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Free streaming services provide a lot of value, especially when you take into consideration the fact that the cost of everything feels like it's going up. Netflix used to represent such good value, and now it feels like it's hard to justify paying for it, especially if you want an ad-free plan. As a result, many people, myself included, have been pushed into checking out free services.
The Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV are all great choices, but they're not perfect. I don't expect perfection from something that charges me no money to use, but I do wish there was a tad bit more quality put into these services. Pluto TV is something that I've found myself using more and more lately, and while ads aren't the dealbreaker, I think the resolution is actually the big issue here.
With Netflix, HBO Max, and other paid services, you're typically streaming at 1080p or higher. With Pluto TV, that's not the case. In fact, oftentimes you find yourself watching something in 720p with just stereo audio. In today's age, that's a tough pill to swallow.
It feels like quantity over quality
The clear downside
Pluto TV has a lot of stuff to watch, and there's even a fair amount of live TV to sift through. That's great for people looking for things to throw on, but that's where my problem is. It feels more like it's tailored to people who want to put something on their screens and not pay attention, versus people looking for something to watch. There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm certainly a fan of having something on in the background while I do other things. I do it all day long while I work, and that's where services such as Pluto TV have come into play.
Pluto TV can have something continuously playing, and even if they're ads, it's not a big deal since I'm not entirely focused on what's going on. The problem is that when I finally do sit down and watch something for real, it leaves a lot to be desired. These free services have a lot of stuff on demand, but I'm not really excited to watch a movie I've been waiting a long time for in 720p -- and not just 720p, but streaming 720p.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is something that's available on demand on Pluto TV, and I couldn't even imagine the whiplash of going from my 4K disc with Dolby Atmos to something in 720p with just 2.0 audio. That applies to a lot of things, and that's why I wouldn't want my first time watching anything to be on a free service. There are some exceptions to this rule, however. Shudder doesn't have the greatest stream quality either, but if there's something that comes out on that service that I'm interested in, I'll just take the hit. For the most part, it feels like there are far better ways to watch anything, so I don't tend to rely on Pluto TV for many movies.
Pluto TV still has a reason to exist
You can't deny its value
If you don't rely on Pluto TV as your daily driver, I don't think you'll find many issues. There's a treasure trove of TV shows on there, and it's one of my favorite ways to watch Star Trek: The Original Series. That's a show that has since been remastered, but having its low quality adds to the charm here. The same thing applies to many of the old shows streaming on the likes of Pluto TV and Tubi.
I do wish these companies could upgrade the quality in other areas though. While it's not available at the moment, the idea of watching 2022's The Batman on Tubi frightens me. This is a movie that has excellent black levels and superb audio quality, so it would feel very limited on a service like this.
There's nothing wrong with watching things this way if you get enjoyment out of it, but I don't think I could do that. I went through the trouble of putting together a Dolby Atmos surround sound setup in my living room, so having to live with just a stereo setup is annoying on its own. When you couple in a 720p stream on a 4K TV, matters get even worse. It's a lot more forgivable when it's on my computer monitor in a separate window because the size is much smaller. When it's blown up to 65 inches, a 720p image doesn't look all that great, even if there's upscaling involved.
That's pretty much par for the course when it comes to free services. I mean, these are free for a reason, so I guess I shouldn't expect much more than the bare minimum. For what Pluto TV provides, it's fantastic. I just wish I liked it a little bit more than I did.
