Marko KarppinenJun 24, 2024

Netflix can now serve 100Gbit/s of video (so something like 12,500 individual 4K streams) with an appliance using 100 watts of power. That’s 8 milliwatts for each 4K stream.

Remember that number the next time someone tells you that watching a Netflix show is as bad as driving an SUV or some shit.

https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/OpenFest2023.pdf

Show threadforbin42Jun 24, 2024
@karppinen You and they are not counting all the infrastructure in the middle to deliver it. It also doesn’t include all the power needed to encode the umpteen codecs to support all streamable devices. They still look like an AI startup training LLMs. This is like saying that an EV is 100% green and hooking it up to mains back to a coal fired power plant.
Show threadAURonline 🏡Jun 24, 2024
@eric @karppinen one additional thought: I am curious how streaming providers fair against classic, linear TV. There, you have also significant infrastructure with their own power requirements.
Show threadforbin42
@AUROnline @karppinen we did those studies I worked for one of the largest cable operators on the planet. Unicast/streaming boiled down is almost 2x to delivering legacy broadcast tv. We had VOD and SDV when Netflix was still mailing DVDs and we were already stressing about the infrastructure and power demands. Let’s just say the cable industry dropped the ball…
Jun 24, 2024 at 8:06pmWeb