Favorite Files

No favorite files added yet

Recent Posts

1. Comment - Netflix box by Roku to get more content providers

   (Jul 4, 2008 - 5:43 PM)

   Sub-DVD picture quality is not a given; although the content is transcoded from the originals, many of the TV shows come from HD source, and the codec settings for the highest-bandwidth streams yields roughly DVD-equivalent quality. Gizmodo claims that while the Roku's display outputs currently max out at 420p/i, the boxes being sold now need only firmware upgrades to enable HD and 5.1 audio support. The real quality issue is that Netflix, like most streaming video providers, chooses video quality based on bandwidth test and makes the assumption that users would rather have instant access than wait a while to buffer at the highest-quality (or to make the choice on their own, God forbid). It probably doesn't work for Roku (yet, maybe never given it has no hard drive) but there are guides to capturing the link to the highest-bandwidth (presumably highest-quality) video stream available. (you must still watch through WMP as this has nothing to do with stripping the time-limited, individualized DRM keys).