ShowMax continues data crusade with new ‘bandwidth calculator’

Say what you want to about the ShowMax library but the company is absolutely killing it when it comes to data-saving features.

With the ability to download content for offline viewing, the service is doing a great job of catering to bandwidth-starved users.

Now, the Naspers-owned streaming service has announced the launch of a bandwidth calculator (accessible here), allowing users to figure out just how much data they need on a weekly and monthly basis.

“Simply choose the required video quality/bandwidth capping level and the number of hours watched per week, and the calculator gives an estimate of weekly and monthly data usage,” ShowMax explained in an emailed press statement.

ShowMax now lets users estimate their data requirements for streaming video with its new bandwidth calculator

So how much data would you require if you watch ten hours a week at low quality (360p)? Well, the calculator estimates 3GB a week and 12.9GB a month.

Switch to medium (480p) and these figures jump to 7GB and 30.1GB respectively. Switch to high/uncapped quality (720p) and you’ll be using 14.2GB a week and 60.8GB in a month.

“The definition of Low rate is streaming at 0.3 GB per hour, Medium is 0.7 GB per hour and for No Capping it is 1.42 GB per hour,” the company explained on the data calculator website.

The data capping/video quality option is available is available on “most” apps.

“We purposefully made bandwidth capping applicable at the individual app level rather than have a blanket setting for the account. This way, it’s possible to chose a lower usage cap for smaller screens — perhaps for the kids watching cartoons on a tablet — while still having the full HD (sic) experience on a big screen TV,” ShowMax explained.

ShowMax recently announced that it has extended service to 36 new African countries, with views to increase further beyond the continent’s borders.