Amazon Instant Video vs. Netflix Quality - Page 2

So you have a limited bandwidth and want to know which service looks the best? Why what a colossal waste of my time.

Pretty rude, don't you think?

I use both NetFlix and Amazon Prime and have done so for a few months, and I have actually been using NetFlix streaming for 2+ years. I have a DSL broadband connection that consistently measures below 2.0 Mbps. Nevertheless I have seen widely varying image quality. The biggest variable in my experience has been the hardware used to stream the video. I have used the following boxes: TiVo HD, Sony PS3, Panasonic BDT210 BD player, and Panasonic BDT-220 BD player. All were connected via HDMI, but not at the same time.

Image quality, including the visibility of compression artifacts, is dependant upon the age of the software. The TiVo HD has the oldest streaming software which has not been updated for about 18 months. The Sony PS3 was no better than the TiVo HD for a long time, but software updates improved performance late last year. The Panasonic software is the best , consistently delivering beautifull image quality.

The Panasonic DMP BDT-220 can be found on the web for about $120 and is my reccomendation for both streaming services. It is an outstanding BD player that supports WiFi and 3D and has an EtherNet port, which I used to connect to my router.

As for the relative quality of the two services, it depends primarily on your local network traffic. Mine is worst during weekdays and better in the evenings, and best in the wee hours of morning.

The bad news is that the very best streaming quality is still visibly inferior to a BD disk. Therefore I retain my NetFlix DVD/Streaming subscription, and get BD disks whenever possible.

Fact- Netflix has absolutely NOTHING worth watching never mind 1080P.

I will second that. You must be Canadian as well.

What do you think of VUDU HDX? It's darn close to BD to me?

I never tried Vudu HTX. But with DSL, I think BDs will always be better. In fact, most of the time, regular DVDs look better than the streaming HD material. The primary compromise I see is serious dynamic range lost in image contrast. Plus you frequently see macroblocking in dark areas of the screen, another compression artifact.

The video quality of disk media is simply better.

Try their one of their daily 99 cent HDX specials, I doubt you will see the problems you mention. I watched Sky High yesterday on my projection system and it looked pretty darn good. I've seen BD's that have looked worse.

Have to agree. The VuDu HDX presentations have always looked terrific when I've used them. They also have Dolby Digital Plus for the audio, which Netflix and Amazon do not offer. CinemaNow also has 1080p and DD+ as well. I 've found both of those services to be superior to Amazon and especially Netflix.

You can only compare the same movie encode. Nothing can fix a crappy source. I have DVDs that look better than some BDs which is the same thing you are saying.

I don't know what format Vudu streams HDX to the target for decoding and display. I think they suggest a minimum of 9 Mbps. And I've never compared a BD to an HDX stream because if I had the BD I wouldn't be streaming.

larry

I'm going to state the obvious here, but those connections suck and are not good for streaming...at all. Even my parents, who are on twice that speed (at a "blazing" 3Mbps) still don't get the highest quality from Netflix and generally hover between "High SD" and the lowest HD setting. You should have at least 5-6 (preferably 8 or more) in order to stream their best quality.

While I agree that BD generally offers better quality, I don't see how you can judge streaming quality (as a whole) at all with those connections.

How does streaming work for people who enjoy many live sports, local newscasts and many many films and television shows that are not available on anything other than cable? Is there a solution for this type of person (my husband for good example).

I also wonder how long $7.99 netflix will be around and can the industry survive on $7.99 subscriptions.

As a movie fan I have been using a lot of streaming and downloading from Ultraviolet and look forward to the Common File Format (CFF) which is coming later in 2012.

So with Ultraviolet your purchased movie is stored in the cloud for access anytime you want? I suppose if the quality is there it sure beats digging up the bluray disc for viewing.

It costs $2 per disc to add it to ultraviolet however.

That's a very good point. No streaming service is going to have real-time "rate shapers" for each stream. The encode "tiers" may be different from one provider to the next.

larry

Ultraviolet is not just a streaming format but a download one as well. I get the copies with my bluray purchases.

They also come with the discs you purchase either DVD or BD. New Sherlock Holmes movie that came out this week as a example. The $2 thing is with the VUDU UV Deal thru walmart for discs that didnt come with UV.

If you prefer the streaming aspect it is pretty good. I like to take my films with me on the ipad and enjoy them on the road (not while driving of course).

Easy enough to do, just check their daily 99 cent special and eventually you'll run across a film you already have on Blu-ray. It's worth it just to compare. Although VUDU does do a bitstream test when you first sign up and likes to see a minimum of 9 Mbps most of the movies I've watched in HDX max out at about 7.6 Mbps and stay fairly steady at that speed. However I've never tried a 3D title nor have I found a movie with DD+ 7.1 sound.

Unfortunately not all studios do this, just some.

Disney is the only holdout that I can see from the list. Some of the studios held out when DVD was first introduced. They will come around.

Streaming Netflix from the PS3 is much faster than from my samsung blue-ray player. Made me think about the HTPC capabilities of the PS3 a bit more. Has anybody gone down this road a bit more?

I havent but would like to experiment when I have some time.

Watched John Carter last night on Amazon via PS3 and it was utter garbage PQ wise. Shame too as I liked the movie. Never had that happen on Vudu.

I watched "Extraterrestrial" last night on Amazon in HD and the PQ was very good and the audio 5.1. The movie is a Spanish comedy about some misadventures when a UFO suddenly hovers over Madrid. But don't expect that much at all about the UFO or any sci-fi.

The big issue I had with Amazon Prime on the PS3 was 2.0 material being output as a 5.1 track with the soundtrack only in the L/R channels. My receiver would not do surround decoding on this. (Netflix had this problem when it came to the PS3, but they fixed it.) While the selection on Prime is not as good, it has the stuff I care about and free 2-day shipping is a nice perk, so I would have switched from Netflix were it not for the audio issues.

Video quality wise, they were close enough, but I'd give a slight edge to Netflix. (I'm on a 20 Mbps internet connection, so I should be seeing each at their best.) Both have visible compression artifacts on "HD" material, and if you really care about video quality, you'll be seeking out the blu-ray. Besides raw compression quality, each have their separate instances of "formatting to fill the screen" 2.35:1 material, one service having a movie in "HD" while the other has only SD, etc. Also, at least on the PS3, Netflix gives you a screen shot of where you are while seeking (nice for skipping title sequences for TV series), but Prime did not.

Since they are close in raw video quality, I'd make selection and performance on the specific devices you use a bigger factor in selecting a service.

Looks like they at least have the watchlist feature on the ps3 app now. Less pain is better.

It depends upon your player. The new generation of Sony BD players have DD+ from Netflix, and it sounds great.

Doug

Randomly this topic came up in real life today. Three different guys (Joe Six packs) all said Amazon "looked bad" compared Netflix.