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New Mac Mini + Netflix= awful

T

tobarefeet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2008
24
0
Have new Mac Mini, boosted the ram to 8gig. HBO GO and many other video sites look fantastic on HDTV that I have the Mac mini attached to.
I went to try Netflix and got a DRM error message. Called Netflix. They told me the way to trash the current Silverlight in the Mac mini, go to Microsoft and get the new Silverlight. I did that and viola, the Netflix movie opened.
Wonderful, terrific...
Movie opens and looks awful. Not remotely close to HD, not close to watchable. Stuttering and a dreadful picture.
I run wifi and it's not that as every other video site works perfect, so please don't suggest rebooting that.
Netflix on my Roku and Boxee box run on same wifi and are in HD 4 bars.
Again, HBO GO and other sites used on the Mac mini look fantastic.
I'm extremely disappointed. One of the chief reasons for getting a Mac mini for my HDTV was to let go of my Roku and Boxee Box and open more possibilities.
I love my Mac mini for everything else.
Any thoughts other that rebooting my wifi?
 
V

VeganHipster

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2011
193
0
If you can, maybe try plugging the Mac Mini into the ethernet.

Maybe the the film you are watching is not HD? Have you tried plugging the Mac Mini into another monitor and seeing how the movie looks?
 
AppleDApp

AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
netflix's HD is no different then there SD the stream is hit or miss sometimes it works well other times it doesn't
 
T

tobarefeet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2008
24
0
I've tried 3 different movies and all look inferior. I did try the ethernet also. Considering that HBO GO and network websites look great, I can't see the point in taking apart my configuration to move the Mac mini into another room and try on a different monitor. scratching head
 
AppleDApp

AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
tobarefeet said:
I've tried 3 different movies and all look inferior. I did try the ethernet also. Considering that HBO GO and network websites look great, I can't see the point in taking apart my configuration to move the Mac mini into another room and try on a different monitor. scratching head
Click to expand...

don't bother using netflix if everything else works well
 
V

VeganHipster

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2011
193
0
tobarefeet said:
I've tried 3 different movies and all look inferior. I did try the ethernet also. Considering that HBO GO and network websites look great, I can't see the point in taking apart my configuration to move the Mac mini into another room and try on a different monitor. scratching head
Click to expand...

Taking apart your configuration? You mean removing the hdmi cable and possibly an external hard drive?

The reason I asked if you tried it on another monitor is to see how it looked. If it looked like poop on your other monitor, obviously something is wrong with netflix.

I used to always have connection issues with netflix where it would look like crap somedays and look fantastic on other days, but I canceled my subscription after the price changes, loss of Starz movies and TV Shows, and loss of the ability to have two computer/xbox streams or more going on simultaneously throughout the house without having to pay extra for having two DVDs sent out (which is complete BS, I don't even use DVDs).
 
T

tobarefeet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2008
24
0
AppleDApp said:
don't bother using netflix if everything else works well
Click to expand...

Dont bother using Netflix? As i posted, i bought the Mac Mini so that i could use Netflx as well as the other functions and ditch the Roku and the Boxee Box.
 
McGiord

McGiord

macrumors 601
Oct 5, 2003
4,558
290
Dark Castle
What moving are you trying to watch in HD?

Not all the content in Netflix is in HD.

What is your ISP?

I have comcast and unfortunately depending on the time of the day the speed significantly decreases.

But Netflix looks beautiful when it is in HD in all of these: iPhone 4, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, MacBookPro, PS3. I do connect the MacBook Pro to my HDTV and nothing different from the PS3 image and audio quality.
 
D

Darby67

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
395
3
the corner of Fire and Brimstone
Is your Netflix plan Bluray? From what I remember, your access to their small HD category is only available if you have their Bluray plan. But this was all before they reshuffled all the plans and now have streaming only. I've noticed in the past that quality was marginal the first few minutes, but increased nicely with time.
 
F

FredT2

macrumors 6502a
Mar 18, 2009
572
104
Darby67 said:
Is your Netflix plan Bluray? From what I remember, your access to their small HD category is only available if you have their Bluray plan.
Click to expand...
Not true. All HD streaming has been available with or without bluray.

As for original question, I was always totally unimpressed with Netflix streaming when I watched with Mac, but my outlook changed completely when I got an ATV 2. If you're into Netflix streaming, do yourself a favor and don't bother trying to watch with your Mini. The $100 for an Apple TV is well worth the cost.
 
Vermifuge

Vermifuge

macrumors 68020
Mar 7, 2009
2,067
1,589
What size TV? Netflix streaming can look pretty terrible on large screens.

Also did you set the video quality on THIS PAGE?
 
B

btbrossard

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2008
973
11
Chicagoland
McGiord said:
Not all the content in Netflix is in HD.
Click to expand...
Not all Netflix HD content is available in HD on a computer as well. Some of the content is ONLY available in HD on set-top boxes.

We have an ATV for Netflix and the HD looks pretty good on our TV.

Watching Netflix in browser on our mac Mini looks horrible 99% of the time.
 
R

Ruahrc

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
1,345
0
It's also possible that Silverlight and Lion don't play well together? I don't know as I have not looked this up, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lion broke something with the current version of Silverlight- if my experience with Lion is any indication.
 
T

tobarefeet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2008
24
0
The big screen quality is a non-issue. I use the same 50 inch plasma tv with my Roku and Boxee Box and get HD picture. Perhaps it is a Silverlight issue with Lion, as like I posted before, HBO GO looks great, and video sites like Vimeo look terrific, so there is nothing wrong with my video settings.
i guess i'm stuck with keeping the Roku/Boxee Box instead of selling. I do love using the Mac mini for many things on the TV though.
 
M

Mak47

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2011
751
32
Harrisburg, PA
I've been noticing issues with Netflix lately as a whole--on various platforms. Buffering, random resets (when using Apple TV) and near constant resolution changes. I've seen this things so much that it's becoming unusable.

Basically, I see the same issues the OP sees, but not just on my new mini, also on my MBP, Apple TV and iPad. Other services like Hulu+, HBO Go & streaming TV shows from iTunes don't give me these problems.

I don't blame the new machine, I blame Netflix.
 
A

astrorider

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2008
591
126
Did you let the stream play for several minutes? I've noticed that Netflix streaming sometimes looks poor for the first 1-2 minutes, then the image suddenly pops to a higher resolution.
 
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