A Complete Guide to Streaming Netflix in HD, Full HD, and Ultra HD

Netflix allows you to stream most movies and TV shows in HD. Many titles are also available in Full HD and Ultra HD. If you’re stuck at a low resolution and are having trouble increasing it, this guide will help you figure it out.

There are three elements to steaming Netflix in high resolution. You need a high-resolution screen, a Netflix plan that supports high-resolution streaming, and a high-speed internet plan. If you have a Standard or Premium plan and a capable screen but you can’t stream in optimal resolution, it’s probably your internet connection.

We recommend upgrading to a high-speed connection such as Grande Internet. Astound Broadband powered by Grande is a top-raking cable internet provider in Texas that uses fiber optic technology to deliver a high bandwidth.

Let’s dive deeper into the elements of streaming Netflix in HD, Full HD, and Ultra HD to better understand your problem and come up with effective solutions.

What You Need To Stream Netflix in HD, Full HD, and Ultra HD

The Right Netflix Plan

Netflix currently has four plans: Basic with ads, Basic, Standard, and Premium. All of these plans allow you to stream movies and TV shows in HD. The Standard and Premium Plans also allow Full HD streaming while Ultra HD streaming is exclusive to the Premium Plan. Here’s a table showing the highest resolutions these plans allow.

Plan	Definition	Resolution
Basic, Basic with ads	HD	720p or 1280 ×720
Standard	Full HD	1080por 1920 ×1080
Premium	Ultra HD	4K or3840 × 2160

So in theory, if you have a Premium Netflix plan, you should be able to stream movies and TV shows in 4K. However, you won’t get the maximum resolution available if your setup doesn’t meet any of the other requirements.

A Properly Set Up High-Resolution TV

It’s a no-brainer that to stream in HD, Full HD, and Ultra HD, you need an HD TV, Full HD TV, or Ultra HD TV respectively—but that’s not all.

One possible reason your TV won’t display the highest definition possible is that it’s not set to the highest resolution. Go to settings and try turning up the resolution to fix the issue.

If your screen is connected to a laptop, the resolution may be set to the laptop screen’s native resolution. Go to display settings and see what resolution the TV is set to. If it’s not the TV’s native resolution (maximum possible resolution), turn it up.

If you can’t find your screen’s resolution in the display settings, try updating the display driver. If the display driver is up to date, uninstall the driver and install it again. You’ll see your screen’s native resolution in the display settings once you’re done.

An Internet Connection with High Download Speeds

If you have a Standard or Premium Netflix plan and a TV capable of playing Ultra HD video but the streaming quality is still low, it’s probably your internet connection. You need high download speeds to stream HD, Full HD, and Ultra HD video and if the speed is low, the Netflix app won’t increase the quality.

Netflix recommends a steady internet speed of 15 megabits per second or higher to stream in Ultra HD. Your current Internet Service Provider (ISP) probably offers download speeds higher than this. If you’re wondering why you still can’t stream in Ultra HD, it’s because, in reality, you need much higher speeds than 15 megabits per second. Let’s see why.

The internet speed that your ISP advertises is likely the highest speed you can get with the connection. Most of the time, you’re getting download speeds lower than that. Your internet connection speed is also probably being shared among all the TVs, computers, smartphones, tablets, and smart home devices in your home. So the TV that you’re streaming Netflix on is only getting a part of the available bandwidth.

If you use a VPN to access content on Netflix that’s not available in your region, it may drastically slow down your download speed. All your data has to go through a VPN server, which adds an extra step. For best results, get choose a premium VPN that’s the closest to your geographical location. Also, make sure the load on your VPN server is low.

So what internet speed do you need? Well, it depends on several factors—but for a typical home in Texas, an internet connection with download speeds in the ballpark of 600 Mbps should be more than enough. Astound Broadband powered by Grande offers download speeds ranging from 600 Mbps to 1200 Mbps at competitive and affordable rates. Visit buytvinternetphone.com to learn more.

Final Words

And that’s all you need to stream Netflix movies and TV shows in HD, Full HD, and Ultra HD. Note that not all titles on Netflix are available in high resolutions, so if you can’t get Ultra HD despite high-speed internet, it’s not your fault.