It turns out IE and Edge are best for watching Netflix

These days, most people only use Internet Explorer/Edge to download another web browser, like Google Chrome or Firefox. However, it turns out that Microsoft's browsers are actually pretty good for Netflix, being the only ones to offer full 1080p streaming on PC. If you have been watching Netflix on Chrome and Firefox, then you have been capped at 720p.

Microsoft recently tried to boast battery life gains through using its browser on laptops over competitors like Chrome or Firefox. The company's new strategy is to point out Netflix's system requirements, which show that while all of the main browsers are supported for streaming, only Microsoft's offer 1080p.

We don't actually know why 1080p Netflix streaming isn't supported on Chrome, as the browser is capable of 4K and 60 frames per second on services like YouTube. Either way though, this could be a helpful way for Microsoft to boost the reputation of its own browser, which most people tend to avoid.

If you want to check what resolution your Netflix is streaming at, you can access the secret menu by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D and from there, you can check the playing bitrate, resolution and other stats to do with the stream.

KitGuru Says: The fact that Chrome doesn't support full 1080p Netflix has actually been known for a while but it hasn't been widely publicised until this week. It would be interesting to hear exactly why 1080p is supported in Edge and Internet Explorer but not Chrome or Firefox. 

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