El Presidente S01e04: Libvpx

In the golden age of prestige television, we talk a lot about bitrates. We obsess over 4K Dolby Vision, scoff at buffering wheels, and debate the "film grain" preservation of a 1080p Blu-ray versus a Web-DL. But rarely do we stop to praise the unsung tactician running the show: the codec.

By A. G. Stream-Catcher

If you watched this episode and didn't notice the compression, the codec won. If you watched this episode and thought, "That rain looks crisp," the codec won. Technical Rating: 9/10 for libvpx implementation. Slight demerit for a single frame of ringing artifact around Jadue’s tie clip at 41:05. Narrative Rating: 8/10. The sting operation is satisfying, but the pacing lags in the second reel. el presidente s01e04 libvpx