RSSLG's latest Blu-ray player adds streaming movies from Netflix
By Ed Oswald | Published July 31, 2008, 2:00 PM
Much disagreement remains about what will succeed: HD movies on optical disc, or streaming movies over broadband on-demand. LG is hedging its bets with its latest Blu-ray player that can also access 12,000 movies and TV shows through Netflix.
The two companies first announced their plans at CES in January, when details of a set-top box to be developed by LG was released. It is not clear whether the Blu-ray player is the device that was described, or if the two companies still plan a standalone Netflix box like the one from Roku.
LG's player, the BD300, requires a wired connection to the network, and will allow Netflix movies to start in as little as 30 seconds from the point the title is first selected. Users would be able to fast-forward and rewind through the streams.
Netflix's goals seem clear: not content with leading the DVD rental industry, it looks set to expand its presence into digital content. Altogether, at least four different Netflix-enabled set-top devices are expected to reach the market in the coming months.
LG Electronics USA president Teddy Hwang said he expects Blu-ray player sales to triple in three years. But Netflix sees physical discs becoming "irrelevant" within five years, making the movie critical to the company's future.
Besides the Netflix capabilities, the BD300 comes with several other features including Blu-ray BD-Live support (also known as Profile 2.0) and SimpLink, LG's technology that allows consumers to control multiple AV products from the company through a single on-screen menu.
I've been using Netflix's Watch Instantly since it's introduction. Picture is outstanding depending on your connection to Netflix. Some shows look better then others on my 52" DLP connected at 720P. I will start saving my $$$ now to buy this unit ASAP. Currently I'm watching the series "WEEDS" on Netflix.
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|I like the way that they've put the player next to their biggest f**king television to make it look as small as possible!
LG\Netflix really chose the covers of some top movies to show on the TV screen as well which just makes me want to dive in and buy one (Sarcasm implied).
Note to LG: get some better marketting staff as the ones you have at the moment seem to be pretty crap.
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|As design and marketing is my business, I could not agree more. I suppose making the player appear smaller is a plus, however, the lame choice of movies doesn't market Netflix to well.
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|I built a PC for streaming netflix to my theater, but it looked like ass.
Sony recently introduced a video store for the PS3 (yeah yeah, I broke down and bought a PS3), it looks promising but it's "expensive" when you consider that the monthly cost for Netflix is roughly 4-5 HD movie rentals from Sony, and you get unlimited BD rentals.
I'll suspect that I'll be getting *D discs in the mail for a long time to come.
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|I am with "wipster". I built mysef my own Media Center PC before Media Center was a thing. I hooked it up to my HDTV and I can watch ANYTHING!
You get a decent PC, put a good (Hauppage) TV Card in, get a good DVD (Or BluRay) Drive and make sure to have a High End Video Card, only way it will work!
I watch / stream all except HD Programming through my PC. I have FIOS (20Mbps Download / 5Mbps Upload) and there is no delay.
All in all, if you have the right conditions and get the right hardware, a individual BR Player is not really needed, and with the PC in control you can put anything on your PC on that TV!
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|I wonder when NetFlix will do HD? DirecTV offers instant OnDemand SD and wait 30secs HD.
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|Charter is doing OnDemand HD now as well... I would think it would be more difficult via the web as the bandwidth is limited. Until everyone has Internet 2.0, it might not be possible.
On another note, just saw an article that Dish is offering 1080p HD programming... sweet!
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|I'm very curious to see how they price this. My spidey sense is telling me it's going to get overpriced out of the chute. I hope not, as I have a Blu-ray player on my short list of stuff to buy soon.
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|How about the quality. Current netflix streaming quality is horrible
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|Sounds like you need a different internet connection. I am quite happy with the DVD quality of the Netflix "View Instantly" offerings.
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|Yeah same here - watching netflix on a 61" tv through the MyNetflix plugin in Vista Media Center and the quality is just as good as a regular DVD.
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|I disagree. I'm getting my feed via the web over a 10MB cable modem on my wifi G network using the Netflix engine on IE8 (Vista) and it looks great! Every bit as good as regular digital TV, with no dropouts and excellent 5.1 sound. When I pick a movie, it's up and running in less than 30 seconds.
To tell the truth, I was shocked it looked that good, maybe it's the digital NR in the Samsung, but I doubt it. You should check your connection dude.
Movie recommendation from the freebies at Netflix: "The Contract" with Morgan Freeman and John Cusack... it's excellent and I'd never heard of it before.
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|Digital TV looks like a** compared to HD though. You can argue that 480P upscaled looks pretty good because it does, but 480i (roughly the quality of digital tv and netflix) just looks stupid.
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|I guess this is one reason why Europeans and the (576p) PAL TV world find upscale so good.
Pity the dropped the plans to make this one the hybrid dual format high def player it was originally supposed to be.
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|Agreed, I have a 1080P 42" panasonic as well as a 92" projector screen running a Mitsubishi HC1500, the highest quality stream from Netflix looks as good as DVD, obviously interlaced instead of progressive, though still the resolution is there. Some people may be experiencing lesser quality due in part to their connection telling Netflix to stream the lower bitrate versions. Granted, this is also the first real decent attempt at standardizing this process. No one seemed to complain about all the DivX rips on the net, most at even less quality than what Netflix is streaming. This is now a "free" service with membership to Netflix. I remember paying higher monthly cost before this was available about a year go. Now they dropped the monthly charge by $2 and added unlimited Netflix online viewing at no additional cost. I am still for this movement, it will get better, just give it a little more time. For now, it is plenty acceptable in my opinion.
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|Not on a fiber connection... its like 2500kb/sec 480.
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|Compared to HD anything does. However it is perfectly acceptable quality none the less for what it is at this point in time.
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|I recently purchased a small chassis HP CPU which has a Blu-Ray player in it and a video card that allows me to connect it to my Samsung 61A750 HDTV via HDMI, also has a PVR, for $650. IMHO, this is the way to go, because now I watch anything that will play on the computer via a 61" 1080p monitor... I am in heaven, 2nd best buy I ever made (the 61A750 was the 1st)!
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|This thing will sell like crazy if its not terribly overpriced. This is exactly what people want.
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