Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater PS3 has Netflix streaming now

This may be old news, but I don't think anyone has mentioned it. The PS3 now has Netflix streaming capabilities. In order to take advantage of this you need to let Netflix know that you want to do this and get on the list for a disc that will enable this. There is a link on this web-page.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/103/1038848p1.html

I just got an email from them that I should get my disc tomorrow. I never thought that this day would ever come. I've been so close many times to breaking down and getting the Roku box. I'm glad that I have held off.

- Nick

Yeah, but at least I don't have to get off my couch and put in a disk to stream to the old xbox.

I will be getting a disc from netflix though and will def. compare the service on the two consoles.

I think that you just use the disc once and you are all set, like a firmware update. Don't know why Sony couldn't just make a firmware update available. Maybe Netflix did all of the work and that is why it is coming from them.

Suck.

I bought a Samsung BR because I had to have that feature.

Let me know about PQ.

No, for now the disc will have to be in the system. This was the quickest way for it to be deployed. In the future there may be a program download (there's a streaming music service in Europe which integrates this way).

I guess I'll find out tomorrow, but from what I've read so far, this is a BD-Live disc which connects to Netflix's service. Sony supposedly helped develop it, but I'm not sure why it wouldn't work in other players which have sufficiently fast BD-Java implementations. I'd like to hear from anyone who has a PS3 and an Oppo BDP-83 who gets this disc.

I have both. I don't know if I am going to be the test guy though.

I guess that I don't mind having to put the disc in to use the Netflix streaming since my PS3 has been collecting dust since getting the Oppo player. There haven't been many games out that I have been interested in (I'm waiting for Gran Turismo 5 or a good RPG) and I'm not going to use it as a movie player when I have the Oppo. Now I can get some use out the the PS3 streaming Netflix.

- Nick

On second thought, if the Oppo would do the upconverting then this may really be worth it.

- Nick

The Oppo wouldn't do any conversion because, if it is a BD-Live disc the interface will present itself as 1080p.

I thought I read that Netflix was required to issue a disk as opposed to making this a firmware/software issue because of some sort of licensing agreement between the two companies.

Could be total bunk, but I think it's something to do with legalities as opposed to technical limitations.

Many of you probably know this already, but FWIW, PlayOn by Media Mall already allows streaming of Netflix to the PS3 through software that is installed on a networked PC in the same network as the PS3. Quality via PlayOn is hit and miss though, especially on a big screen.

Jason

I've seen guesses that it's on a disc because of Microsoft's "exclusive" for the 360. But nothing confirmed. As long as we're making guesses; mine is that Netflix wants to control the number of new clients on connecting to their server, so a disc-based approach where they are the distributor would allow exactly that.

PlayOn is pretty much a miss.

Good call Chris, that's as good a guess as any.

Here's an article that discusses more guesses on the reasons for the disk vs. software. They agree with you on the MSFT link.

By the way, PlayOn has gotten a bit better lately from a reliability perspective. Quality still maxes out at a not so great level, but for shows on Hulu, ESPN, etc., it seems to be performing much more predictably for me than it did ~6 months ago.

Jason

If Netflix didn't have the Blu-Ray surcharge, I'd think about switching from Blockbuster now that streaming is added.

Of course, I still need a wired connection for the PS3 I assume to stream....wireless probably doesn't cut it, especially for HD quality.

Here's what NF had to say today, "Today we shipped instant streaming discs for PS3 to about 100,000 Netflix members who requested them. After we tune a few more details, we expect to ship to everyone else within a couple of weeks." That backs up my guess.

I'll be curious to see if it is anything even close to HD streaming even with a hard line. I do have mine wired directly to my router, so I'll let you guys know. My disk arrives tomorrow.

Jason

HD streaming (720p/1080i) should be fine with the PS3. The 360 does it and it works great. I can't see why it would be any different on the PS3.

If it weren't for your avatar, I'd say drop your cable, and go with Netflix. I've not had cable for 7 years now, yet I watch more TV/movies than anyone else I know. It's a combination of Netflix's 8-at-once+BD, plus their streaming, and downloads of TV rips from the Internet. But I'm not a sports fan in the least, so that's something I don't miss. Although MLB just joined the PSN store.

I'm stuck with cable for sports, otherwise I would.

Well, got mine, been using it for about an hour. It's pretty cool.

I was wrong, it doesn't present itself at 1080p, the interface is 720p. It is indeed a Blu-ray Disc though. The interface defaults to showing your streaming queue, but you can browse all the available films by genre. It supports both SD and HD streams. When starting a SD playback the disc switches to 480p, HD stays at 720p. So if the disc does work in the Oppo, it would scale the video content, as it does BD bonus content (which the PS3 doesn't scale).

The video streams are AVC (H.264), with 2 channel Dolby Digital @128kbps. I've seen the video rate jump as high as 7 Mbps, but averages 4 for HD, and 1.5 for SD.

All in all, I'm impressed. Going to go watch more.

Additional: The pause button brings up a nav-bar which works pretty much like the cool one you get with the Silverlight version of the player on a computer.

Netflix charges, what, a buck extra for BD? Not a big deal for me to pay that. I tried the disc in my Oppo but it didn't work (I really didn't expect it to). Haven't had a chance to play with it in my PS3 yet. Since Modern Warfare is coming out in a few days, I don't know if I'll get a chance to play with it for a while

I absolutely cannot wait for COD/MW2!!!

It depends on the plan you have...the upcharge is anywhere from $1-8 per month I believe.

The Blu-ray surcharge is $1 + $1 * # of discs out at once. So my 8-at-once costs me an extra $9 a month for Blu-rays.

The PS3 Netflix implementation is pretty good. I like this GUI better than my Tivo Series 3 but then again, the fan hasn't kicked into airplane mode yet...

Much faster interface, but hard to compare to Tivo's aged PowerPC CPU.

The HD is 'good' but still not HD. PQ is still splotchy despite my 20Mbps download speeds. But good enough for the kids' movies, which is the main usage.

I'm impressed as well. The video quality is very good. Audio at 2 channel is a disappointment though. Overall, considering they're "throwing this in" with the current cost of the service, it's a heck of a deal.

Jason

I believe they matrix down-mix the audio, so applying Dolby Prologic will deliver some of the original surround effect. Plus, they've said they're working on multiple audio tracks (and selectable subtitles) to deliver 5.1 in the future. I hope they designed this disc so it can be updated with BD-Live to introduce new features. Right now it's only taking about 3k of persistent storage.

I still use the disc rental for block-busters, but for Britcoms, and other low-budget entertainment, this is a perfect filler.