Netflix has other tricks, too. For example, the company receives video files anywhere from months to hours before they’re made available to audiences. This gives the company a window during which it can perform extensive, machine learning–powered analysis that enables them to shrink (or “compress”) file sizes by analyzing frame data to determine what information can be discarded. Specifically, the company’s algorithms will “watch” a scene with blue skies and decide that, if a viewer’s internet bandwidth suddenly drops, 500 different shades of blue can be simplified to 200, or 50, or 25.
