Netflix's Deep Downscaler: A Critical Look
2025-03-01
Netflix recently published a blog post about their "deep downscaler," claiming it uses neural networks to improve video quality. However, a blogger has sharply criticized the technology. The blogger points out severe flaws in the example image provided by Netflix, including ringing artifacts, bizarre color shifts, and seemingly fake "detail." Furthermore, the training process minimizes mean squared error while ignoring the effects of lossy compression, leading to suboptimal results. The blogger argues that Netflix's deep downscaler suffers from over-reliance on metrics while neglecting crucial human visual assessment and that simpler, more efficient solutions exist.
Tech
video compression