Comments on: Amazon Officially Adds HD Content, and It Looks Good

By: Kodak’s Theater HD Player Needs Better Connections

Kodak’s Theater HD Player Needs Better Connections — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:02:13 +0000

[...] HD videos. Still, I’d like to see more online content — integration with Netflix or Amazon’s VOD service could really make the Kodak player [...]

By: Despite Econalypse - Internet Still Innovating « Connected

Despite Econalypse - Internet Still Innovating « Connected — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:18:04 +0000

[...] will hopefully maintain net neutrality. This is a necessity for WebTV as big name players such as Amazon and Hulu continue to make legal high quality content available to consumers. Original Webseries [...]

By: Why I Jumped on the Blu-ray Bandwagon

Why I Jumped on the Blu-ray Bandwagon — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:02:36 +0000

[...] Maybe we’re headed for an all-broadband, all-download and streaming world, one in which HD movies are sent directly to your TV. A world where you don’t have to wait for the coveted red Netflix envelope to land in your [...]

By: Amazon lancia l’HD per alcuni suoi contenuti | NoNiente.com

Amazon lancia l’HD per alcuni suoi contenuti | NoNiente.com — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:11:36 +0000

[...] L’HD arriva su Amazon. La famosa compagnia che si occupa di e-commerce arricchisce infatti il proprio catalogo di contenuti televisivi e cinematografici in alta definizione. [...]

By: Second Take: Amazon HD VOD Not Ready for Prime Time?

Second Take: Amazon HD VOD Not Ready for Prime Time? — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:51:42 +0000

[...] Take: Amazon HD VOD Not Ready for Prime Time? When Amazon released the HD version of its VOD service last week, the future of movie rentals seemed so close I could taste it. But while at first it was [...]

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:24:30 +0000

Yeah, bandwidth will be an issue (especially for houses with kids going online). I've watched a bunch of the Netflix streaming HD content and never experienced this problem.

By: timekeeper

timekeeper — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:27:01 +0000

Thanks for the update Chris. It's funny how a few key bits of information can really set the stage. I'm assuming that you are using the HDMI interface.

Isn't that part of the streaming problem, inconstant bandwidth? There should be more local storage on the Roku to get around this.

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:16:05 +0000

@Timekeeper,

I tried the service out last night via my Roku on my 720p Samsung TV, and my experience mirrored Liane's -- for the most part. The picture quality was excellent... at first. Then 20 minutes into the movie ("Frost/Nixon")(very good, btw), the film stopped, re-buffered and when it came back it dropped the HD.

I wasn't downloading anything else, I was using a wired connection, and nothing else connected to the network on, so there shouldn't have been an issue from a bandwidth perspective. The irritating thing is that I paid for an HD movie -- but only got SD. I've contacted Amazon to see what's going and will update later.

By: Becky Shops

Becky Shops — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:49:12 +0000

Amazon is Amazing! If only I had something to do with all my unread books I'd be fine

By: Timekeeper

Timekeeper — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:04:27 +0000

Hi Liane, Interesting article but you left out some key information that is pertinent to you story:

What type of TV do you have? Watching HD movies on an SD/ED set will make it look as good as Blu-Ray.

What type of internet connection do you have? Most internet connections are limited by the 10baseT router/modem connection and not the 100baseT internal network. By not seeing a hit when d/l'ing multiple "HD" YouTube streams it could be because of buffering. Try and install a bandwidth monitor on the devices and see what the combined bandwidth consumption is.

While an informative article, it seems a bit too anecdotal and a bit of a plug for the service.