One could make the argument that this is purposefully deceptive.
The phrasing makes it sound like external conditions, outside of Netflix's control are the reason 4K may not be available.
The reality is they sell two subscription levels: 4K and a HD-only one, but then after you've given them your money, they outright block access to 4K streams on a device that is physically capable of playing the stream.
I can play 3D games in 4K 60fps. I can stream YouTube at 8K. I can watch blu-ray at 4K with 2% CPU utilisation. For crying out loud, I have an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti and gigabit fibre!
But no. Sorry sir, your CPU is the wrong model, and Netflix cannot trust it. No 4K for you.
>The phrasing makes it sound like external conditions, outside of Netflix's control are the reason 4K may not be available.
I agree that the phrasing isn't the clearest, but it's not like the actual requirements aren't available. A search for "netflix 4k" turns up this page as the first result: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444, which clearly lists what the requirements are.
I could rephrase that entire page with "The compatible devices are the ones that are compatible" and it would provide about as much useful information.
Nowhere on that page does it mention HDCP. There is no such thing as a firmware update for 99.9% of monitors out there.
I meet 100% of the stated requirements on this page, yet NetFlix refuses to play 4K on my high-end computer. It does this silently, without explanation. It simply shows everything as HD, basically gaslighting me.
The phrasing makes it sound like external conditions, outside of Netflix's control are the reason 4K may not be available.
The reality is they sell two subscription levels: 4K and a HD-only one, but then after you've given them your money, they outright block access to 4K streams on a device that is physically capable of playing the stream.
I can play 3D games in 4K 60fps. I can stream YouTube at 8K. I can watch blu-ray at 4K with 2% CPU utilisation. For crying out loud, I have an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti and gigabit fibre!
But no. Sorry sir, your CPU is the wrong model, and Netflix cannot trust it. No 4K for you.