Why do DVDs look better on my computer than Netflix streaming movies

[miri]

DVDs look pretty good on my monitor, its a 20" 1680x1050 but Netflix streaming movies look not so great

On my xbox the Netflix streaming looks great on my LCD TV but DVDs look not so great. I noticed that when netflix streams on the xbox it displays as HD. do movies stream at a higher res on a television than on a computer?

 

[zerocool84]

Audio/Video & Home Theater

 

[Viper GTS]

I'm not sure Netflix does HD on the PC. Lots of search results on google about people wanting it but nothing recent so maybe it's been addressed.

Viper GTS

 

[JM Aggie08]

I blame the hardon collider.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Streaming video usually use high compression and are more pixilated. Less noticable on a TV then a higher definition display device such as a monitor.

The hardon collider and george bush can sometimes play a role in the signal quality as well.

 

[miri]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Streaming video usually use high compression and are more pixilated. Less noticable on a TV then a higher definition display device such as a monitor.

why does the netflix streaming display as HD on the television but not on the computer?

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: miri

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Streaming video usually use high compression and are more pixilated. Less noticable on a TV then a higher definition display device such as a monitor.

why does the netflix streaming display as HD on the television but not on the computer?

HD on a tv is 1280x720 and your monitor is 1680x1050 so you'll notice the loss of detail more on your computer monitor since it's higher rez. Also pretty much all tv's have built in scalers to scale the image to the tv correctly and most computer monitors do not.

 

[0roo0roo]

no, computer monitors don't have to do any scaling
software players scale automatically, its no different. it could be that the xbox streams are higher bitrate.. could also be your tv isn'it good enough to show the lack of detail in the netflix image...its bluring it together.

 

[thedarkwolf]

All the other streaming devices get priority over the computer streamers.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: miri

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Streaming video usually use high compression and are more pixilated. Less noticable on a TV then a higher definition display device such as a monitor.

why does the netflix streaming display as HD on the television but not on the computer?

The TV is lower quality so it just seems like it's HD but I highly doubt it is. It's kinda like youtube HD, I doubt that's true HD, it's just that it's better quality so it's "higher definition" as in, better then average.

I remember making animation and it would look bad on the computer but on TV it actually looked like a typical professional cartoon.

 

[dwell]

Netflix streaming look like shit on everything.

 

[Crusty]

Lower resolution display on your TV.

 

[mugs]

If you're using component cables (or composite cables obviously) your Xbox will not upscale DVDs. It will only upscale if you're using HDMI or VGA I believe.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Chris
Netflix streaming look like shit on everything.

Your Internet connection is shit. Netflix streaming video looks fine on my TV.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: miri

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Streaming video usually use high compression and are more pixilated. Less noticable on a TV then a higher definition display device such as a monitor.

why does the netflix streaming display as HD on the television but not on the computer?

I thought they said they were going to enable the HD streaming for PCs, but I'm not sure if they ever did. It was first available on the Xbox 360, then on some other devices. This page indicates that it only works with devices that are intended to be connected to a TV:

http://www.netflix.com/WiMessage?msg=59

 

[dwell]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Chris
Netflix streaming look like shit on everything.

Your Internet connection is shit. Netflix streaming video looks fine on my TV.

Apparently, your TV is shit. I am getting four bars.

 

[shortylickens]

Netflix does NOT do HD streaming to computers, yet. They might someday but its not here today.
I have a 30 mbit connection and all I get is DVD quality. And actually, I've streamed some movies I also happen to have on DVD. DVD's in VLC Player look a little better than Netflix Streaming on its highest quality. You dont get to choose your quality. Its automatically determined every time you start a new movie. If your connection is slow you will never get the high quality stuff. If your connection is fast but you are having a bad day or someone is leeching your bandwidth, you get low quality.
HD is NOT available for computers right now. One day they may have it, but that would consume massive bandwidth and they arent there yet. Perhaps they would have to charge extra if you want HD streaming, just like they charge a couple bucks more if you want Blu-ray discs in your que.

I have no idea why the enable it for their special TV box, maybe to encourage people to spend that extra 100 bucks which is totally stupid, because its your ISP, cable modem, and router doing all the real work.