How do people watch HD movies?

[moves]

I live in Ottawa and I can't rent Blu Rays anywhere. Instead of buying them, is there a way that I can DL them or rent them online but HAVE THE SAME sound quality?

I don't want to pay $20 -$25 to be able to watch a high def movie that might not be any good. I miss being able to rent them for $6.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Tried Netflix? Not exactly same, but close enough
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13844

 

[moves]

LOL netflix? Nextflix is NOT close to BD.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

LOL netflix? Nextflix is NOT close to BD.

LOL, your internet sucks that's why Netflix is not close to BD nor you'd ever get same quality streaming.

You could try Ultraviolet (may be no available in canada) and lastly - Pirate full bd25/bd50 releases
With your sucky internet it might take days, but in the end you'd have full original like BD quality movie

edit:
also this might be helpful to read:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/getting-hd-netflix/

 

[Alex2507]

Drive south until you find a Redbox. Stay there. Look for an apartment and a job. Don't look back.

 

[moves]

I am DLing at 68.51 MB/Sec

I just tested it with another site and it was 51ish MB/Sec Download speed.

Nothing wrong with my internet. The sound just isn't close to BD.

 

[moves]

Drive south until you find a Redbox. Stay there. Look for an apartment and a job. Don't look back.

I know... Redox was great when it was available in Canada.

 

[Alex2507]

I am DLing at 68.51 MB/Sec

I just tested it with another site and it was 51ish MB/Sec Download speed.

Nothing wrong with my internet. The sound just isn't close to BD.

I'm only DL'ing @ 15 Mbps one minute

http://www.speedtest.net/result/5310415858.png

and the next it's 25.

<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5310420148"><img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/5310420148.png" /></a>

and I'm trying to figure out how to show that but that's roughly what I pay for. I think it's upwards of 40 bucks a month.

One TV is hardwired to the router and the other is wifi. At the beginning and end of a NF program, both pictures are typically low res sometimes with dropouts but the middle is decent. I always thought of NF as DVD quality at best with DD for audio.

Am I to understand that my NF picture would be better if I paid more for internet? The situation as it is isn't that bad. Most of the time I'm looking for stuff to watch instead of watching stuff anyway.

 

[moves]

Bandwidth is the amount of information that can pass through a wire in one second. The system won't only play part of the information because the bandwidth is low. It will flat out play it or not. The quality should be the same regardless of your internet speed.

 

[lovinthehd]

IMO the difference between Netflix DD+ 5.1 to Blu-ray codecs isn't a great big deal audio-wise...I have more complaints with picture quality difference with Netflix vs Blu-ray and only really when I'm being picky. I don't have a vpn/bandwidth situation where I even want to consider downloading illegal rips. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu etc work pretty dang good! For the best movies I do rely on my Netflix Blu-ray subscription....

 

[rojo]

LOL netflix? Nextflix is NOT close to BD.

What have you tried using to stream Netflix? If you've got an app-enabled television, the Netflix app there might be capable only of stereo. One person on this thread writes:

Also, many HDTVs with those streaming apps in the HDTV NEVER send out 5.1. Since that can change with the HDTV, there is no simple answer. My simple answer is, "If the HDTV has the app, expect nothing but stereo out of the digital audio."

Another poster on that thread quotes a Netflix support tech as saying the Netflix plugin for MCE, the Silverlight plugin, and other browser-based streaming is also forced downmixed to stereo. He says:

Sorry HTPC enthusiasts (such as myself) but it's dolby prologic II for us or Fake.1. You can still get true 5.1 from the playstation 3, Xbox360, roku etc.

So, @moves, since it's probably not a problem of bandwidth, could it be the player that resulted in your negative experience? If not, then avast yeh skallywag.

 

[fuzz092888]

I am DLing at 68.51 MB/Sec

I just tested it with another site and it was 51ish MB/Sec Download speed.

Nothing wrong with my internet. The sound just isn't close to BD.

Holy sh!t you're internet's fast. Roughly 6.5x faster than my 83.5 Mbps. I know Verizon offers a 500Mbps rate, which roughly 62.5MBps so almost as fast as yours, but that's $269.99/month. Sounds like you should be downloading stuff with zero issue.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Holy sh!t you're internet's fast. Roughly 6.5x faster than my 83.5 Mbps. I know Verizon offers a 500Mbps rate, which roughly 62.5MBps so almost as fast as yours, but that's $269.99/month. Sounds like you should be downloading stuff with zero issue.

That or someone confused MBps with Mbps
(ok just in case I'm wrong and you do have 500 Mbps internet at home https://www.fibrestream.ca/ - just shoot me)


Besides bandwidth is not only issue here. Latency, bufferbloat etc....
best way to test for these is here:
http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

btw: this just now from my home:

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The sound just isn't close to BD.

I am curious if these guys who posted above about lack of dolby digital plus support is actually your real issue?

 

[fuzz092888]

That or someone confused MBps with Mbps
(ok just in case I'm wrong and you do have 500 Mbps internet at home https://www.fibrestream.ca/ - just shoot me)


Besides bandwidth is not only issue here. Latency, bufferbloat etc....
best way to test for these is here:
http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest

That was all a bit tongue in cheek

 

[herbu]

All y'all stink! We're 5.7Mbps receiving, and 2.12 sending.

 

[Alex2507]

That or someone confused MBps with Mbps
(ok just in case I'm wrong and you do have 500 Mbps internet at home https://www.fibrestream.ca/ - just shoot me)


Besides bandwidth is not only issue here. Latency, bufferbloat etc....
best way to test for these is here:
http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest

Not knowing anything I thought MBps and Mbps was the same. Bits and bytes, right? ones and zeros? It's like computer guys aren't human. I'm just waiting for you guys to start communicating through telepathic clicks.

Anyway I couldn't get that dsl thing to work. It said no server or something but it got me to look at my white list on No Script. My g/f is not allowed on the computer anymore. A defrag, restart and disk clean are what I got out of this so far. Thank you.

Still trying to get that pic to post:

 

[Dan Madden]

Awhile back, I viewed a lot of stuff on Netflix via my PS3 in the highest resolution setting with no problems. The video was basically like DVD and the audio was indeed in Dolby digital. Comparing it to Blu ray disc in both video and audio would be a bit of a stretch though. Full Blu ray audio quality would, I believe, be hard to achieve via any streaming service.

 

[lovinthehd]

Awhile back, I viewed a lot of stuff on Netflix via my PS3 in the highest resolution setting with no problems. The video was basically like DVD and the audio was indeed in Dolby digital. Comparing it to Blu ray disc in both video and audio would be a bit of a stretch though. Full Blu ray audio quality would, I believe, be hard to achieve via any streaming service.

1080p Netflix on my ps3 is a significant improvement over dvd IME....