If you are an owner of the older model Roku devices or select Samsung Smart TV’s then you are probably aware Netflix is cutting you off soon. I covered this in a previous article here on Steemit. Now, it has been revealed just why Netflix chose those platforms to discontinue support for.
Catching up the new kids
Recently Netflix announced they are discontinuing support for these platforms:
Roku 2000C
Roku 2050X
Roku 2100X
Roku HD
Roku SD
Roku XD
Roku XR
As well as Samsung Smart TV’s that feature a C or D in their model number (sold around 2010 to 2012).
IT has come out that select Vizio Smart TV’s are effected as well according to TechAcrobat. This just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?
Reasons we thought for this change
It was speculated, by me, that this was probably due to the lack of hardware “oomph” under the hood to run 4K and higher resolution content. Wrong.
Steemit member, goodream, pondered that it might be due to subscriber base using those platforms. Again, wrong.
While we were both wrong as to why Netflix was cutting off these hardware platforms, Netflix is indeed paying attention to subscribers. Business of Apps has just a few of these statistics.
Go ahead, click the link and check out what group of people are likely to log in every day. Find out what the most popular day to stream is, and even find out where your sexual orientation and age fall against others.
The reason for the cut off
Microsoft.
While Netflix did mention “technical difficulties” with the platforms being cut off, it is a little more in depth than that.
It seems that Netflix uses Microsoft software to work its magic to deliver to fans that binge of Stranger Things or Orange is the New Black. Yep, Microsoft is somewhat at fault here.
The underlying tech is known as Windows Media DRM, which was being run on the older, soon to no longer be supported, hardware. The newer version of this software, Microsoft PlayReady, is simply not compatible with those older platforms.
So, while users that refuse to upgrade to a new streaming device are mad, it is out of Netflix’s hands so to speak.
It is just evolution of software at work here. You would not expect to be able to run Windows 10 on a PC made in 1988, would you? Same thing going on with Roku’s and select Vizio and Samsung Smart TV’s.