Netflix adds 3D and Super HD - Page 19

I guess I'm jaded because Instantwatcher is so much better than all the other indexing services.

so, 1080 HD is the new X-High/HD and 1080 Super HD takes things to a even higher level?

Blame HBO and there suckfest onDemand service for that. I did try HBOGo and I was able to watch one movie. Most of the time it would just buffer and look like crap.

Now I see unblock us is not bad at $5 a month but I would not pay for it because of having to change your DNS server which may be more loaded and cause problems with loading websites.

that depends on the user and device. I only use their DNS on my PS3. I log into my account from my laptop and authorize my IP if it changes. I have found this to be the best with my setup, however I did use their DNS on my laptop for a while and never had any issues. There really isnt any reason for me to have their DNS on any of my computers or separate interfaces within those computers.

While I have had very mixed results as far as the Netflix video goes I have been using the Unblock-us DNS settings for over a week now with zero adverse effects to the rest of my network.

As I posted earlier I did see adverse effects on my local Network with unblock-us.

My case may be a little unusual in that I have two routers (both running Tomato) connected in a wireless distribution system (WDS) set up.

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomatofaq#how_do_i_use_wds

As you can see the the second router gets it DNS settings from the first. I found the WDS link between the 2 routers to be unreliable when using unblock-us DNS setting on the primary router.

If I could set DNS servers in my Roku 2 maybe I would do that - although even in this case doesn't the DNS setting in the router trump whatever is set on the local device connected to it? I recall that setting OpenDNS in the router was supposed to mean all devices connected to that router would use the OpenDNS settings.

Anyway for me:

unblock-us pros - Access Netflix content from other regions and SuperHD (if you are willing to keep trying until you get SuperHD which doesn't meet WAF)
unblock-us cons - unstable local network (definitely doesn't meet WAF) and unreliable connections to Netflix SuperHD servers.

As you can imagine I let my trial lapse. If they improve the reliability of the connections to SuperHD servers then I may try it again.

That's the essence of it. Before Super HD (and the vast majority of Netflix subs still don't have it) there was a single 1080p encode which the PS3's stream info display called "X-High/HD". They replaced it with a lower bit rate 1080p encode which the stream info display now calls "1080p HD". If you can get Super HD there are two more higher bit rate 1080p video encodes, both of which the stream info display calls "1080p Super HD".

As synistr points out there are devices in which you can locally set DNS addresses. Of my 1080p-capable Netflix playing devices, DNS addresses can be set locally in the Panasonic and Sony BDPs, my PS3, my TiVo Premiere and this PC. The only one it can't be set locally in is the Roku 2 XS, which is why I set it in the router. I haven't had a single problem over the past week with it set up that way.
Edited by michaeltscott - 2/15/13 at 7:00pm

That's tough for you. HBOGo looks great through Airplay for me.

It looks great on my Roku 2 as well with no re-buffering problems.

I put the Unblock addresses in my router, as I have several Roku boxes, and find my browsing marginally faster, I see no down side except the cost. I'm using one router but at last count had 20+ items hanging from it, no issues with UNBlock

I can now watch Arrested Development in "1080 Super HD" but I tried a few other shows and they only went up to regular "1080 HD". This is unusual because I am in Canada and my ISP (Shaw) does not officially have access to Netflix Super HD yet.

So far I've seen no adverse effects using the unBlock US DNS addresses in my router. I have over sixty devices on my network and and not seen any problems with any of the devices.

I dont know what has changed, but since last night, I have been able to get right on and play titles in SuperHD and 3D IMMEDIATELY most times and other times without backing out of NF. Sometimes it fails but appears to be much better than before. Just being able to get the streams without exiting the app is an improvement.

That happened to me the other night. Every stream went to SuperHD or 3D without issue. But the following night it was the complete opposite. I had to try at least twice on almost every title to get it to show Super HD or 3D.

I also checked 3D from Vudu on my panny BD player. My TV shows that as 1080P side by side, while the PS3 shows it as 7200P from Vudu. So I wonder what the 3D streams from Netflix actually are since the PS3 seems to be limited to playing 720P from the 3D streams from Netflix and Vudu. I don't have another device to get the Netflix 3D streams from . Hopefully they come to more devices soon. I hope at least the 2013 Panny BD players have access to the 3D Netflix streams.

I never thought I would say this, but after reading all these posts, I am so glad I have Cabelvision! (FWIW, I still use DTV for my TSB)



Ian

If only I lived in lower Brooklyn which provides Cablevision other wise everywhere else is Time Warner Cable.

Huh. It appears that Cox, third largest US cable MSO and my cable and network service provider, is now set up for access to Open Connect. A couple of people mentioned that Cox Pheonix and Cox Orange County were connected in a thread in TiVo Community Forums, so I set my router to Google Public DNS and checked and found out that Cox San Diego South is connected as well. I tried all of my 1080p-capable Netflix playing devices (Roku 2, PS3, Panasonic DMP-BDT220, Sony BDP-S390, TiVo Premiere and this PC), killing the player and restarting it six times each and got Open Connect streaming servers every time except on the BDT220, on which I got connected to Open Connect servers a little less than half the time (5 in 12 attempts). Doesn't matter much; I rarely use anything other than my Roku 2 for Netflix. (EDIT: I checked and found out that I'd programmed the Unblock-US DNS server addresses into the BDT220; I removed them and now it gets Open Connect servers every time).

I'm a little surprised; having held out since June I wasn't sure that any of the other large US providers were going to join up. Maybe Netflix's asking their subs to ask their ISPs to join so that they could get Super HD and 3D has had an effect, or maybe they conceded the advantages of having Netflix bring their traffic into their networks on a private pipe paid for by Netflix and having storage caches to keep 87% of that traffic from travelling over the Internet backbone at all. (I wonder if there are storage caches installed in my local network).

I've already paid for a month of Unblock-US so I'll assess how much I end up using it to watch stuff available only in other Netflix regions before dumping it.

 

Any theories why Netflix streaming accounts' aren't tied to one region? I would have thought that was the case since day one... Surely, not enough people travel often enough to make it a selling feature... you can still stream when you travel out of the country!

Unblock-US somehow makes it appear that you're in another region. I presume that people who travel internationally bring their laptops (or phones or tablets) and connect them to local networks like those in their hotels and watch Netflix on them. The first time that I went to netflix.com after setting my DNS addresses to Unblock-US' it gave me a little tutorial about what would be different about using my US Netflix account in another country (mainly no access to my IQ).

So in a sense your account is tied to the region you opened it in; they just let you use other regions when you travel, which is a nice feature of the service.

 

I understand how it works... I'm just surprised they allow it. I'm guessing at some point they will no longer allow it... especially as the content in other regions continues to grow. They might be fine with it until the content owners begin to get upset...

I don't know. Abuse of it by people using Unblock-US can't be any big deal at this point so I doubt that the content owners will get up in arms about it. If they remove the ability their traveling subscribers who depend on it for entertainment on the road will probably get pissed off. I suppose that we'll see.

Odd. It appears SuperHD is down on the Canadian Netflix server. There's no SuperHD logo for any programming on Canadian Netflix at all. I wonder why that is? Someone else want to confirm that for me?

Yeah--the players don't seem to be getting hooked up to Open Connect servers; I can't play "Example Short".

its really not intended for the way we are using it (accessing other regions while physically being in your home region). but why restrict it? a lot of times, the point of traveling is so you can do and see things you cant normally do at home. When you travel abroad, the television shows and movies will be different on every other medium. why restrict a U.S. person to U.S. only content when they are outside of the U.S.? I understand your point. At the same time, Unblock could offer U.S. content to a U.S. person even though they have traveled to a different region. I dont really see the harm. Thats the way of technology. A VPN allows you to be in remote locations regardless of your physical. Also, is Netflix breaking any agreements with the license holders by allowing services like Unblock access?

I kinda doubt that Netflix is letting Unblock access their content. Seems like unblock simply set up a VPN service and the owners subscribe to various local ISPs around the world. This certainly isn't being done with NF cooperation.

Correct. According to a Netflix rep, it is not.




Ian

Canadian SuperHD access is back. They must have been doing maintenance or something. I've already watched a few movies off Canadian Netflix which aren't available on the US side like Easy A and Green Hornet so I'm starting to get my money out of it.

 

They are (to one degree or another). The content providers license their content for various regions based on various business decisions. Say you are in region x and movie y isn't available in your region however it's available in region w. If you view it by tricking the system they are making it available to people who contractually shouldn't have access.

Where did you see a Netflix rep comment on it?

The question is whether they have some obligation to prevent it. Unblock-US is simply exploiting the permission which Netflix explicitly gives their customers when using their accounts in other countries. Can Netflix figure out that you're coming from Unblock-US and block you? Probably. Do they have to? Perhaps not.

In any case Unblock-US has been operating for over a year and Netflix hasn't done anything to address the "problem" yet. Unblock-US is also not the only service of its kind.