CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[AnalogRocks]

Unfortunatly you'll need an 8megabit + download speed to use it.

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http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/06/xbox-360.html

1080p Streaming On Xbox 360 Will Require 8-10Mbps Connection For Full Quality

Last week at E3, Microsoft announced that later in the fall, 1080p streaming will come to the Xbox 360 using Zune video technology. While full details of the technology and how it works are not ready to be released by Microsoft, they did share some additional details on the service which I can make public.

Zune video on Xbox LIVE was built from the ground-up for Xbox 360 to take full advantage of the Xbox platform and is built on top of Smooth Streaming. It features what Microsoft is calling a "state-of-the-art encoder" for the highest level of fidelity and a high performance decoder capable of full-framerate 1080p playback, which enables Smooth Streaming playback, smooth fast-forward and smooth rewind functionality. Microsoft says their 1080p instant on technology will offer a level of quality and performance only previously seen with downloadable or physical media.

For the full instant on 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound experience, Microsoft recommends at least an 8 Mbps broadband connection. The beauty of the technology however, is that movies and TV shows on Zune video will automatically scale to the best possible resolution based on the speed of the users connection. So if a consumer has a 6 Mbps connection, they will still get 1080p and a great audio experience, but may not get 5.1. And as a back-up, Microsoft says anyone can have a 1080p/5.1 experience, but they may be required to download the content instead of streaming it if they don’t have an 8 - 10 Mbps broadband connection.

While no specific date has yet been given, Zune video on Xbox LIVE will launch sometime this fall with only a small inventory of video available at 1080p. While not exact numbers have been given on the volume of inventory available at launch, Microsoft said they will bring some of the best content from some of the top studios including Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, CBC [Canada] and the MLB Network, Whether or not content from Netflix will take advantage of the new 1080p streaming technology is not yet known but I would not be surprised if there weren't at least a few title from Netflix available at launch.

While there has already been some speculation in the industry as to which CDN(s) will get this delivery business, that's still to be seen at this time. I've heard various answers including the idea that Microsoft may keep some of this delivery on their internal CDN.

No matter who gets to deliver this content, clearly it's not going to be a lot of traffic. The number of Xbox 360 users who have their console hooked up to a TV set capable of doing 1080p and having at least an 8Mbps connection can't be huge. Not to mention, most of the content available in 1080p is probably going to have to be purchased. Clearly the Internet is not capable of handing the streaming of 1080p content to any large scale and while this offering is all about the future, the Internet still won't be able to handle this level of streaming years from now.

For Microsoft, I believe this offering is their way of getting ahead of the rest of the market and saying they can do 1080p streaming before anyone else and prove the concept. Nothing wrong with that and as a Verizon FiOS user, I can't wait to see what it looks like. But for the average Xbox 360 user, I don't think they will be able to take advantage of 1080p streaming for a long time to come.

[AnalogRocks]

Unfortunatly you'll need an 8megabit + download speed to use it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/06/xbox-360.html

1080p Streaming On Xbox 360 Will Require 8-10Mbps Connection For Full Quality

Last week at E3, Microsoft announced that later in the fall, 1080p streaming will come to the Xbox 360 using Zune video technology. While full details of the technology and how it works are not ready to be released by Microsoft, they did share some additional details on the service which I can make public.

Zune video on Xbox LIVE was built from the ground-up for Xbox 360 to take full advantage of the Xbox platform and is built on top of Smooth Streaming. It features what Microsoft is calling a "state-of-the-art encoder" for the highest level of fidelity and a high performance decoder capable of full-framerate 1080p playback, which enables Smooth Streaming playback, smooth fast-forward and smooth rewind functionality. Microsoft says their 1080p instant on technology will offer a level of quality and performance only previously seen with downloadable or physical media.

For the full instant on 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound experience, Microsoft recommends at least an 8 Mbps broadband connection. The beauty of the technology however, is that movies and TV shows on Zune video will automatically scale to the best possible resolution based on the speed of the users connection. So if a consumer has a 6 Mbps connection, they will still get 1080p and a great audio experience, but may not get 5.1. And as a back-up, Microsoft says anyone can have a 1080p/5.1 experience, but they may be required to download the content instead of streaming it if they don’t have an 8 - 10 Mbps broadband connection.

While no specific date has yet been given, Zune video on Xbox LIVE will launch sometime this fall with only a small inventory of video available at 1080p. While not exact numbers have been given on the volume of inventory available at launch, Microsoft said they will bring some of the best content from some of the top studios including Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, CBC [Canada] and the MLB Network, Whether or not content from Netflix will take advantage of the new 1080p streaming technology is not yet known but I would not be surprised if there weren't at least a few title from Netflix available at launch.

While there has already been some speculation in the industry as to which CDN(s) will get this delivery business, that's still to be seen at this time. I've heard various answers including the idea that Microsoft may keep some of this delivery on their internal CDN.

No matter who gets to deliver this content, clearly it's not going to be a lot of traffic. The number of Xbox 360 users who have their console hooked up to a TV set capable of doing 1080p and having at least an 8Mbps connection can't be huge. Not to mention, most of the content available in 1080p is probably going to have to be purchased. Clearly the Internet is not capable of handing the streaming of 1080p content to any large scale and while this offering is all about the future, the Internet still won't be able to handle this level of streaming years from now.

For Microsoft, I believe this offering is their way of getting ahead of the rest of the market and saying they can do 1080p streaming before anyone else and prove the concept. Nothing wrong with that and as a Verizon FiOS user, I can't wait to see what it looks like. But for the average Xbox 360 user, I don't think they will be able to take advantage of 1080p streaming for a long time to come.

[Person99]

And this is why there will never need to be a blu ray player for the XBox. Blu ray, meet your destroyer--streaming.

[WanMan]

[ecrabb]

[greg_mitch]

I think it is a sham that DSL providers get to call that high speed internet. If you want the speed you have to pay.



Looks like I will be happy with it!

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[greg_mitch]

Just plain old cable...

[WanMan]

Greg, try sustaining that performance when a 20-30 people in your neighborhood are trying that d/l at the same time.

[nuttall_chris]

Chris

[greg_mitch]

[akajester]

To be honest, I can't imagine anyone else in my neighborhood doing streaming HD, let alone with an xbox. maybe my suburbia hasn't caught up with others yet. Right now I'm the one screwing up the curve for everyone else. hehe.

[WanMan]

[ecrabb]

[greg_mitch]

[ecrabb]

But, who's making "wild unjustified claims"? Like I said, 1.5mbps IS high speed. It's like a frickin' internet connection from God if all you've had was dialup or even ISDN. Besides, there are now many flavors of DSL that run at different speeds depending on the switching equipment, premise equipment, etc. Besides, like I said, Mediacom calls my connection "Max" and says "up to" 20mbps, but it's not usually that fast. More often than not, if I check during normal hours, it's much less.

Regardless, back on topic, most DSL, and even many cable customers aren't going to be able to use a service like this if requires an Xbox and a 8mbps internet connection. For one thing, what about QoS? Even if you have a 10 or 12mbps pipe (which isn't most people I imagine), what happens to that movie you paid $6 to watch in 1080p HD if your bandwidth drops below 8mbps because a couple of your teenage neighbors are torrenting porn DVD rips?

Never mind the millions in less-than-urban areas that don't even have access to "high-speed". I don't see people streaming HD in huge numbers for years. I mean, watching some Hulu or YouTube content for free is one thing... Paying good money to watch a movie is a whole other ball of wax.

SC

[greg_mitch]

[WanMan]

No way. There is something about the possession of tangible goods that is part of being human. The only reason why MP3's took off in their intangible form was because of pirating. And while I personally do not buy music anymore, the wife does, in disk form.

[greg_mitch]

[WanMan]

The point is simple. People like to have something in the hand for the money unless they are eating it.

[greg_mitch]