Netflix and streaming
- Thread starter cboath
- Start date
Jedi2016
Sr Member
My ISP has complained about the increase in network traffic since I got Netflix, but they haven't given me the opportunity to simply tell them where it's coming from. And frankly, I think they need to join the 21st century and realize that's what people are doing now.
As for Netflix itself, the biggest problem I have is the disparity between what's available on disc and what's available for streaming. When I first signed up, I wrote up a list of about twenty films that I hadn't seen in a long time. Only three of them were actually available, the rest were "disc only". It's actually easier for me to pirate copies of those other films than to deal with shipping discs back and forth.
Along similar lines, some of the content is only available for a limited time. I've seen things disappear from my queue because I didn't know they were going to be taken away. I managed to watch a few others only a day or two before they were being removed because I happened to notice the date on the website, and now they're back to being "disc only".
Someone mentioned the "network speed change" thing, where it will throttle what it's sending. I blame that more on Suddenlink than I do Netflix, but I do have to question when it's playing a movie at full HD quality, then detects a change and throttles it to... full HD quality. All that does is interrupt the film. I'd much rather they made the change on the fly rather than having to rebuffer the stream, which is REALLY annoying. It's like buffering a Youtube video, it just stops in the middle of a scene, goes to a black screen while it rebuffers, then picks it up at the same point (so you usually miss a few words).
There are also instances where the stream is screwed up in some fashion. The second season of Dexter has the wrong aspect ratio throughout, obviously made by someone who didn't have a frikkin' clue what he was doing. I watched Phantoms the other day, and the sound was completely out of phase and absolutely horrible. To make it worse, there's no "suggestion" box or any place where you can address specific problems or tell them in plain English what the issue is. I filled out one of their little "questionnaires" about Phantoms, and was only able to tell them that the overall quality of the film was unacceptable, but I wasn't able to tell them why, which means they won't be able to fix it. Their customer feedback needs some serious work.
Granted, I have been able to catch up on things that I missed the first time around, like Heroes. I definitely haven't worn out the content that's available, but I'm sure I will eventually. At some point, I'll have seen all I want to see, and everything else will be "disc only", and they can kiss my ass, I'll just cancel my subscription at that point.
Overall, I'd say I'm "okay" with the service. It could definitely stand some improvement in several major areas, but that's counterbalanced by the convenience. We were discussing Bruce Lee at work the other day, and I queued up Enter the Dragon while I was at lunch (iPhone app), then watched it when I got home. That part of it can't be beaten, I just wish they had a better selection, better streaming adjustment, and better customer feedback.
As for Netflix itself, the biggest problem I have is the disparity between what's available on disc and what's available for streaming. When I first signed up, I wrote up a list of about twenty films that I hadn't seen in a long time. Only three of them were actually available, the rest were "disc only". It's actually easier for me to pirate copies of those other films than to deal with shipping discs back and forth.
Along similar lines, some of the content is only available for a limited time. I've seen things disappear from my queue because I didn't know they were going to be taken away. I managed to watch a few others only a day or two before they were being removed because I happened to notice the date on the website, and now they're back to being "disc only".
Someone mentioned the "network speed change" thing, where it will throttle what it's sending. I blame that more on Suddenlink than I do Netflix, but I do have to question when it's playing a movie at full HD quality, then detects a change and throttles it to... full HD quality. All that does is interrupt the film. I'd much rather they made the change on the fly rather than having to rebuffer the stream, which is REALLY annoying. It's like buffering a Youtube video, it just stops in the middle of a scene, goes to a black screen while it rebuffers, then picks it up at the same point (so you usually miss a few words).
There are also instances where the stream is screwed up in some fashion. The second season of Dexter has the wrong aspect ratio throughout, obviously made by someone who didn't have a frikkin' clue what he was doing. I watched Phantoms the other day, and the sound was completely out of phase and absolutely horrible. To make it worse, there's no "suggestion" box or any place where you can address specific problems or tell them in plain English what the issue is. I filled out one of their little "questionnaires" about Phantoms, and was only able to tell them that the overall quality of the film was unacceptable, but I wasn't able to tell them why, which means they won't be able to fix it. Their customer feedback needs some serious work.
Granted, I have been able to catch up on things that I missed the first time around, like Heroes. I definitely haven't worn out the content that's available, but I'm sure I will eventually. At some point, I'll have seen all I want to see, and everything else will be "disc only", and they can kiss my ass, I'll just cancel my subscription at that point.
Overall, I'd say I'm "okay" with the service. It could definitely stand some improvement in several major areas, but that's counterbalanced by the convenience. We were discussing Bruce Lee at work the other day, and I queued up Enter the Dragon while I was at lunch (iPhone app), then watched it when I got home. That part of it can't be beaten, I just wish they had a better selection, better streaming adjustment, and better customer feedback.
Goodwolf
Sr Member
A friend at work was telling me about it and since it's on a free month trial period I figured I'd give it a shot.
I especially like the fact that I can start watching something at home and continue watching it on the iPhone while on lunch at work. They will remember where you left off and it picks up on whatever other devices you have at the same spot.
I especially like the fact that I can start watching something at home and continue watching it on the iPhone while on lunch at work. They will remember where you left off and it picks up on whatever other devices you have at the same spot.
rodneyfaile
Sr Member
I've read that it's pretty close, but Netflix has the slightly better library. Has that changed?
protokev DMD
Sr Member
Ive really enjoyed it thus far. Ive watched all of Bones, Battlestar Gallactica, some MacGyver, and am now going through the Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett.
I know Art (my hubby) streams on a daily basis. He really loves it because while he is doing mundane computer tasks, he will have something playing in the background. He definitely gets his money's worth and then some.
Netflix is really worth it, a much better deal than Cable or satellite!!!:thumbsup
Commander Max
Sr Member
A friend recommended it. Cable/satellite cannot hold a candle to it. It has the same content, but the very best part.
No commercials at all.
No commercials at all.
Goodwolf
Sr Member
I know... I'm still a little miffed they took B5 down.
Then again, I've not worked through BSG yet.
I believe I will probably be doing something similar myself, i.e. drop the 1 DVD I get at a time and go solely for streaming with Netflix. Oh well, I'll at least keep the current plan I have until Sept.
exoray
Master Member
Well it's not as 'greedy' on Netflix's part as it might appear at first, there is much more to it... If you have been following them in the news they are at a breaking point right on with licensing rights and it's either going to destroy the streaming industry or allow it to continue but differently... It might also stir up the industry real big as Netflix might not be able to muscle the cash to survive and secure licensing against Amazon and Google...
Basically it goes like this several years ago when they where nothing they cut great licensing rights for dirt cheap from many studios, but now that they have an ever growing customer base the studios are demanding EXTREME increases in new licensing, reports are some studios are demanding a 10 times increase in licensing rights!
Just last month they lost a big portion of Sony movies, and Disney is next on the chopping block... This is a result of their partnership with Starz, as the Netflix online customer base is exceeding Starz existing online licensing limits imposed by the studios...
To put it in more perspective, Netflix spent $180 million on licensing in 2010 under their old licensing contracts, predicted 2012 renewal licensing contracts are estimate to jump to $1.98 billion!
In the end if you want to blame the true reason for the increase in price look no further then the studios...
Here is one quick Google hit on the issue, there are many more... Read it, it's very enlightening...
Trouble Ahead For Netflix's Streaming Costs - Technology News Story - KMGH Denver
