Netflix has a real winner with its Watch Instantly service, now that it uses the Xbox 360 as a set top box. With my FiOS Internet bandwidth of 20 Mbps — better than any other home Internet service — it wouldn’t be wise for Netflix to send HD content at its 19 Mbps maximum, as is seen with FiOS TV, so compression artifacts are apparent. SD material also has more noise than DVD, but it looks good enough, it plays smoothly, and being able to watch old Star Trek episodes on demand is something I’ve long wished for. Right now season 1 is online. I recorded a bit of “Shore Leave” off of the projection screen with my digital camera. Keep in mind the picture is about 70 inches diagonal.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/ShoreLeave.flv 480 360]
And just for fun, here’s the same AVI source file converted to MP4 format instead of FLV. The contrast and color in MP4 more accurately reflect what the Panasonic PT-AX200U put on the movie screen, and it handles fast changes between frames much better than FLV, but you’ll need Adobe Flash 9 or higher to watch it.
[MEDIA=21]