media addict

Netflix Streaming and Physical Media

Since Netflix launched their movie and television streaming service there has been a lot of speculation about the imminent death of physical media. Consumers don't want to have stacks of discs around just to listen to music or watch a movie. When I read tech blogs, all I hear about is that people only stream movies and have DVDs and Blu-rays sitting around for months. My experience with Netflix streaming is the exact opposite and I have noticed two key shortcomings of the service that never seem to be part of the discussion.

1. Catalog Stability - In addition to the limited catalog of titles available, those that are available are often only available for a limited time. Multiple items in my streaming queue have expired and can no longer be watched because Netflix's rights agreement have expired with the content owner. This is easily the biggest issue with any media streaming service. Content availability is everything, and having a catalog that is constantly in flux is a big problem.


2. Stream Quality - I have a standard cable internet connection with a download rate of 6Mbps. When I initiate Netflix's service I typically get a 4 bar quality rating for my stream. When available this also gives me the HD stream. This sounds great, but the fact is that even the HD stream is basically DVD quality. To compare this with a Blu-ray is laughable. To make matters worse, virtually every time I stream a movie the quality regularly starts high and then drops to 3 and sometimes 2 bars, rendering it a far less enjoyable experience. I realize that this is due to my internet connection, but that also means that others with similar connections are suffering the same problems. For this to be a legitimate replacement for physical media, this issue needs to be resolved.


3. Transfer Quality - Quite a few of the streams I have come across in Netflix's system are not in widescreen format, even when a widescreen version is available on DVD. Others are presented in letterbox widescreen and appear as a small rectangle in the center of an HDTV. This is unacceptable for a service meant to replace physical media.

Don't get me wrong, I love Netflix. I have been a subscriber for over five years and it has allowed me to become a voracious consumer of movies (I have rented over 1100 movies since June 2004). The death of physical media is coming, but not for many years. Many areas of the country still have only dial-up or slow broadband connections available. The time when the average consumer has enough bandwidth to stream 1080p content is several years, if not a decade, away.