Video Asylum

Posted by Alex F. (A) on May 13, 2015 at 16:19:30

In Reply to: RE: Why's Streaming Video So Poor & Why Do You Watch It? posted by Mike Porper on April 08, 2015 at 12:14:47

I agree with you about Amazon.

Approximately two years ago, regarding Netflix, I would have agreed, too, about lousy picture quality. But today, viewed on our final-generation 65" Panasonic plasma and 60" Samsung plasma (in different rooms), the Netflix picture quality is excellent on most of their movies and TV shows. The picture quality of the original Star Trek series, for example, is very impressive.

Netflix's picture quality, while not as good as a reference Blu-ray disc, often comes reasonably close to that of an average Blu-ray. Luminance and chroma noise levels, and resolution, are quite admirable.

Amazon Prime video quality, on the other hand, is a significant step below that of Netflix. I cannot bear to watch Star Trek via Amazon Prime. In fact, I rarely use Amazon due to its disappointing picture. Hulu Plus, happily, is comparable to Netflix, but the ads are very annoying.

We stream with recent models of Sony and Samsung wi-fi Blu-ray players. The Samsung H5900 player streams a better picture (more apparent resolution and with superior contrast) than does a Sony 5100. High-speed internet is via a CenturyLink modem providing a 10-gigabyte feed.