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Guide

How much data does streaming use?

Data use depends on resolution, codec and how carefully the stream is encoded. Here are figures we measured ourselves, at equal picture quality, rather than rule-of-thumb estimates.

Data per hour at 1080p (same picture quality)

  • Silux Media: about 1.0 GB
  • Jellyfin: about 2.5 GB
  • Emby: about 2.5 GB
  • Plex: about 2.7 GB

What that means for a data bundle

  • 1 GB ≈ 1 hour of full-HD films on Silux Media
  • 5 GB ≈ 5 hours
  • 10 GB ≈ 10 hours
  • 20 GB ≈ 20 hours — and two to three times longer at 720p

How to use even less

  • Choose a data-saver cap in the player (2.5, 1.2, 0.6 or 0.3 Mbps)
  • Watch at 720p on phones — on a 6-inch screen it looks almost identical
  • Let the overnight optimiser prepare AV1 versions of your library

Questions

Does lower data mean worse picture?

Not in our tests: every figure above is at equal or better picture quality, measured with Netflix's VMAF on every frame.