Netflix Turns Focus Back to Disc

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by MikeDaWiz

I dont know why people have a beef with streaming. I love streaming movies and tv off netflix. i have been able to watch tv shows and movies that i normally would not have given a chance.

I don't think people have an issue with streaming, it is the garbage that is posted about it that annoys people. For me it is simple , the quality is no where near acceptable. If one day the quality is there, I can own a local copy that plays without an internet connection and it does not add to my cost of ownership, I am all for it. The issue is idiots saying that soon everything will be DL when the internet is no where near able to handle everyone DL movies, that it is as good as BD when the PQ /AQ is no where near the same..... that bugs me.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

the issue is not BB it is Netflix and redbox wanting to pay less. They negotiated the window for lower prices on their end.

As I stated previously, we'll see what happens WHEN Blockbuster officially closes up shop.
As for Netflix "going back to disc", well I certainly have not seen an increase on the blu-ray front. I've got about 30 movies in my queue, all recently released on BD, that aren't available on BD via Netflix.
I've said this numerous times in several forums: Netflix NEEDS to implement some sort of "request title on blu-ray" function...you know so they can actually GAUGE how many customers want a particular BD.
I wish Netflix would do something a little more...noticeable! Afterall we BD subscribers do pay extra.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

I don't think people have an issue with streaming, it is the garbage that is posted about it that annoys people. For me it is simple , the quality is no where near acceptable. If one day the quality is there, I can own a local copy that plays without an internet connection and it does not add to my cost of ownership, I am all for it. The issue is idiots saying that soon everything will be DL when the internet is no where near able to handle everyone DL movies, that it is as good as BD when the PQ /AQ is no where near the same..... that bugs me.

Keep in mind that if/when the network infrastructure gets to a point were it can stream BD quality movies(PQ/AQ & extras) on a wide scale, everyone will probably be paying pre usage. Flat rates are starting to disappear!
So all the streaming enthusiasts keep that in mind.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

So you are saying films like The Deer Hunter, Jaws, Lawrence of Arabia, Pulp Fiction, Rear Window, The Sting, Vertigo, West Side Story, and many many others are not worth watching because they are not on Blu-ray? What if they never get a blu-ray transfer? We should just forget those great films ever existed? What about all of the great indie films out there that will never get a blu-ray transfer? Are they not worth watching either? A true film fan, as you proclaim to be, would never say they wouldn't touch a film if it were not on one particular format. That's a format fan, not a film fan.

not at all, that is being a quality fan as much as a movie fan. Let me put it this way, you said "never" but are you willing to bet 1000$ that the titles you named above will be out on BD let's say within the next 5 years or before BD dies which ever comes first. Some of the titles you mentioned are already out and others have been announced, why would anyone with a functioning brain assume they will never be out on BD. As for not watching them until they come out, any film fan will now that there are 10's of millions of films out there and there are thousands more being made every year, maybe in 2006 your point might have made sense but why would I be less of a film fan because I can watch my LOTR EE (just picked something I bought recently but have not seen yet) now and I can wait until Nov to see West side story, since until then there will be tons of other good films released on BD. I have over 700 BDs and maybe even over 800, I have plenty of ilms I can watch, why should I limit myself to that small handful you mentioned and not just wait for when they come out on BD and I can see them closer to the way they were meant to be seen then on crappy DVD?

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by rickah88

As I stated previously, we'll see what happens WHEN Blockbuster officially closes up shop.

but will it ever do that? and if it does won't you just use an other scapegoat? it is because of PPV or it is because of sales. In the end it is just like the other guy said, devaluating the system, is BB part of it? yes the studios would rather you rent it at BB where BB is willin to pay more for it and so the studio makes more with each of your BB rental then Netflix/RB rental, but if Netflix/RB where paying as much as BB per rental then the studio would not care if it was Netflix, RB or BB. And that is what devaluating the product means.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Keep in mind that if/when the network infrastructure gets to a point were it can stream BD quality movies(PQ/AQ & extras) on a wide scale, everyone will probably be paying pre usage. Flat rates are starting to disappear!
So all the streaming enthusiasts keep that in mind.

agree, and honestly I am all for it. That is why I included cost of ownership. DL means HDD and DL speed and capacity, the movies would need to be cheap enough so internet cost + HDD space + movie<= total cost of physical media.

[Photogenic]

Count me as disappointed. I was hoping to only see availability of streaming titles go up. Looks like Apple will be getting even more of my business.

[raygendreau]

The only thing going up is the price of Mailed DVD/BD plus streaming. I just cancelled streaming, since the overall quality of the movies available isn't that great.

http://blog.netflix.com/2011/07/netf...plans-and.html

[Peteara]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...ing-dvd-210174

Well, I guess that's it for me. Later, Netflix. Looks like I'll be visiting the redbox down the street from now on. What is it, like $1.50 for a blu-ray? I'll take that over the $18/mo Netflix wants to charge me for 1 blu-ray at a time and a mediocre streaming library.

[aqupunk]

Originally Posted by Peteara

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...ing-dvd-210174

Well, I guess that's it for me. Later, Netflix. Looks like I'll be visiting the redbox down the street from now on. What is it, like $1.50 for a blu-ray? I'll take that over the $18/mo Netflix wants to charge me for 1 blu-ray at a time and a mediocre streaming library.

+1000!!!!!
Changed my account 10 minutes ago their streaming is a joke 1 star movies lame......

First the 28 day for new releases hold, then the increase for blu ray movies, now this.....DONE!!!!!

[psi]

Check out my new thread. The story is true!

[DimeMecka]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

I don't think people have an issue with streaming, it is the garbage that is posted about it that annoys people. For me it is simple , the quality is no where near acceptable. If one day the quality is there, I can own a local copy that plays without an internet connection and it does not add to my cost of ownership, I am all for it. The issue is idiots saying that soon everything will be DL when the internet is no where near able to handle everyone DL movies, that it is as good as BD when the PQ /AQ is no where near the same..... that bugs me.

AGREE!!!!

[Teazle]

My last experience with streaming:

I'd just watched the 1941 Wolf Man on HD cable. Then I rented the BD of the new Wolf Man. For a "larf" I tried the Universal stream of the 1941 version you can access from the disc.

The stream was about half as good as the HD cable version. I couldn't see any grain in the stream and the compression was VERY high (to the point of motion looking a bit jerky). I hesitate to say "unwatchable" but it was close. I don't know whether that's typical of streams. The CATV version beat it easily.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by Teazle

My last experience with streaming:

I'd just watched the 1941 Wolf Man on HD cable. Then I rented the BD of the new Wolf Man. For a "larf" I tried the Universal stream of the 1941 version you can access from the disc.

The stream was about half as good as the HD cable version. I couldn't see any grain in the stream and the compression was VERY high (to the point of motion looking a bit jerky). I hesitate to say "unwatchable" but it was close. I don't know whether that's typical of streams. The CATV version beat it easily.

I would not rely on a BD-Live stream to provide a reasonable example of quality from a real streaming service.

Netflix HD streaming on the PS3 is actually quite good. The HD programming that's available generally looks better than my Dish Network HD feed. No, it is not comparable to Blu-ray quality, but it is actually watchable on my 92" 1080p front projection system. Netflix adjusts the quality in real time, so the first few seconds are often pixelated/noticeably compressed, but after that it's smooth sailing with solid quality. That said, I generally don't stream movies...I mostly use it for TV shows.

The bottom line is, those who say that Netflix streaming quality is comparable to Blu-ray are flat out liars. But so are those who say Netflix streaming quality is "awful" or "worse than DVD" or other such hyperbole.

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by kefrank

I would not rely on a BD-Live stream to provide a reasonable example of quality from a real streaming service.

Netflix HD streaming on the PS3 is actually quite good. The HD programming that's available generally looks better than my Dish Network HD feed. No, it is not comparable to Blu-ray quality, but it is actually watchable on my 92" 1080p front projection system. Netflix adjusts the quality in real time, so the first few seconds are often pixelated/noticeably compressed, but after that it's smooth sailing with solid quality. That said, I generally don't stream movies...I mostly use it for TV shows.

The bottom line is, those who say that Netflix streaming quality is comparable to Blu-ray are flat out liars. But so are those who say Netflix streaming quality is "awful" or "worse than DVD" or other such hyperbole.

I guess I happened on an unusually bad digital stream.

Weird thing is, HD cable feeds are essentially streams, only real difference (I guess) being the bandwidth allotment to digital TV vs internet data over the same wire. Since I use cable (esp for deep catalogue film, TCM and similar, not available on Blu) I guess that makes me a believer. But irrespective of quality issues it's a complement to disc rather than a replacement IMHO.

[Steedeel]

dvd provides less compression artifacts, especially pixelation in my opinion. Therefore better picture.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

dvd provides less compression artifacts, especially pixelation in my opinion. Therefore better picture.

There are simply too many variables for both streaming and DVD to make such a general statement. I can say with confidence that the HD streams of The Office, for example, on Netflix with my 5Mb broadband connection are clearly superior to the same episodes I have on DVD. The ceiling for quality with streaming is much higher than with DVD, because DVD is stuck with MPEG2 encoding and average bitrates of 4-5 Mb/s. Netflix already uses considerably more efficient codecs in their streaming service and reduces compression dynamically with internet connection speeds faster than 5Mb/s.

Netflix streaming has a very long way to go to reach Blu-ray quality levels, but it's superiority to DVD is readily apparent.

[Steedeel]

i disagree.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

i disagree.

With what? Logic?


You state predictions as if they were fact, then refute anyone who provides a reasonable argument. I'm not sure what you're trying to get at here.


I need to re-evaluate my Netflix accounts, because we have one, we pay for one for my wife's parents, and one account for my mother. $75/mo. in Netflix fees is getting a little steep to justify. I still think it's a great service, I just need to evaluate my level of usage.

The streaming is great for my son, as we can provide him with a quick commercial free cartoon etc. when we are getting ready for something/cleaning/cooking/etc. and want to keep his attention occupied.

[Steedeel]

My home cinema would be offended if i fed it something like Netflix. Look we have better cable and satellite pictures here in the UK. We are used to high quality already. Pair that with the mighty Bluray and im happy. Compression artefacts are easy to spot on my plasma. Are you watching on a portable in that part of the world?