Netflix forcing the issue on the future of media mediums?

27dnast

I'm a fan of bluray. I like streaming for a number of reasons, primarily the instant access. However, I love the purity of the sound and video quality on bluray discs. It simply can't be beat... IMO.

A vast majority of my friends, however, don't have HTs and simply could care less about bluray. They dig the streaming of netflix and that's what they are interested in. Uncompressed audio? They don't care. Pure PQ? Blah, they say... the streaming versions are good enough.

I fear that, for economic reasons, we are headed toward a world where the bluray loses and mid-quality streaming is the norm. This fear was partially confirmed this week when Netflix announced it's new tiered pricing options.

It seems to me that netflix is trying to kill the disc and force everyone toward a model where streaming is the norm. It happened with music and now most people buy compressed music that just doesn't sound that good.

This is my opinion... just curious where you all stand on the issue. Which do you find yourself using most often?

Ondemand?
Netflix (or other service) streaming?
Bluray?
DVD?

Why?

brgman

I have the streaming plus 1 out at a time so i can get BluRay's my wife and son do the streaming alot and dont care about the details either.
i will keep the streaming for them but ditch the dvd/BD option and just get what i want elswhere.Not a movie guy.more concerts and stuff.

bsoko2

They shove alot of crap down our throats for profits. The purity of BluRay is all I ever watch as streaming is inferior with it's 750p video. Now, if we could get streaming in 1080p, that would be another matter.

nooshinjohn

The days of even going to the theater to view a film will come to an end as content providers will be able to stream media into everything we own for a price.

gdb

I do comcast on demand mostly in "HD" and Netflix in non-BD although I bought a Bluray player to be able to stream from netflix. I've never bothered to run the ethernet cable to it because there isn't much I'd really want to see, on demand (free stuff) from comcast is more appealing to me. As far as sound goes, I got an older (2001) AVR about a year ago that I still haven't gotten around to installing so, it's still "stereo" out of the TV's little speakers for now!:redface:

BlueFox

27dnast wrote: »

I'm a fan of bluray. I like streaming for a number of reasons, primarily the instant access. However, I love the purity of the sound and video quality on bluray discs. It simply can't be beat... IMO.

It happened with music and now most people buy compressed music that just doesn't sound that good.

I understand your point, but just want to clarify the point about compression so that a newbie does not get the wrong idea. There is nothing wrong with compression per se so long as it is lossless when it is uncompressed. Bluray audio is compressed, and it uncompresses into lossless files.

Also, I agree about streaming at this time. It is not good enough for me to use, and other than instant gratification it has no advantages. I changed my Netflix plan to 3 DVDs only.

However, at some point in the future when there is enough bandwidth to the home then Bluray quality, or better, video and 7.1 lossless sound will be capable of being streamed. At that point I will start using it.

polkfarmboy

I dont think our bluray disks are going anyplace soon as theres still alot of folk who dont have a net connection yet

headrott

Streaming video is obviously much cheaper for Netflix to operate with. They don't have to spend money on shipping. They make more money from streaming videos rather than shipping blu rays and DVDs to their customers.

Greg

HHStuart

When they added streaming to Netflix, I figured it was an attempt to switch people over to a more profitable venue. I originally switched to Netflix so I could drop the movie channels from my cable provider and save money. Recently I had over 50 choices on my instant queue and around a 100 on my dvd queue. I just switched those I could on my instant queue to my dvd queue. When I finish the ones I have left on the instant queue, it is good bye streaming. I'm paying way to much for cable and internet now. The choices available on the instant queue were pretty limited anyway.

jimbo1421

It would cost me an additional $20/month to upgrade my DSL from 1.5 Mbps to 5 Mbps (top bandwidth here in NM) which might upgrade my picture quality to near DVD quality. As is at 1.5 Mbps, streaming is good for old TV shows like Twilight Zone or 3rd Rock From The Sun. (Indeed it is a big improvement over my old Curtis Mathes CRT which is long gone.) But having put together a high definition, 5.1 surround sound home theater, the value of streaming just isn't there. I will probably drop streaming and go with 3 disks out at a time and save $8/month over the 3 disks + streaming that I have now.

Jim

mantis

If netflix could stream Blu ray quality I would not own a disc player anymore. If our Internet connection could handle that kind of bandwidth along with Hi Rez music , you could get rid of all your physical media all together.
Think about this , when is the last time you purchased a roll of film?

gdb

Lasareath wrote: »

My wife and I signed up for Netflix this morning but we cannot watch anything because everytime we try to connect our Vizio tv says that it cannot connect to the Netflix service please try again later

I like Blu-ray. I own 3 to 5 discs. Low quality works for me fine.

You'll probably need to run the Netflix through a Playstation or a Bluray player that's got the right software loaded, or, you should be able to stream fine on your PC monitor too.

27dnast

mantis wrote: »

If netflix could stream Blu ray quality I would not own a disc player anymore. If our Internet connection could handle that kind of bandwidth along with Hi Rez music , you could get rid of all your physical media all together.
Think about this , when is the last time you purchased a roll of film?

I agree 100%. But my question is about that first word: "if"

I would drop the discs, too, in heart-beat if you could stream BD quality.

heiney9

Lasareath wrote: »

Yeah, I cancelled the xbox live because it was $10.89 a month that I was'nt using for anything. I really don't want to pay that again just for netflix.

My PC monitor is 27" but the PC is in the basement. I have no desire to sit at my PC chair to watch Netflix. It needs to work on the 55" Vizio or I'm just not going to be a subscriber.

Sal, as a computer guru you should know you need some sort of interphase to run the streaming portion to a TV. The TV doesn't have the interphase built in nor the capability to dl, store and run the software.

Roku player
X-Box
DVDp that supports Netflix streaming, etc.

You can't just plug the cable in to a TV and it magically works. Computer streaming and streaming to a TV are different.

H9

P.s. X-Box live has nothing to do with Netflix streaming

sucks2beme

Welcome to the 21st century. Like the Ipod, it all comes down to cheap
and easy. Like going to Mickey D's. Fast, clean, cheap, no frills.
90% of America likes it, so it must be good? I really hate
where it's all going.

heiney9

Your ISP is going to be the nail in the coffin of BDP and related audio streaming because the increased bandwidth is either not supported consistently to all subscribers at this time or they are going to start charging large fee's to subscribers who go over a ridiculously low limit per month.

Netflix has the capability to stream in BDP quality. Does your ISP support it? Are you willing to pay your ISP a grossly inflated cost to access it?

I would say your ISP is forcing the future of streaming mediums not Netflix. Why is it Netflix's fault if your ISP has issues or charges a stupidly high fee?

I'm not saying Netflix doesn't have issues, etc..........but it seems the ISP's are trying to cash in during the infancy of the streaming trend and might kill it before it reaches maturity.

H9

LessisNevermore

heiney9 wrote: »

X-Box live has nothing to do with Netflix streaming

You can't stream Netflix on an Xbox without it.

heiney9

LessisNevermore wrote: »

You can't stream Netflix on an Xbox without it.

Ah, ok.........guess I didn't realize that. Thanks for clarifying. Makes the ROKU player look like a deal then.

H9

drselect

heiney9 wrote: »

You can't just plug the cable in to a TV and it magically works. Computer streaming and streaming to a TV are different.

H9

I think there are now a few tv's out there that you can just plug a network cable into or stream directly without a cable bypassing the need for an additional device.

polktiger

I will likely be dropping the Netflix streaming in Sept when they start charging extra for it. I like the idea, and for basic TV/Movie watching, the SD quality is fine with me. Its what I see on TV at least 50% of the time anyway. But, why I will drop it is the movie catalog. Many of the "good" movies available (like Secretariat) are only there becuase of the agreement with Starz, so it will be pulled in a couple months. Otherwise the streaming list is a bunch of B grade movies (heck a lot of them look like C or D grade movies - I think some of these things weren't even "direct to DVD," more like "direct to streaming"). If they ever get agreements to stream popular movies I will look to use the service again.

aviator

My dumb question is what good is a big screen tv with crap streaming video?

I don't have streaming so I don't really know if its bad or good or what; but, the way you guys are talking it ain't so hot.

So does streaming kill off blu-rays and big screen tvs?

heiney9

polktiger wrote: »

are only there becuase of the agreement with Starz, so it will be pulled in a couple months.

Where did you read the info about the STARZ agreement being pulled in a couple months?

H9

heiney9

I guess right here, and it appears to involve only Sony movies. That is a shame because a decent portion of my streaming queue will be affected by this. Serious re-think on my part. All these large conglomerates are really slicing and dicing the on-line moive market.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/06/netflix-users-see-starz-over-disappearance-of-sony-movies.html

kuntasensei

heiney9 wrote: »

Your ISP is going to be the nail in the coffin of BDP and related audio streaming because the increased bandwidth is either not supported consistently to all subscribers at this time or they are going to start charging large fee's to subscribers who go over a ridiculously low limit per month.

Netflix has the capability to stream in BDP quality. Does your ISP support it? Are you willing to pay your ISP a grossly inflated cost to access it?

I would say your ISP is forcing the future of streaming mediums not Netflix. Why is it Netflix's fault if your ISP has issues or charges a stupidly high fee?

I'm not saying Netflix doesn't have issues, etc..........but it seems the ISP's are trying to cash in during the infancy of the streaming trend and might kill it before it reaches maturity.

H9

+1 to this. The major ISPs are pushing against net neutrality laws for this very reason - because they want to be able to throttle bandwidth for certain types of traffic. And go figure, as all the major ISPs have direct interest in television. They are basically trying to kill streaming services by bandwidth limitations. I regularly run close to Comcast's 250gb/month limit, and as recent news has shown, if you go over that limit twice, they ban you from using their internet service for one year. No appeal... no extra charge... no option to pay more for an unlimited bandwidth business account. You're just BANNED. And you'd think 250gb was a fairly reasonable amount... but figure if you have 4 people in your home, all using online streaming services for music or movies, along with any cloud-based backup (like Carbonite), and that 250gb/month can get burned up with a quickness.

It really makes you wonder if Netflix's recent price restructuring is a cash grab to try to milk this thing as much as they can before ISPs basically shut them down.

rooftop59

Are cds gone? Many people download their music but I can't think of any albums that i have tried to buy that i could only download. I think the same will be true with blu rays. Lots of people will stream but hard media will still be easily accessible.

tonyb

rooftop59 wrote: »

Are cds gone? Many people download their music but I can't think of any albums that i have tried to buy that i could only download. I think the same will be true with blu rays. Lots of people will stream but hard media will still be easily accessible.

....and the best part about hard media is you own it,you can give it away,share it,sell it.

Comming next summer to a theatre near you...The Bandwith Wars, part 1.

Kinda like star wars only insert your favorite hero and villian.

gdb

I prefer LPs,CDs, DVDs & Blurays they never lose the feed,stream,signal etc.

heiney9

I got it Sal, LessIsNeverMore corrected me. I guess I didn't realize you had to pay an extra monthly fee for Xbox streaming. I'm sure that;s fine with those that already pay for Xbox Live.

heiney9

Lasareath wrote: »

Everyplace i call they blame somebody else.

I hear ya, I'm sure it's frustrating. Gonna have to get in their faces to make them listen. It really should be very simple as the Netflix application isn't complicated.

Good luck

H9

intangible

Lasareath, the PS3 application has had issues connecting for the past week or so, perhaps the television application uses the same servers. The website is working fine for me, try using it for the time being.

heiney9

You're almost to 100 posts mtb_ww, whatcha selling? :rolleyes:

H9