hdpostcross – Page 4

Netflix Q4 earnings show 2 million new customers streaming in the US, 6 million total internationally

In 2012 Netflix expanded streaming to a few new countries and attempted to undo the damage incurred by its failed Qwikster spinoff in 2011, and now it’s final results for the year are in. Its streaming subscriber count is now 27 million in the US alone, with 6 million outside the country for a global count topping 33 million. Most notably, despite the expansion it still managed a profit of $8 million on $945 million in revenue. There’s also a slew of original content on the way headed by Arrested Development and House of Cards , and its OpenConnect ISP program has now gotten a boost from high bitrate 1080p video and even 3D. Now that the Video Protection Privacy Act has been amended , Netflix also mentioned Facebook integration will be enabled in the coming months for US customers. If you’re worried about it spamming your feed you may be able to relax however, since by default it will not auto post viewing activity, instead opting to let members “post specific titles they’re passionate about.” So what about the competition from Amazon, Redbox Instant and Hulu? According to Netflix’s stats based on its 200 most popular movies and TV shows, none of the other streaming services offer more than 73 of them (check out a graphic after the break.) Regarding that original content, Netflix is already referring to the February 1st worldwide, full-season debut of Cards as a “defining moment in the development of internet TV.” We’ll keep digging through the numbers and tune into the investor call at 6PM for more information, until then hit the source link to check out the data for yourself. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: Netflix (PDF)

See the original article here:
Netflix Q4 earnings show 2 million new customers streaming in the US, 6 million total internationally

Quantum dots help return ‘Triluminos’ RGB LED lighting to Sony HDTVs

While 4K TVs are excellent, for the next couple of years most of us will still be selecting a 1080p model when we’re out shopping, and now we’ve got a little more detail about some of the new ones Sony announced last week . After letting its ” Triluminos ” RGB LED lighting technology fall by the wayside after 2009 because of its high cost, Sony has brought the brand back in this year’s HDTVs. Noted in the press release and highlighted today in the MIT Technology Review , this iteration uses QD Vision’s quantum dot technology to enhance the red/green/blue LED backlighting the series is known for. According to the CTO of QD Vision, the TVs start with a blue backlight — instead of the standard white LED — which stimulates quantum dots that emit “pure green and pure red.” Sony was very proud of its Triluminos tech at the show and our experience at demonstrations seemed to validate the quality of the approach. While we’ve been hearing about quantum dots for years , this is reportedly their first appearance in a mass produced consumer product, once it hits homes we’ll be able to tell if the wait was truly worth it. Filed under: Displays , Home Entertainment , HD , Sony Comments Source: MIT Technology Review

First Ultra HD channel goes live in Europe

Eutelsat Communications launched the first dedicated demonstration Ultra HD channel in Europe on January 8th. Delivered via satellite with the resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 ( 4K ) at 50 frames per second — the European equivalent to 60p — the stream is encoded in MPEG-4 with help from video compression solution provider, ATEME, and transmitted at 40 Mbps. This is over twice the bandwidth used by most 1080i broadcasts, but not necessarily an indication of future Ultra HD broadcasts utilization, as they’re expected to use the more efficient HEVC codec — depending on color space and other factors, Ultra HD broadcasts might use less throughput than 1080i does now. With only three very expensive Ultra HD TVs on the market, there aren’t many who can take advantage of this. Hopefully if you are one of the lucky few, you’re in a position to take advantage of this native content on your latest prized possession. Continue reading First Ultra HD channel goes live in Europe Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments

Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs

Rumors that Netflix was offering ISPs access to higher quality streams in return for partnering on distribution surfaced early last year , and were followed by the announcement of its Open Connect CDN network in June. Now the full picture has been revealed with the company’s announcement of “Super HD” 1080p and (in the US only, for now) 3D streaming, which comes to its customers at no extra cost, but only on certain devices plugged in to to Open Connect partner ISPs. The hardware list includes PS3, WiiU, Windows 8, Roku, Apple TVs as well as Blu-ray players and smart TVs with 1080p support. According to Netflix, most of its international streams are already going through compatible ISPs, however the only major participants announced in the US currently are Cablevision and Google Fiber. Watch Instantly customers can see if their ISP on the list by visiting the Super HD page and, if it isn’t, they’re encouraged to call and ask for it. Netflix’s ability to manage bandwidth will be increasingly important and the ISPs customers access its with and along with those rankings , “Super HD” is an important lure to get them to play ball. We’ve been seeing some 3D ready titles pop up on the service in the last few weeks and now viewers can access titles like Art of Flight , Immortals and several titles from 3net. According to Dan Rayburn of Streaming Media Blog , the higher-quality encodes are targeted for 7 Mbps, while 3D streams top out at 12 Mbps. One question that lingers is how this quality bump aligns with recent changes some customers have noticed (if X-High suddenly reappears…), but until we get our eyes on the higher quality streams it’s hard to tell. Reed Hastings says he wants all Netflix customers served by Open Connect (whether via colocated appliances or peered at common internet exchanges) as soon as possible — we’ll see if Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, AT&T and the rest have a similar dream. Continue reading Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs Filed under: Announcements , HD Comments Source: Netflix Super HD

View original post here:
Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs

Philips showcases its 2013 Fiedelio audio lineup at CES, we go eyes-on

Phillips isn’t showing off anything too groundbreaking at CES in the in the audio department, but it looks to be a solid offering all-around nonetheless. Whether you’re eyeing the likes of a new soundbar for your home theater system or portable wireless speaker, the company should have you covered with latest Fidelio offerings — and of course that’s not all. We’ve got a quick breakdown of all the goods being shown off after the break, along with an eyes-on galleries so you can get up-close look for yourself. As always, you’ll find the full press releases below it all for more info. Continue reading Philips showcases its 2013 Fiedelio audio lineup at CES, we go eyes-on Filed under: Home Entertainment , Portable Audio/Video , HD Comments

View article:
Philips showcases its 2013 Fiedelio audio lineup at CES, we go eyes-on

Roku celebrates 700 channel milestone with new partners: Coby, Harmon Kardon and others now Roku Ready

Sure, Roku’s compact Streaming Stick will happily pipe streaming content to any MHL-ready TV, but there’s nothing like the guarantee of certification to convince you you’re buying the right flatscreen. Roku has announced partnerships with six mare hardware manufacturers, ensuring future devices from Hisene, Harmon Kardon, Coby , Voxx Accessories, Apex and TCL will be “Roku Ready.” New TVs from partners old and new will be on display at CES, Roku teased, all flaunting the Streaming Stick’s access to a wealth of streaming content. There’s news on that front too, Roku says its devices now offer access to over 700 channels of streaming entertainment. Brands such as Blockbuster On Demand , PBS, SyFy, VEVO and Fox Now give consumers choices from some of the top brands in streaming video, the company says in a press release, with services like Amazon’s Cloud Player and Big Fish Unlimited’s casual gaming portal rounding out the Roku experience. Read the announcements for yourself after the break. Continue reading Roku celebrates 700 channel milestone with new partners: Coby, Harmon Kardon and others now Roku Ready Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments

View post:
Roku celebrates 700 channel milestone with new partners: Coby, Harmon Kardon and others now Roku Ready

NVIDIA unveils Project Shield, a Tegra 4-powered Android gaming handheld

A video shown on-stage during NVIDIA’s press conference just unveiled “Project Shield,” a gaming controller / portable console running the just announced Tegra 4 . The controller looks an awful lot like a PlayStation 3 DualShock 3, albeit with an HD screen attached. NVIDIA’s promising 38 hours of gaming out of the rechargeable lithium ion batteries built-in, a swanky audio system “on par with” jamboxes, and a full-on Android gaming experience. A micro SD sits next to an HDMI output, one USB port, and a standard eighth inch audio jack, directly below the customizable 5-inch “retinal display” touchscreen. Update : It’s a 1,280 x 720 screen at 294 dpi, for the record. NVIDIA’s hoping Shield will replace your average controller as well — perhaps with that newly detailed Grid system ? — and company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showed off its use in-tandem with a swanky LG 4K television on-stage, navigating through media without pause. He also gave us a taste of a few games running on it ( Blood Sword: Sword of Ruin and a boxing title) via NVIDIA’s Tegrazone gaming store. But beyond just Android games we’ve already seen, still-in-development Unreal Engine 3 title Hawken was also given a multiplayer run, and looked notably more attractive than the previous two titles. As good as the handheld’s newfangled Tegra 4 chip seems to be, it still can’t hold a candle to Nvidia’s own GTX 680 — Huang explained that the Shield can play more than just Tegrazone games — it can take over your gaming PC, too. He explained that Nvidia’s GeForce Experience software can pipe PC gaming to the handheld over your local network, giving Shield owners access to their Steam library ( navigatable by Big Picture Mode , of course) directly from the device. It looks like users will be able to purchase PC games through Tegrazone, too. Huang showed the crowd Need for Speed: Most Wanted running in real-time on the device. It’s … well, it’s really impressive. There’s little (if any) perceptible lag, and this is a racing game we’re seeing (as in that lag really matters). The next game up is Assassin’s Creed 3 , which looks similarly impressive on the Shield’s 5-inch screen. Finally, we’re seeing Steam launched directly from Tegrazone, and it launches directly into Big Picture Mode. Beyond just playing games via streaming, it looks like we’ll be able to buy them directly on Steam, through Shield. We’ll be getting a closer look at Project Shield later this week, and we’ll be sure to put it through its paces. Oh, and we’ll ask for a price and release window, as we’ve yet to hear official word on either . Can’t wait? Tide yourself over with NVIDIA’s official press release after the break. Update 2: NVIDIA tells us Project Shield’s roughly in the beta stage of development, and currently doesn’t include an LTE radio (WiFi only). It’s running Jelly Bean at the moment, but may change by the time it’s expected to ship, in “Q2 2013.” Still no word on pricing, sadly. Gallery: NVIDIA Project Shield Joseph Volpe and Sean Buckley contributed to this report Continue reading NVIDIA unveils Project Shield, a Tegra 4-powered Android gaming handheld Filed under: Gaming , Handhelds , HD , Mobile , NVIDIA Comments

View post:
NVIDIA unveils Project Shield, a Tegra 4-powered Android gaming handheld

Hands-on with Toshiba 84-inch L9300 Series Ultra HD 4K LED TV

The latest to announce its entrance into the Ultra HD market with its 84-inch 4K LED TV is Toshiba. The L9300 series is also available in 65-inch or 58-inch models and will be available this summer with no word on price. According to a representative of the company, the key to Ultra HD is the processing as there won’t be much native content at launch, and it has the best with its CEVO 4K Quad+Dual Core Processor and CQ Engine. The demo model on display sure impressed, but we’ll hold our final judgement when the product finally ships. Gallery: Hands-on with Toshiba 84-inch L9300 Series Ultra HD 4K LED TV Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments

Netflix 1080p streams no longer called X-High, company credits improved encodes

While Netflix Watch Instantly movie streams are mostly useful for casual viewing, if you’re interested in the actual quality of the video provided you may have noticed a few changes recently. Chronicled in a thread on AVS Forum and reported to us by several tipsters, more than a few users have noticed their streams on 1080p-capable hardware ( PlayStation 3 , WDTV Live) no longer rock the “X-High” notification (on PS3, hit select to view more information bout your streaming details) that had previously let them know they were getting the highest quality possible. We checked with Netflix, and according to the company, it’s rolling out better encoding that improves picture quality despite using a lower bitrate. That means 1080p works even for people with slower connections, and increases detail on “textures, shadows, skies, and particularly faces.” As a result, what was previously called “X-High HD” is now being labeled a tier lower. While it wasn’t mentioned specifically, some are theorizing the move is tied into Netflix’s use of eyeIO’s video encoding tech , which it announced earlier this year, to shrink the size of streams. eyeIO claims it can chop bandwidth by more than half for a 720p stream, something we’re sure a company that’s pushing as much data as Netflix would appreciate. Still, some viewers in the thread are claiming a noticeably softer picture as a result. Check after the break for the statement from Netflix, then take some time for “research” and let us know if you’re noticing any changes in picture quality lately. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Continue reading Netflix 1080p streams no longer called X-High, company credits improved encodes Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: AVS Forum , Tech of the Hub

See the article here:
Netflix 1080p streams no longer called X-High, company credits improved encodes

MediaPortal posts 2.0 alpha media hub and new remote apps, teases 1.3 beta with Titan

Home theater PC owners only just recovering from their turkey or tofu comas will have some updating to do — MediaPortal has been busy. The experimenters among us will most likely want to jump straight into the promised MediaPortal 2.0 Alpha Autumn , which carries new visual layouts and video backgrounds, a news plug-in and a party-friendly music player. New versions of remote tools like aMPdroid, MPExtended, WebMediaPortal and WifiRemote bring their own slew of upgrades, such as HTTP Live Streaming in MPExtended or a “what’s new” interface in aMPdroid. We’ll readily admit that our eye is most drawn to the yet-to-be-launched MediaPortal 1.3 beta’s addition of the Titan skin you see up above: going beyond what we saw in October, the extra-polished look goes a long way towards accommodating newcomers and the style-conscious. We’re still waiting on publicly accessible 1.3 beta code, but everything else is waiting for open-source media hubs at the included links. Filed under: Cellphones , Home Entertainment , Software , HD Comments Via: Missing Remote Source: MediaPortal (1) , (2) , (3)

Follow this link:
MediaPortal posts 2.0 alpha media hub and new remote apps, teases 1.3 beta with Titan

Ken May

Tag: hdpostcross