Netflix on Sage

[teknubic]

Please post your connection details, PhillJones.
I tried doing this last night and ran into the WMP version wall. Couldn't reboot at the time so that's as far as I got. I doubt I'll have stuttering problems since I have a 12Mb connection (10 if I'm right about the CM WAN port speed) but since we know what the lower end is (thanks IVB ) it would be cool to know what the 'perfectly watchable' high-end is.

[Naylia]

Just tried this myself last night. It does require that you access the website in IE6 and have a fairly recent WMP install. Upon first playing it installed a small application and asked me to update my WMP DRM.

I have DSL at 864 kb/s, which is plenty fast for the web but not really that fast. Playback was without glitches. They are using a tiered system where it measures your bandwidth and adjusts the quality of the streaming video based on available bandwidth. There's a little box in the coner or the Watch Now page that tells you which tier your connection tests at. The three tiers of video are 500 kb/s bitrate, 1 Mb/s bitrate and a 1.6-2.2 Mb/s bitrate. The bitrate includes both audio and video. I'm not sure if it has surround. I'll have to check that. In the 'Basic' or 500kb/s tier, video was watchable but certainly low res. Probably best suited to B movies you're watching while doing something else. Could also be good for watching from a laptop while traveling.

[mattdcknsn]

I played around with this a little while ago. I have a 5 down connection and got good video quality but only stereo. I don't think they support surround sound. Its interesting to play around and doesn't cost me anymore money.

[sainswor99]

A little off topic, but just saw this on Engadget:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/07/a...lable-on-tivo/

Usually when a vendor says available "later this year," they deliver in December, not the following month. So excuse our surprise to find Amazon's Unbox video download service "Now Available!" to any broadband connected Series2 or Series3 TiVo. That's right, after a brief pilot kicked off in February, TiVo subscribers can now register their box with Amazon and get $15 worth of free movies and TV shows in the process. Not all Unbox content is available for download -- only about 1,376 titles are tagged for TiVo download as of this posting. We presume that's due to the need to transcode titles into a TiVo-playable format and not the result of some nefarious meddling by the studios. TV shows cost $1.99 per episode while most movies can be purchased for between $9.99 and $14.99 -- movies rentals start at $1.99 although most are listed for either $2.99 or $3.99. If you already own a TiVo then this is about as easy as movie downloading can get.

[PhillJones]

Originally Posted by teknubic

Please post your connection details, PhillJones.
I tried doing this last night and ran into the WMP version wall. Couldn't reboot at the time so that's as far as I got. I doubt I'll have stuttering problems since I have a 12Mb connection (10 if I'm right about the CM WAN port speed) but since we know what the lower end is (thanks IVB ) it would be cool to know what the 'perfectly watchable' high-end is.

I have 6Mbps cable modem if I believe the advert. I benchmarked it once and it's about 1.5Mbps. I'm in the 'high' tier, yay me. As I say the results were perfectly watchable on my 50"plasma, certainly for watching old TV shows or that documentary you can't be bothered to wait for.

If this is any help for anybody, I sent them the error code for the error I was getting and got this reply

Thank you for contacting Netflix.com customer support!

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing difficulty with our new instant
viewing feature. This error generally appears when the DRM folder cannot be
found. The best resolution is to set WMP to manually acquire licenses:

1. Launch Windows Media Player
2. From the Tools menu, select Options
3. Select the Privacy tab
4. Deselect the option "Download usage rights automatically when I play or sync
a file"
5. Apply then Select the Performance tab
6. Click on the Advance Button Where it Says Video Acceleration
7. Check "Use video mixing renderer"
8. If "Enable full-screen mode switch" is check please uncheck it
9. Click OK

Locate and rename the DRM folder:

10. Open My Computer
11. Click Tools, then Folder Options
12. From the Folder Options window, click the View tab, and select the Show
hidden files and folders button
13. Next, uncheck the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) box
14. Click OK
15. Open My Computer
16. Open the C: drive
17. Open the Documents and Settings folder
18. Open the All Users folder
19. Right-click the DRM folder and select Rename
20. Rename the folder (i.e. DRMold)
21. Click Tools, then Folder Options
22. From the Folder Options window, click the View tab, and select the Do not
show hidden files and folders button
23. Next, check the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) box

Reset Internet Explorer options:

24. Open Internet Explorer
25. Click Tools, then Internet Options
26. Click Advanced
27. Click Reset Internet Explorer Settings
28. Restart Internet Explorer
29. Attempt to play a movie

This will force Windows Media Player to acquire a new license file, which should
then be handled properly.

30. When asked to run the ActiveX controller, run it.
31. If the title does not play, shut down Internet Explorer.
32. Open Windows Media Player
33. Click on Tools, then Options.
34. Click the 'Privacy' tab.
35. Check the option "Download usage rights automatically when I play or sync a
file"
36. Click Ok
37. Open Internet Explorer and play a title.

If this does not remedy your issue, or if you have any further questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact us via phone. You may reach us at
1-866-402-2616 between 7am and 11pm Pacific time, seven days a week. Please note
that we will need you to be in front of your computer at the time you call.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
Gabriel
Netflix Customer Service

Didn't work though. It could be a firewall issue I suppose because it just won't retrieve the DRM license. Anyway, I'm not really supposed to watch movies while at work (crazy strict rules ), so I'm not going to try and figure out why it doesn't work.