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Netflix On PS3 goes disc-free...(Gets 1080p streaming and DD+ 5.1 surround sound) - Page 11

post #301 of 1190
10/20/10 at 6:57am
Although the look of the NF UI changes a bit, depending on what choice I have highlighted, it looks essentially like the UI illustrated in the screenshot in Post #259. I watched Fat Man and Little Boy yesterday and it was excellent. The HD video was fine and it had subtitles, which worked well. Amazingly, the 2.0 audio sounded great, with excellent surround effects, when run through PL IIx on my Yamaha RX-V3900 receiver. Both the video and audio of NF streaming movies has looked better to me on the new NF client for PS3 than it has anywhere else. That could be the placebo effect, of course, but it is nevertheless a pleasure.
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post #302 of 1190
10/20/10 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dogdoctor View Post

Your not mistaken, 4 it is. toografik4u is just showing the the home screen for what Pixelman is showing (as category and movie selections). Ok. edit...my bad. Yes the home screen is different (that is what I have), but the deeper functions are just like pixlemans.

no...watch pixelmans video. his boots right to the 6 text icons only. that is his main screen, with no video covers.

edit...quoted before noticing your edt. lol. yes, the functions after making a selection are the same as pixelmans but the main screen is different.
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post #303 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by toografik4u View Post

mine is different than those 4. At least on the main screen. After selecting a category the browsing looks like pixelmans but my main screen is a little different.

Same here, my screen looks just like yours except if offers 6 text icons (the additional "Recently Watched" between "Genres" and "Instant Queue").

See post #262 posted by Daekwan.
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post #304 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:27am
The quality of Netflix on the PS3 makes me wish I had a faster wireless connection. HD movies are pausing now and then, which is just too annoying to accept. I'm using an old D-Link G router. Would replacing this help? Or is G speed G speed, regardless of the router?
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post #305 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:35am
So how does the new Netflix app link your PS3 to your Netflix account? With the disc, I had to enter a code on the site to activate my PS3.

Now, I tried deactivating my PS3 on the Netflix site. I then reinstalled the app, and it was still able to link right away. It just so happens that my PSN email is the same as my Netflix email so it's possible that they matched it that way. Maybe they already associated my PS3's device ID with my Netflix account from previous disc use. But they should still provide some way to unlink the PS3... or associate a different Netflix account.
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post #306 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Sapient View Post

The quality of Netflix on the PS3 makes me wish I had a faster wireless connection. HD movies are pausing now and then, which is just too annoying to accept. I'm using an old D-Link G router. Would replacing this help? Or is G speed G speed, regardless of the router?

Wireless networking is a sadly complicated thing. There are many things that can negatively influence wireless connectivity that are all invisible and can be difficult to track down.

Case in point, I recently started having problems with my wireless network, which had been working great for well over a year. The signal strength was great, the noise was low, but it would routinely drop down to 1mbps and for all practical purposes it was not even functional. After some research I figured out that one of my neighbors had started up a new wireless network that was within the same channel space as mine. (Quick primer: wireless channels in the US are 1-11, but they are not distinct... they overlap. The only channels that do not overlap at all are 1, 6, and 11). Another wireless network within the same 5 channels as yours can cause massive interference and congestion as a result that will bring your wireless network to its knees.

So, I changed my channel... and now my wireless network "fights" with a different neighbor's. They appear to be using it less frequently, so it's a better situation for me, but still crappy.

That's just one problem... you also can have actual noise generated by appliances. This can be really frustrating because it can be extremely difficult to track down what is causing the problem. And even if you resolve all of the problems in your own home, some neighbor can start up a network at any time and completely kill yours, if they are broadcasting with a strong enough signal.

All in all, wireless networking is a crapshoot. If there's any way to avoid it (going wired, using power over ethernet if your house's wiring is good enough), it will give you a far more consistent and dependable experience than wireless networking does.

Just my $0.02....
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post #307 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by djca View Post

So how does the new Netflix app link your PS3 to your Netflix account? With the disc, I had to enter a code on the site to activate my PS3.

Now, I tried deactivating my PS3 on the Netflix site. I then reinstalled the app, and it was still able to link right away. It just so happens that my PSN email is the same as my Netflix email so it's possible that they matched it that way. Maybe they already associated my PS3's device ID with my Netflix account from previous disc use. But they should still provide some way to unlink the PS3... or associate a different Netflix account.

You deauthorize devices on the Netflix website. It sounds like you did that. I've noticed with my many devices that this doesn't take effect very quickly. I've been able to stream for a couple of hours after deactivating a device, but eventually I do get the request to enter the code on the Netflix activation page again.
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post #308 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by toografik4u View Post

no...watch pixelmans video. his boots right to the 6 text icons only. that is his main screen, with no video covers.

edit...quoted before noticing your edt. lol. yes, the functions after making a selection are the same as pixelmans but the main screen is different.

LOL yeah, this is hilarious.

Toografik -- does yours have slanted tabs at the top like mine on the other pages?

What I don't like is not being able skip to the next title while staying in the 'full-screen' mode.

If they really were attempting to market test different interfaces, how do they get the feedback to know which one we like the best? This thread? When product market testing is done, there are focus groups & polls. I've not heard of anything like that yet...
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post #309 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pugnax555 View Post

It's called market testing, and it's really not that uncommon (happens a whole lot with packaging, food, etc). It's just that with such a highly-anticipated rollout like this one, people are very quick to notice it. I'm sure they're collecting tons of analytics on exactly how quickly people seem to be able to find their way around the different versions, and whether certain features get used or not (the video browse feature comes to mind). There might be some elements from the sub-variations that will work their way into the main version with time.

Would market testing to a total system-wide public test like this? Don't they use sample groups?
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post #310 of 1190
10/20/10 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelman View Post

LOL yeah, this is hilarious.

Toografik -- does yours have slanted tabs at the top like mine on the other pages?

I will check when I get home for lunch...
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post #311 of 1190
10/20/10 at 8:05am
So how do i find a video which is 1080p or i and 5.1 audio .. are all videos 5.1 encoded?? I tried cpl of HD videos from Nat Geo yesterday and didnt get 5.1 , the source was still 2 channel. And somehow whatever HD I m playing looks real crappy and no where near HD channels over cable or Blu ray discs.. Though I have a TV that plays 720p I can still see the difference between bluray discs and netflix stream. Netflix looks pretty crappier for some reason and I tried atleast 5-6 videos.
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post #312 of 1190
10/20/10 at 8:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelman View Post

If they really were attempting to market test different interfaces, how do they get the feedback to know which one we like the best? This thread? When product market testing is done, there are focus groups & polls. I've not heard of anything like that yet...

Quote:
Originally Posted by jzderf View Post

Would market testing to a total system-wide public test like this? Don't they use sample groups?

Market testing can be done that way (and often is), but it doesn't necessarily need to be. For instance, with something like email marketing, many variations of an email may be sent out, and the results can be measured via numbers of clicks or purchases or some other metric. At no point is the target of the test informed that they're being tested, nor are they asked to respond to a survey.

At this point, it's very clear that this isn't just some random screwup, especially considering we have at least 5 different variations of the app.
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post #313 of 1190
10/20/10 at 8:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hardrock_121 View Post

So how do i find a video which is 1080p or i and 5.1 audio .. are all videos 5.1 encoded?? I tried cpl of HD videos from Nat Geo yesterday and didnt get 5.1 , the source was still 2 channel. And somehow whatever HD I m playing looks real crappy and no where near HD channels over cable or Blu ray discs.. Though I have a TV that plays 720p I can still see the difference between bluray discs and netflix stream. Netflix looks pretty crappier for some reason and I tried atleast 5-6 videos.

I'm not sure how you can tell if something is natively 1080p, but most of the interfaces do show 5.1 in a little box next to the title if that's an option. There's also an "audio and subtitles" option on the info page for movies/shows that have those options. For the 5.1 ones, there'll be both stereo and 5.1 DD+ options.

As for the NG stuff, I don't think most of their content is 5.1 to begin with (almost definitely not for the older docus), but I could be wrong.

[EDIT: Just realized how many times I used 'option' up there. Note to self: vary word usage]
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post #314 of 1190
10/20/10 at 8:23am
So, are any of you guys actually, you know---watching movies or tv shows?

It seems like everyone is more concerned with the nuanced differences in the interface.

Reminds me of the last "Baby's first birthday" I went to where the kid was more interested in the box and paper, and not the actual gift....
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post #315 of 1190
10/20/10 at 8:32am
oh yeah still using it as normal, works great. just found the interface differences kinda odd.
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post #316 of 1190
10/20/10 at 8:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abaddon View Post

Wireless networking is a sadly complicated thing. There are many things that can negatively influence wireless connectivity that are all invisible and can be difficult to track down.

Case in point, I recently started having problems with my wireless network, which had been working great for well over a year. The signal strength was great, the noise was low, but it would routinely drop down to 1mbps and for all practical purposes it was not even functional. After some research I figured out that one of my neighbors had started up a new wireless network that was within the same channel space as mine. (Quick primer: wireless channels in the US are 1-11, but they are not distinct... they overlap. The only channels that do not overlap at all are 1, 6, and 11). Another wireless network within the same 5 channels as yours can cause massive interference and congestion as a result that will bring your wireless network to its knees.

So, I changed my channel... and now my wireless network "fights" with a different neighbor's. They appear to be using it less frequently, so it's a better situation for me, but still crappy.

That's just one problem... you also can have actual noise generated by appliances. This can be really frustrating because it can be extremely difficult to track down what is causing the problem. And even if you resolve all of the problems in your own home, some neighbor can start up a network at any time and completely kill yours, if they are broadcasting with a strong enough signal.

All in all, wireless networking is a crapshoot. If there's any way to avoid it (going wired, using power over ethernet if your house's wiring is good enough), it will give you a far more consistent and dependable experience than wireless networking does.

Just my $0.02....

Great info. Thanks. Maybe I will try ethernet over powerlines.
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post #317 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassmonkeee View Post

So, are any of you guys actually, you know---watching movies or tv shows?

It seems like everyone is more concerned with the nuanced differences in the interface.

Reminds me of the last "Baby's first birthday" I went to where the kid was more interested in the box and paper, and not the actual gift....

I've been streaming 100's of movies/shows from Netflix for about 3 years now. So its not a matter of if I watch movies or tv shows. Its HOW and WHERE I watch them. The concern here is that PS3 version is the only one that streams in 1080p and gives DD+, both being new-to-market features. If the version of the Netflix app we have, does not support or indicate those features.. then for all praticality the PS3 version becomes the same or worse than the many other Netflix streamers I have in my home.

For those that have a choice on what device to use Netflix.. yep its a pretty big deal.


Maybe even a little bigger deal for people like me. Who are very interested in getting a new Netflix streaming device for the bedroom and have a choice of many new options (WDLive, Roku HD, Boxee AppleTV, PS3, 360.. even a new TV thats Wifi equipped).
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post #318 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:08am
My impressions of the updated disc less Netflix app:

- UI is decent but needs to improved on the next update for this app.

-Movie quality. Last night I watched Wallstreet in 1080P and there were some parts in the movie that were washed out and not up to par. The second movie I watched was Caddyshack in 1080P with 5.1 audio. While watching this movies a few times I had the stream and movie pause on me due to video buffering. I am on a 6MB down DSL service with AT&T which isn't the fastest I can get. The picture quality though on Caddyshack was better than Wallstreet.

I am running my 60GB PS3 on a wire less network setup also.
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post #319 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jzderf View Post

Would market testing to a total system-wide public test like this? Don't they use sample groups?

This is why I don't think it's market testing. You don't roll out videos, screenshots and promote a version, then roll out 4 versions, then sit silent for over 2 days while everyone everywhere is wondering WTF is going on with it.

I have seen the like with packaging and whatnot, but never a software/gui update (that's not a beta), especially one that rolls out to everybody, and not a focus group.

That being said there are very few reasons they would have rolled out different versions of the UI, other than market reasons. Would like see some breakdown of areas of the country or what PS3's people are using or something. Would LOVE to see a comment from Sony or Netflix about this. Anything.
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post #320 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassmonkeee View Post

So, are any of you guys actually, you know---watching movies or tv shows?

It seems like everyone is more concerned with the nuanced differences in the interface.

Reminds me of the last "Baby's first birthday" I went to where the kid was more interested in the box and paper, and not the actual gift....

Too funny. The new disc-less NF has actually renewed my interest in streaming. And while I've enjoyed playing with my new "toy" (checking out the UI), I finally finished season 2 of BBC's Robin Hood, in SD no less!
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post #321 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:22am
My old 40Gb PS3 connects to NF via the PS3's built in 802.11g client. When I first tried to watch HD movies via the new NF client, they would hang up and I would eventually receive an error message saying that the connection to the NF server had failed and I should try again later. I then started placing HD movies in pause just after they started and left then that way for a minute or two while the buffer built up. Ever since then, every HD movie has played flawlessly.
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post #322 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:24am
I had the same issues as you before and bought these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product

Worked great.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Sapient View Post

Great info. Thanks. Maybe I will try ethernet over powerlines.
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post #323 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassmonkeee View Post

So, are any of you guys actually, you know---watching movies or tv shows?

It seems like everyone is more concerned with the nuanced differences in the interface.

Reminds me of the last "Baby's first birthday" I went to where the kid was more interested in the box and paper, and not the actual gift....

Yeah, for about 3-4 years now. Tried a few titles just to test the 5.1, but it's not like streaming is new.

I have always used my 360 over the PS3 for Netflix solely due to the UI. I am obviously switching to the PS3 due to the 1080/5.1, but if I can't get a good UI, and (as I suspect) 1080/5.1 comes to the other devices in the coming weeks, then it helps to make my decision on whether I'll be sticking with the PS3 or switching back to the 360 or another device if/when 1080/5.1 becomes available.

This will also influence whether I spend yet another $40 for the Harmony PS3 Adapter in order to make the PS3 usable with my Harmony remote, since right now, the Nyko Blu-Wave IR dongle is not cutting it since you can't even back out of the app with my remote.

The silence from Sony/Netflix addressing the discrepancies is surprising, though. You would think they'd at least put out some info about it.
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post #324 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mproper View Post

This is why I don't think it's market testing. You don't roll out videos, screenshots and promote a version, then roll out 4 versions, then sit silent for over 2 days while everyone everywhere is wondering WTF is going on with it.

I have seen the like with packaging and whatnot, but never a software/gui update (that's not a beta), especially one that rolls out to everybody, and not a focus group.

That being said there are very few reasons they would have rolled out different versions of the UI, other than market reasons. Would like see some breakdown of areas of the country or what PS3's people are using or something. Would LOVE to see a comment from Sony or Netflix about this. Anything.

Maybe we're just beta-testing new Wii and 360 UIs for these larger populations of console owners.
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post #325 of 1190
10/20/10 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zookster View Post

Maybe we're just beta-testing new Wii and 360 UIs for these larger populations of console owners.

Sad thing is that the Wii has an interface that is now pretty nice and in many ways resembles the one promised to PS3 users in the previews.

Sadly, I have the spartan ugly interface on my PS3. If the Wii did HD, I would just go ahead and use that since the interface isn't ****.
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post #326 of 1190
10/20/10 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prof.Who View Post

Sad thing is that the Wii has an interface that is now pretty nice and in many ways resembles the one promised to PS3 users in the previews.

The one shown in previews is the one I've gotten the four or five times I've booted up the Netflix app the last two nights. I hope eventually everyone gets it, because I think it's a huge improvement over the disc-based interface. Far easier and faster to navigate (laying it out in a 2D grid means I can skip five items ahead, rather than scroll one-by-one), and more responsive. The only improvement I'd like off the top of my head is the same search functionality as the web site - you can only search by title on the app, but on Netflix.com any search term you enter also searches by actor & director.

Also, at least on my embarrassingly-slow 4.5Mbps connection, video quality is astonishingly good. With the disc, there was almost always always a pause halfway through the initial handshake, then the TV would flicker and change resolutions and I'd know that even though HD was available I was going to get a 480p stream. Now every single HD item I've watched has actually been in HD, and w/ 5.1 sound if that's available. The initial handshake is also much, much shorter, as it dynamically selects picture quality while I watch, rather than before I start watching. I don't know what kind of optimizations they've done, but the streaming quality is a huge improvement for me over the previous method.
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post #327 of 1190
10/20/10 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelman View Post

LOL yeah, this is hilarious.

Toografik -- does yours have slanted tabs at the top like mine on the other pages?

yes it does have the tabs across the top as you go deeper into the categories. and mine now has 6 text icons on the main page as opposed to the 5 in the pic i posted.

sidenote...tried deleting NF, deleting the game data for NF and DL from the Whats New section instead of from the icon under videos and still no changes.
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post #328 of 1190
10/20/10 at 10:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evan E View Post

The one shown in previews is the one I've gotten the four or five times I've booted up the Netflix app the last two nights. I hope eventually everyone gets it, because I think it's a huge improvement over the disc-based interface. Far easier and faster to navigate (laying it out in a 2D grid means I can skip five items ahead, rather than scroll one-by-one), and more responsive. The only improvement I'd like off the top of my head is the same search functionality as the web site - you can only search by title on the app, but on Netflix.com any search term you enter also searches by actor & director.

Also, at least on my embarrassingly-slow 4.5Mbps connection, video quality is astonishingly good. With the disc, there was almost always always a pause halfway through the initial handshake, then the TV would flicker and change resolutions and I'd know that even though HD was available I was going to get a 480p stream. Now every single HD item I've watched has actually been in HD, and w/ 5.1 sound if that's available. The initial handshake is also much, much shorter, as it dynamically selects picture quality while I watch, rather than before I start watching. I don't know what kind of optimizations they've done, but the streaming quality is a huge improvement for me over the previous method.

Yeah, that preview layout is nice. I had it when I first installed it. Then later that evening it was replaced by the craptacular version.
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post #329 of 1190
10/20/10 at 12:25pm
I just got off the phone with Netflix cs. and asked why the sudden change in interface and the cs named Daniel told me they are trying out a variety of interfaces to hear customer feed back and to see which one they will go with.

I told him many of us agree on the original interface that the Sony Ps.blog demo'ed.I also told him that the one out now feels a bit generic and clunky.

So if u guys want the original interface back call customer service and voice your feed back and opinion like I did.
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post #330 of 1190
10/20/10 at 12:40pm
Im sure there has to be a way to turn off the friend messages... any ideas.

These were not shown in the disc based mode.

Just finished up season 1 of Dexter, and have several more seasons that need some streaming.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › PlayStation Area › Netflix On PS3 goes disc-free...(Gets 1080p streaming and DD+ 5.1 surround sound)