Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

macworld.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 88 posts

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#31

Post by TD-Linux »

brigade wrote: post #22
acgourley wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are - dedicated silicon support for HEVC. That's how they can do it with such a small form factor and power budget. However a software codec on a modern PC should have no problem with HEVC due to the huge amount of available CPU.

Well, Adobe hasn't added support to Flash yet. Plus, given their massive display pipeline performance problems, it's quite possible that they won't be able do 4k 10-bit HEVC when it's finally added.

They would also have to pay the added HEVC licensing cost for Flash Player, which is substantially more than H.264 was.

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#32

Post by anigbrowl »

themartorana wrote: post #5

But if I grab a torrent to the 4K version of the movie, I can play it on my computer. Do people still legitimately wonder why so many people flock to torrents? Hollywood (and by extension, other large content producers) have the most sincere form of Ostrich Syndrome[0] that I know of. [0] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20Ostrich...

It's easy to give away a 4k torrent when you haven't had to pay anything for the right to distribute it or invest in the necessary infrastructure. If there are quality problems or whatever, there's no obligation to fix them. People have much higher expectations when they're paying, even if they're only paying a small amount.

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#33

Post by TD-Linux »

gdulli wrote: post #25
cwyers wrote: post #6

I have a hard time getting too worked up over this in the case of Amazon, because I have a heck of a time getting them to stream even SD content without horrible buffering issues.

And in the case of Netflix HD it's not buffering, it just dynamically drops down to super-low res for however long it needs to which is kind of worse, you're not even getting what you pay for. Not that it's necessarily Netflix's fault, it's just inherent to streaming. Which makes the push for 4K streaming a puzzling choice at best.

Right, we already have incredibly bitrate-starved 1080p. But now you can have four times as many pixels for your compression artifacts!

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#35

Post by anigbrowl »

acgourley wrote: post #11
johnduhart wrote: post #8

> Anyone who knows technology knows the computational and image-processing capabilities of even an average PC or Mac far outstrip those of a streaming box, set-top box, or smart TV by several orders of magnitude. It's quite possible these TVs or STBs are shipping with a special hardware decoder that supports this format that they're using.

They are - dedicated silicon support for HEVC. That's how they can do it with such a small form factor and power budget. However a software codec on a modern PC should have no problem with HEVC due to the huge amount of available CPU.

It exists but it's slow which is why it's not standard in many video editing platforms yet. Encoding speed for 4k using the Divx encoder is Of course you can just distribute the decoder, and of course the decoder is much faster (Divx is 28fps ont he same Core i7 IIRC). But the # of people with 4k displays right now is really tiny compared to the install base for HD, like I'd guess <<1%.

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#36

Post by driverdan »

scott_s wrote: post #12
themartorana wrote: post #5

But if I grab a torrent to the 4K version of the movie, I can play it on my computer. Do people still legitimately wonder why so many people flock to torrents? Hollywood (and by extension, other large content producers) have the most sincere form of Ostrich Syndrome[0] that I know of. [0] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20Ostrich...

Do people flock to torrents? No one I know does. They all watch content on their tv, obtained through a legit streaming service or a cable subscription. Personally, I don't feel right grabbing torrents, but I also don't want the hassle. I think that legit digital delivery for music and video has, for the most part, crossed the threshold where it's just easier than the alternatives.

> Do people flock to torrents? No one I know does.

Who do you know? I estimate 80-90% of the people I know who are technical download "pirated" movies via torrents or usenet. Most also use paid services like Netflix and Amazon Prime but the content on those networks sucks.

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#37

Post by k-mcgrady »

wavefunction wrote: post #20
joshstrange wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do people flock to torrents? No one I know does. I know quite a few people who use torrents (or usenet) as their primary source of TV. Combining Plex + Sabnzbd + Sickbeard you get a internet DVR with little to no maintenance once setup (other than adding more capacity as/if needed). They all have a hulu-like (next day) experience, they get it in HD, and there are no ads. Legit delivery for music has crossed the thr…

I have to use different services to get all the music I want. iTunes is great for mainstream stuff but that's about it. Amazon's offering is "eclectic"

>> "iTunes is great for mainstream stuff but that's about it."

OT but it's funny to hear 26 million songs described like that :)

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#38

Post by fidotron »

joshstrange wrote: post #14
themartorana wrote: post #5

But if I grab a torrent to the 4K version of the movie, I can play it on my computer. Do people still legitimately wonder why so many people flock to torrents? Hollywood (and by extension, other large content producers) have the most sincere form of Ostrich Syndrome[0] that I know of. [0] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20Ostrich...

I remember before Netflix and Amazon when it was: DVD or Torrent and this image came out: http://craphound.com/images/ifurapirate.jpeg That was about stuffing promo's and ads in before the movie but this feels very similar. You can get a better experience by getting a torrent over streaming legally. I pay for Amazon and Netflix but I will still download content from time to time that I can get on them (for no additio…

You're right, but it's worth recognising that few people realised what bad businesses Spotify or Pandora actually are. The margins just aren't there, and so for film/tv you're going to see a persistent effort to continue to "add value" which really means adding value for the seller, and not adding value for the consumer.

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#39

Post by skuhn »

random28345 wrote: post #10
cwyers wrote: post #6

I have a hard time getting too worked up over this in the case of Amazon, because I have a heck of a time getting them to stream even SD content without horrible buffering issues.

That's why I pay for Prime (and Netflix, et. al.), and torrent the content. Admittedly, I feel a little bad about paying providers of DRMed content, it sends the wrong market signal. But if I didn't pay these content providers, I wouldn't have a mechanism of signalling that I enjoy watching certain TV shows and movies.

I agree with the concept of buying a license to the actual content and then consuming it however you want, which ought to be the way the world actually works.

However, if you don't actually stream the content from Prime / Netflix / et. al., my guess is that they probably aren't paying out accordingly on the back end.

Re: Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon

#40

Post by meesterdude »

I tried to rent an HD movie (the family man (hey, its the holidays)) on amazon but was told my device (27-inch imac) is not "compatible". Super WTF. A torrented version gives me none of that BS. And its free.

Piracy is mostly a matter of market. The more DRM BS you try to force upon me, the more I'm going to do to not give you any of my money at all.

Even if most people pay for content, any level of piracy is "unacceptable" to these companies. It's not enough that they make a buck, or make quite a few. They have to crap all over the experience in an attempt to stop piracy, which is a fools errand and hurts the people who DO pay for content.

I'll start being reasonable when they stop being unreasonable.

Post reply on HN