Netflix explains how it’s quietly upgraded the image quality of your favorite movies and TV shows – and it’s all about film grain

- The new AV1 film by Netflix Tech Synthesis Tech stimulates image quality
- It also reduces file size and improves streaming performance
- Technology has been taking place in movies and television shows since March 2025
The grain of film is something of a “secret sauce” which gives films, finally, like films. Go to the cinema and, although you will barely notice them, these Dotty imperfections cross the image gives it a depth which is difficult to recreate numerically.
Well, Netflix has now revealed in an article Techblog that it has found a better way to do it, with a new technique which also easily improves the stability of reading, while reducing errors and reprimand. It has been a global scale since March, with FGS compatible flows available now on supported devices.
So what exactly Netflix does? Films filmed on digital cameras may seem too clean and perfect, and even the digitized versions of analog films may have trouble keeping the grain correctly. This is particularly true for films on services like Netflix, which require compression to reduce file size for smooth streaming performance.
In his efforts to maintain effective things, the compression process will remove the grains from the original video file, which means that the spectator gets a good constant flow but an image that lacks this real film look.
No more. Netflix revealed that it has deployed a technology called “AV1 Film Grain Synthesis” (FGS), which offers a pleasantly grainy image without increasing the size of the file.
These are intelligent stuff: FGS analyzes the video source to determine its specific model and shape of grains, considering it by comparing the original video with a deceased version – the difference being the grain.
It then evolves the intensity of the grain for different scenes, by setting it for lighting and color. This information is then broadcast next to the compressed video file without cereals, and used to recreate the grain effect on your device.
Better image quality, greater efficiency
This means that films and television programs on Netflix will now offer this desirable analog film look, increasing image quality and offering users a more pleasant streaming experience.
Interestingly, during the A / B tests of the Netflix functionality also found that the FGS considerably reduced the binary flow and the bandwidth of the bandwidth, the decrease in reading errors and the rebuff and the reduction in start -up, which leads to a more stable global streaming experience. Double victory.
If you are delighted to see FGS in action for yourself, you will need a reading device that supports it. Unfortunately, it is not yet clear what programs and films will benefit from technology, or what are the material requirements – we have contacted Netflix to discover and update this story when we hear.
However, Netflix’s blog post detailing the deployment suggest They clone Tyrone And DEPT. Q are good places to start. The streaming giant says you may need to switch HDR in the settings menu to see these FGS flows.