Really? I wasn't aware Netflix even offered anything other than H.264 at <= 1080p. I know Youtube doesn't. If this is all HEVC maybe you're right and the resolution issue isn't such a big deal. If this is actually the case I wish they would have said so explicitly in the blog post.
> VMAF does correlate pretty tightly with subjective metrics. This is a very detailed subject, I summed up many of my thoughts on the differences in my demuxed talk last year here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCUsXhSPyyw
Thanks, I'll check that out when I have the time. I'd still emphasize that it's quite possible for objective metrics to be fooled (that's why codecs have psy tunings!), and I do prefer several "old-ladder" images over the newer versions in Netflix comparisons here. I suppose I've become rather cynical about claims made on the basis of metrics ("now 50% less bitrate for the same quality!"), when to my eye, web video has always been very bad and is getting worse as companies keep reducing the bitrate.