Netflix Coming to PS3

[zerocool84]

You dont need a PC to load up your queue, I do it from the PS3. Just browse, find something you like, and either watch it then or add it to your instant queue.

EDIT: When the app first starts you view your instant queue, but then to go to the left or the right and you can browse categories and then do the above.

But the categories don't show you everything. They limit it to a certain amount.

 

[fatpat268]

But the categories don't show you everything. They limit it to a certain amount.

But don't forget, there is an internet browser on the ps3

 

[Childs]

But the categories don't show you everything. They limit it to a certain amount.

I didnt notice this, but that explains why I some things that were in my queue I didnt see when I browsed. Come to think of it, there is some artificial cap in each category, like 100 or something. I just assumed that was all there was that could be streamed.

 

[techwanabe]

When I first loaded up Netflix on my PS3, there didn't seem to be browse options. I went to my PC and loaded up the instant viewing queue and viola. It just seemed to be rather bare and scrolling right and left seemed to only show blank spots in the queue. Maybe I didn't scroll far enough.

Edit:

Found it.

 

[zerocool84]

I finally got my disc in and the Xbox menu is much better than the PS3 menu but I'll stick with my PS3 cus it has HDMI and I have the remote for it. The quality looks exactly the same but the menu is better on Xbox.

 

[tk149]

I loaded up Netflix on my PS3 for the first time yesterday. Aside from having to use my PC to activate my PS3 Netflix account, everything went very smoothly.

I decided to watch a fairly recent movie, which should have decent picture quality, called "Don't Mess with the Zohan."

PS3 HDMI to Samsung 52" LCD. 3Mbps DSL over Wireless LAN.

The video quality during the movie ranged from poor (VHS-like) to good (DVD-like). I don't know if Netflix constantly adjusts the picture quality based on your download speed, or if it just picks one speed at the beginning for the whole movie. However, it certainly seemed as if the picture quality went from VHS-like to DVD-like. I paused the movie several times, and it seemed that the worst picture quality occurred immediately after I unpaused the movie, and then went back to good quality sometime afterwards.

Audio - I don't have a good surround sound system, so I can't really comment on the quality, other than to say that nothing seemed wrong.

Ease of Use - very simple and intuitive. I easily browsed my "Play Now" queue and also skimmed through other available features in different movie categories (e.g. Comedy, SF & F, etc).

There is some delay in streaming when trying to rewind the movie, so I wouldn't recommend this if you were trying to study a certain scene for some reason (like if you were trying to study the jiggly bits in more detail).

I am definitely going to use this to stream older movies (where the content is more important than the eye candy). For good picture quality, I'm still going to buy Blu-Ray movies.

Is anyone else getting similar results with picture quality?

Given that Sony stands to profit from increased Blu-Ray sales, do you think that they would deliberately limit the picture quality available through Netflix (assuming that bandwidth limitations increased nationwide to accomodate faster streaming)?

 

[Malak]

Netflix constantly adjusts your quality based on bandwidth. I'm doing wireless too, but I haven't tested any HD movies yet. The quality at times wasn't that good, I'm not sure how it will handle HD movies. I would be ok with a 10 minute buffer wait if it meant a sustained quality throughout the movie.

 

[TheVrolok]

Netflix constantly adjusts your quality based on bandwidth. I'm doing wireless too, but I haven't tested any HD movies yet. The quality at times wasn't that good, I'm not sure how it will handle HD movies. I would be ok with a 10 minute buffer wait if it meant a sustained quality throughout the movie.

You can force the Silverlight in browser player on the PC to use a specified bitrate and have it buffer so it won't change quality. I wonder if there's a way to force the PS3 player to do this.

 

[hans030390]

PS3 HDMI to Samsung 52" LCD. 3Mbps DSL over Wireless LAN.

This explains why the image quality wasn't too great. Speeds that aren't that fast WITH Wi-Fi is going to give poorer quality.

 

[Queasy]

This explains why the image quality wasn't too great. Speeds that aren't that fast WITH Wi-Fi is going to give poorer quality.

Yep. You really need at least 6mbps. Especially if you are going to view anything in HD.

 

[Childs]

The bitrate was as high as 7Mbps on the HD tv shows. I watched 7 episodes of Leverage Season 1 in HD and it looked fine. Quality didnt drop at all. I doubt wifi is the problem, its probably your ISP/connection.

 

[hans030390]

The bitrate was as high as 7Mbps on the HD tv shows. I watched 7 episodes of Leverage Season 1 in HD and it looked fine. Quality didnt drop at all. I doubt wifi is the problem, its probably your ISP/connection.

Wi-Fi never runs quite as smoothly/as fast as an ethernet line to my PS3, even if my PS3 is 2 ft away from the router.

 

[Malak]

I was watching 30Rock tonight in HD, streaming to the living room on wifi. Quality was good. I think with HD content it will not lower the quality, only re-buffer if necessary. Regular stuff will lower the quality in an attempt to prevent the interruption of content. The short interruption I had during an episode was a problem with my bandwidth, not Netflix, so it's not a negative toward Netflix. Ran smooth otherwise, and only interrupted an episode once.

Oddly enough the only movie on my queue that is HD is an indie film from 2004 called Primer. I have some pretty new movies in that queue, but none of them are HD.

 

[tk149]

Yep. You really need at least 6mbps. Especially if you are going to view anything in HD.

Good to know, thank you. I'm also looking into wiring the house for LAN. Yet another home improvement project I've been dragging my feet on.

 

[Malak]

Good to know, thank you. I'm also looking into wiring the house for LAN. Yet another home improvement project I've been dragging my feet on.

That's a project we all have to face at some point. I'm going to wait until the wireless stops being acceptable.