Netflix on PS3 goes disc-free, gets 1080i streaming and 5.1 surround sound

[JetreL]

I've never been a console person but this may be a foreshadow of what the future is:

Link

Wonder if this could come to Sage??

[darcilicious]

w00t! we actually have two PS3s at our house, something I never would have guessed a few years ago..

[stanger89]

Press release doesn't mention 1080i, where'd that come from?

And beyond that, why 1080i? That doesn't make much/any sense IMO.

[JetreL]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Press release doesn't mention 1080i, where'd that come from?

Don't know I didn't read the press release, I got it from the title of the article.

Is there really much difference between 1080 (I) and (P) not to mention the 5.1 audio is a killer in data stream size.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by JetreL

Is there really much difference between 1080 (I) and (P) not to mention the 5.1 audio is a killer in data stream size.

There is on a 100" screen

But the 5.1 audio is a nice addition to netflix streaming don't think anyone else does that yet.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Press release doesn't mention 1080i, where'd that come from?

And beyond that, why 1080i? That doesn't make much/any sense IMO.

The 1080i and diskless Netflix play comes from the playstation blog and I think in the video.

Maybe 108i is a limitation of the streaming. And it is just SOME will be in 1080i-the rest is 720p.

Gerry

[autoboy]

The 5.1 audio from Netflix is Dolby Digital Plus which is an incompatible evolution of standard Dolby Digital. (Vudu also uses DD+) Only HDMI 1.3 is capable of transmitting the raw DD+ bitstream and all other players will have to decode the DD+ either to raw PCM or to legacy DD for transport over toslink / Spdif.

That means that any device that will support 5.1 audio from Netflix MUST have a license and support decoding DD+. That means that devices like the Roku box, a lot of TVs, and DVD players that don't have a DD+ license will not be able to support the 5.1 from Netflix. I'm wondering if the Xbox 360 has a license to decode DD+ as well, since it doesn't support HD-DVD or BD out of the box.

Also, it's important to remember that the HD300 CANNOT decode DD+ audio streams because they didn't buy that license so it is unlikely that in the event that the HD300 got Netflix support, that it would be able to downmix the DD+ to toslink. I see no reason why it couldn't bitstream the DD+ though.

The reason why they decided to use DD+ is because the codec is more efficient than DD, allowing them to use lower audio bitrates while still getting good sounding lossy audio. This is not lossless audio, and I don't know their bitrates, but I would expect the quality they were shooting for would be comparable to 448k encoded DD or better.

[autoboy]

Originally Posted by gplasky

The 1080i and diskless Netflix play comes from the playstation blog and I think in the video.

Maybe 108i is a limitation of the streaming. And it is just SOME will be in 1080i-the rest is 720p.

Gerry

1080i60 is an effective transport for both film and video content and is why broadcast stations use it. You can stuff 1080p24 film content into a 1080i60 signal with no quality loss as long as the player is able to properly detelecine the film (a BIG if). Since film is shot as a progressive signal at 24 frames per second, and video is shot as an interlaced 30 frames per second (60 fields per second), you can fit both 1080p24 AND 1080i30 into a 1080i60 transport. This way, Netflix can give you the full resolution of 1080p24 film and 1080i30 video without needing to create different encodes of the content depending on whether or not it was shot on film or on video.

It's actually a pretty awesome way of getting you 1080 resolution content. The only problem is that the chips in these Netflix players are pretty poor at detecting different cadences and it could result in bad quality video if the video is flagged as video when it is actually film or vise versa. It will be up to Netflix to properly encode their content with the correct flags telling the players whether or not they are dealing with film or video. If not, then you'll see problems in the video unless your Netflix player has some advanced deinterlacing that can detect these problems. The HD300 is strictly a flag based player. You can get around this by using the Native Output mode and letting something else in your chain that IS sophisticated do the deinterlacing.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by JetreL

Is there really much difference between 1080 (I) and (P) not to mention the 5.1 audio is a killer in data stream size.

Originally Posted by autoboy

1080i60 is an effective transport for both film and video content and is why broadcast stations use it. You can stuff 1080p24 film content into a 1080i60 signal with no quality loss as long as the player is able to properly detelecine the film (a BIG if). Since film is shot as a progressive signal at 24 frames per second, and video is shot as an interlaced 30 frames per second (60 fields per second), you can fit both 1080p24 AND 1080i30 into a 1080i60 transport.

1080i60 is a compromise because the bandwidth of 1080p60 would have been way too high for broadcast, and apparently they didn't want to have to deal with switching between 1080p30 and 1080p24 streams on the fly (and you can't put 1080p24 in 1080p30 with any success).

But it's silly to stuff 1080p24 into 1080i60 in a world where there aren't any format limitations. It's especially stupid in an internet streaming world where bandwidth is critical and 1080i60 is less efficient than 1080p24.

It would be like the semi-disaster we have on DVD with everything being stuffed into 480i60, sure it works, but it causes a lot of problems in the process. It would have been better if DVD had supported 480p24 directly.

But scratch that anyway, the video did say 1080i (so that's where 1080i comes form) but the referenced Playstation (and engadget) blog posts have been updated confirming 1080p not 1080i. So the question is moot.

This way, Netflix can give you the full resolution of 1080p24 film and 1080i30 video without needing to create different encodes of the content depending on whether or not it was shot on film or on video.

They have to create numerous encodes for everything anyway, I don't see how making everything 1080i would save them any work.

It's actually a pretty awesome way of getting you 1080 resolution content.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that. Interlaced is acceptable, and with a good video processor not meaningfully different, but it's far form "pretty awesome".

But of course the question is moot because as noted, it's not actually 1080i, it's 1080p.

[evilpenguin]

If they're using the same smooth streaming MS tech as Xbox/Zune for 1080p, this is going to be fantastic.

[gplasky]

Update: Though the official PlayStation Blog originally reported the service would display streaming video at 1080i resolution, they've since struck that out -- they say it'll do 1080p now.

Gerry

[Suntan]

> Looks at PS3 then at skinny 3 Mbps DSL line coming into the rack <

Huhhhh... So close.

-Suntan

[autoboy]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

If they're using the same smooth streaming MS tech as Xbox/Zune for 1080p, this is going to be fantastic.

The Xbox streaming for me is useless because I can't stream their 720p or 1080p content. I can get Netflix 720p and Apple 720p so I don't know what the problem is with Microsoft at my house. I have a 6mbit connection and I get that most of the time.

[PiX64]

maximum PC reports 1080p..

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/new..._getting_1080p

[[JiF]Mike]

The original linked article in this thread has been corrected to say 1080p. This is very cool! We've been using the XBox cause we didn't have to change the disc, but I always thought the PS3 looked better.

[idonen]

This is cool, but at the same time I wish someone would make a SageTV Client for PS3.Then I could just use the PS3 for everything and not need a separate HD extender in that room.