This is a more believable link

In reference to blog.streamingmedia.com/2013/09/netflix-doubles-video-quality-makin...:

Previously, Netflix highest quality video, available to those with ISPs not in the Open Connect program, was encoded at 3850Kbps. With SuperHD, video is encoded at 4300Kbps and 5800Kbps and adding the audio bitrate brings SuperHD encodes to about 4.5Mbps and 6.0Mbps

Yep, so 6Mbps should be enough for Super HD streaming on Netflix, assuming nothing else is using the connection of course

Plus that needs to be throughput speed, not sync. Even speedtest results may not be entirely reliable.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

Yeah, Netflix made up the term themselves to mean Full HD with a higher Netflix bitrate than their normal bitrate. A TV screen resolution for instance has no concept of bitrate, 1080p is 1080p (Full HD).

Resolution is a good measure when you use uncompressed streams.

Once you use a compressed stream (H264, VC-1 etc) then bitrate is vital.

A 1080p (1920x1080 pixels at 24 frames per second) stream at 3 megabits might look okay on a computer screen or 32" TV but play that onto a 80" projection screen and it will look pretty awful. Bitrate is important, and its why BluRay is high bitrate.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Plus that needs to be throughput speed, not sync. Even speedtest results may not be entirely reliable.

Given many ISPs have Netflix caches and speedtests are often outside the ISP network, this is very true.

If you want pure HD at 1080p resolution then you will need something in the order of 3 Gbps or 3000 Mbps

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Once you use a compressed stream (H264, VC-1 etc) then bitrate is vital.

Of course. But creating a myriad of different terms ending in HD to suit any given company's bitrates is only going to confuse customers. Someone might think that "Super HD" has a higher resolution than Full HD/1080p, since super generally means "above", whereas it's just a term Netflix invented for marketing reasons.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

Of course. But creating a myriad of different terms ending in HD to suit any given company's bitrates is only going to confuse customers. Someone might think that "Super HD" has a higher resolution than Full HD/1080p, since super generally means "above", whereas it's just a term Netflix invented for marketing reasons.

Agreed, and I think its been ditched on screen, as I've not seen the term for a while. (I'm generally watching through Amazon Fire TV, or a samsung bluray player).

However the terms of HD and higher are a mess. Mostly started by the EU TV standards lot who decided "HD ready" would be 1366x768 and not even 720p (1280x720) - just as nobody was creating content in that standard! Since then each manufacturer, and each shop, has come up with their own term. Madness :-/

Now we have UHD and 4K and similar "better than HD" terms, when more and more people are watching high resolution but low bit rate compressed video. Very little point increasing the resolution until we can increase the bit rate!

Well I just tried this video and it was saturating my 16 mbit connection, note at full screen, in a window it was about 5 meg.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Now we have UHD and 4K and similar "better than HD" terms, when more and more people are watching high resolution but low bit rate compressed video. Very little point increasing the resolution until we can increase the bit rate!

Completely agree. No point in having UHD with a poor bitrate, much better to have full HD with a decent bitrate. But no doubt the marketing men will have their say and can't wait to splash about UHD on their adverts, even if it looks rubbish at a poor bitrate.