Opera One provides significantly inferior media quality on platforms like Netflix and Prime Video compared to Edge and Chrome on the same Windows hardware. The issue affects both Audio Levels and Video Bitrate/HDR.
Technical Evidence: Direct comparison of stream statistics reveals that Opera One is unable to trigger the high-quality stream profiles available to other browsers.
Comparison Data (Source: Stream Logs):
Microsoft Edge / Chrome:
DRM: PlayReady (Hardware)
Video: High Bitrate (~1200+ kbps), HEVC Codec, HDR Supported.
Audio: xHE-AAC (192 kbps) with Dynamic Range Control.
Opera One:
DRM: Widevine (Software)
Video: Low Bitrate (~750 kbps), AVC/AV1 Codec, HDR Disabled.
Audio: Legacy HE-AAC (128 kbps) - Low volume, flat sound.
Root Cause: Opera One relies on the Widevine CDM on Windows, whereas competing browsers utilize the OS-native PlayReady DRM. Content providers throttle the bitrate and disable features like HDR and Surround Sound for Widevine L3 (Software) environments.
Request: To be competitive as a "Gaming" or "Media" browser, Opera must implement support for com.microsoft.playready hardware DRM. Without this, users with high-end hardware (OLED screens, good speakers) are forced to switch browsers to consume content at proper quality.
