1080p, 5.1 surround sound coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in 2010? Update: No, yes (and closed captioning)

February 8, 2010 · Print This Article

Netflix Watch Instantly fans could be due for a big upgrade, as CNET has heard the company will roll out 1080p and 5.1 surround sound later that year. No word on timing or any other details, but that could mean its moving to version 3 of Microsoft’s Silverlight streaming platform with its additional tweaks for adaptive streaming and hardware graphics acceleration. additionally unknown is how much bandwidth would be essential, but considering Microsoft already uses very similar technology for its 1080p Instant On videos on Zune Marketplace through the Xbox 360 while only requiring 3 Mbps and VUDU HDX 1080p videos only state a minimum of 4500 Kbps, a massive jump in available bandwidth might not be essential whether you already get clear 720p video. The last big hurdle? How much

subject matter will be available that way, Gizmodo points out only about 6 percent of current offerings stream in HD we’ll be watching carefully whether the pace picks up going forward.

Update: Netflix pinged CNET to let them know that 1080p was mistakenly included on a roadmap of 2010 features, however whether you can get by lost all those additional pixels, surround sound and closed captioning are definitely booked for an appearance later that year.

1080p, 5.1 surround sound coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in 2010? Update: No, yes (and closed captioning) originally presented on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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