Netflix implement measures that involve reducing default streaming qualities to lift the strain imposed on the ISPs. MultiChoice, the company that runs DStv and ShowMax had not yet implemented any changes until now.
According to MyBroadband, MultiChoice has lowered the streaming resolution of its DStv Now and Showmax mobile apps. “We’ve limited the maximum resolution for both Showmax and DStv Now live streaming to 576p on our mobile apps,” MultiChoice said.
576p is now the maximum resolution DStv Now and ShowMax subscribers can watch videos at. In normal settings the maximum resolution on these two platforms is usually 720p. If you are specific about the resolution of videos you watch, you may notice some changes but otherwise most people will be ok with what they get.
If you are using DStv Now and ShowMax on other devices besides the mobile apps, these are the browsers, TVs or decoders, your resolutions are not affected at this point. MultiChoice says it is monitoring the situation and may make changes if that need arises.
Source: MyBroadband