Netflix on Apple TV vs others

[Andy0568]

Does Netflix stream at 1080p? I have my Apple TV and Samsung Bluray both connected to my television, and jumping back and forth between the two, I'm not seeing or hearing any difference. I'm making sure to test with programming that I know is newer and available in HD. I was thinking about getting an Xbox 360 for the improved video playback on Netflix (as well as gaming), but it looks like there isn't any real improvement over the Apple Tv

 

[haoledoc]

Does Netflix stream at 1080p? I have my Apple TV and Samsung Bluray both connected to my television, and jumping back and forth between the two, I'm not seeing or hearing any difference. I'm making sure to test with programming that I know is newer and available in HD. I was thinking about getting an Xbox 360 for the improved video playback on Netflix (as well as gaming), but it looks like there isn't any real improvement over the Apple Tv

I don't think so. I believe their HD streaming is 720p, though there's no easy way to verify this that I'm aware of. I use netflix on both the appleTV and a PS3 and I don't see a whole lot of difference. I think I read somewhere that the PS3 allows for AC3 surround though, which I don't believe appleTV supports for netflix. I don't think it's worth purchasing a whole other box just for any marginal improvement in netflix performance.

 

[ghostlyorb]

I don't think so. I believe their HD streaming is 720p, though there's no easy way to verify this that I'm aware of. I use netflix on both the appleTV and a PS3 and I don't see a whole lot of difference. I think I read somewhere that the PS3 allows for AC3 surround though, which I don't believe appleTV supports for netflix. I don't think it's worth purchasing a whole other box just for any marginal improvement in netflix performance.

I agree... 720p is what they stream at. There isn't a huge difference between that and 1080p on smaller TVs.. I would say on 32" and larger is when you begin to see a difference.

Buying a Xbox360 just for netflix isn't worth it. I prefer PS3s version of netflix (I have both). Also to point out, that Netflix only supports up to 5 or 6 devices. So don't have 3 devices connected to one tv.

 

[bassfingers]

1080p

I read on wikipedia last week that the ps3 exclusively streams netflix at 1080p with certain content.

I have a ps3 and I think the picture is better on it than my laptop, however that could very well be a difference in the screen. I concur that buying the xbox for netflix would be ill-spent

 

[bozzykid]

720p vs 1080p will not matter that much for streaming content since the issue with these transfers is the quality of the transfer not the bitrate. PS3 has an exclusive on 5.1 sound. I expect most other devices will support this once the exclusive contract is up.

 

[mstrze]

Who has consistent download speeds robust enough to stream 1080p content?

 

[AdrianK]

Who has consistent download speeds robust enough to stream 1080p content?

1080p only needs to be encoded at about 7,000-10,000kbps... so quite a lot of people.

 

[notjustjay]

Who has consistent download speeds robust enough to stream 1080p content?

I'm streaming HD video just fine (though unconfirmed whether it's 1080p or 720p) on my PS3. My Apple TV, however, consistently struggles to keep up.

 

[Zimmy68]

I don't give a hoot about 1080p v 720p on highly compressed streaming content.
I'd rather have constant quality at 720 then try to squeeze 1080.

The biggest advantage to me of the PS3 version, is 5.1 soundtracks.

 

[laurim]

I purposely ditched watching Netflix on my XBox and bought an ATV. I don't online game so it wasn't worth the new $60/yr XBox Live Gold subscription cost when I could get the same thing for a one-time $99. Netflix on an XBox is also substandard in that whenever the quality is readjusted for network capability, the movie stops and a message comes on saying it's rebuffering due to a change in network speed. Happens several times a movie on bad nights and especially on their HD movies. This doesn't happen on my ATV.

 

[newagemac]

I read on wikipedia last week that the ps3 exclusively streams netflix at 1080p with certain content.

I have a ps3 and I think the picture is better on it than my laptop, however that could very well be a difference in the screen. I concur that buying the xbox for netflix would be ill-spent

Netflix does not stream 1080p to the PS3 or any other device. Netflix recently posted that the highest bitrate they stream at is is 4.8 mbps. There is a lot of misinformation out there about Netflix streams after Sony told a half truth regarding the PS3. The PS3 will upconvert 720p to 1080p (the same thing your HDTV would do on it's own anyway) but it does not receive a 1080p stream from Netflix. And even if it did, at 4.8mbps that stream would look much worse than 720p.

 

[Andy0568]

thanks for all the feedback! i went ahead and read up on bit rate, and now understand a little bit better why it's more important than just looking at "1080p or not." the Netflix Instant video isn't too terrible, but hopefully Netflix will roll out better quality over time.

 

[eNcrypTioN]

Can anyone give me a comparison of streaming through the Wii vs. Apple TV?

 

[haoledoc]

Can anyone give me a comparison of streaming through the Wii vs. Apple TV?

I haven't used the Wii to stream, but considering that the Wii is limited to 480p video over component and analog stereo audio, I think it's safe to say that the Apple TV will be far better as long as you have a TV with HDCP compliant HDMI.

 

[JPark]

I hate to add to the confusion, but there's also the question of which movies are available to stream in any form of HD, and which are available on the PS3 for 1080(or whatever) and 5.1 sound. PC's/Macs seem to have the smallest catalogue of streaming in any form, and the PS3 seems to have the most options. Anything available to stream on a PC/Mac will definitely be available on the PS3, but not vice-versa. As far as I can tell, the AppleTV gets access to the same catalogue as PC/Mac.

Can anyone confirm/deny this for me?

 

[bobr1952]

Well i can say that only PS3 gets 5.1 sound which is why I am not happy with Netflix streaming at all until they do.

 

[newagemac]

I have both the PS3 and ATV and they get the exact same catalog as far as I can tell. And Netflix is NOT streaming to the PS3 in either 1080i or 1080p. The only advantage the PS3 has is 5.1 audio and Netflix has stated that would be coming to other devices within the next month or two. If your 1080p TV has a poor scaler, I guess that would be a PS3 advantage as well since you can use the PS3 to upscale the 720p Netflix streams instead of using your HDTV to do it. I prefer letting my more expensive HDTV handle the upscaling.