Netflix’s original content is hugely popular around the world. Netflix has made a name for itself with web series, movies and documentaries. However, many users always feel one thing. Why can’t screen record or screenshot videos on Netflix? Users with especially cheap plans want to save content, but Netflix doesn’t allow that. Behind this is Netflix’s cutting-edge DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology. Netflix currently has around 300 million paid subscribers worldwide. For all these this screen-block technology works equally effectively. Video on Netflix turns to black screen as soon as screen recording starts. This enables Netflix to stop piracy and protect original content. This is the reason why many users are willing to pay for expensive plans and Netflix is one of the leading OTT platforms in the world today.
What technology does Netflix use?
Netflix uses a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system to prevent screen recording. There are mainly three DRM technologies used in this.
There are only a handful of companies in the world developing DRM technology. 5-6 big companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Irdeto create DRM systems. Netflix applies different DRM according to different devices and operating systems.
Netflix uses Google Widevine DRM for Android smartphones, Android TV, and the Chrome browser. Due to this technology, the screen recorder or the video display immediately turns black as soon as a screenshot is taken. Because the video data is played directly from the secure hardware.
Netflix for Windows PC, Edge browser and Xbox uses Microsoft PlayReady DRM. This technology completely blocks screen recording. As the video content is played through a secure channel, external apps cannot access it.
Netflix uses Apple FairPlay DRM for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Safari browsers. In iOS and macOS, this technology works at the system level. iOS displays a blank frame instead of video when screen recording is started, so nothing appears in the screenshot or recording.
How does this work technically?
Netflix videos on Android devices are encrypted and decrypted only in Secure Hardware (TEE). Playing video directly from the GPU or Secure Video Path does not allow the Screen Recorder app to have Raw Frame Access.
Whereas in iOS, the video memory is kept in the Safe Buffer Zone, which is not visible to the screen recorder.
Netflix’s DRM technology is not just to prevent screen recording, but to protect the rights of content creators. Thanks to this advanced security, Netflix is still largely safe from piracy and its original content is trusted around the world.
