Friday, December 10, 2010

Streaming and the Cloud: Is this for you?

What's this article about?

2011 is around the corner. You're thinking of cutting the cable. But you're not sure what that really means. You think that Hulu, Netflix and network sites like thewb.com are really for laptops and iPads. You say things like:
  • I don't want to watch this 1080p movie on a 14" laptop. Hold on, what the heck is 1080p! Why does my home video look grainy on my TV? I don't want peas in my soup!
  • iPads don't do gameday.
  • I don't really want to connect my laptop to my TV with a thingamajigga mumbo jumbo to save a few dollars
  • What's streaming? What is this cloud thing all about? I don't like clounds n e ways because they cause rain.
So let's tackle 'em one by one.

NTSC, PAL, SECAM and 1080p
Yeah, sounds like a whole load of baloney. Prior to purely digital content that we have today, there was really a whole bunch of baloney (complexity) around how TV content was distributed from the TV station to your home. That's the past. Fast forward to the present and the display technology in our computers are mirrored in our TVs. 480p (standard definition), 720p (high definition) and 1080p (high definition) are ways to describe screen resolution/quality.

Bullet points
  1. 1080p is high end
  2. Most US HD broadcasts are 720p. So naturally 720p is good enough if this is what your budget allows for
  3. 480p is so yesterday
So if you have a "Full HD" TV, then you're pretty much hooked up. You're ready for the future. Back to the topic at hand. While a 480p video would look great on a laptop, it ends up being not that great on a 46" TV. So whatever thoughts that go into considering a video solution for your laptop, you need to rethink that for your TV.

Next you need to get your TV "connected". In addition to a broadband internet connection you will need one of these in order of ease for us wannabe techies:

*need more help? check out this post from GigaOM
**Wii - Netflix; PS3 - Netflix, Vudu, Content Store; Xbox 360 with $50 per year Xbox live subscription - Netflix, Content Store, ESPN3 (depending on internet provider)

iPads don't do gameday?
Just checking if you're paying attention. Well, I'm trying to make a serious point here. Sports fans, cutting the cord is probably not that easy. TV fans have Hulu/Hulu Plus, Movie buffs have Netflix/Vudu. Sports fans who need their dose of live Monday Night Football - cutting the cord is going to be hard. There is a little hope with ESPN3 on the Xbox 360 with Xbox live gold subscription but the quality is a bit behind.

Is this complicated? Is it hard to do? Am I going to stuck with expensive upgrades to save a few dollars?
Dear wannabe techies: with TV bills at around $60 per month for basic content, we're talking about the potential of saving $720 per year. What are the incremental costs? Were you planning on buying the equipment anyway (TV, media device or gaming platform). Let's assume you have an HDTV, will dish out $150 on a network blu-ray player, $199 on an Xbox 360 and $50 on an annual Xbox Live subscription. You still have $321 in savings and have upgraded the technology in your home. That's enough for a monthly Hulu Plus & Netflix subscription with Blu-ray in the mail discs and two HD on demand movies. We're only talking about those with basic cable packages. Those with $100-$150/month TV content, there is a lot more money in the pocket or in other investments.

What's this cloud thing? What's streaming?
Imagine a nearing future where there are no blu-ray discs and DVDs. Think about how we consume music now -- in the form of digital MP3. Now take that digital content and put it in a server in the internet (the internet is the cloud). Audio is streamed through music services such as Pandora, Zune and Grooveshark. Similarly, this is how Netflix distributed video to households using streaming technology. The movie resides in the internet and is ready to start playing when you request it.

OK, so what does this all mean for my cable-free media strategy?
As referenced in my previous post, the lines that used to separate Hulu (TV show heaven) and Netflix (movie buff land) are getting blurry. Hulu Plus provides access to some previous season content and is required to get access to Hulu on your TV. Give the service a single month whirl and see if it really better for you than using Hulu on your computer augmented with Netflix. ESPN3.com is something you should check out to see if it a) works with your internet provider and b) has the lineup of sports events that you are interested in. That covers most of the basic content.
Moving on to on-demand, there are a bunch of options to order a movie just sitting on the couch - Xbox Live, CinemaNow, Vudu, Amazon VOD and Apple iTunes Store
Inception just released a few days ago and I thought I'd see how the cost of on demand digital content stacks up against the competitive set.


Xbox LiveVuduCinemaNowAmazon VODiTunes Store
SD (480p)n/a3.993.993.993.99
HD (720p)n/a4.994.994.99n/a
HD (1080p)n/a5.994.994.99n/a
SD Purchase(480p)16.999.9915.959.9914.99

Vudu advertises its 1080p service as HDX alluding to the blu-ray quality video and digital 5.1 HD surround sound. Formerly Vudu had an advantage here being the only digital on-demand provider to even deliver this content. Since around September 2010, CinemaNow and Amazon VOD are providing the same level of clarity for video and audio at their former 720p $4.99 price point. We wannabe techies will have to wait and see if Vudu will make any changes to their current price structure.

What's really interesting to look at is the cost of buying the digital copy of the movie. For select titles an HD version runs about $19.99. The inception DVD + Blu-Ray + Digital download is $17.98 at Walmart.com and $17.99 at Amazon.com. The prices are definitely converging and we're all living in a very exciting time.

Good night, wannabe techie!


Posted by D. Ram at 10:13 PM
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