Although Microsoft dodged this exact question every single time we asked it (and oh,
we asked multiple times) – and temporarily dropped other, already confirmed features like
movie sharing – the New Xbox Experience's Netflix app will indeed stream HD content, if your connection can handle it. Interesting thing is, this is exclusive to the Xbox 360 for now: the various Netflix-enabled devices don't; Netflix's own "Watch Instantly" portal doesn't!
Engadget took an episode of Heroes in HD for a spin and reported that "the quality was stunning." There's only about 300 titles (and some of those are Heroes episodes, so you'll probably want to subtract those) but make no mistake: HD streaming is one of the strongest reasons yet to become a Netflix subscriber if you aren't already.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nate @ Oct 29th 2008 10:04AM
I just might have to get a Netflix subscription because of this!
Also... "Most Strongest"? lol
Dadidito @ Oct 29th 2008 10:04AM
Hoping for my beta email from Microsoft. I believe its today they get sent out right?
copa @ Oct 29th 2008 10:05AM
I've completely ignored this Netflix stuff because I was assuming that all of the content was standard def.
This will start getting interesting once they have a decent HD library.
baby sea tuna @ Oct 29th 2008 10:14AM
Honestly, I'm even excited about the SD content. I've got about 75 things in my Instant Watch queue already.
Bert @ Oct 29th 2008 10:08AM
WOW, this is HUGE!!! I will definitely be signing up for Netflix now.
ehouse @ Oct 29th 2008 1:08PM
Count me in too. Netflix is about to have a new-subscriber flood on the 18th of next month.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 29th 2008 10:10AM
I remember I called this when they first announced NetFlix last year....U all thought I was crazy....HA! And May I say HA! again...This is gonna make this whole HD format thing interesting
Matt @ Oct 29th 2008 10:16AM
OK so how much is Netflix Gold. I went to the site and it just gave me prices for 1/2/3 movies at a time. I have no idea which one is gold (I'm assuming most expensive).
baby sea tuna @ Oct 29th 2008 10:22AM
I'm pretty sure that it's a LIVE Gold membership you need and any Netflix subscription (that comes with unlimited Instant Watch) will do.
Intentless @ Oct 29th 2008 10:23AM
I believe it is any sub but the bottom one...
Hooray It's Rob! @ Oct 29th 2008 10:43AM
The lowest tier only allows 2 hours a month of streaming from netflix's site. All the other tiers allow unlimited streaming.
Obie @ Oct 29th 2008 10:16AM
Most streaming HD content is a bit iffy, it either takes long ass while to buffer, or the quality is far from HD...still kinda cool.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 29th 2008 10:24AM
You have to assume that they took all of that into account and wouldnt release the service if it wasnt ready....So I'll assume that the Buffer times will not be an issue....so the fingers are crossed....
Eggy @ Oct 29th 2008 10:19AM
With such a piss poor collection why would you?
baby sea tuna @ Oct 29th 2008 10:24AM
[sentence fragment: consider revising]
deaftly @ Oct 29th 2008 10:29AM
If it was a shit rich collection would it do you?
Knight Marquise @ Oct 29th 2008 12:04PM
LOL. I wondered how long it would take the Sony cheerleading squad to get here. Initially, it was "it's shit SD why waste your money"....now that it's also HD, we get it's a "shit collection"...that will be the new mantra of the Sony fanboys.
Eggy @ Oct 29th 2008 12:20PM
Sorry but Netflix's online offering has always been of a poor quality and very small. But yeah calling me a fanboy makes all of it not true of course. Hypocrite.
josh @ Oct 29th 2008 4:17PM
Netflix has actually really increased their offerings in the last six months. I have like 400 movies/shows in my dvd queue and of those about half are available for instant watch. Not too bad of a ratio.
SpekOpz @ Oct 29th 2008 10:19AM
Wow, I was hoping they would announce this. Very nice.
Dillinger @ Oct 29th 2008 10:20AM
YES! I wasn't really excited about Netflix on XBL because of no HD streams. This changes everything!
Alex @ Oct 29th 2008 10:27AM
That is quite cool, I'm all for more content without having to pay any additional money, should be pretty cool.
So does anyone know when the beta emails for the NXE go out?
John Z @ Oct 29th 2008 11:32AM
Follow "majornelson" on Twitter, or subscribe to his blog's RSS feed (MajorNelson.com). He said that the "go/no go" mail should be sent out at some point today (actually yesterday or today, but... yeah), and that he'd tweet it when the sending started.
vidGuy @ Oct 29th 2008 10:34AM
That's great! I got Netflix primarily for the streaming, but the problem is that it auto-adjusts the quality based on your bandwidth. So I usually get DVD quality, but in peak times it is pretty pixelated. I'd love to be able to force it to download in HD.
Courtney @ Oct 29th 2008 10:46AM
I've got my old computer hooked up to my TV now to stream Netflix, but I'll at least try out the HD streaming via the 360 now.
ToRo @ Oct 29th 2008 11:03AM
Meh, I already watch my Heroes episodes on HD at Hulu.
BJ Sisco @ Oct 29th 2008 11:04AM
Ohhh sh****t!!!
Terrence Newton @ Oct 29th 2008 11:09AM
awesome
why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 29th 2008 11:33AM
Netflix selection of movies still sucks. Not even joking. Protip: Heroes isn't a movie and I can see it for no fee in several other places.
John Z @ Oct 29th 2008 11:34AM
YAY!
Well, one other thing comes to mind. Do Netflix streams support closed-captioning/subtitle streams/alternate audio? If so, does the NXE client support these as well?
Nofriendo @ Oct 29th 2008 11:56AM
As far as internet goes, how special does it have to be? I have a standard DSL I think, will that not work?
Ordeith @ Oct 29th 2008 1:17PM
No. you may even have problems with quality SD streams with your standard 1.1mbps dsl..
for HD 5-10mbps is probably prefered.
Tez @ Oct 29th 2008 11:59AM
Nice! This actually makes it worth a damn. I hope they start rolling out the HD streaming to the other streaming methods, like their website.
FSK405K @ Oct 29th 2008 12:06PM
So this will mean we would have access to both the HD and the SD libraries of their on-demand stuff, right?
nick @ Oct 29th 2008 12:37PM
I'm not surprised. When I first heard Netflix was going to use Silverlight, after having seen a demonstration of that technology, I knew something really cool was coming.
SyChO @ Oct 29th 2008 12:44PM
Too bad I couldn't watch more than 2 movies a month before hitting my 20gb/dl a month quota with my "g a y" ISP. >-(
born2kill @ Oct 29th 2008 1:47PM
Unnecessary. The problem w/ the 'watch now' is not that its in SD, but rather that the selection is garbage. I've had netflix for 5 years and in that time have only watched 1 movie online. And it wasnt cause its not HD.
josh @ Oct 29th 2008 4:23PM
this is subjective, there are hundreds of movies on the instant watch list that i would like to see/havent seen yet...
Misfit Toy @ Oct 29th 2008 2:10PM
Nice. I will be in on this. I ditched satellite and cable a couple years back. Movies and games are generally sufficient, and most tv shows are coming out on DVD/Blu-ray. This is a great option for those shows/movies I've been interested in, but don't want to own.
+1 for Microsoft.
longhairbilly @ Oct 29th 2008 2:30PM
GREAT NEWS!! I am a huge Netflix fan already. This news is just ice cream on top of my cake.
John @ Oct 29th 2008 4:22PM
Fuck Netflix.
They are charging more money a month now if you want to get movies on Blu-Ray.
That and the fact that they give a big hearty fuck you to all of us Service members overseas for watch it now (and I assume this great feature by extension) is why I switched to Blockbuster.
josh @ Oct 29th 2008 4:29PM
Does Blockbuster Online even offer streaming videos? I know you can do purchased downloads or pay per rental movies online, but do they offer a streaming "watch now" feature as part of the normal service fee?
meatee @ Oct 29th 2008 4:30PM
Holy crap! Best news of the day!
sk8monroe81 @ Oct 29th 2008 5:11PM
now the ps3 fans that said " netfix doesnt stream HD" and " whats the point of netflix on a console" please just keep tha mouth shut... lol..
xbox live keeps looking better and better IMO.
u realize blu ray adds $ 1.00 per month to your account price? wow big difference.
philmcphail @ Oct 29th 2008 5:38PM
What?!