by After extensive testing, the Netflix service decided to add the ability to adjust the playback speed of content to the mobile application for Android devices. On the iOS platform and in the web version of the service, the opportunity will appear a little later.
With the Playback Speed function, the user can slow down the video playback (0.5X or 0.75X) or speed up it (1.25X or 1.5X). The company noted that such functionality has long been present in DVD / DVR players and video playback programs, so multimedia entertainment fans are accustomed to the ability to slow down / speed up playback.
Netflix also found in tests that viewers often “rewind” titles at a higher speed and slow down favorite scenes in movies and TV shows. Also, slower playback is chosen by users who watch content with subtitles (and do not have time to read them), learn new languages, or have hearing problems.
The company emphasized that it respects the concerns of Hollywood directors and actors who were worried about the audience’s misperception of their content due to the “unoriginal” playback speed of the content. That is why the application will not remember and fix the speed selected by the user – it will have to be selected manually each time. Netflix also said that during testing of the function, users did not complain that this function affects the quality of content perception.
Recall that after Netflix announced the start of testing the function of changing the viewing speed in October last year, a number of representatives of the Hollywood film industry strongly opposed the innovation. According to opponents of the function, the streaming service has no right to change the way content is presented to the viewer, since its creators spend a lot of time and effort on making the timing perfect.
Source: Engadget, Netflix
