Blu-ray Player With Netflix Streaming: A Bridge To Future
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Movies streamed over the Internet are showing up in a lot of places other than computers, whether delivered by an Xbox 360 video-game console, a Roku set-top box or, soon, Internet-enabled HDTVs.
The most improbable partnership remains Blu-ray players that offer movies streamed by Netflix.
On the Richter scale of duets, this is no less earth-splitting than if Kanye West invited 50 Cent over for mulled cider and a chorus of "Jingle Bells" during the holiday season.
Wasn't the Internet supposed to extinguish Blu-ray, just as downloaded music beat down the CD? Maybe that's why LG Electronics' BD300, the first Blu-ray/Netflix combo player, was wearing funeral black.
But there's probably room for both, at least for now, as long as the Netflix service and others like it can't match Blu-ray's hi-def picture. Streaming video, if you're new to the game, is a way to watch movies, television shows or homemade video on a computer without downloading the complete files. Most people still don't have Internet speeds fast enough to download such large files. But with streaming video, anyone can watch. YouTube is the most famous source of streaming-video clips.
Streaming video isn't going away, either. Now it's complete movies and television shows. Netflix's streaming is also available through Microsoft's Xbox Live service, in TiVo boxes and a $99 Netflix-only box from Roku. Amazon.com's Video On Demand service is also available with Tivo and Roku. Apple TV ($230) is a direct link to the iTunes video library. The PlayStation 3, the gaming console and also a Blu-ray player, added movie downloads several months ago. Even Blockbuster, the plodding DVD rental company, has again countered Netflix with the $99 MediaPoint box.
But it's mostly older movies, sub-DVD picture quality and video that's occasionally unwatchable, depending on Internet connection speeds. Vudu, a $299 set-top box, might have the most technologically advanced service, with more than 1,100 movies in high-definition — but only at high-test Internet speeds (4 megabits a second or faster).
During my audition of LG's $350 BD300, Netflix announced that it, too, would begin streaming hi-def movies. (Samsung's BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 also have Netflix-streaming capabilities.) Before the announcement, Netflix offered a catalog of more than 12,000 titles — mostly unappetizing older movies ("Gentle Ben 2") and basic TV fare (older "CSI," "30 Rock"). Netflix has also added 2,500 movies from Starz.
Unfortunately, the Blu-ray player can't do it alone. You must first visit Netflix.com — on a computer — to add the movies or TV shows to your "Instant" queue, then make sure a high-speed Internet connection has been wired to the BD300's Ethernet port. Wi-fi is not an option. And accessing BD-Live material on the Web, a feature of Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players, requires additional memory — a 1-gigabyte jump drive the user must insert into the BD-300.
Things will get better, though. LG introduced two Netflix/Blu-ray players at the recent Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, including one (the BD390) coming later this year that has built-in Wi-Fi and built-in memory. Both players will also have video streaming from YouTube and CinemaNow, with its 10,000-plus movie library.
Next to 1080p video and digital surround sound coming from a Blu-ray disc, Netflix's streaming video looks primitive. It's at the mercy of your Internet speed — which can vary, even by the hour, depending on the number of users sharing bandwidth. Before the movie begins, Netflix rates the video quality on a scale of one to four. It also delivers soundtracks in stereo only.
Once "Brothers McMullen" started playing, my disappointment in the ultra-soft picture and weak sound quickly became secondary to the coolness factor of streaming a movie through a Blu-ray player. I didn't buy a 1080p television and a surround-sound system to watch material like this, but this is very early in the streaming game. Expect a better picture, still not Blu-ray quality — and still only stereo sound — from Netflix's new High-Definition Instant Streaming, available on the BD-300 with a firmware update.
As Internet speeds quicken, and with improvements in delivering downloadable movies in compressed files that still contain full-HD material, video on demand may, indeed, replace both Blu-ray and DVD. For now, a Blu-ray player with Netflix streaming could be the bridge to that not-too-far-off future.
Not directly. The PS3 offers movie downloads via the Playstation store and there is an application (Playon) that you can use to stream Netflix on the PS3. Outside of the PS3 nada. But Sony did not really discuss new players in-depth at CES so we may see something later this year.
01-17-2009, 10:37 AM
Blu-ray Player With Netflix Streaming: A Bridge To Future
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