Not only will the Netflix Player by Roku now support HD content from Netflix — if the movie you’re trying to watch is available in HD, which many are not — but in their press release today they mention having “additional providers of HD content…in the first quarter of 2009.”
Previously • Review: A few days with the Netflix Player by Roku
• Roku Netflix Player goes open source
I stream some HD stuff (Heroes, 30 Rock) from my xbox360, works pretty awesome actually. I’ve given up all hope for BluRay, I’m glad to see Netflix moving in this direction.
#6 BDCG: That’s a big part of the debate over network neutrality. Those with control over the pipes oppose neutrality and want to extend their monopoly into other areas, such as VOD.
Just ordered one of these for my parents for Christmas. They don’t have an HDTV, so that part of the service is a bit moot, but I’m sure they’ll enjoy the other selection of movies.
As a side note, I’m loving my 360 Netflix streaming. I use that as much if not more than the games these days.
Here is a little story. While HDDVD and Blue Ray were fighting over the format war, they forgot about the internet.
Netflix won over Blue Ray + Blockbusters by knock out!
My DSL bandwidth doesn’t even get me the top-level resolution of Netflix’s standard-def streams. Who’s got the bandwidth for an HD stream?
Now, can you stream HD content from a 360? And if not, when?
#10: To or from? The 360 gets HD content from Netflix.
I might have the bandwidth, but I don’t have a Netflix account. I get a pretty reliable 6Mbps on internet speed tests. According to this:
http://blog.netflix.com/2008/11/encoding-for-streaming.html
most of the highest resolution stuff is 2200kbps VBR so it’s not actually using 2200kbps all the time. Some things are encoded at 3400kbps.
I’ve got more than enough bandwidth to stream HD (FiOS, FTW!), but the selection to stream from is, frankly, pathetic. Barely over 100 titles, last I looked, mostly indie films and documentaries. I don’t need HD for a Scrabble documentary, dammit. I want Iron Man in HD, you know? I want something worth the pixels!
Baby steps!
This is neat, but my ISP (AT&T) is currently in the process of implementing monthly transfer limits to prevent people from doing just this sort of thing; they’ve got a competing VOD service, and they presumably want to drive people to that.
Isn’t that illegal, or at least the sort of thing that attracts the attention of the FCC and/or FTC?
http://www.netflix.com/WiHD
Xbox360 has had access to this list of HD movies all along supposedly.