Netflix Canada Discussion

[Meelapo]

Tried to play a movie again last night, this time from the Xbox, and Netflix said "my connection was too slow to support this content". This was around 8:30pm. All other access to external places (accessing websites, speedtests) was fine during this time. Also, movie covers wouldn't load.

I tried again at around 11:30pm and this time the covers loaded but the movies were still in SD.

It's really confusing as to why this is happening now. Last month we were able to watch a movie called "Outsourced" (I think the TV show is based off of this movie) in HD and it was streaming fine.

[Prototype]

Meelapo, try unplugging the power cord to your modem for 10 seconds then plugging it back in. If that fails, call Shaw. They may have to reset your modem, or send someone out to check the levels.

I'd have to call Shaw every 3 months or so when I lived in Coventry Hills, due to slow internet speeds. They'd tell me to try unplugging it, then they'd try to reset the box itself.

Sounds like it may be your internet and not Netflix itself.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I have had Netflix for 10 days running wirelessy through my Wii and I havn't had a single problem. I watched Big Love in HD on Bell. Then watched Mad Men on Netflix immediately afterwards and couldn't detect a difference in quality.

I find that a little hard to believe as Netflix from the Wii is not HD (the Wii can't output in HD). Unless the movie your watched from Bell was not HD also.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

I find that a little hard to believe as Netflix from the Wii is not HD (the Wii can't output in HD). Unless the movie your watched from Bell was not HD also.

Bell is HD. Thats interesting, Mad Men takes up the whole screen and comes in fine. I can't tell the difference. My son watches a tonne of Thomas the Tank Engine which is all in SD. Other than that I havn't watched anything else on Netflix.

Edit:

Found this article. I had no idea. I'll have to watch something else on Netflix to compare.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18703...a_problem.html

[Vulcan]

Well Bell's HD has been getting worse for the last 5 or 6 years so it's probably comparable quality to a good DVD resolution for a lot of it's programming.

[Meelapo]

Originally Posted by Prototype

Meelapo, try unplugging the power cord to your modem for 10 seconds then plugging it back in. If that fails, call Shaw. They may have to reset your modem, or send someone out to check the levels.

I'd have to call Shaw every 3 months or so when I lived in Coventry Hills, due to slow internet speeds. They'd tell me to try unplugging it, then they'd try to reset the box itself.

Sounds like it may be your internet and not Netflix itself.

I'll try but I'm not 100% convinced it's a speed problem. I can download from hotfile and megaupload quite fast (all this considered...it limits your speed) and torrents run quite fast (downloaded the latest episode of Top Gear yesterday in 30 minutes). Even when doing tests on SpeedTests.net I get over 13Mb/s during peak hours.

When trying to use Netflix I'm not downloading anything on my computer.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

How many streams can you run simultaneously? Could 2 people share an account and watch something at the same time?

Nope, one at a time. I don't even have cable at my house...just Netflix on two TVs and only one can be watching Netflix at a time.

[Prototype]

I've ran two streams at the same time.

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Nope, one at a time. I don't even have cable at my house...just Netflix on two TVs and only one can be watching Netflix at a time.

Netflix allows 6 devices to be watching simultaneously.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by silentsim

Netflix allows 6 devices to be watching simultaneously.

Really? We've tried this and the most recent person to logon boots the guy off who was on first. Maybe my settings are gibbled or something. I'll try again tonight.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Bell is HD. Thats interesting, Mad Men takes up the whole screen and comes in fine. I can't tell the difference. My son watches a tonne of Thomas the Tank Engine which is all in SD. Other than that I havn't watched anything else on Netflix.

Edit:

Found this article. I had no idea. I'll have to watch something else on Netflix to compare.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18703...a_problem.html

Netflix has a lot of stuff that, even though standard definition, comes through in at 16x9 aspect ratio. Also, keep in mind that cable/satellite standard def channels are quite heavily compressed. In my experience, SD on Netflix is better than SD on cable.

While we're talking SD and HD, I'm thinking that Netflix should provide an option to stream a show in SD even if it is available in HD (for devices that are HD-capable). That would give people a little more control while trying to manage their new, lower caps. The web site interface lets you turn off HD.

Hockey in HD is unquestionably better than SD, but if a TV show or movie is available in SD 16x9, I'd be tempted to use it over HD. Not exactly progress, but given the relative good quality of some SD stuff over Netflix, it might be useful to some.

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

While we're talking SD and HD, I'm thinking that Netflix should provide an option to stream a show in SD even if it is available in HD (for devices that are HD-capable). That would give people a little more control while trying to manage their new, lower caps. The web site interface lets you turn off HD.

There is an option on the website HERE, but from my experience, I have it clicked to disable HD streaming, and I still get HD quality on my AppleTV and PS3. Not sure if it's just computer streaming, or all streaming, and I'm just easy to please.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Prototype

There is an option on the website HERE, but from my experience, I have it clicked to disable HD streaming, and I still get HD quality on my AppleTV and PS3. Not sure if it's just computer streaming, or all streaming, and I'm just easy to please.

Interesting. Sounds like it is just computer streaming. I'll test it out at home and see what happens.

[IntenseFan]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Netflix has a lot of stuff that, even though standard definition, comes through in at 16x9 aspect ratio.

One example I am watching on Netflix these days is MI-5. SD, but full widescreen.

[La Flames Fan]

I guess we know who to switch to in the US and Canada now.
Netflix releases top ISPs for streaming:
http://techblog.netflix.com/2011/01/...-networks.html

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by La Flames Fan

I guess we know who to switch to in the US and Canada now.
Netflix releases top ISPs for streaming:
http://techblog.netflix.com/2011/01/...-networks.html

I am actually surprised that Shaw is outperforming Telus by a solid 20% on streaming performance. With all the testimonials from people who have switched saying they get better speeds, I would have expected it to be at least on par.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Prototype

There is an option on the website HERE, but from my experience, I have it clicked to disable HD streaming, and I still get HD quality on my AppleTV and PS3. Not sure if it's just computer streaming, or all streaming, and I'm just easy to please.

I finally had a chance to disable HD on the web site and test it out on my PS3, and sure enough, my quality maxes out High-SD and doesn't go into HD. 5.1 audio was still present.

I don't have an Apple TV, but my assumption is that when HD is disabled on the web site, the setting is reflected on all devices. Maybe you want to check it out again to confirm, Prototype?

Keeping in mind that I'm on a 40" or 42" TV, but the quality difference is negligible. SD Netflix > SD cable TV. The 16:9 aspect ratio is, of course, maintained, and the bandwidth usage will be considerably less. For me, this is definitely the way to go. I'm not afraid of going over my Shaw cap, but the quality (on my TV) is definitely not twice as good to justify twice the bandwidth for HD.

For those of you who are going to be up against your cap, I would highly recommend this. Especially if aspect ratio and 5.1 are more important than the extra pixels.

[theonlywhiteout]

trying out netflix canada for 1 month so far and am not impressed. despite a lot of stuff not being available, the content is surely worth the money. the problem is the occasional stutter really bothers me. its not smooth enough to warrent being paid for.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by La Flames Fan

I guess we know who to switch to in the US and Canada now.
Netflix releases top ISPs for streaming:
http://techblog.netflix.com/2011/01/...-networks.html

What's really interesting about that graph is that as "bad" as telus is, it would be the highest, or among the highest rated U.S. providers.

maybe we don't have 3rd world IT as once thought.

[theonlywhiteout]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

What's really interesting about that graph is that as "bad" as telus is, it would be the highest, or among the highest rated U.S. providers.

maybe we don't have 3rd world IT as once thought.

the telus speed thing really is deceiving for a lot of reasons. a lot more of telus' clients are stuck on old profiles of slower speeds when they are eligible for faster ones. due to the inbound calls going sky high telus hasnt had a chance to do usual outbound upgrading calls to people. also, people who have been on tv were stuck on 3.0 download before mediaroom allowed them up to 15. telus optik high speed actually gives me a faster speed with HD running than what shaw extreme was giving me (even before th optik upgrade actually).