Nvidia’s latest driver unlocks 4K Netflix series for GTX 10-series

Earlier this year, 4K Netflix streaming finally started making its way to PCs, in part due to Kaby Lake and its support for HEVC decoding. Fortunately for those not planning to make the jump to Kaby Lake, 4K Netflix streaming is now expanding to more systems, with UHD streaming support landing for Nvidia’s GTX 10-series graphics cards.

After a month or so of public testing via a preview driver, Ultra-HD streaming on Netflix and Windows 10 is now available to all Pascal GPU owners on the 384.76 drivers (and newer). This has been in the works for a long time now but was largely made possible by new forms of DRM, like HEVC and Windows 10's PlayReady 3.0.

These new stronger forms of DRM have been used to convince rights holders that the PC platform is now safe for their 4K content. However, stronger protection also means more restrictions, so there are a few requirements needed to stream Netflix in UHD. Firstly, you will need a HDCP 2.2 compliant monitor, if you have multiple monitors, they will all need to support HDCP 2.2. Most modern monitors these days do support this, so it shouldn't be an issue for those who have purchased newly launched monitors in the last couple of years.

The second major requirement is that you need the Windows 10 Netflix app. You won't be streaming UHD content via Google Chrome, so you will need to take a trip to the Windows Store to download the app. A 25Mbps internet connection is also required. If you have all of that, a Pascal GPU and the new driver installed, then you are good to go.

KitGuru Says: I’ve been waiting for UHD Netflix support on PC for a couple of years now and while compatibility is heavily limited at the moment, that will change as new hardware comes out. Do many of you use a 4K monitor at the moment? Will you be checking out UHD streaming now that it is supported? 

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