Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 is capable of playing some particular number of streaming content in the format of 4K and UltraHD. But, Chromium is not able to play any 4K videos on any streaming channels.
Chromium
Chromium is a browser and also an open-source project which creates source code which is used by Chrome. Chromium is backed primarily backed by Google. The idea of Chromium was introduced when Chrome was first released back in 2008 September.
Since it has an open-source code, many people who are not an employee of Google, also took part in developing the Chromium project.
The browser which was built from the Chromium source code has been also named “Chromium”. However, the source code of Chrome starts with Chromium, but do not end with it. On the other hand, proprietary codes are added to the Chromium by Google. The added codes are sometimes of their own, or it can be someone else’s. The Code used which belongs to Google is that of the automatic update mechanism for the browser, and the codes which are someone else’s is Adobe Flash.
Streaming on Windows 10
On Windows 10, Netflix can play on Ultra HD setting with the help of Microsoft Edge. Microsoft has started including experimental flags on “Edge”, which is based upon Chromium. This will make Microsoft Edge support PlayReady and WideVine and also 4K service of Netflix. Other browsers like Chrome is still unable to play the DRM or the Protected media of the streaming services like Netflix in 4K.
‘PlayReady Experimental HEVC Decoding’ and ‘PlayReady DRM for Windows 10’ are the two experimental flags that are applied to the Microsoft Edge. These flags are exclusive to Edge. But that will not be the case for long. Microsoft is planning to add the UltraHD DRM settings to Chromium also.
Microsoft is also planning to include the 4K support for streaming. This is because of the DRM media of the Chromium in Windows 10. Microsoft has started building this upgrade for Chromium on August 31.
Ways in which Microsoft Edge is Better than Chrome
You might be thinking that why Microsoft is investing in developing Chromium and not Chrome. Well, Edge is a Chromium-based web browser. Hence, almost all the features of them are similar.
Edge Supports Streaming on Windows 10 Better
Microsoft Edge is a Chromium-based web browser. It is the only browser that is capable of supporting PlayReady DRM of Microsoft and Widevine DRM of Google.
By supporting PlayReady DRM of Microsoft, an additional feature of Netflix 4K streaming is unlocked. It is the feature that is only supported by Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. While the other browsers, like Firefox, Chrome are only able to play streaming media to a maximum of 1080p by taking the support of some extensions.
However, this feature is only limited to Windows 10.
An Additional Mode Internet Explorer
Microsoft Edge can support Internet Explorer. At the moment, this is said to be an experimental flag, which means that it can be removed.
However, once Edge will get released, this feature will be definitely present in it. This will give the organizations able to see the optimized Internet explorer on Edge.
Presently, this feature is not fully integrated into the system, and according to the descriptions, the Users of the Edge will be able to load any content of the Internet Explorer in a tab in Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft Voices Support
The Microsoft Voices is enabled through its extensions in the SpeechSynthesis API. This feature is being restricted by a flag.
This feature is available for the devices running on Linux. Windows and Mac.
Ability to Mute Tab rather than a Site
This feature is in its default configuration and by which you can mute each tab individually. It will help you to gain more control on the process of muting.
Chrome used to support this feature in its previous version, but it was changed to the muting of the sites. Now, if you have muted a site, then that site will get muted for your account from anywhere you access your Chrome account.
However, in Microsoft Edge, you can mute any tab by clicking on the icon for the sound, and it will only mute the audio of the tab and not the whole site. In addition, Edge also supports the option of muting the whole site.
Integration of the Windows Defender SmartScreen
Most of the browsers like Chrome uses the “Safe Browsing” security of Google as the security option. But, Microsoft Edge will be using the “Windows Defender SmartScreen”.
This will protect Edge from malicious downloads and sites. In the same way as Google, it can sometimes show false-positive results. But, you can disable it in the settings.
Special Extensions
The users of Microsoft Edge will be able to install the extensions from Microsoft store or Chrome Web Store. One of the most useful benefits of the Microsoft Store is that it does not have as much restriction as the Google Store.
Conclusion
So, after Microsoft Edge on Windows 10, Chromium is also getting an upgrade for streaming 4K videos. Being an open-source browser, it is best suitable for this upgrade, rather than other browsers like Firefox or Chrome. This will make Chromium even more popular among the users.