Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its online video service later in 2010
Summary: [UPDATE: As one of our readers points out below, Netflix will not be adding 1080p this year. Apparently, the feature was mistakenly placed on the 2010 development road map.
[UPDATE: As one of our readers points out below, Netflix will not be adding 1080p this year. Apparently, the feature was mistakenly placed on the 2010 development road map. That's a fairly big boo-boo. In any event, 5.1 surround sound is still on the list for adoption this year. ]
According to our sister site CNET, Netflix's on-demand video streaming service, a.k.a. Netflix Watch Instantly, is jumping on the 1080p HD bandwagon later this year, with a corresponding bump in audio to 5.1-channel surround sound.
The move comes after the company recently announced buoyant fourth-quarter results and predicted that two thirds of its monthly subscribers will watch videos through its online service by the middle of 2011. In addition to viewing them on PCs and laptops, subscribers can access Netflix Watch Instantly on game consoles, Blu-ray players, and other "connected" home theater devices.
While those watching videos on compatible monitors and HDTVs will be pleased with this development, what remains to be seen is how well Netflix (and your broadband connection) will be able to handle streaming the bandwidth-thirsty 1080p feed to your device. Already throughput speeds of around 5Mbps are required to handle 720p content from Netflix's service—how much of a bump will you need to view 1080p material without a major case of the stutters? Obviously how quickly Netflix's engineers (using Microsoft's Silverlight technology) can solve any technical hurdles surrounding this issue may play a part in when exactly subscribers will get their 1080p.
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Talkback
must be fake
1080p is not coming in 2010
Even if they are just working on it
Woot!
But the 5.1 is a bigger attraction to me than the 1080p. On my 50 inch TV, 720p does just fine, but stereo (Netflix's current audio) upped to simulated surround sound isn't cutting it.
RE: Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its online video service later in 2010
RE: Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its online video service later in 2010
New Movies???
High-quality movies don't need the highest-quality streaming
films at 480p on our 65-inch Mitsubishi and
listening to the soundtracks over a pair of $100
Creative speakers. The films we choose to watch
are so well-written that we're too busy thinking
to notice that our eyes and ears are being
shortchanged.
Pixels the size of your head...
Maybe just on your TV?
look darn good to me. Maybe there's a crappy scaler somewhere
between your 480P source (DVD player?) and the TV? I have an older
50" HP md5020n DLP rear-projection set that has a great video
scaler. That said, 480P is not the kind of great quality you see from
1080i on PBS or Discovery, but I wouldn't call it "unwatchable", even
though on a 65", it would obviously look a little worse. My older
collection of VHS tapes, especially ones I recorded myself, do tend to
be more in that unwatchable category. The streaming video from
Netflix is better than VHS, but not even as good as 480P, but I expect
it to improve every now and then, especially as ISPs upgrade their
infrastructure. Verizon's FIOS already sends their on-demand video
over the data portion of their system, so as not to occupy video
"channels", as is generally the case with Comcast and others. This is
one reason they've needed to use those high bandwidth wireless
routers.
Sound quality first, video quality later?
recently arrived for TV (and soon for Netflix (and others?) streaming),
you're really being short changed with simple stereo speakers. The
problem with audio is that either it needs to be built into the TV
(which means that surround and back is probably compromised) or it
needs to be discrete components (maybe wireless surround/rear
speakers will soon be a modestly priced TV add on?). I have now set
up two 5.1/7.1 "home theatre" sound systems (one for a 50" read-
projection TV and one for a 14" broadcast monitor -- yes, a nice old
Sony Trinitron). I find that the sound makes all the difference
between a flat movie and an immersive one (at least where they had
competent sound editing). Dialog mostly comes from the center
channel, where you'd expect it, but the surround, when it's kept
subtle, is incredibly good. Too bad audio set up is such a bear ;-(
RE: Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its onl
And BTW, it's not silverlight. The embedded devices (Roku,
BD players, PS3, etc) don't seem to run on Silverlight.
Wrong direction!
Probably many-many more, especially in rural areas, on isp-imposed diets or stuck in airports with nothing on cell ...
You'd think small and light is better.
Dang .. unAmerican ..
Go ahead and supersize me, even though I'll never be able to access it 8-)
how about more shows?
when are film and especially tv going to get on the internet bandwagon?
720p 5.1 please
RE: Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its online video service later in 2010
RE: Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its online video service later in 2010
had a caching option that allowed the content to be
downloaded prior to viewing. Most of the content would
have to be protected from copying, of course, but they
should be able to figure that out.
I feel fortunate to have DSL and not dial-up access, but
DSL can't even reliably handle their SD content.
caching...
Amen. Totally agree!
And PLEASE.... PLEASE... PLEASE dump the clunky Silverlight player. It's crap! The old player worked great.
One of my big complaints is that I have two monitors, and I like to watch movies "full screen" while working. Guess what? The Silverlight player can't do that. The minute you click on something else, the overlay goes away.
RE: Netflix will add 1080p, 5.1-channel surround sound streaming to its online video service later in 2010