Unless two things change, HD streaming will never really be able to catch on.
1) Bandwidth caps that are appearing all over the place will have to end.
2) The aging communications infrastructure will have to be improved. I live only 10 miles from a metro area of over 2.5 million people, yet I can't get internet over 1.5Mbps that doesn't have the Comcast bandwidth limits or privacy infringing protocol analysis and blocking. Why the paranoia? If they are analyzing my data packet to determine if it violates protocol blocks, how do I know they aren't scanning and possibly saving ALL the data the flows in/out of my house? Their word on the matter? Yeah, corporations have proven to be completely trustworthy lately, haven't they?
Watching movies on Netflix just got better with the introduction of HD streaming support for both Mac and PC users. Not every title is all there yet in sparkling quality, but at least they’ve gotten started with this.
The roll-out seems to be very quiet and reserved to tech sites, as there’s no mention of it yet on the official Netflix blog where most of their big announcements pop up. Maybe they’re waiting until more titles are available in HD before making an official statement.
Prior to this development, the Watch Instantly feature in HD was reserved for Netflix subscribers streaming over gaming consoles (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, etc.) or other devices like Blu-ray players.
The HD Watch Instantly service requires the installation and use of Microsoft’s Silverlight media player, a free program that can easily be installed if your system is compatible.
