This is why Computers make me Cranky

[varjohaltia]

1) Signed up for Netflix!
2) Discovered that playback on my home theater PC (XP, Nvidia 8800GS on a 50" 720p plasma) has tearing so horrible it's unwatchable.
3) Searched the internets, found tons of threads on this, upgraded video drivers, forced vertical sync on.
4) Tried to find help at Netflix, but there doesn't appear to be any way to report trouble that isn't one of their check boxes.
5) Discovered that there is no vertical sync in Silverlight for XP, so no way to avoid tearing. Netflix won't let you play content on a computer any other way, though.
6) Upgraded to Windows 7, with the hopes that the improved APIs would fix that.
7) Discovered there are no drivers for my sound card, bluetooth adapter, remote, or NIC that will work with Windows 7.
8) Went to see how much a supported NIC and soundcard are, and bought a Sony streaming media box instead, since it was about the same price.

Comments

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

Oy, sorry - been there done that a couple of years ago, I could have warned you. :(

Silverlight is indeed the problem. The old proprietary Netflix player worked beautifully, but when they decided to unify their code base it went out the window.

My solution was similar - a tiny $80 Roku. Lovely Netflix playback, zero tearing. I'm also running Plex on it with the HTPC serving files for torrents/etc; it's free and works great.

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

The Roku dual-band model would've probably been better, but nobody carries it locally and the Sony was on sale at CompUSA. Instant gratification and all that. I figured if it doesn't work out, I can take it back.
Netflix image quality is great on the Sony, but I do miss the ability to pick a language and subtitles.
Since I can't extract audio out of the HDMI, having either digital or optical TOSLink out was also a must, and the two lower-end Roku's don't appear to have that.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

Yes - for toslink you need the $99 XD|S (which, just checking, is actually what we have in the den - I forgot the XD we also got is in one of the bedrooms).

What is the need to extract the audio? Are you not going directly to an HDMI TV or receiver?

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

The receiver has no clue about HDMI, and the TV takes it, and even outputs audio via Toslink, but only in stereo.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

On a semi-related topic - I've had surround since the mid-'90s but recently got completely fed up with all the extra wiring and fussing with speaker placement, and committed to ONE 22-gauge HDMI cable to the wall-mount plasma, no amplification, with only the Roku, our FIOS DVR, and DVD player as sources (though I could easily add a couple more).

For me, it was a terrific decision. I'm liberated from receivers, gobs of cabling and input switching on multiple devices. I use a RF-10 IR/RF remote with IR repeaters inside a cabinet to control everything, a $40 Monoprice HDMI switcher to handle switching duties, and have macro'd the RF-10 to handle the now-trivial power and input sequencing; the RF-10 is great and managed the rather complex sequencing before with aplomb, but with very few devices having dedicated on/off IR signals my programming was susceptible to one or more devices being in the wrong power state.

The TV stays at a single input. Now we don't have to look at a single cable or any device except the screen unless we're loading a DVD (which isn't even terribly often these days), aiming the remote is unnecessary, and the whole process of actually watching something is vastly more elegant. I thought I'd resent the sound quality from the plasma's built-ins but it has been more than adequate.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

Also, here's a tidbit about Plex for the Roku: http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2011/05/04/plex-for-roku-now-available-via-private-channel/

It is spectacular, and has handled every codec I've thrown at it so far. There may be something similar for your Sony in case a DLNA solution isn't handling those critical torrent streaming needs... (*cough* Top Gear *cough*).

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

My receiver's the $99 Overstock special I bought in 97 or 98 :-) Does Dolby Digital and the good old phase shift one. Video sources (DVR, Sony, computer) go directly into the TV. Audio goes to the receiver. I have a basic 5-channel set up, and aside from better bass I don't really care anymore either.

So far, the Sony's been pretty decent with all the .mkv's I've thrown at it, though the subtitling occasionally is ugly. However, I've had about 0 success in getting DLNA to work. My Nokia phone has a player / controller, I have the Sony iPod app, I have a Windows 7 machine, I've installed MediaTomb on the Mac, TVMOBiLi on Windows and Mac... And no two devices can ever see each other on the wireless, so I haven't even gotten to the transcoding issues. Maybe I'll get sufficiently cranky and bored to fire up wireshark one day and see what the heck they're doing.
The Sony does, however, read an external USB drive just peachy, so I'll just park a large one next to it, I suppose.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

My experiences with DLNA were also underwhelming. I wonder if the discovery stuff (Bonjour maybe?) is being interfered with, though with a simple home network and single segment I can't imagine why.

Tech can be such a PITA. Even with the experience and means to deal with it it's just boring and tiring when all you want is a little entertainment. From that perspective I can certainly appreciate the value in, say, an Apple-only ecosystem.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention, if you happen to have a Wii - before the Roku but after the Silverlight Netflix/PC debacle we used one for Netflix for some time, and it was serviceable. The drawbacks were a component connection (kind of clunky these days) and of course 480p limit, but it suffered none of the tearing and jumpy ugliness of trying to do Silverlight on a PC.

[phyrra.livejournal.com]

OMG that's awful :(

[silvertales.livejournal.com]

Isn't technology wonderful?

Roku has really nice Netflix playback.... along with Hulu Plus, Amazon, and a veritable host of other channels you can pick and choose at will.