Netflix "Super" HD, 5.1 sound...

[benji888]

Ok, so, now that I have a 1080p capable display, I am wondering, what the ef it takes to get 1080p & 5.1 sound out of Netflix using my mac??? Do I really have to get an ATV??? The settings in my Netflix account only go up to "High, 3Mbps for HD content", there is no "Highest" setting (something I found in my searches). I saw on a roku player (one that only does 720p BTW), the "Super HD" and 5.1 Dolby or some such wording next to a title on Netflix, but never see this on Netflix on my Mac, but, my Mac is completely capable of this, I get 1080p/5.1 with iTunes, so what gives???

I have tried wording things several different ways and can not find anything on this, all my searches end up talking about ATV. Netflix blurb about Super HD does not mention anything about web browsers...being able to do it, just content devices.

(Edit: Pardon me if not posted in the right place. I don't see a place for "Safari" or "Web browsers".)

 

[smithrh]

It may be your ISP... I've been able to get "SuperHD" out of Netflix on my Mac previously, but I haven't been able to get it at all today.

Edited to add: just tried again with Netflix on my Mac, same crummy result.

Second edit: There's a hidden menu that may prove helpful: to get to it, hold down the Shift and Option keys at the same time, and click the mouse.

Once that menu pops up, go to streaming and set your download speed manually to 1700. It might take a half minute or so to pop into HD, but it does.

No idea of how this got set for me, certainly I didn't set it - it was at 250kbits/sec! No wonder why I was getting terrible results from Netflix.

 

[benji888]

Thanks for the tip, I was wondering how to get to any settings for Silverlight, this seems to be it, but, I don't have any problem streaming HD most of the time. It's going at the highest rate listed, in auto mode. The problem is, I think this is 720p, not 1080p, and definitely not getting 5.1 audio. There is no option for either within Netflix website, or these settings, and no mention on Netflix website via Safari that anything is available in "Super HD", as it shows via a set-top box.

Can anyone tell me what the limitation is streaming Netflix over a web browser via computer? It just doesn't make sense that it can't get the same or better results than using a set-top box. My thought is that Silverlight is the problem??

Can I stream netflix video through another app, say VLC? At least I can get 5.1 audio with VLC.

 

[smithrh]

To be clear, I *still* had to use a VPN to get around my ISPs throttling of Netflix, as well as manually edit my download speed in that popup menu.

It was the combination of doing both things that made the difference.

Note - that menu setting seems to be set back to 250kbps every time for me.

Also, some titles are only available as "HD to your TV" which I would assume would mean that they won't serve up HD to a web browser.

 

[benji888]

You do realize there is a difference between Netflix's standard "HD" and "Super HD"? They only began doing 1080p this year and have dubbed it "Super HD" so we know it's not just 720p HD.


• As I already stated, I have no problem getting HD, what I don't get is 5.1 audio and 1080p...how do I get this...if netflix streams this I should be able to get this on my mac, not have to buy something else, anyone getting 1080p & 5.1 audio??

 

[benji888]

So, what is the deal? I could get an Apple TV and stream 1080p & 5.1 audio netflix, but, my computer is much, much more than this device, yet it is incapable of doing this????? WTF? Why is it so hard for Netflix to get a browser or make an app to do this when they do it via other devices?

If Netflix is streaming 1080p & 5.1 audio to Apple TV, what does it take, why can I not get that stream and use it on my Mac???? This does not make sense whatsoever.

 

[w0lf]

So, what is the deal? I could get an Apple TV and stream 1080p & 5.1 audio netflix, but, my computer is much, much more than this device, yet it is incapable of doing this????? WTF? Why is it so hard for Netflix to get a browser or make an app to do this when they do it via other devices?

If Netflix is streaming 1080p & 5.1 audio to Apple TV, what does it take, why can I not get that stream and use it on my Mac???? This does not make sense whatsoever.

Explanation:

Netflix has basically said Silverlight is dead and they're moving to HTML5 asap. Thus development of their web player using Silverlight it probably very minimal/non-existent at the moment.

Problem seems to be that DRM video extensions (which protect that content that Netflix Streams) aren't prevalent in HTML5 yet. This is preventing a cross the board rollout. Currently some Chromebooks and IE11 on Win8.1 have support for Nextflixs' new HTML5 player because both Google and Microsoft have worked with Netflix on development.

If anyone is to blame here it seems to be Apple not Netflix.

You can read more about it here:

http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/04/html5-video-at-netflix.html
http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/06/html5-video-in-ie-11-on-windows-81.html
http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/10/html5-video-playback-ui.html

It has absolutely nothing to do with your computer. You could actually Boot into Windows and play SuperHD on Internet Explorer if it's that important to you.

Also to answer "Why is it so hard for Netflix to get a browser or make an app to do this when they do it via other devices?":

Yes. If it was super easy it would already be done.

https://support.netflix.com/en/node/8731

 

[iosuser]

You will not get Super HD from any web browser. Super HD is only available of these devices. It used to be that to get Super HD you not only need to use one of these devices, but your ISP had to specifically support it. At least they did away with that.

Netflix Super HD

Netflix now offers Super HD streaming on many devices, including:
Apple TV with 1080p
Google Chromecast
Nintendo Wii U
Roku with 1080p*
Sony PlayStation 3
Sony PlayStation 4
TiVo Premiere DVR
Windows 8 App
Blu-Ray Players, Smart TV's, Home Theaters, and Streaming Players with existing Netflix 1080p support*
More devices coming soon!
Please note that Super HD requires an Internet connection speed of at least 5Mb/s, and 7Mb/s for our highest available video quality.
*Note: Although some Super HD eligible devices do not currently display the Super HD logo, we continue to provide Super HD video quality for these devices.

 

[Rychiar]

Yosemite is out with html 5. why do we not have this now...

 

[benji888]

...I don't have any problem streaming HD most of the time. It's going at the highest rate listed, in auto mode. The problem is, I think this is 720p, not 1080p, and definitely not getting 5.1 audio. There is no option for either within Netflix website, or these settings, and no mention on Netflix website via Safari that anything is available in "Super HD", as it shows via a set-top box.

Can anyone tell me what the limitation is streaming Netflix over a web browser via computer? It just doesn't make sense that it can't get the same or better results than using a set-top box. ...
...

I think it's really only 480p w/silverlight.

Yosemite is out with html 5. why do we not have this now...

Exactly! YouTube videos, that are streaming in HTML5 are now streaming on my Mac, and, at 720p, uses half my Macs resources that it takes to stream 360-480p Flash video. I did a test w/Hulu, as I refuse to put silverlight on my Mac, I have Netflix set to prefer HTML5, but, it does nothing. https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20197354/

• I wonder if there is some kind of copyright protection attached to streaming 1080p video, as, even though my Mac is completely capable, I don't seem to have access to it. ...That the real reason you need a set-top box is because of hardware decryption in that box, something my 2010 MBP doesn't have?