Although DRM hasn’t always been seen in a favorable light by some consumers, its inclusion is what makes it possible for services like Netflix to even exist. Movie studios would simply never go for anything that provided unprotected media for streaming, for fear of piracy.

Already, Netflix has been using PlayReady in its “instant watcher” streams for Mac and PC, but now it’s coming to a host of other devices, including TV sets, Blu-ray players, game consoles and other consumer electronic devices according to this announcement.

Hopefully, this move means studios will soon unleash their grip on more of their content and really embrace the future – that being streaming media, not physical disks. 

Now that same HD streaming is available in Media Center too. Ian Dixon reports that Netflix members running Windows 7 will have access to over 1800 movies in HD in Windows Media Center. In addition to streaming, from within the WMC Netflix app, you can also search your Netflix library, manage your Instant and DVD queues, filter searches and more.

Now, according to the Hacking Netflix blog, the site is streaming more than half its HD titles to both Mac and PC. At last! To see if the title you want is available in HD, mouse over it and look for the words “HD available” in the Format section, advises the blog post. You can find all the HD movies available here on Netflix’s website (login required). Some users report they’re not seeing this option yet, which implies a staged rollout, so keep checking.

For more details, check out the Windows Mobile Team blog post or to just download the application for free, go here.

You can either browse through the titles or search by name. Once you find one you’re interested in, you just have to click on the title to access the movie’s details, view the trailer, or to add the movie to your queue. You can also rate (star) movies on this detail page too.

Drama lets you rearrange your Netflix queue by dragging and dropping the thumbnails of your movies around. Then, when you’re ready, you can launch your “watch instantly” titles right within the application itself.

To use Drama, you need a Netflix.com user account first which you can get from their website. To install Drama, just click here.

To use PlayOn, you just install the software to any networked XP or Vista machine (they don’t specifically say “Windows 7” but I’m going to give it a shot this weekend – let me know if I shouldn’t!). The software, once installed behaves as a DLNA/UPnP media server and browser that pulls RSS feeds from content providers, and presents them to DLNA-compliant networked media devices. In other words, the PC software pulls in the media streams from the web sites and services and then sends them over your home network to your Xbox.

The only downside to PlayOn is that it’s not free – after a 14-day trial, you can purchase the program for $30.00. A little steep for these budget-conscious times, especially considering that there’s already a free plug-in for Hulu (install XBMC plus the XBMC plug-in for Hulu) and Xbox already does Netflix. That means you’re paying mostly for YouTube and the miscellaneous TV networks. That may or may not be worth $30 to you – it’s a personal decision. However, there is something to be said for having it all in one easy-to-manage software package. And at least the $30 is a one-time fee. Hmmm, maybe I just talked myself into it.

(via LifeHacker)

• Browse the entire Netflix library from your Windows Mobile device
• Add to, remove from, and change position in your regular and Instant Queues
• See the availability of DVDs in real time
• See available formats for each title (DVD, Blu-ray, Instant)
• Movie Synopsis: When looking at recommendations and search results, click to view full synopsis.
• Improved “Recommendations” Support with more targeted recommendations and “Star Ratings”
• Access movie and entertainment news and information, and soon, movie times, GPS directions to theaters and more.
• Send-to-a-Friend: Send SmartFlicks to a friend via quick-click interface
• Instant Feedback: Send the App Lab team your comments and suggestions from within the application

Note: On windows Mobile 5 devices, the application requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0.

(via WMPowerUser.com)

It’s full of awesomeness, but I wanted to excerpt the section describing their 1st gen, 2nd gen, and HD encoding settings and workflow.

First Generation Encoding

Our first set of encodes are based on WMV3 and WMA in ASF with WMDRM10 (Janus). We chose these standards because the Janus components have been widely adopted by our CE partners such as Roku, LG Electronics, Samsung, TiVo, and of course Microsoft Xbox.
We encode most content at 500, 1000, 1600, and 2200kbps VBR, but some titles whose source quality merits it have also been encoded at 3400kbps. The highest bitrate encodes are fit into 720x480 non-square pixels (the usual 1.2 PAR for widescreen content, 0.9 PAR for 4:3), but optimum encoding at lower bitrates is achieved with fewer pixels. Encoded films are normally at 24fps to match the source, while shot-to-video and mixed material is de-interlaced to 30fps (or 25fps for PAL content).

Netflix has been using anamorphic video all along, which I think is an underused feature of Windows Media and other formats. When you’re limited to 720x480 pixels, you want to encode all the pixels you’ve got, without having to synthesize any extra.

Second Generation Encoding

The new Silverlight player (that some users are helping us test as I write) uses VC1 Advanced Profile encoding with PlayReady DRM. A key property is that each GOP header includes frame size and resolution, which allows us to assemble a stream on the fly from different bitrate encodes as your broadband bandwidth fluctuates. (Another key feature is more coverage, including Intel Macs and Firefox users.) We expect to switch completely to the new player later this year.
The VC1 encoders are more efficient than the WMV3 encoders, so we are currently encoding VC1AP at slightly lower birates: 375, 500, 1000, and 1500kbps, all square pixel. At some point we are likely to add a couple more resolutions of non-square pixel encodes capturing the original pixel-aspect-ratio of the source.
We are also re-wrapping the VC1AP encodes in WMDRM10 for CE devices, which will gradually switch to the more efficient encodes in future firmware upgrades.

This is a great example of the improved efficiency of the VC-1 Encoder SDK and tools based on it. Not all Windows Media/VC-1 encoding is equal; the latest tools can offer a very meaningful reduction in bitrate required for a give quality level, improving user experiences and the cost of delivering the content.

The new encodes are backwards compatible to older hardware and software encoders, so even older devices can take advantage of the improvements.

High Definition Encodes

Today we have rights to deliver about 400 streams in HD (720p). More titles will be added over time. We experimented with first-generation WMV3 encodes at 4000kbps and 5500kbps, but settled on second-generation HD encodes with VC1AP at 2600kbps and 3800kbps, which extends their accessibility down to lower home broadband connections. As with SD, encodes of film material are at 24fps, and encodes of shot-to-video material are at 30fps (or 25fps for PAL), rather than the 60fps that would come from a Blu-ray disc - we judged the 60fps content as too expensive of bandwidth for now. In general, these encodes are definitively better than SD, but won't challenge well-executed Blu-ray encodes - that would require a bitrate out of reach for most domestic broadband today. We believe Moore's law will drive home broadband higher and higher enabling full 1080p60 encodes in a few years.

There’s codecs for you – a good 720p experience at 3800 Kbps, which is probably a little below the average 480p bitrate used for MPEG-2 on the DVDs that fly around the nation in those Netflix envelopes.

I’m not that worried about 1080p60 encoding myself. The vast majority of fictional content is shot 24p, including 99% at least of Blu-ray discs. While Blu-ray players may output 1080p60, the encodes, and hence bitrate requirements, are still 1080p24. I find that typical film content in VC-1 wants around 6-8 Mbps for a 1080p24 experience enough better than 720p to be worth the trouble.

I just got my Xbox set up to handle the Netflix streams – now I’ve got to go check out some of those 400 HD titles! Hmm. Pan’s Labyrinth and Heroes.

Anyway, it’s great stuff. I love it when partners can share this kind of detail about what they’re doing.

The New Xbox Experience will offer Netflix/Xbox Gold members in the U.S. the ability to stream over 12,000 movies and TV shows right over their Xbox LIVE connection for no additional charge.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Opt-in for the new Netflix movie player

Hi, Brent here with an update on our new player for the Mac and PC. We're past the first phase of our beta already, so I'd like to give you a chance to join in. But before doing so you need to consider the following:

• There may be bugs. We are logging all errors, but if you run into problems you can help out by posting details here in the blog comments.
• Not all movies are available to watch with Silverlight. You may notice errors or lower than normal quality when watching certain titles.
• Our new player works on PCs and Intel-based Macs.
• Windows users should be aware that if you opt in, you will need to use Silverlight on all the machines you use to watch instantly.

Once you get up and running check out some of our newest content. We recently added a lot more movies, as well as recent episodes of many TV shows including Heroes, CSI and NCIS. You’ll find all these movies & TV episodes under the “Watch Instantly” tab of the website.

So here’s the opt-in link:
www.netflix.com/silverlightoptin

Enjoy!

Posted by Brent at 1:45 PM

Oh, and for those who were fretting about the HD Netflix HDCP restrictions – Engadget just debunked that. Stream away!

You have to be a Netflix subscriber of course, but the content is commercial-free and much higher quality than the various free video services. They encode up to a full 720x480, in proper 4:3 or 16:9, at a range of bitrates. The higher rates definitely outperform standard def cable and satellite in video quality.

Lots of good stuff in the press release, but I had a couple of things I wanted to call out (bolding mine).

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced it has begun the deployment of Microsoft Silverlight to enhance the instant watching component of the Netflix service and to allow subscribers for the first time to watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. The deployment, which will initially touch a small percentage of new Netflix subscribers, is the first step in an anticipated roll-out of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.

Note that this won’t be immediately available to all customers.

Silverlight is designed for delivery of cross-platform, cross-browser media experiences inside a Web browser. It is expected that Netflix members who watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their computers will enjoy a faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight, due to the quality built directly into the player. Among the viewing enhancements with the new player is a breakthrough in timeline navigation that vastly improves the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding. The new Netflix player takes advantage of PlayReady DRM, which is built into Silverlight, for the playback of protected content on both Windows-based PCs and on Macs. That had not been possible with previous generation technologies.

This is one of the first big rollouts of PlayReady with Silverlight in the USA. When you see the new navigation, it’s a real testament to the difference between a media player plugin like the WMP OCX, and a rich application runtime that plays media well like Silverlight.

The rich user experience support and DRM, what else does Silverlight bring to the equation? One big thing is that PlayReady DRM supports http delivery of pre-encrypted content, unlike other platforms that require a proprietary streaming server and protocol be used to deliver protected content, applying DRM on the fly. Pre-encrypted content is both more scalable (since the encryption processing is only done once, not per user), and more secure (since an in-the-clear media file doesn’t need to be transmitted and stored on the server).

There’s been two big technical challenges in web video for the last dozen years or so.

1. How do we deliver the best experience to each user, in a world of variable bandwidth and hardware power
2. How do we deliver that experience as cost effectively as possible, enabling new business models in video distribution.

We’re at the point now where a user with a fast connection and a decent computer should have a darn good video and audio experience. Netflix is a testament to what’s possible as the cost to deliver a MB of video gets low enough, from a business perspective. While finally delivering a user experience better than VideoCD.

Bom, após essa grande inovação, eles apresentaram um ano atrás a segunda grande inovação. Todo cliente tem direito de assistir filmes e seriados da coleção da Netflix pela Web de graça. Não toda a coleção está disponível no momento (são 20.000 títulos no momento) mas a cada mês eles disponibilizam mais títulos para seus clientes.

O grande porém era que isso só estava disponível para clientes com Windows XP e Vista. Mas hoje eles anunciaram o mesmo serviço para usuários de Mac OSX. Isso só foi possível graças ao Silverlight por sua natureza de ser multi-plataforma e multi-browser. Hoje Silverlight 2.0 já conta com uma tecnologia DRM chamada Play Ready que permite entregar conteúdo com DRM para Mac, Windows e Linux e Internet Explorer, Safari e Firefox. E não por acaso o anúncio foi feito hoje, o primeiro dia do Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2008.

If you’re dying for a sneak peek at theses upcoming features, the Gamerscore blog has a few more details and screenshots. 

But which one is right for you? Let's compare:

MyNeflix

• System Requirements: Vista MCE, .NET 2.0, Netflix WatchNow player
• View Netflix queue
• Manage Netflix queue
• View history
• View recommendations
• Browse movies by title, genre, or top 100
• Browse "Watch Now" movies
• Play movies in full screen
• Nice interface, very responsive
• Does Not Work With Extenders
• Download MyNetflix

vmcNetFlix

• System Requirements: Vista MCE and Netflix WatchNow player
• View Netflix queue
• Manage Netflix queue
• View history
• View recommendations
• Browse movies by genres; sort by title or year
• Browse "Watch Now" movies
• Keyword Search
• Play movies in full screen
• Support for x64 and x86
• Support for Netflix Instant Queue
• Support for Episode Listings
• Prevents standby/sleep mode while downloading
• Clean interface, easy to browse, runs smoothly
• Works With Extenders
• Download vmcNetflix

NetflixMC

• System Requirements: Vista or MCE 2005 and .NET 2.0 or 3.5
• Browse movies by genre
• Browse "Watch Now" movies
• Fast, Real-time "Watch Now" search
• Bookmark "Watch Now" movies
• TV Series episode selection
• Image caching stream speed settings
• Menu Personalization
• A bit slow, still a “beta” app
• Runs on extenders but WILL NOT play WatchNow videos
• Download NetflixMC

So which one should you choose? The quick answer here is that if you have Windows XP, you only have one choice: NetflixMC. For Vista users, both MyNetflix and vmcNetflix are nice, but the extender support that vmcNetflix has makes it the clear winner. You can download vmcNetflix here.