US Patent 11632413 Methods and systems for streaming media content

Systems and methods are described for streaming media content. A first portion of a media content item is received at a bandwidth available to a user device, wherein the quality of the first portion is based on the bandwidth available. A second portion of the media content item is received at a decreased or increased bandwidth, wherein the quality of the second portion is based on the increased or decreased bandwidth available to the user device. The quality of the first portion and the second portion is determined. In response to determining that the quality of the second portion received at the decreased bandwidth is less than a quality threshold, the quality of the first portion of the media content item is reduced prior to sending the first portion to a playback buffer. In response to determining that the quality of the second portion received at the increased bandwidth is more than a quality threshold, the quality of the second portion of the media content item is reduced prior to sending the second portion to a playback buffer.