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

By: Moxi DVR Overwhelms and Underwhelms

Moxi DVR Overwhelms and Underwhelms — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:17:52 +0000

[...] photos, movies from Netflix, and content from online video sources including Hulu.com, CBS.com and Amazon Video on Demand (s amzn). In addition, you can connect the Moxi to your home network to play video content stored [...]

By: DVD Tops for Entertainment; Online Delivery Small But Growing

DVD Tops for Entertainment; Online Delivery Small But Growing — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:18:50 +0000

[...] content directly to televisions. More Netflix-enabled devices are heading to market, Amazon offers HD rentals and purchases, and newcomers like ZillionTV will try to crack open the [...]

By: Hiccups in the Stream, That is What They Are

Hiccups in the Stream, That is What They Are — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:02:11 +0000

[...] with video watching can arise for completely non-nefarious reasons as well. I later learned that my recent tribulations with Amazon’s HD VOD service were caused by latency issues and excessive hops the data had to [...]

By: The Last Frontier for P2P VOD: Your Patience [NewTeeVee] | BYOHosting.com Blogs

Mon, 04 May 2009 14:24:20 +0000

[...] and forth within a movie can be tricky even for traditional VOD providers that don’t use P2P. Chris Albrecht’s recent Amazon HD VOD test demonstrated this well; Amazon’s service had numerous problems with its video quality after a jump, and [...]

By: The Last Frontier for P2P VOD: Your Patience

The Last Frontier for P2P VOD: Your Patience — Sun, 03 May 2009 07:01:37 +0000

By: Shelley

Shelley — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:04:51 +0000

I tried an HD tv show and had no problems with my Roku.

I did have problems with content from Netflix via the Roku box for a time, but the problem was happening with the content delivery network. Once that was fixed, I've not had problems with Netflix, nor Amazon, which uses the same content delivery network.

What would help to make Amazon more ready for primetime is to institute a way for people to easily report problems with streamed content, similar to what Netflix provides with Watch Now. And Amazon needs to incorporate a program to refund rentals if they fail. The current process is overly obtuse and complicated.

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:41:33 +0000

Jason, this is pretty vague and perhaps contradictory:

The new network congestion management practice works as follows:

If a certain area of the network nears a state of congestion, the technique will ensure that all customers have a fair share of access to the network. It will identify which customer accounts are using the greatest amounts of bandwidth and their Internet traffic will be temporarily managed until the period of congestion passes. Customers will still be able to do anything they want to online, and many activities will be unaffected, but they could experience things like: longer times to download or upload files, surfing the Web may seem somewhat slower, or playing games online may seem somewhat sluggish.

By: JL

JL — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:31:02 +0000

Comcast does not traffic shape video streaming of other data. You can find out details at http://www.comcast.net/networkmanagement/

Jason
Comcast Engineering

By: DaveZatz

DaveZatz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:19:33 +0000

Yes, Amazon VOD HD on TiVo is a different animal - the Amazon web pages will show the different bitrates and what not between TiVo and Roku. TiVo also has normal scrubbing controls and 5.1 sound (when available), as opposed to Roku. Roku has the quicker/better UI, though. Which is why I gravitate towards it.

I've also heard of Comcast's traffic shaping in regards to video streaming, but haven't seen any conclusive evidence that supports it. And as a Comcast customer, my streaming has been fine.

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:24:13 +0000

@Tyler,

But Amazon on TiVo is download, not stream, correct?

By: Tyler

Tyler — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:51:50 +0000

I have had no issues with the HD VOD on my TiVo S3... so maybe it is a Roku issue (no hard drive).

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:33:04 +0000

Thanks, G,

I've sent your comment on to Comcast and asked them for more info.

UPDATE: According to a Comcast rep, the Power Boost should not be interfering with the VOD stream since I have ample bandwidth to accompany the HD.

By: G

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:13:22 +0000

Comcast has the speed boost that confuses all the newer VOD systems that measure speed for best bitrate delivery. This was the case with Netlfix on the Xbox. Everytime you start the stream on Comcast it would come in at the best possible rate b/c of the speed boost. but since the boost only lasts like 30 seconds or so, eventually you lose the high quality stream.

you yourself mention in the post that the speed you get on your connection is "15-24mbps down". The 24mbps is in the speed boost range which I think is 25mbps. Comcast has something on their web page about this.

By: Paying On Time - Credit Cards » Second Take: Amazon HD VOD Not Ready for Prime Time? - Newteevee.com

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:31:56 +0000

[...] 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 sweet, but after a few tries, it quickly turned bitter. Amazon’s high-definition streaming is … Go to Source [...]

By: Tom B

Tom B — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:14:57 +0000

I haven't had many problems with Netflix HD on the Roku. I'll occasionally have a bad stretch getting only 2 dots (usually this is between 7-8pm) on Roku, but even that will disappear in a few mintues. (Oddly enough, on my TiVo the signal strength will be fine during this same time ...)

As far as Amazon HD, haven't tried it on Roku yet. Rented a movie on TiVo, but of course that DLs to the TiVo HD and so looked fine.

I have rented SD movies/TV shows from Amazon and they look fine, no problems. Hopefully HD will be the same ...