It seems that since the day the PS3 launched, and especially since it became available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 owners have been longing for Netflix access on their system. Late last month, Netflix granted their wish. They announced that a special disc would be shipping that would allow PlayStation 3 owners to access some for of the “Watch Instantly” feature via their system. On Friday, November 6, 2009, those discs began arriving. So how good is the Netflix access, and was it worth the wait?
The first time you pop the disc in, you are prompted to enter a short code on the Netflix website via your home computer. You can’t do it via the PS3 browser, so it can be a bit tricky for those that don’t have easy access to their computers in the same room they are gaming. But once the code is entered, the disc is instantly activated. It takes a few moment to boot up, and then you are treated to a single line of movie posters from your instant queue. You can scroll through the covers, with the highlighted one blowing up to show a larger image. If you press Up on your controller, you can access the various “Watch Instantly” categories. These are everything from your queue, to movies you recently viewed, to genres like comedy, horror, drama as well as some recommendations based on your renting and viewing habits. Once you have found a film that you are interested in, you can press Down on the controller. This will bring you to a details screen. You can view a short summary, the films user rating, length, MPAA rating and available resolution. Resolution is indicated by HD or SD symbols. From here you can also select to add/remove it from your instant queue, rate and play the selection. Movies load fairly quickly. My selections started within 10 seconds, usually shorter. HD movies actually loaded a bit quicker, as it didn’t require a resolution change on my TV.
As a basic setup, the PS3 Netflix disc is acceptable. You have access to most everything that has the option to be watched online. The covers are nice and large, and one things load, browsing is fairly easy and quick. It’s not as easy to use as it should be though. There is a ton of wasted real estate on the screen. The system could have easily mimicked the setup of Netflix.com. The disc covers load almost excruciatingly slow, which wastes a good chunk of time as you switch between genres. If you’re trying to find a film quick, the quickest option might be to actually visit Netflix.com and add items to your queue. At least you can do this via the PS3 web browser, but it is less than an ideal situation. It may sound overly negative, but it isn’t a totally negative experience. I just found room for some improvements. Those improvements may come once the disc-less XMB access is added late next year.
Once you let things load, things move smoothly. Movies load as quick as they do on the computer, and the quality looks really nice. The higher quality streams looked about as good as an upscaled DVD. Sound is crisp and clear, and the stream never paused once to buffer. And this was on a meager 1.5 MBPS internet connection, so faster streams will have no trouble, but the reports of slow loading covers extends to those on high end internet connections. The bottom line is that this is an acceptable, but less than perfect solution. For people with only a PS3, or for those tired of paying an extra charge to use the service on their Xbox 360, this will do nicely.
Overall: 7 out of 10
If you have a PlayStation 3, and would like to order your Netflix streaming disc, you can do so Here.
I found the quality on the HD streams to be much better then an upscaled DVD. IMO they were as good as Dish Network’s HD feed. I had some slow loading covers but only when I was trying to jam through the system extremely fast. If I browsed them at a normal pace the covers loaded fine for me.
Personally I give this an 8 out of 10. If it was just a downloadable app (once exclusivity runs out) I would give it a 9 out of 10 and if there was a search feature added to it I’d give it 10 out of 10.
The amazing thing to me is that there is no added fee. So if you have a PS3 and you have any netflix account there is no additional cost. Kudos to Sony and Netflix.
I can’t say the HD was as good as broadcast HD. There were still noticeable artifacts at times and the bit rate is noticeably smaller. Color depth, especially in darker scenes, isn’t the greatest. For what it is, it’s fantastic quality. The fact that here’s no extra cost should definitely sway those who keep Xbox Live mostly for Netflix. They have, basically, a year to listen to feedback before they launch the XMB accessible app. By then, I expect it to be an even better experience.
I cant wait to read your next post. Nice post.. I will be watching! XBOX LIVE Forever!
Cheers for the informative page – I enjoyed reading it!