Streaming High-Defiinition Content into the Home

First came VHS. Then DVDs appeared. Now there's Blu-ray. Will the next leap home based viewing media be something you are able to hold within your hand? Or will it be like the Internet - always there but never really there at the same time. Ask the high-definition content streaming in your home for your answer.
Ever new form of media thus far for watching movies at home has come in a very package which in fact had to put in to a player. It's true that the standard of the video has improved over the years as VHS tapes gave way to DVD and now Blu-ray, but this easy physical fact hasn't changed. The advent of the Internet is looking to become game changer though. A movie studio or content provider could have a film or TV show or virtually anything that you want to watch kept being a digital file with a server that is blocks or Cities or Continents away from your home. Yet it can still be accessed by a simple selection from a menu to start it streaming into your home. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of this next leap for home viewing?
When people imagine streaming, a couple of things come to mind. First, that it is being downloaded over the Internet using a broadband connection provided by an Internet Service provider, and, second, the picture is all about as good as that of a DVD.
Of both, the initial thought that only the Internet can be used for streaming is false. Satellite providers, just like the Dish Network, send a video stream in real-time with a person's satellite receiver which then displays the video in standard or high-definition (dependant on what is being watched). Additionally a Dish Network could also provide a link up on the existing broadband connection to add streaming with the Internet for watching with the satellite receiver and to the HDTV connected to it as well.




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The second conception, that this picture seen from the Internet is about as good as being a DVD, isn't really true. But it is equipped with some basis. Services like Netflix stream video of movies through devices that initially only displayed standard-definition pictures. This is changing, with popular boxes just like the Xbox 360 equipped to handle HD streams and also Blu-ray players having Netflix functionality.
Truth find out, the caliber of the HD stream is approximately what you'd expect from a highly compressed signal. There are artifact problems and a few fuzziness at times. The AppleTV says it could display 720p high-definition (remember we're not talking about upscaling to check the native resolution for your HDTV), but it's still a compressed signal by incorporating video conditions are apparant towards the eye occasionally.
It's fair to say the convenience of streaming HD makes up for the minor complaints. And since people tend to be forgiving when watching something they like, for practical purposes the HD quality is a lot more than acceptable.

The way that a film is physically handled isn't a problem when streaming is involved. The issue of how to control what exactly is being watched is though.
A physical disc may be started or stopped or paused at will- there are no issues of an clogged Internet or even a buffer overflow, etc. Streamed content may be started and stopped and paused too, and thanks to faster Internet connections most in the time you are not waiting over 30 seconds approximately before the film begins to play (considerably less time that establishing a BD player, btw).
That's not to express that a site streaming film connection is perfect. Any problem or interference in the Internet will affect the picture. This could be as elementary as too many people sharing the cable modem with your area so there is a delay in it being streamed, or a major problem just like a rainstorm soaking a buried hub and killing the Internet signal altogether. Or a power failure forcing one to wait while the Internet modem restarts itself.
The a very important factor I know is always that technology never stands still, but always moves forward. Sometimes that movement is stunted - as an example by being priced out of reach with the general public or requiring that you jump through a lot of hoops to consider getting it. But as people are more dependent and comfy with using Internet streaming content on a "need to have" basis, it really is sure to dominate from the act of getting or renting something that you need to hold onto. That may stop so good to the folks who sell Blu-ray discs, nevertheless it certainly will be of benefit to us who would like to watch something if we want and never having to exert any real effort.
So will high-definition streaming dominate? We're prone to know inside a couple of years today.