Comments for Christmas Blu-ray player + Netflix = A Very Blue Christmas

Christmas Blu-ray player + Netflix = A Very Blue Christmas

2008-12-16T22:10:54Z

I have a Blu-ray player on my Christmas list that I hope to get. Santa Claus hasn't failed me yet. I also have a subscription to Netflix and planned on upgrading it to the Blu-ray package for an additional $1/month should I stay off Santa's "naughty list" this year.

This would give me access to Netflix's massive Blu-ray library. Apparently, I shouldn't get too excited though. According to this CNET article, Blu-ray movies discs aren't being delivered as quickly as regular DVDs.
]]> According to the article, the reason why it is taking so long for Netflix to ship Blu-ray discs is because Netflix doesn't have enough Blu-ray discs to go around, especially hot new releases.

See, I told you it was going to be a "black" (profitable) Blu-ray Christmas.
Apparently, they're even prioritizing who gets new releases based on past history. So if you are constantly jumping on new releases and view 15+ new movies per month, you can expect you'll be on the low priority list. Doesn't pay to be a movie fanatic I guess. Blu-ray owners are likely the biggest movie fanatics since they are on the leading edge of HD movie watching - investing hundreds of dollars on a Blu-ray HD player that not everyone yet owns. Netflix would be wise not to upset this rabid demographic or face defection to competitors.

While I'm predicting the number of Blu-ray players sold this Christmas will surprise the experts, if Netflix doesn't ramp up their supply of Blu-ray discs, it's certainly going to be a very blue Blue-ray Christmas holiday for me. (assuming of course I get a Blu-ray player)

p.s. Santa - just a reminder, I want the Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player

Comment from Tim on 2008-12-17

2008-12-17T18:43:54Z

Blu-ray rules. Hope you get what one for Christmas. you won't be disappointed!

Comment from http://openid.aol.com/wartornpaintball on 2008-12-19

2008-12-19T06:59:42Z

Why don't you just get the LG BD-300. You can stream netflicks directly to through your blu-ray player onto your tv. all you need is an ethernet cable and a modem or router.

Comment from Tom Keating on 2008-12-19

2008-12-19T14:13:17Z

I looked at the LG BD-300 but I thought it wasn't a good choice for a few reasons. First, I have a Windows Media Center 2005 at home connected to my TV. So I sometimes stream Netflix on-demand movies that way. The quality from Netflix is only SD (standard definition) not HD since I'm using a S-Video connector from my PC - but it's good enough. I believe Netflix only has 300 HD movies to stream. Their on-demand list is pretty sparse. In my queue of 70 movies I have like 7 that are able to be played over the Internet.

According to the Amazon review of the LG BD-300, "All streamed movies seem to be stereo audio only, and no subtitles are available." No 5.1 surround? That's a deal breaker.

Also, I find it unlikely that the streamed Netflix HD movies is just as good as Blu-ray. I want a Blu-ray player so I can have more resolution, more pixels, sharper picture, etc. So why would I want to stream?

Maybe I'm wrong - maybe streaming HD is pretty good if you have a fast Internet connection. I'd love to see a comparison of Netflix HD vs. regular Blue-ray playback. i.e. Mbps throughput, resolution, artifacts, sound quality, etc.

Lastly, it's $299 (LG BD-300) vs. $249 (Panasonic DMP-BD35K), which is $50 more for the Netflix capability.

p.s. Rumors are that the Panasonic DMP-BD35K will get Netflix playback with a firmware update. So I Santa may have saved ~~myself~~ himself the $50 and I still get Netflix capabilities! :)

Comment from Johnny DVD on 2008-12-22

2008-12-22T18:25:36Z

Tom is right.

From what I read, Netflix released their HD encoding / streaming specifications & they're good but not great. Netflix said they originally considered a WMV3 (Windows Media Player 9) codec running at 4000kbps and 5500kbps, but opted for a similar Microsoft codec, called the VC1AP running between 2600kbps and 3800kbps. This provides a better experience for those of us with lower bandwidths, i.e. cheap DSL plans.

While Netflix offers 24fps movies in their native frames per second, their other content peaks at 30fps. Netflix looked at offering the 60fps content found on Blu-ray discs, but they realized that most home broadband connections couldn't handle the bit rates.

Vudu's premium HD content is still the king of streaming, supplying encoded rates ranging between 9Mbps and 20Mbps - for those that have the bandwidth.