Netflix PS3 Streaming Disc Review

Update: I added a short video review of streaming on the PS3.

The Netflix streaming discs arrived today for the first 100,000 customers that requested it (get yours at http://www.netflix.com/ps3), and I spent a bit of time playing with the disc. Until they release an update sometime next year, you'll have to put the disc in every time you wan to watch streaming movies. The envelope even has a reminder: "Do not return disc to Netflix."

 

The PS3 streaming disc loads quickly, and the Netflix user interface is very similar to most Netflix-ready devices, with tabs across the top for Instant Queue, Recently Watched, New Arrivals, genres, Movies You'll Love, and even Netflix's Taste Preferences like "Feel-good Underdog Movies." The Xbox interface is a step ahead, with the movie sharing and a more advanced user interface, so it'll be interesting to see how fast Sony catches up (or passes them, given the rivalry).

 

The video quality is on par with other streaming devices, and the PS3 supports HD streaming from Netflix (the title with have a HD icon). If you're having trouble with HD streaming, NetflixHelps on Twitter says to make sure that display is set to 720p in the PS3 settings.

Here's a quick video review of streaming on the PS3:

Do you have the PS3 streaming disc? What do you think of Netflix streaming on the PS3?

Comments

[Kevin Goldstein]

Got mine today and played around with it a bit. Interface is a bit slow and I wish there was a search feature (maybe I missed it -- it was a brief mess around), but the streaming quality overall was fantastic on a 46" 1080p Samsung.

[MCW]

I also assumed you'd be able to search via the player, but did not see the option either (no instructions, no settings menu? It's definitely not a Roku player...). At least you can see the newly added stuff though, which is something you can't do with your Roku player.

I also noticed flipping through your queue titles one by one is not breakneck fast, like it should be. You can either go one by one slowly, or hit R1 and jump 5 titles ahead, or so, much like you said, Kevin.

The disc seems like a rush job to me... doesn't really take advantage of the PS3's capabilities, although it at least gives PS3 owners another way to watch Netflix movies & TV, so that's great.

I don't know, I think I'll have to test more, with my Bluetooth Blu-ray remote (once I get some new batteries), but for now, I'm not all that impressed. I knew they probably were going to use the same old interface, but they had an opportunity to do something fresh, and failed. It might be better to just wait for the future firmware update.

[shetaan819]

Since sometime next year, Sony could send out an update to all PS3 machines via ethernet, couldnt they also do this for all PS2 machines as well ?

Is there something resource requirements-wise (processor speed, memory, etc) preventing them from making this available on PS2 or do they simply want people to buy PS3s to have this functionality ?

[james]

Not all the genres are available, I wanted to watch anime but it doesnt show, also there are only 100 titles under each genre.

[Luna Saisho]

Having both the Xbox and the PS3, I've been using it on the 360 for ages now, and I have to say that I'm not all that impressed with the PS3's streaming.

Putting aside the interface, watching an SD show is .... bad. On the Xbox, Wall-E played in full screen, with some letterboxing to keep the theater aspect ratio. On the PS3, it showed it in full SD (new phrase lol). Letterboxed on all sides, and no apparent way to expand that to full screen like the 360. Then I tried 30 Rock, episode one, which played just as good on the PS3 as the 360, in full screen clear HD on my 42" LCD.

The problem, and the way I'm sure they worked around the 360 exclusivity deal, is that this isn't a PS3 app as much as it's a Blu-Ray that uses BD Live to make it all happen. I'm sure it makes sure it's on a PS3 tho. This means that hitting O exits out of the player completely, and puts you back at the XMB. Hit Square to return to the menu. The menu isn't as fancy as the Xbox's, but overall it's only better quality is that the disc box images are a tiny bit larger. The only true drawback on the PS3's interface is it isn't quite as easy to select a single episode, but it's not a deal breaker, ladies (30 Rock joke there lol). The interface does offer the same features as the 360, with new releases and a few custom categories that match some of your viewing preferences.

Until there's a native app for the PS3, I'll continue to use the 360 for this.

Now to watch the review here on the site. ^_^

[MCW]

That's a good question, sheetan819. I've never thought of that... you could even have a streaming disc for PS2 owners.

I never fully understood why there could not have been firmware updates for the PS2, aside from lack of available memory. Again, these are things I know little about, but you know there's some workaround they could have done.

[Luna Saisho]

Putting it as bluntly as possible, the PS2 is no longer of this generation. This disc uses BD Live to make it happen, so they'd have to program a native app for the PS2... and not very many people have the network adapter for the PS2. You also wouldn't get HD, which is going to be a great big drawback when Netflix Wii comes out.

[Chad]

My tv is only saying that HD is in 480p. Anyone else?

[MCW]

My tv is only saying that HD is in 480p. Anyone else? @Netflixhelps (as reported on this very site) says to make sure your PS3 video settings say 720p. This confuses me, as a 1080p TV owner, but I'm just reporting what they say.

[Clint Miller]

I have previously been watching Netflix on my 52" Samsung tv by streaming through my PS3 via Playon. The quality was pretty good, but it was always slow and unreliable. Also, my DSL internet connection is relatively slow at only 1.5 Mbps.

I loaded up my Netflix disc this afternoon and started testing it out. So far, I am pretty impressed. The disc loaded pretty quickly.The interface was a little sluggish, but that may be due to my internet connection. When browsing through movie titles, you are able to add and remove titles from your instant queue as well as rate titles.

Once you select a title to play, the interface buffers for a minute and then starts playing really good quality video. I have yet to have it need to do any further buffering during a video. And I almost always had that problem through Playon. The interface allows you to move forward and backward through thumbnails of scenes in 10 second increments. My PS3 remote works great with the interface as well (pause, play, ffwd, rew). Pressing the ffwd or rew buttons runs through the scene thumbnails.

Intially, there are a couple of things I would like to see added. I didn't see a way to search for movies. It also doesn't cache the images of the movie titles. So I often had to wait several seconds for it to refresh the images while browsing movie titles (at least with my slow internet connection). When playing a movie, you can stop a movie and them go back and resume at the same spot. But it does not appear to save this data. So once you exit the streaming disc, it loses that information.

Overall I am super pleased with the Netflix streaming for the PS3. Thanks Netflix and Sony!

[zac]

Will this disk work on any BD Live compliant player?

[Art Zemon]

I, too, messed with the disc briefly. The basic stuff works pretty well for a first release of the software.

I am bothered that "fullscreen" format shows are expanded to the widescreen format, which makes all the people look fat. The Roku player doesn't do this and the PS3 doesn't do this with fullscreen format DVDs, so its something broken within the Netflix code somewhere.

[CJ]

I called Netflix to ask if the one disc would activate two PS3 consoles - They didn't know and suggested I experiment.

I have two PS3 consoles (on the same router) and found out the one streaming disc DOES activate both consoles (different activation codes).

Just passing this info on for anyone else out there with multiple PS3 consoles - you don't need multiple discs.

[Comet]

Hi Art, I'm not seeing the same thing. I'm watching a fullscreen show in fullscreen aspect right now.

[Tim S. (Famous Chicken Theatre)]

On the bright side, I got the PS3 disc today. Unfortunately, I didn't get my regular queue disc today, even though it shipped yesterday. Bummer.

@CJ - what do you mean by different activation codes? Are those something that show up on the PS3 after you put the disc in, or on your netflix.com homepage?

[Jon]

So I think that it works all right. Once it finally loads and it does give you an HD option. Maybe it is faster in SD, I haven't tried it yet. It is much faster just to connect my laptop via HDMI to my TV and just do it through netflix.com. It it a decent solution if you don't have a laptop with HDMI, but it is very slow.

[Jon]

Also I have a 6MB connection so it isn't the connection. It needed to buffer about 10 minutes in. I tried the same movie through my laptop and I had not problems. Good idea mediocre exicution. Though again, if you don' have a laptop with HDMI, I suppose it is better then nothing. A good start.

[MCW]

@CJ - what do you mean by different activation codes?

I'm not CJ, but I've already done this. Much like with the Roku player, you have to activate it to instantly tie it to your Netflix account. So, when you put in your Netflix disc and start it up, it will show you a 4 digit code. Simply go to Netflix.com at the URL it tells you, on your computer, and enter in the code.

Once you do that, it'll update your queue within 3 minutes, and sync up.

He has more than one PS3, and didn't know if he'd need a separate disc for a separate console. This is interesting, because it seems like you could watch Netflix from your friends PS3 just by having the disc... a nice feature!

[Brian K]

About the slow scrolling thru your Queue compared to the 360:

I think that is because it loads all the movie info on each transition rather than just the cover image. You only have to press down to get cast and synopsis info. On the 360, that info is a load screen away. So, on balance, it might be faster if you have a large list to scroll through and need to be reminded about the cast and storylines.

And the SD picture has a... different... quality to it. I wonder if the PS3 is upscaling Standard Def programs, giving them a smeared appearance? SD content on my 360 looks fine. The HD content I watched on my PS3 was beautiful.

[Brian K]

Oh, and I like having a list of episodes when browsing a TV series right away rather than the "See other episodes" method used on the PS3. A little thing...

And, anyone know what the Red, Green,Blue and Yellow square choices that appear on the menu when you press the button do? I pressed one during playback and it said "Saving your choices" and backed me out to the Queue....

[Brian K]

" because it seems like you could watch Netflix from your friends PS3 just by having the disc... a nice feature!"

I think you are limited to 6 total activations, though, so you wouldn't want to do that with too many friends! (Of course, you could deactivate when you leave....)

And what happens if my disc gets scratched? Will I be sent another?

[Sock Puppet]

@ Brian...

I think you are limited to 6 total activations, though, so you wouldn't want to do that with too many friends! (Of course, you could deactivate when you leave....)

I don't think that's how it works. I think you are allowed 6 devices period, and then have to call netflix and jump through a few hoops to get one deactivated. Otherwise if folks could simply click on "deactivate" they could easily game the system.

[Jesse]

Anyone know if streaming to other countries still doesn't work with the PS3 version? I'll find out soon enough as I ordered my disk and it's shipping now to Kuwait.

[Mom, :-)]

WHO GIVE A FUCKING SHIT!

FUCK THIS

[Gran]

Jesse, Instant Watching is not available outside the 50 US states. The licensing agreement NF has with the studios/distributors does not allow it.