Netflix Player by Roku adds streaming HD content

For $99, the Netflix Player by Roku was already a pretty good deal for getting on-demand content from Netflix's Watch Now service streamed to your TV. Now Roku has upgraded the device to support HD streaming from Netflix, which should help it answer one of the chief criticisms leveled at the player: video quality that's lackluster on a high-def set.

However, another limitation of the Roku player is that the number of titles available for streaming (about 12,000) are just a fraction of Netflix's library for DVD rentals, and the number of streaming HD titles is only in the hundreds. Roku says other HD content providers are expected to join Netflix early next year. It also promises that HD streaming can begin instantly over an average broadband connection, but this will need to be confirmed out in the real world—along with the streaming quality throughout the course of an HD movie.

Still, owners of the device can't complain too much, since the update is free.