Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Stream Movies on HDTV

You have a big beautiful flat panel high definition TV mounted on the wall of your living room and the shows coming in on cable or satellite look great but what do you do when you get the urge to watch that new movie that just came out on DVD? If you have a Blu-ray player or PlayStation3 you can run down to your local video store and rent the Blu-ray movie or you can go online to Netflix and add the Blu-ray movie to your queue. However, for immediate gratification you can download or stream a high definition movie to your HDTV providing you have the right gear.

Streaming Services
More services are starting to appear that offer high definition movies streamed or downloaded to your HDTV through a special set top box, DVD or Blu-ray player, game console, or even directly into a compatible TV set. Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, and VUDU are some of the companies that offer this kind of service.

Netflix streaming is showing up on more and more products and is free with your regular monthly subscription. Unlike Blu-ray which puts 1080p video on your HDTV, Netflix only goes to up to 720p. Netflix doesn’t usually make the most recently released movies available right away so sometimes you have to wait for the latest hit movies.

Amazon Video on Demand offers over 45,000 titles but they only have about 500 HD movies and TV shows.  Amazon's service also only streams 720p and there is no monthly fee but you pay per movie or TV show. Movies cost $2.99 - $3.99 to rent.VUDU uses their own HDX format to deliver near-Blu-ray quality including high def audio. VUDU rents HD movies for $3.99 - $5.99. They offer some movies in 1080p resolution, but they have a limited library of high def movies at the moment.

This Gear Can Get You Connected
In order to access one of these services you’ll need to buy a special box or specially equipped Blu-ray player. The boxes cost around $100 and the Blu-ray players around $250 - $350 so for the extra $150 or so, the streaming-ready Blu-ray player makes a lot of sense; you get the best of both worlds. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 also offers access to Netflix. Some of the new TVs are also offering built-in access to streaming services. Tivo offers some models that allow for streaming and there’s always a good old computer with software like Windows Media Center to get you Netflix on your HDTV. Here’s a sample of products you can use:


Roku Box
You buy the box for $99, hook it up to your TV, and it finds your WiFi network. You can also connect to your network with an Ethernet cable. You use your Netflix account and the Netflix web site to set up movies for it and then use the remote control to play one of the movies you've selected. You can also use the Roku box to watch Amazon Video on Demand. Right now it will only go as high as 720p resolution, only provides stereo sound (not 5.1 surround sound), and only supports up to 802.11g but it's a cheap and easy way to get Netflix on your TV.

VUDU Box
You can buy a box to access VUDU but it might make more sense to look at one of the products that are building in VUDU access like some LG Blu-ray players and TVs, Mitsubishi TVs, and other devices. If you still want a box, you can buy a 250GB box for about $150 or a 1TB box for around $500.

LG BD390 or LG BD370 Blu-ray Players
The LG BD390 is a Profile 2.0 player that gets 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon. It offers 802.11n WiFi connectivity for accessing BD Live and streaming services like Netflix. The latest firmware adds support for VUDU and Pandora. You can buy it for around $280. The LG BD370 also gets good reviews is $150 at Amazon and supports Netflix but not VUDU. The BD370 doesn’t include built-in WiFi.

Samsung BD-P3600 Blu-ray Player
The Samsung BD-P3600 costs around $270. It supports Netflix streaming and Pandora but no support yet for VUDU. The included WiFi dongle will get you 802.11n. It gets generally good reviews for audio and video quality with some complaints about connectivity issues. Expert reviewers liked it more than users who experienced poor customer service and some reliability issues. The lower end, BD-1600 can be purchased for under $200 and also offers Netflix access but gets lower scores from reviewers.

Insignia NS-BRDVD3 Blu-ray Player
If you want to take a chance on this under $200 Best Buy private labeled, Blu-ray player that is supposed to be getting a firmware upgrade any day to add Netflix support, we say go for it. After all, you can always return it, and if you like the Insignia NS-BRDVD3 as some reviewers do, you will have saved a few bucks.

Sherwood America R-904N NetBoxx Internet A/V Receiver
This Netflix box is more like a receiver. The Sherwood America R-904N is not cheap, costing around $650 but it has a big 700 watt amplifier to drive 7.1 channel sound.

Tivo HD DVR
For $299 and $12.95 a month you can own a Tivo HD that can save up to 20 hours of HD programming. Tivo wrote the book on PVR interface and the newer models have some cool features like the ability to control the recorder online (in case you forgot to record something) and the ability to transfer recordings to another device like an iPod. Tivo now supports streaming services including Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand.

Vizio SV422XVT Connected TV
As we enter the era of the connected TV, expect to see more high definition TVs that connect to the Internet like SV422XVT 42” LCD TV from Vizio coming in November which will cost $1,199. It has LED backlighting, 240Hz refresh rate, and a Bluetooth remote with full QWERT keyboard. The 47 inch version will cost $1699 and a 55 inch model will go for a very reasonable $2199. The two larger sets also add “smart dimming,” for energy saving. They all support Netflix streaming among other services.

Microsoft's XBox 3v60
Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 doesn’t have a built-in Blu-ray player like the the PlayStation 3 and the PS3 doesn’t do Netflix like the Xbox 360. You’ll need an Xbox Gold Live membership which costs $49.99 a year but if you have a Netflix subscription the movies on Xbox Live are free.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for mentioning VUDU in your review. VUDU offers over 2,000 titles in HD at this time. VUDU has both set top boxes as you mentioned along with being in the LG BD390 and LG TV Panels along with Mitsubishi TV Panels.

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