A comparison of PS3 and 360 as media players

[mrcorbo]

Meanwhile...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-microsoft-video-idUSTRE80A1KL20120111

Will they now take that award away from MS?
How in the first place can they give an award to something that existed only in Microsoft's marketing hype?

Microsoft were working to expand on their existing partnerships (most of which were made available during the last dashboard update) with these negotiations. The award was for the recently added partnerships and functionality, not the ones they were negotiating.

 

[bkilian]

Meanwhile...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-microsoft-video-idUSTRE80A1KL20120111

Will they now take that award away from MS?
How in the first place can they give an award to something that existed only in Microsoft's marketing hype?

No, the thing on hold didn't have anything to do with XBox, it was a standalone set top box like apple tv and google tv. I suspect the xbox would have got a client if it had panned out, but it wasn't xbox specific.

 

[patsu]

I sure hope those "ultra hd" discs are 100gb, don't think 50gb is enough for a 4k three hour movie.

Some more new info from jeff_rigby, our banned field reporter :
http://www.hometheater.com/content/4k-revolution

...

As with 3D, the best 4K delivery solution for the home is likely to be Blu-ray Disc. “The physical format can do it,” declares Don Eklund, executive VP of technologies at Sony Pictures Technologies, thanks to new compression algorithms. Most notable is HEVC, or High Efficiency Video Codec, which is now in advanced development. It’s considerably more efficient than the AVC codec now commonly used on Blu-rays while remaining similarly free of artifacts, and it will allow a 4K film to fit on a mass-replicated 50-gigabyte, two-layer Blu-ray Disc. “I’ve seen samples of what that codec can do with 4K at a 30-megabit-per-second bitrate compared to what AVC can do at 50 Mb per second, and it actually looks a little bit better at 30 than AVC looks at 50,” Eklund says.

What’s missing, however, is a 4K Blu-ray technical standard that would allow the manufacture of players and discs. Putting that specification together will require a concerted effort by the member companies of the Blu-ray Disc Association. “There are discussions starting, but they’re very early discussions,” notes Eklund. “We just finished 3D, and these things are pretty hard work. But Sony and the other key companies are looking at it very hard.”

Still, the reality is that it’s going to take a while before those discussions bear fruit. With few manufacturers (save Sony) actively promoting native 4K displays for the home and no installed consumer base paving a profit path, other manufacturers and studios in the Blu-ray consortium just aren’t heavily incentivized yet to come on board. It’s the classic chicken-and-egg scenario. And even when the group is unified on a goal, as it was with Blu-ray 3D, it can still take more than a year to develop a standard. Then the manufacturers will have to move the final specification into player hardware as the studios begin mastering discs to it. Translation: Don’t give up hope; we’ll get there eventually. But don’t hold your breath.

...

 

[patsu]

Hulu CEO reviews 2010 and 2011:
http://blog.hulu.com/2012/01/12/2011-2012-and-beyond/

- Hulu Plus now has more than 1.5 million paying subscribers and this number continues to grow extremely fast. Hulu Plus has reached 1.5 million paid subscribers faster than any video subscription service launch (online or offline) in U.S. history. We are attracting more than 2x the number of subscribers each day when compared to this time last year. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, we expect our subscription services to account for more than half of Hulu’s overall business later this year.

- In 2011, we dramatically expanded the content available to Hulu and Hulu Plus customers. Hulu’s content offering grew approximately 40% vs 2010; Hulu Plus’ content offering grew more than 105%. Hulu Plus is the only online video subscription service that offers current season content from 5 of the 6 largest U.S. broadcast networks, with shows from The CW and Univision added this past quarter. In 2011, we added a long roster of great current series, including Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Misfits, Revenge, Terra Nova, Up All Night, New Girl, Una Familia Con Suerte, The Secret Circle, Hart of Dixie, Ringer, Community and many more.

- In 2011, we invested heavily in the development of apps that empower users to access Hulu Plus from a wide variety of devices. Hulu Plus is now accessible on leading consumer electronics devices and mobile operating systems with a combined installed base of over 200 million. Some of the new devices we developed custom applications for include: Microsoft Xbox 360, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes and Noble’s NOOK Tablet, select Android smartphones, LG, Panasonic and VIZIO TVs and Blu-ray players, and many more.

- The innovative Hulu advertising service continues to lead the online video advertising market, with the largest market share of a rapidly expanding market. We have now served over 1,000 brand advertisers in our company’s short history. We are relentless in our mission to be the most effective video advertising service on the planet, which we believe is a function of respecting users and empowering them with tools like Hulu Ad Swap and Hulu Ad Selector.

 

[joker454]

Some more new info from jeff_rigby, our banned field reporter :
http://www.hometheater.com/content/4k-revolution

This part really interests me:

"Most notable is HEVC, or High Efficiency Video Codec, which is now in advanced development. It’s considerably more efficient than the AVC codec now commonly used on Blu-rays while remaining similarly free of artifacts, and it will allow a 4K film to fit on a mass-replicated 50-gigabyte, two-layer Blu-ray Disc. “I’ve seen samples of what that codec can do with 4K at a 30-megabit-per-second bitrate compared to what AVC can do at 50 Mb per second, and it actually looks a little bit better at 30 than AVC looks at 50,” Eklund says."

I'd love to know how long until that codec makes it into video cameras! Aside from that, if they plan on re-releasing some movies on 4k blu-ray then I'm in, assuming they can make the displays affordable.

 

[manux]

I really, really doubt proper quality 4k 3d movies would fit into a 50GB blu-ray disc. But time will show, if 4k material is compressed to be "slighly better" than current 1080p movies then why bother? Why not just used HEVC and 1080p with same bitrate for even better quality(.... yes, what about comparing 30MBit/s 1080p with hevc to 4k at 30MBit/s hevc)

Based on wiki it looks like HEVC under ideal conditions could reach parity with h264avc with half the bitrate. It's just that 4k is 4 times content. Also the biggest baddest thing with h264avc used in blu-rays imho. isn't resolution but colour production(yuv420 colour range 16-235). yuv444 would be pretty good idea when combined with OLED displays.

My bet would go for 4 layer discs with enhanced capacity per layer. 1 layer for backwards compatibility and 3 layers for 4k movies. That combined with hevc might be pretty good and not compromise the bitrate needed to encode 4k with 10bit per channel colours.

Based on wiki it looks like HEVC would go for standardization around 2013. Based on that we should have at minimum about 1.5 years before blu-ray 4k 3.0(or whatever it's called). I think quad layer discs could be massproducable with reasonable price at that time. (assuming product availability for christmas 2013)

 

[patsu]

If you ask me, I'd say fix the DRM first !

Resolution, 3D, color, interactivity can all come later.

 

[manux]

If you ask me, I'd say fix the DRM first !

Resolution, 3D, color, interactivity can all come later.

They should come in same bundle, but I do get the point Maybe win8 is not breakable this time(anydvd kind of hacks, decryption key extraction from player software and whatnot). UEFI boot+proper kernel+drivers+something else than hdmi might be good starting point.

 

[patsu]

Ah my fault. No, I don't mean fixing HDCP and such. I meant a more relaxed DRM policies. ^_^

Make UltraViolet work better/easier so that people can watch a movie on any devices they want, without getting confused or mad.

 

[manux]

Ah my fault. No, I don't mean fixing HDCP and such. I meant a more relaxed DRM policies. ^_^

Make UltraViolet work better/easier so that people can watch a movie on any devices they want, without getting confused or mad.

I wonder if industry will ever get their act together on interoperability. The actual encryption, distribution and expiration is known and solved problem. But I think this interopability and actual drm in players and hdcp has something to do with each other because ultimately nothing will get relaxed if there are trivial holes causing content to leak. Companies would just try to minimize the places where there are holes even if it means usability suffers.

 

[patsu]

The head honchos said they want interoperability to work to entice people to purchase movies instead of rent and forget. The industry is divided into UltraViolet vs Disney's KeyChest camps. Disney seems more open these days, so who knows. In the mean time, the UltraViolet camp chose to go ahead with a broken implementation in the holiday season of 2011.

 

[patsu]

Amazon’s LOVEFiLM Signs Another Streaming Deal to Launch ABC TV on Demand in the UK
http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...on’s-LOVEFiLM-Signs-Streaming-Deal-Launch-ABC

LOVEFiLM, an Amazon company, has partnered with Disney UK in a deal that will give LOVEFiLM members access to full seasons of some of the most iconic American television series ever created.

...

Shows will be launched as full seasons after their first run on UK pay and/or free TV. Previous seasons of some series will even be available to members before the next season airs on UK television.

...

 

[patsu]

Hulu Unveils Slate of New Original Programming
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/hulu-announces-battleground/

Slate Includes First Original Scripted Series, "Battleground" Executive Produced by JD Walsh, Hagai Shaham and Marc Webb; Filmmaker Richard Linklater's "Up to Speed"; and the Second Season of Morgan Spurlock's Hulu Hit, "A Day in the Life"

...

 

[patsu]

Netflix Working on Multiple-user Access
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/netflix/netflix-working-multiple-user-access-26142

Netflix reportedly isworking on allowing multiple users in a household to access Netflix streaming through one account.

Chief product officer Neil Hunt — point man to the company’s streaming service launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland — said Netflix is working on a scenario that could eliminate the current need for multiple accounts in one household.

In addition to issues of piracy and illegal access, an underlying concern for Netflix is the fact that enabling multiple users to access one account would undermine the service’s vaunted recommendation software. The technology, for which Netflix awarded a $1 million prize to a team of computer scientists in 2009 for besting by 10% its own algorithm for predicting subscriber ratings on films and TV shows, could be rendered moot by the rental habits of several users logged onto one account.

As a result, Hunt said the idea would be for multiple users in one household to access a single Netflix streaming account via their respective Facebook accounts.

...

 

[jonabbey]

Multiple-user access on Netflix is a problem? On the PS3, it doesn't seem to matter whether my wife or I are logged into the XMB when we run the Netflix app.

Is it a problem on other platforms?

 

[Brad Grenz]

Multiple-user access on Netflix is a problem? On the PS3, it doesn't seem to matter whether my wife or I are logged into the XMB when we run the Netflix app.

Is it a problem on other platforms?

I'm not sure that article has it right. The problem right now is you have multiple people in a household using a single Netflix account and their disparate tastes actually dilute the recommendation engine's effectiveness. If my sister comes over with her kids and I put on some episodes of Curious George I will get inundated with recommendations for children's programming. I also may not want everyone in the house knowing some sexploitation flick last night via the "recently watched" list. Multiple profiles would solve a lot of annoyances. I know Netflix is also working on a kid friendly mode for the Wii client, which is needed, but proper profiles are great too.

 

[patsu]

I think that's exactly what the article is saying. ^_^

Meanwhile, Sony should participate in this test:

BitTorrent’s New P2P Protocol Could Fix the Internet’s Shoddy Streaming Video Quality
http://gizmodo.com/5877372/bittorre...-the-internets-shoddy-streaming-video-quality

Conventional video streaming—through, say, YouTube or Netflix—eats up network resources because each user is pulling in their own individual feed. The live peer-to-peer streaming protocol created by BitTorrent founder and chief scientist Bram Cohen, instead works much like BitTorrent itself does. Everybody that requests a certain video stream shares the feed between themselves, rather than just leeching the content. This reportedly reduces lag drastically, network load and increases video quality for those watching. And, just like when torrenting, the more people that sign on to a stream, the better it looks for everybody.

The new protocol will be tested at NAMM Jam this Friday from 6:45pm to 11:30pm PT ...

The Cellius WB-Drive technology is also said to lower the cost of video distribution:
http://andriasang.com/comz2k/ps3_karaoke/

The Joysound Dive software includes advanced functionality for music and video playback. The program uses WB-DRIVE, through which PlayStation 3 units exchange data between one-another. This allows the system to retain 12Mbps average and 30Mbps max data transfer speeds for HD video. Additionally, the system's CELL processor is used for high speed encryption.

 

[Brad Grenz]

I think that's exactly what the article is saying. ^_^

The quoted bit said multiple profiles would "undermine" the recommendations. That's the opposite of what it would do. Maybe that's not what the author meant, but as written it is incorrect.

 

[patsu]

The article says multiple users in one account would undermine the recommendation engine.

an underlying concern for Netflix is the fact that enabling multiple users to access one account would undermine the service’s vaunted recommendation software.

If each user has her own profile/sub-account in the system, then it should be ok.

 

[Brad Grenz]

The article says multiple users in one account would undermine the recommendation engine.

If each user has her own profile/sub-account in the system, then it should be ok.

But here's how it's framed:

In addition to issues of piracy and illegal access, an underlying concern for Netflix is the fact that enabling multiple users to access one account would undermine the service’s vaunted recommendation software.

As if multiple people using a single account was something to be enabled, and not the current status quo. No one pays for multiple accounts in one house, if only because there is no easy way to switch between accounts on Netflix enabled devices. And since the whole article is about fixing the recommendation engine problem that is already happening, it's weird to talk as if that's a theoretical scenario. Thus, it's natural to assume "enabling multiple users" is being accomplished through the profile system being developed, but that is invalidated by the whole "undermine" thing. It's just poorly written and/or ill-researched.