Flickering issue Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video - know which videos?

[Mike_M]

I just received an email from DVDFab/StreamFab re: topic that contains the following highlighted information.

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Dear user,

Due to the DRM upgrade of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ last week, you might encounter a problem with flickering when playing downloaded videos from these sites

StreamFab responded immediately by working on the DRM protection and solved it shortly. With our expert team, you can always enjoy industry-leading downloading solutions!

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StreamFab 5.0.4.1 Changelog
Fix: A screen flickering problem when playing certain videos downloaded from Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.

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I didn't notice any flickering in videos downloaded from those sources recently.

I usually play the videos for a minute or so just to make sure they are ok and look good.

Some of you, like me, have probably *not* upgraded to the last version due to some of new problems reported in this forum.

I'm currently on 5.0.4.0 for my Win 10/64 environment.

Does anyone know what videos this flickering refers to in the email and in the 5.0.4.1 release notes effects?

Thanks!

[wthomas69]

If they can fix issue so quickly why haven’t they fixed the issue with HBO that’s been going on since late April

[Dog]

If they can fix issue so quickly why haven’t they fixed the issue with HBO that’s been going on since late April

Because those are, quite obviously, two totally different and completely unrelated issues. With flickering video, it's often just a simple tweak - with HBO they have to crack encryption. In the future, please don't hijack other people's threads.

[Mike_M]

I have played over 100 videos at several points with dates created since 6/22/22 (since 5.0.3.9 release) and did not encounter even one video that had flickering.

These included videos from Amazon Prime, Add-on Channels, Series (such as The Boys) and purchased videos, Netflix and Disney Plus.

Was this "flickering" issue for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus limited to a specific region (I'm in US), specific titles or videos utilizing a different DRM (which email implies) since a given date?

Would be very nice to know what these "certain videos" were, but I don't *think* I have any of them.

Will stay on 5.0.4.0 for right now until I see a new release with less issues/posts in Forum.

But will always have offline storage of every release for downgrading/upgrading if I encounter any issues.

[Mike_M]

Just curious,

I didn't find any posts about flickering in this forum related to DRM changes on Amazon Prime, Netflix or Disney+ from 6/27/22 till 7/6/22 discussed in the email from DvdFab/StreamFab when looking at every post from 6/27 till now.

Just lots of subtitle issues.

Was this reported by some other means or discovered by developer/programmer?

Was the "flickering" constant or did it appear periodically when viewing a video?

Can someone from StreamFab/DVDFab identify what videos these might be and what circumstances?

I looked at all the videos of mine that could have possibly been done in the time frame mentioned in the email and found none that flickered.

I don't think I'm going to go thru the route of re-downloading all of them, but wonder if the flickering was periodic if I might have missed them when playing the videos at several points.

Thanks!

*****

Email received:

Subject: StreamFab's just done a timely upgrade!
Date: July 6, 2022

Dear user,

Due to the DRM upgrade of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ last week, you might encounter a problem with flickering when playing downloaded videos from these sites

StreamFab responded immediately by working on the DRM protection and solved it shortly. With our expert team, you can always enjoy industry-leading downloading solutions!

*****

[wthomas69]

Because those are, quite obviously, two totally different and completely unrelated issues. With flickering video, it's often just a simple tweak - with HBO they have to crack encryption. In the future, please don't hijack other people's threads.

Then why was it so easy to fix by the competition

[Dog]

Then why was it so easy to fix by the competition

How do you know it was easy? It's quite possible they lucked out or even had an inside source. I'm curious - are you aware of the kind of knowledge that is required to break encryption schemes that would take the fastest computers decades or even centuries (or longer) to crack using brute force? It can be just as much art as it is science since it's rarely about brute force with the level of encryption probably being employed by the streamers. I'm no expert, but I have taken the time to read a bit about some of the basic concepts and theories involved in encryption (and compression as well, since they both make use of entropy), and it's in a totally different league compared to fixing a flickering video problem (which I also have a 'just enough to be dangerous' amount of knowledge about since I worked on various TV and film productions over the years in various positions, including working with video engineers on multiple occasions). That's about the best answer I can offer.