Netflix UK - Streaming

I've just signed up for a free trial to see what the fuss is about and I have to say so far so good, content is fairly limited with regards to which companies are on board, but there is plenty to choose from. Netflix ask's you a few questions on starting with them to gauge what you may be interested in and it does a fairly good job after you let it know your movie/tv types.

I have to say though one of the reasons I though I'd share this post is because of the quality of the media provided, I tried Lovefilm a while back and if I'm honest the quality of the media sucked, it was very watchable, but I'd much prefer to rent a DVD and watch it old school it was that bad.

There is a fairly good write up over at giz, I hope I'm OK to share this here:

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/01/the...th-your-money/

The author sums it up rather nicely for me with regards to the quality:

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On the quality front, there’s not really much of a comparison. If you have a fast enough connection 5Mbps and above should probably do it, then Netflix will furnish your screen with 720p streaming video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound; if you’re lucky enough to have a solid 8Mbps or above connection and a PS3 or computer, you can even pull down a 1080p full HD stream. While it’s certainly not as good as the kind of video you get off a Blu-ray, it is really quite impressive and compares really well with the current broadcast TV HD offerings from Sky, Virgin, FreeSat HD and Freeview HD.

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There is currently a 30 day free trial for both Netflix and Lovefilm, I'm not sure if I will continue the trial, but it's a decent means of getting movies and TV shows for a more then reasonable price each month of £5.99 or you can get Lovefilm for £4.99 but be warned it is sucky compared to Netflix in terms of quality. However Lovefilm does offer different content.

Link to either site:

http://netflix.com
http://lovefilm.com

Just signed up for the trial myself, looks interesting so far. The film selection is slightly random, but there is plenty of good stuff on there. Running it on the xbox360 at the moment, going to look at the android app as well.

Still waiting for the app to arrive on PS3 at the min. Going to give it a shot once it lands.

Tried the streaming on Lovefilm on PS3 and it was awful, stuttering and pixelated so hopefully the SD quality from Netflix will work much better. Got to go SD as my line supports just over 3 Mb which is more than enough for SD.

The TV shows is what is interesting me more than the movies must admit. End up with clashing recordings on Sky+ HD at times so bit of luck Netflix will be able to pick up he slack.

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Originally Posted by Ferral

Still waiting for the app to arrive on PS3 at the min. Going to give it a shot once it lands.

Tried the streaming on Lovefilm on PS3 and it was awful, stuttering and pixelated so hopefully the SD quality from Netflix will work much better. Got to go SD as my line supports just over 3 Mb which is more than enough for SD.

The TV shows is what is interesting me more than the movies must admit. End up with clashing recordings on Sky+ HD at times so bit of luck Netflix will be able to pick up he slack.

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It is on the PS3 I think it comes as part of a system update, not 100% sure, I watched misfits on it last night and I had no issues at all, decent picture and decent enough sound.

Had to reset my system in the settings menu to get it to show Netflix. Had to setup network and account on the machine again, just like when I first bought it. Only took 5 mins to do thankfully. Going to get an account somepoint in the next day or two and check it out.

Might give the trial a go myself and hope my connection is good enough.

I've commented on a few threads regarding Netflix but just for the record I've been using Netflix since its UK launch to watch a couple of films and TV series. I use my PS3 to view the stuff and I've been very impressed. I really recommend it as it kicks Lovefilms pitiful streaming efforts into the long grass.

I have to agree, the quality of the stream has been very good.

Do you get more of a selection once you login than you do on the "browse selection" section on the website? For example selecting the Sci-Fi category on the website only lists about 20 odd films.

Is it on iPad and iPhone yet? Can you get HD or is it just SD like Lovefilm?

There's a Netflix app available for the iPad so assume there's also one for the iPhone too.

I doubt it's HD proper that's available but Netflix offers three quality options for viewing streams. The top quality one seems to be sightly better than an SD broadcast.

Why not sign up for the one month trial and find out for yourself? It's free after all.

That's what free trials are for... Assuming you get a free trial. Might have to install that wireless N router that's been sitting in its box for a year.

Singed-up over the weekend and the quality is quite good running at the highest settings - especially so sat at a distance.

As with others, the content selection is a little odd. I've got hooked onto Dexter since signing up but there is only two series which is a little annoying.

I had a quick look, but then I cancelled almost immediately - not enough of a selection and my broadband isn't up to scratch yet to really use it very well - I'll look at it once again once FTTC is available for me.

It's lasted a lot longer then Lovefilm for me.....although LF lasted 5 mins...so not hard :P

PQ....is much better then Lovefilm BUT it's still not great. Comparing it to Skyplayer for instance, makes SkyPlayer look like a BluRay disc.

I get the occasional micro-stutter lasts a fraction of a second...once every 20-30 mins or so.....not really something that will bother me.

Movie selection is as bad as lovefilms :(

Annoyingly, I\'ve only really watched BBC programs on it so far and the quality is noticeably poorer then iPlayer as well :(

Signed up for it and watched 2 or 3 things in as many days so far.

Not had any problems with it unlike lovefilm where i seemed to have nothing but problems.