Netflix: lack of HD streaming 'no loss' for Wii owners
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted February 10th 2010 10:26AM
posted February 10th 2010 10:26AM
Let's see if we can't come up with a small list of things that would be, quite frankly, overkill in a modern game console / video streaming device. Color? You know, some of the best films ever made were in black and white. Audio? Just a distraction, really. HD? Available on damn near every new TV, sure, but don't you think it's a bit... much? Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime does, obviously, as does Netflix -- at least according to an interview recently posted on The Wiire. Indeed, the company's VP of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey goes so far as to say that "the HD experience at Netflix Instant Watching isn't that overwhelming. It's a little bit underwhelming. So the Wii folks aren't going to miss that much." Y'know, it's not every day that we hear a company downplay its own product, but we suppose that the man should throw a bone to the twenty-six million homes in America who already own the console. He goes on to say that "the vast majority of content that is available for streaming through Netflix is not HD content. So, there is really no loss for the Wii consumer." Besides, "PS3 and Xbox users have 1 in 17 titles available in HD, and it's streamed in 720... it's not in 1080, and it's not in 5.1 surround sound or anything." Sure, Swasey -- anything can make sense if you explain it. Well, almost anything.
in many ways, i think you're right: higher resolution alone does not make for a better viewing experience. CRTs are still superior in brightness and dynamic range, especially at an equivalent dollar value. the film grain visible in many bluray discs is very distracting. HDTV OTA, meanwhile, flat-out sucks. it has also been my experience that the average viewer knows and cares very little about aspect ratios. the one area where broadcasters seem committed to providing a clean, clear, HD picture is with sports. sports look amazing.
That screen shot is from the cult classic film...The Room.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)
It plays in a theatre in Los Angeles once a month and if you ever get the chance to go do it!!! Bring lots of plastic spoons!
I do not have a 360, I do have a Wii. However I doubt I would watch Netflix throught my Wii. I would rather get a BluRay player that supports Netflix. You can get them for right about $100 now.
What I wish Netflix would do is have a streaming only service. I would hop on that in a heartbeat! I do not want to have to mess with any media. That just seems like a pain to me. I just want to stream movies and TV shows. Heck if they only knocked off $2.00 a month for their service to do streaming only, I would totally go for it.
I know I can keep a disk as long as I want... But I do not want to have to keep track of their disk. Plus someone else is then deprived of that movie.
@tavisjohn Have you ever been to Netflix.com? When you sign up you get streaming plus on DVD at a time. For the most part I don't do DVD's unless they dont stream it, in which case I'll order it. The sad thing is you can't stream "The Room"... :(
@tavisjohn You could go with the smallest plan and then just not put anything in your DVD queue. I would guess that would work.
Netflix "HD" is not HD. The picture is merely wide screen format. Receiving true HD content via an internet connection is a long way off. I'm surprised Netflix isn't legally required to display some sort of a disclaimer which specifically details this fact.
wii and Sony TV this is a scandal (lol)
...I can't tell you about that, it's confidential... So how is your sex life?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mMyV2YQgAA&feature=related
I have a Wii and Netflix. Not sure I'll use it to stream all that much. Anyone who seriously cares about HDTV probably has other options for streaming Netflix. I have a Blu-Ray player that streams Netflix content and use that with my HDTV.
I don't use my 360 to stream because I don't have Xbox Live. I could imagine a use for a Wii that streams Netflix. Should I marry and have one of those kiddos, I'd probably have to buy a second TV which could be used by the family. If the Wii were hooked up to that second TV I would then be able to stream kiddo content in the other room while watching episodes of the office in HD-ish widescreen format on my primary display.
Well, what would be more reasonable? Say that Netflix without HD sucks and alienate most of their potential consumers? Force Nintendo to release a new console just for Netflix's sake.
They don't even have a library to back such statement. So sounds very reasonable to me. Seems like someone just didn't got over the 480p thing in the Wii - yet.
Last time I checked the Wii does not support anything above 480p. I would think that would make broadcasting in HD on the Wii would just waste bandwidth. This of course is not the case for hardware that actually supports HD.
I can't even tell the difference between 480, 720 and 1080. 480 was good enough for grandpa, and it's good enough for me.
most people can't tell the difference between 720 and 1080, unless they're side by side.
The only HD about streaming video is the resolution. As far as quality, you can't get that from streaming yet....where I live anyway. It's nice to see Netflix telling the truth. He should have also said that if you want real HD, go rent/buy a bluray disc.
Let's be honest now- Netflix in HD *is* underwhelming. I've watched it via the web and my ps3 and it's not earthshattering folks.
Keep living under that rock Nintendo.
Oh and YOU ERR TEEARING ME A PAWT LEESUH!
Okay, this is partially on the same subject, but I currently have a PS3 and my mom has just gotten a Wii, I keep trying to talk her into bumping her Netflix plan up to the one that can stream onto the consoles, but she keeps shooting it down. My question to everyone is that is the content worth on what you can stream over what you can get on dvds? I'm just trying to get a feel on what's able to be streamed and what's not.
Nintendo shill.
I would tend to agree with him. I watch HD movies on my PS3 from Netflix and there is not that much of a difference from the SD one, not like from a DVD to a Blu-ray.
The Wii's Dolby Pro Logic II capability doesn't come into play here unless the source material supports it, right?
can the wii do hd? I think I only have rca on mine or have I missed something?
@possum5
You can get a component AV cable for the Wii that will make your picture slightly better. It has three video connections (Red, Green Blue) plus two audio connections. It allows your Wii to display at 480p instead of 480i.
I got one at Sewell Direct, and it makes games look better (and hopefully Netflix as well), especially ones with a lot of motion.
http://sewelldirect.com/Wii-Component-Cable.asp