Latest news from Netflix: New Device, killing DVDs in 2030+, 40% stream, <10% Blu-ray, goin Intnat'l

**eugovector** · **10-22-09, 09:50 PM**

Lots of interesting news from the latest netflix earnings call courtesy of hackingnetflix.com:

Netflix to Add "New Consumer Electronics Device" & More From Earnings Call

During the earnings call Netflix CEO Reed Hastings disclosed some very interesting information:

* Netflix will add a new "consumer electronics device" in Q4 and they've increased projections because of the device. Wii? PS3? iPhone?
* Netflix will spend $40 million on new machines to open, inspect and clean DVDs. A Netflix spokesperson said that "workers will stay" when asked if the machines would eliminate jobs.
* Hastings says that Netflix will be shipping DVDs until 2030, hence the $40 million investment in automation.
* A DVD sales window before the rental window would be good for Netflix, according to Hastings, since costs would be lower for content and Netflix is less focused on new releases. Hasting said that a later rental window would help with new release availability, and with the money they save they could spend more on streaming titles.
* The number of customers using streaming (at least one movie or show per month) has doubled to more than 40% in the past year.
* Hastings believes that the $600 million or more they spend on postage will convert to streaming, making Netflix one of the biggest customers of the studios behind Wal-Mart and Amazon.
* International Expansion: Netflix will offer a streaming-only plan in an unannounced international market in the second half of 2010.
* Less than 10% of subscribers rent Blu-ray titles from Netflix.

**StereoClarity** · **10-25-09, 03:19 PM**

Very interesting stuff. I wonder who they host their servers with? To stream that kind of media at the levels of quality that they do is just amazing in terms of a hosting solution. They must have some serious hardware.

**ironglen** · **10-25-09, 04:34 PM**

Thanks for the info! Makes me feel better about investing in a bluray stream-capable player in the (hopefully) near future.

**tonyvdb** · **10-25-09, 07:23 PM**

Quote:

StereoClarity wrote:

Very interesting stuff. I wonder who they host their servers with? To stream that kind of media at the levels of quality that they do is just amazing in terms of a hosting solution. They must have some serious hardware.

It will be compressed no matter how you slice it so a real BluRay will still look better.

**eugovector** · **10-25-09, 09:42 PM**

Quote:

tonyvdb wrote:

It will be compressed no matter how you slice it so a real BluRay will still look better.

For some people yes, for some people they will look equivalent dependent on their seating distance/display resolution. I think the audio side will be more telling. Hopefully Netflix will consider DD+. DD+ was supposed to be the savior of HQ internet audio, and I know Dolby was banking on it, but it seems to be getting zero attention.

**tonyvdb** · **10-25-09, 11:46 PM**

Its rare the see any content using DD+ even the new BluRay movies seem to be skipping that option. I saw more HD DVDs with that as a choice.

**eugovector** · **10-26-09, 12:26 AM**

Yes, but the significantly lower bitrate of DD+ makes it a viable option for internet streamed video, where TrueHD is not. Additionally, it offers better quality at equivalent bitrates to AC-3, making it preferable to AC-3 in all supported uses.

Looking at it that way, they should start putting it on DVDs, but that falls outside authoring specs.

**akan101** · **11-01-09, 02:06 AM**

For streaming Hd Tv huge bandwith is required with a continous ping. The quality may be ruined by slow connection.

**eugovector** · **11-01-09, 12:51 PM**

Oh, the quality will definitely be ruined by a slow connection. You need bandwidth to stream HD, but it's more than possible to stream compressed HD via standard 5-10mbit internet. Take look at examples from Netflix HD, Revision 3, Geek Brief and others that can be streamed with little buffering. Factor in an ability to create a significant buffer for slower connections, higher bandwidth material, and you have a real compelling case for streaming technology quickly overtaking physical media for most of the public.

Now, these sure don't look as good as Blu-ray, but they are more than acceptable for the current state of internet streaming and are a good indicator of what's to come.

**bobdole369** · **11-03-09, 02:57 PM**

Quote:

Very interesting stuff. I wonder who they host their servers with? To stream that kind of media at the levels of quality that they do is just amazing in terms of a hosting solution. They must have some serious hardware.

I caught a glimpse of facebooks server farm and was blown away. I can't imagine what netflix looks like. Since mpeg standard 1080i runs at 19.2mbits, and a lot of 1080p stuff is being compressed down to 4-6gb size via h.264 - its not inconceivable to stream full (well reduced bitrate) 1080p stuff over 300k internet (thats 3mbit dsl basically).

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