A Comparison of Movie Download Services

[Shane]

Over the past two years, we have seen a number of video download services hit the market from major players like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Netflix. There have also been some new companies entering this category, such as XStreamHD and VUDU. Some are available only via a software client, meaning a PC (or Mac) would be required to enjoy them, while others work with dedicated hardware connected to your TV. They vary in quality, selection, delivery methods and cost and this article will hit the highlights of what each of the major players are offering their would-be customers in this burgeoning market.

Let's set the stage. This article covers products and services that provide movie downloads via the internet. Specifically...

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2008/04/a_comparison_of_movie_download_services.php]Read Article[/url]

[jerfilm]

Check out this site: http://www.eztakes.com/

It's not major studio stuff, but if you're interested in offerings from suppliers like Sinister Cinema, these downloads work. Of course, a 4 gig movie will take around 6 1/2 to 7 hours with a 1 meg DSL connection. Good for overnight downloads.

[acellier]

We have viewed several movies using Netflix's "watch instantly" service.
Perhaps you should have said more about this service, available at no additional charge to Netflix subscribers.
Even though our cable internet connection is only 1.5Mbps, the movies play as well as DirecTV that we used some years ago.
And, by the way, we use a Mac Mini with the free VirtualBox environment for Windows.
...Al

[carolsky9]

Vudu has the best engineering. The remote is really unique and the terrific navigation around their site is what Apple should have provided, and didn't. The best thing is a critics rating filter which you didn't mention and which I recommend investigating. You can set it in 5 seconds so the list is reduced to only 4 or 5+ critic rated movies. You then have only super movies in the list and you will neveer see a bad movie again. Considering how many bad movies there are, this is a unique and extremely valuable service that the Vudu people thought of and engineered into their product.

Carol

[Shane]

We have viewed several movies using Netflix's "watch instantly" service.
Perhaps you should have said more about this service, available at no additional charge to Netflix subscribers.

I actually had a whole section written for Netflix and a few others. I decided to focus the article on download services only (as opposed to streaming services). Netflix, as you probably know, is a streaming service.

I have included the write-up I had on Netflix below, since you requested it:

Netflix Watch Instantly

Launched in January 2007, Netflix's Watch Instantly service provides access to over 7,000 movies and TV episodes. This service is streaming only, so there is no persistent storage of your purchases locally. However, there is no cost for renting because it is included as part of your Netflix membership, which ranges from $5 - $24. The amount of "Watch Instantly" time you get per day is determined by your membership level. At their base level of membership, $4.99 for their "two out" program, you get 2 hours of viewing, while at all other levels you have an unlimited number of hours of viewing. Netflix Watch Instantly does not have any sort of hardware compatibility yet, so you will have to have a PC connected to your home entertainment system if you want to enjoy these movies on your main TV. They have announced plans with LG to bring out a set top box later this year.

To watch movies instantly, you must have a computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, or Windows Vista; Internet Explorer version 6 or higher; Windows Media Player version 11 or higher; an active broadband connection to the Internet; 1.0 GHz processor; 512 MB RAM; 3 GB free hard disk drive space.

The quality of the video you receive is SD or lower, depending directly upon your bandwidth. Based on a quick test of your bandwidth, Netflix will stream you the movie in one of three quality levels. With my connection, I was receiving their highest level of quality. Their data rates and service levels are as follows:

High: 1.6 - 2.2 or greater Mbps
Good: 1.0 - 1.5 Mbps
Basic: < 1.0 Mbps

The service is as "instant" as they advertise, with movies usually starting within a half a minute from clicking "Play". Just be aware that if you have a lower bandwidth connection, you will be sacrificing quality for this convenience. And there does not appear to be a way to force a higher level of quality.

As with Amazon Unbox, there is not any high definition content as yet. Their selection is quite good, and they are one of very few who have a subscription model in place. All you need is a $9/month package or more for unlimited movies viewing.

Where to improve: Video quality is about the only area they need to improve, and they need to improve BIG. Their current quality level may be fine for watching on a PC, but if they are planning on moving into set top boxes later this year, and onto bigger sets, then the quality needs to improve to stay competitive. This brings me to the other area they need improvement: Usability. To be fully usable, they need to have better options from set top boxes. Apparently that's coming from LG mid-2008.

Overall Grade: B

[Shane]

The best thing is a critics rating filter which you didn't mention and which I recommend investigating.

Hi Carol,

I was trying to focus on the main points of each and summarize, to keep the article short ... or at least not as long :).

I do have a more in-depth review of the VUDU unit coming out soon which will highlight some of these more specific features.

Thanks,

- Shane

[haines1]

Shane:

Any thoughts on Hulu?

[Shane]

Shane:

Any thoughts on Hulu?

I haven't looked at it in-depth. It was not included in this particular article because it is a "streaming" service, not a "download" service. In general, I don't have any plans to cover streaming services in HD for two reasons:

1) In order to stream HD over a typical internet connection, the video stream is compressed to about 1Mpbs. A typical over-the-air HD signal is about 12-17Mpbs. Blu-ray streams audio and video at about 48Mbps. So you can see how when limited to 1Mbps, the signal will have to undergo severe compression, and in the process is likely to lose many of its "HD" qualities.

2) Most, if not all, streaming services available today are available only via PC (or Mac). Most folks do not yet have a PC hooked into their home theaters, so it's not very practical to provide HD streaming unless there is some end device already connected to the TV that is configured to accept it. We're starting to see some of these hit the market this year, but I think the future is in download services, not streaming.

Those are my thoughts on the subject,

- Shane

[haines1]

Thanks Shane...

You should take a look at www.asankya.com . They are going to shake up the delivery of IP based HD content into the home...

Thanks for your publication. It is a great resource..

Cheers,

[SpiritMatter]

Howdy

I just watched a free streaming movie, "I Love You Too", on "AmericaTV". (http://www.americafree.tv/index.shtml)

It was listed as "HD- 2Mbps".

It was not anywhere near Blu-ray but it was good!

It's a wild world out there, so enjoy!