It's something you can't get on the
Roku. Nor on LG's
BD300. Nor on Samsung's
P2500 / P2550 Blu-ray players.
Nor through Netflix's own "
Watch Instantly" portal. It's high-def
Netflix streaming, and it's coming first to Microsoft's Xbox 360. Just in case you glossed over this massively huge tidbit when digesting the
new dashboard information this morning, we're here to remind you that when the aforesaid dash hits on November 19th, with it will come HD Netflix streaming for (US-based, presumably) Xbox Live Gold members. You should know that this is only a "soft launch" with about 300 titles available for now, and the litany of details you're surely craving simply aren't available at present time. At any rate, we'd say things just got a lot more interesting in the world of digital downloads, but there's really no need. The real question is: when will
everyone else follow suit, and how quickly can we expect current Netflix streamers to get the HD upgrade?
Update: We're hearing this whole HD Netflix streaming thing
may actually hit all those other boxes in late November as well. Guess we'll see in time, huh?
posted Oct 29th 2008 8:55AM
Finally, something worth getting a Gold Membership for.
Yup, awesome! More good new stuff for free!
I'm not familiar with XBOX Live pricing at all how much is a Gold membership? I'm curious just how much of a deal this is when I can get Netflix Instant Queue (SD) streamed to my PS3 for free via Playon http://www.themediamall.com/playon . Having native streaming would be great, but it seems like having to pay for Gold membership on top of a Netflix membership wouldn't be a very good deal over the course of a year or more.
It's worth pointing out that PlayOn (which is pretty cool) also streams Netflix to the 360 without the need of a Gold Membership.
Of course, in standard def.
Harkonian,
I think it's somewhere around $50 a year if you pay annually, and I'm on the cheapest 1-disc-at-a-time Netflix account since I finished the bulk of my ripping. I think most of us who are excited about this are those who already have XBL and it's a free bonus; not necessarily a killer deal if you don't use the gaming.
Then again, I almost never play games on the XBox anyway.. but it's worth keeping Live around just in case, and now for streaming movies too.
Another nail in optical media's coffin... I'm talking to you Sony.
Sure, because buying a game console, a Netflix subscription, a Xbox Live Gold membership, 10Mb/s+ broadband service (and being at the mercy of packet shaping, usage caps, etc) is so much easier than buying a disc. Not to mention 720p content with DD 5.1 sound, compressed to all hell barely qualifies as HD.
Sony has a digital media store on its ps3 too. It sells its movies (it actually has a movie studio) and other studios in SD and HD and lots of tv shows for rental or purchase and im sure this netflix thing will come to ps3 eventually too.
I doubt Sony is worrying about this. The last update brought to the PS3 allowed for you to register the device as a Divx certified player.
*ahem*
http://www.divx.com/connected/
Added to their digital video store on the PSN. I really doubt Sony is worried about Digital media taking over for Disc based media. There is alot of other reason why people will never give up tangible media (and I do Download alot) and that is mainly because of ownership, rights and trust with certain companies. It also has to do with the average speed of internet 'Worldwide' and the overall willingness of the average consumer to go completely digital.
Besides, all this talk about "nails in coffin" only makes you sound like a disgruntled HD-DVD supporter.
@Chris
Your analogy does not add up. Yes, all those components to a degree are required to enjoy this on an Xbox 360. But you can't simply "just buy a disc" to enjoy HD content. You still need a Blu-ray player (getting cheaper), the right receiver (HDMI audio), the right cables, etc. So it's a question of front loading costs or paying for them via the service model. Ultimately the service model costs more, but in turn you gain access to more content most likely, and are usually granted the upgrades that come with that subscription at no additional costs.
Probably make more impact on videos sold in XBL marketplace then on Sony. Netflix streaming movie selection is not that great and doesn't have new releases.
But I guess you have to have Gold Subscription on top of Netflix subscription so it may not impact casuals. Not sure if it works with the HDD-less Arcade either.
Sure thing, buddy. I'll get that streaming on my 128 kpbs 'net connection. It is the fastest I can get at my house, after all.
Andrea, I take it you prefer paying twice for the storage medium. I also understand that you like paying more for less.
I have a PS3 only and I for a long time thought Sony should get Netflix as a partner, along with someone like Google or Mozilla to fix their browser. M$ got there first though with most likely a payoff and they might keep it exclusive. That kind of sucks being a Sony supporter but it really doesnt affect me.
I use my PC through my HDTV as well so I've been able to stream Netflix fullscreen for a long time now. I never use it however as I'd rather just get a Bluray and HD streaming isnt going to change that since I know I can get better quality on BD. Plus the stuff on Instant is pretty crappy as far as movies go. I do use it every now and then for watching a stand-up comedy special, but then again I watch them on Youtube a lot as well.. so yeah, not really an issue..
Now I'm only wondering if the 250G cap set by Comcast is high enough for me to enjoy this service...
First thing that came to my mind as well...... F'in Comcast and their limits! Revolt!
I wonder what netflixs' cut is on this deal.
Oh yeah, i'm ****ing pumped for this update!!
Thanks for doing something good for once Microsoft!!!
Keep up the good work.
More subscribers? I'm signing up for Netflix as soon as this update rolls out. I never would have considered it without the Xbox integration.
Soo....maybe I should just get an Xbox 360.
John, Xbox 360 is the way to go. you would have so much fun. offline and online. the best games out there. not to mention you would have the NEX that allows you to chat up to 8 ppl. download so much stuff. the price is right. $300 for the 60 gb.(hdmi out) add $50 for gold membership. the rest is up to you how you get the games. wheater to buy o rent. Now with netflix is more of a sweet deal. you rent 1 movie at a time and enjoy streaming on you xbox when you want to. Myself, I buy the best games worth playing online. and the rest i just rent from gamefly. ill get netflix cause is cheaper than buying the movie package from directv. lol. so do the math. start up cost is around $350. montly for netflix is $9/mo no late fee, monthly for gamefly is $15/mo no latefee. If you care bout Blue-ray than stick with PS3 blue-gay. lol.
There's no such thing as HD streaming...I don't know why engadget even post such lies. These videos are so compressed I bet the quality is not much better than dvd quality. Hidef streaming does not equal BD or HD DVD qualtiy...not even close.
Even more reason to hope the Samsung or LG Blu-ray/Netflix player can be had for a good price on Black Friday.
As defined:
"High-definition (HD) video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD) video, most commonly at display resolutions of 1280×720 (720p) or 1920×1080 (1080i or 1080p)"
High Def video does not need to be BR quality, It is very common and easy to stream videos of 720p/1080i quality over a broadband connection greater then 3 mbps.
If your connection is slower then that, you have my pity.
There are still a lot of stations that only broadcast in 720, you're right, guess that's not HD either...I'm gonna cancel my HD service...just not worth it for non BR quality...
@ nxp3
Clearly, you a) are poor, or b) don't have an Xbox.
If you had an Xbox and weren't poor, you would know that you can watch movies in high-def and they look just as good as high-def TV broadcast (I'm too poor for bluray) and they take about a minute to buffer.
@Matt
Steaming HD over the internet and over-the-air HD are not the same quality. Over-the-air HD is currently only beaten by Blu-ray in terms of quality and bandwidth. Since the HD signals are being broadcast over the air, they really don't have to worry about bandwidth limits like internet streaming would have to.
HD can't stream huh? Then how are all the HD channels on my TV coming through? It uses the same cable the TV does. And then there's OTA antennae you can get that pick up HD channels. Streaming movies and watching "live" TV and movies on cable both use the same connection. Think about it.
I know the XBLM isn't streaming but a temporary download. This is in great quality and I could care less if it's streaming or downloaded, as long as it looks great. You can't watch the XBLM downloads after a certain time period so storage amount isn't a problem unless you have an HDD that is almost filled.
On a side note I can't wait for the switch to digital. I really think getting rid of all the analog channels for good will open up a huge amount of bandwidth for internet connections!
"High-definition (HD) video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD) video, most commonly at display resolutions of 1280×720 (720p) or 1920×1080 (1080i or 1080p)"
While technically this is true, I mostly have to agree with Nxp3 here. The compression required to stream video at HD resolutions drops the video bit-rate to below the bandwidth of regular ole standard-def DVD. In the case of Apple TV, HD downloads are a measly 4mbps, where DVD is 8, and blu ray is 40. While compression techniques are getting better all the time, this is still a drastic drop and results in details that get mushed together, color banding, and all sorts of compression artifacts that you dont even get with regular SD DVD's. So while HD streaming exists, it aint that great just yet. Obviously, it will only get better with more bandwidth.
Nevertheless, as a Netflix subscriber, and a 360 owner, I am freekin excited by this news!! As far as I'm concerned I'll still continue to collect movies on blu ray, but for renting, this is just the bee's knees. I cant wait for the NXE!!
Is it going to be available Worldwide ?
or only for US (...as usual) ?
Is that a rhetorical question?
Great news! Can't wait.
For all you who will start screaming 1280p blah, blah..nobody cares!!!!! The HD stream quality will be good enough for 96% of people. BD will remain a niche market. So sorry Sony.
Here's the proof:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=365
So, are the UK getting anything out of this Netflix deal?
Seeing how I get to pay Netflix anyway, I would rather get the Blu-ray discs that come with my membership than stream low quality HD streams. Just because it is in 720p/1080i does not mean it looks as good as a high bitrate HD file. How do you think they get a file to fit into a 3Mbps stream? By eliminating detail, of course!
The cheapest Netflix subscription with unlimited online streaming and one dvd out at a time is 8.99 a month. at 12, $107.88
Xbox 360 Live 12-Month Gold Subscription Card (FREE 1 Month Bonus) is $38.98
Being able to stream about 300 movies at release, unlimited for 38.98....
last time I checked 38.98
Rick, you do realize you need *both* a Netflix subscription *and* an XBL gold membership for this, right?
Hmm, I guess I stand corrected..
So your telling me that streaming HD netflix movies, is going to cost me approx 150 dollars a year? (for someone with out xbl gold)
Thanks, but no thanks.
I'll stick to just XBL gold. The additional 107 a year is not worth it for me..
(....after all , I DO have the large..haha..free..haha...Comcast... haha..On Demand HD library....
hahahaha... joking of course.)
I've had my Xbox for nearly 14 months and I *just* signed up for Netflix.
Suck it PS3!!
So how are they going to work out the additional cost when it comes out for the PS3?
No its free on the PS3 if you have PlayOn.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/01/playon-media-server-streams-netflix-to-ps3-xbox-360-today/
Ummm, PlayOn isn't free
It's free on Xbox aswell. If you have XBL Gold and Netflix.
@Temple: Who cares? The TRIAL for PlayOn is free, and it only streams the standard def version of Netflix. Similarly, PlayOn is also available for Xbox users (and works with the free Silver XBL accounts).
In other words, same functionality for the same price, for either console..
The point is that if you're an XBL/Netflix subscriber, you're gonna be first in getting Netflix HD.
Which is a cool thing for those who are.
Playon is also poorly designed and doesn't work all that great. For some stupid reason they've used the .NET 1.0 framework to program the damn thing, which means that it doesn't play well with all machines. I'd rather pay Netlix a small monthly fee, which you would also have to pay PlayOn after the trial, and rest assured that not only will I get HD video, but WORKING video.
sony doesn't own optical media? sony wants blu ray to last but they don't own that either. However Sony Pictures (like every other movie studio) wants disc media to fail.
They want you to not have a physical copy of the movie, that you can keep for years, watch over and over for free, share w/ friends and borrow, make copies of etc.
if it was there way you would have to pay per view everything per person.
and what are the other nails in its coffin?
Sony makes money of off Blu ray and they are in charge of licensing. I am sure BR is an extra source of income. But you are right about sony pictures trying to sidestep Disc based media.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/17/sony-details-ps3-firmware-2-50-upgrades-divx-vod-support-av-tw/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/09/sony-pictures-televisions-serving-up-content-to-divx-certified/
As evidenced here they are going to try to use the PS3 to push on multiple fronts giving consumers even more options. So the PS3 is going to be able to stream HD Divx, already can stream flash media (stutters on some HD), Upscales DVD's, Plays blu rays, display content streamed from any DNLA certified program or device (which ironically brings netflix streaming to the PS3 as well), Has a video store where you can purchase or rent movies and TV shows, and on top of that can play media stored off of external hard drives and other memory sources.
People trying to paint Sony as dependent on Blu ray only are just sounding childish in the face of the flexibility and freedom that sony has allowed PS3 users to watch both standard and high def content on their PS3.
Ha ha Ha ha ha... All you people bitching about this... Dont use it if you dont want to. For us who will use it this is just another great option. Now I need an N router. I just dont think G will do it anymore.
This is a win for MS and Netflix. Netflix gets a new influx of customers and MS gets HD video back from BR or at least shares it now.
I have been a Netflix subscriber for three, almost four years now, I watch videos on my PC through the watch instantly feature and soon I will be getting a new TV and connecting my PC to it, with the hopes that I can periodically watch streaming Netflix content through my PC on my TV. Just the other day I was thinking, "it would be great if this was at least DVD quality or better because it would look really grainy on a larger TV."
But no, they go ahead and put this on Xbox360 first, I don't own an Xbox! That ticks me off big time! Why not launch it on the Web site and Xbox at the same time? Did MS fork over millions of dollars for this privilege or something? Netflix, I am not happy about this, HD better be coming to the site soon or your "loyal customer" may cancel.
Thank Microsoft, they pay out the ass for timed exclusives.
You can bet if Apple was going to get HD service soon too they would pay for windows to have it first and faster
The CEO of Netflix is on the board of Microsoft. It's not hard to figure out why it happened this way. It's making MS look so much smarter for staying out of the HD disc wars.
So, your canceling you subscription to netflix because, xbox users can watch hd movies....
so now you have neither netflix pc streaming, or xbox...
I forgot where you gain anything out of that....
haha sorry I just don't see the logic.
FIRST!
360 to have Netflix HD streaming that is, which is nice. Maybe a reason to step up to the 10MB/1.5MB plan at home.
Is it worth paying $20 extra to go from 6MB to 10MB?
Evidently everybody missed the joke there, its in the title for fucks sake.
The joke's on you kal326.
So... this Netflix service is not going to store the entire movie locally on my Xbox HD, just a bit of a buffer so its not interrupted?
Its a real pain to clear off 5GB of my 20GB drive just to watch a 720p movie through XBLM. I'm just saying this Netflix better be cheap, easy, and painless because until I upgrade my projector to either 720 or 1080, an up-scaled DVD looks fine given the cost difference and there are a lot of options out there (FiOS on Demand, Red Box $1 DVD, etc).
Then again playing some of the killer games on Xbox 360 or watching HDTV series are almost always more rewarding than the movies they have been releasing so why did I even comment on this...
That's right. Netflix on-demand is all buffer..
i'll wait until this is available on ps3...
Have fun waiting.
I think Blockbuster should look into getting a deal with sony for the PS3. Then I might consider switching to them.
will this work on multiple 360s if you have 1 netflix account but 2 360s in different locations?
yes.... you can have it on up to 3 devices (i think thats the limit). And you can even watch different shows at the same time on each device as long as you are on the plan with 2 or 3 dvds out at a time. the number of concurrent streams is tied to the number of dvd's out at a time in your plan from netflix.
@Aaron
3 disks and 3 streams available at a time, how the hell am I ever suppose to find time to do anything productive?
And why can't i use netflix with my xbox Silver?
you can't. pay up stop being a cheap ass.. lol. you forgetting that up to 8 ppl can watch the same movie. You can be the host of the movie and you invite your friends to watch and just have fun. thats the reason why xbox agree to stream netflix. to bring friends family together. . but remember every one of your friends must have xbl gold account and a netflix account.
I'm on the fence about buying a Netflix subscription just to take advantage of the new NXE feature. This will certainly help influence my decision. Is there a list of HD movies available somewhere?
This is what I want to know too. So far, I've only seen the current season of Heroes listed as being in HD. Anybody got a link?
I am completely saddened that I have Comcast and am going to have to look at different ISPs to take advantage of this.
Yeah I just hooked up a router with Tomato firmware, we'll see how much BW I use. I was at 5G/day when I was downloading a torrent for a couple of months (yeah, only getting like 20-40k/sec), but now it's way under that. Streaming a movie now and again should be okay. I would switch to ATT but my cable internet is paid for, and it happens to include some basic TV in that price, so if I go DSL I'd have to pay for more of my own TV service.. boo. I'd love to slap Comcast though.
I am gonna be giving Comcast a call soon and ask them to kindly cancel my internet service, and go ahead and choose a limitless (yet unfortunately a bit slower) service.
It hurts, i luv the blast 16Mbit but I know im gonna be blowin that cap to kingdom come - this first month of October was hell trying to guestimate my useage. Im over it - FU Comcastic Boombastic. :(
+1 for the the Xbox
I think this rocks! its going to put pressure on apple tv and sony to rethink how they deliver there content to consumers especially
apple tv 5 bucks for an hd movie screw you apple how about a subcription service apple.
@BlackSheep
I found this annoying at first too. But then I realized its probably just hype. A third party netflix client can force the quality to max and its close enough to DVD quality to try and claim that it is HD. Also, if they add something new to the netflix API for the 360, the netflix hackers will probably be able to get it to rest of us anyways.
However, the cheapest subscription doesn't cover HD content even BR disks require you give netflix an extra dollar a month. So, if anything about this is true expect to pay more for it.
Woot!
That makes me *very* excited. I've been avoiding buying a BluRay player, dreaming of living in the future; In a world where *DiGiTaL DiStRiBuTiOn* (Ooo... scary... I think I hear the movie studios shaking in their boots at the mere mention of these words) has replaced these old school optical discs.
What's the hold up on digital distribution? From what I can surmise, it's all about selling consumers more hardware. That's entirely rational, we live in a capitalist society, and while companies have delayed adoption of digital distribution, perhaps to sell their BR players before they are rendered completely obsolete, we get to see Netflix and Microsoft, who have no standing in the BR market, undercut the competition and kick Samsung / Sony / LG BR players to the curb.
Bring on the digital distribution! We've been waiting! Digital distribution isn't just for pirates, anymore!
Well for one, Hollywood is pretty much run like the "mafia". They have unions out there that dont care about progression, they just want to get paid. Remember the strike? It wasnt over money asomuch it was over getting money over digital media(streaming, HD, etc).
Think about it.....EVERYTHING is filmed in HD now(1080)...Why do they STILL have film projectors in the booth at the movies that could possibly break? Its because the ppl who have a stake in film(kodak and others) would be out of business, which would trickle down to other parts of the industry.
I produce music(hiphop, tv, film) and my 2nd home is in LA so I'm in the industry and have worked at Sony studios.
So dont expect BR to fail like minidisc(remember that shit?). As long as you have an ooey gooey format that the averae comsuner will drool over, you'll always have Sony stores, and ancient, but proprietary format(disc).
Money makes the world go round..
@ c-dub
They still have film projectors because film is higher resolution than 1080 and has a much greater dynamic range, surely someone in the industry would know that...
Academy Sound (Sound movies before 1955): 15 mm × 21 mm (1.375) = 2160 × 2970
Academy camera US Widescreen: 11 mm × 21 mm (1.85) = 1605 × 2970
Current Anamorphic Panavision ("Scope"): 17.5 mm × 21 mm (2.39) = 2485 × 2970
Super-35 for Anamorphic prints: 10 mm × 24 mm (2.39) = 1420 × 3390
It would be absolutely awful to try and watch an IMAX sized film playing from an HD disc. Everything has been filmed in HD for a long, long, time now...the only difference is that now some (not all) directors film in digital, and they are usually the ones that CGI the crap out of their piss-poor movies (cough George Lucas). The only benefits to filming in digital are savings in physical film cost, the ability to view what you have recorded instantly, and later the ease of adding CGI - the list of movies filmed in digital is not that long and not that impressive (unless you are a big fan of Spy Kids and Scary Movie 4). All other movies are just mastered from film.
Please learn the difference between HD and digital, and please stop with the conspiracy theories.
Forgot to add...this may change things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_camera
but for now, film is necessary in the industry. The biggest concern with digital distribution is control and DRM. If they can solve that problem (not likely), why would a company like Sony Pictures care if it gets its $20 from selling a disc or from selling a download? Another problem with digital distribution is that while everyone on this site would be fine, a pretty big number of people wouldn't have the tech savvy or proper internet connection to use it.
@ Josh
Its only conspiracy theory for those NOT in the know. It may sound farfetched, but try sitting in the same room as an editor or producer an seeing the finished product(timecode excluded) and get back to me...specs mean nothing if they cant be used for what they're intended for. The movies you're referring to do have quite a bit of CGI, but then again so did Transformers(which was filmed in 1080), still "dumbed down" to a film format. Even a BR disc isn't as close the actual Final Cut render.
The point I was making was that they(film industry) have the tech to bring you the product in the format it was made and intended for, but you'll never get it..not now anyways. So this Netflix offering is a pretty good alternative.
Kind of how when you buy a CD and it has more clarity than an MP3(320 or greater), but it'll never be the quality of the original Pro Tools file. There is tech to give you the same quality, but I doubt Joe sixpack is gonna hit up his local Guitar Center to get it. And music execs know this, so you'll always buy what most audiophiles think is the best quality.
Any other early adopters (read Roku buyers) feel like this is a slap in the face from Netflix? Why are the Roku box buyers being left out of the HD stream? We are the ones who made streaming a mainstream reality!
I remember them saying that that the Roku box supports HD, it was just waiting on Netflix to start streaming it. I'm sure it'll come eventually. MS might have some sort of exclusivity for now, to promote the 360... key phrase there being, "for now".
Just in time to get murdered by bandwidth caps all the ISP's seem to be throwing up!
Meanwhile, at Blockbuster headquarters...
"Wait a minute! Movies on the Internets?!? But we just finished replacing the last of our VHS tapes with DVD!"
"Even worse boss, this is for HD movies. You know, like Blu-Ray."
"Blue who? Who's Ray"
Yawn!
I already have NetFlix on my MediaCenter at 1080p.
:)
Um, no you don't. Just because your TV is displaying 1080p doesn't mean netflix is actually coming in at 1080p.
Per continuous recommendations, I finally just started watching Heroes on Netflix Watch Instantly, which rocks by the way(ok, so I was a little late to catch the buzz), and I was impressed by the great quality(my internet speed always remains on high quality by Netflix standards), even though it's not HD yet. I use my laptop with HDMI connected to my 46" Plasma HDTV, and watching Heroes streamed from Netflix was cleaner, and somehow way less grainy than the live feed off of NBC's own HD network this past Monday(first time I caught Heroes in HD live). If this is any indication of what better quality Netflix HD will come with later, then please Netflix, hurry the hell up already!!
Great for Xbox, but PS3 needs some integrated Netflix love too!
It's been said already on this thread, but what are the uk users getting? Nothing initially I bet :( Gutted. Apple TV I guess for me!
what the hell? microsoft is taking over engadget now!
I get Heroes in HD for free loaded onto my external 320gb usb drive. My current favorite show is True Blood. In HD.
My PS3 has just about all the media it can handle right now, plus if I'm so inclined I can go to the online PSN video store and buy HD movies, HD Anime, etc etc.
Besides the cost of the movie from the store this extra functionality is free!
I don't know. I guess I'm kinda underwhelmed.
The big change will be with cable television. I'll be canceling all my premium movie channels once I can watch what I want, when I want. I already have Tivo, but 90% of the movies shown on HBO, Cinemax, etc., don't interest me at all.
Technology sounds good, but the Comcasts of the world won't let it fly without getting a cut.... I am sure you can easily go over the 250GB/month bandwidth with this.....
Cool
The cannot even keep up the bandwidth for good quality SD. Not to mention HD.
I think what everyone is missing is that Netflix instant stream has 90% of your TV show. It could be a good alternative to cable TV.
But it's a good news, now, not only we can convert DVD to xbox http://www.convert-video-dvd.com/dvd-ripper.html#115 , but have Netflix HD Streaming Previewed in New Xbox Experience.