5.1

You are browsing the 5.1 tag archive.

1080p, 5.1 surround sound coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in 2010?

Netflix Watch Instantly fans could be due for a big upgrade, as CNET has heard the company will roll out 1080p and 5.1 surround sound later this year. No word on timing or any other details, but this could mean its moving to version 3 of Microsoft’s Silverlight streaming platform with its additional tweaks for adaptive streaming and hardware graphics acceleration. Also unknown is how much bandwidth would be necessary, but considering Microsoft already uses very similar technology for its 1080p Instant On videos on Zune Marketplace through the Xbox 360 while only requiring 3 Mbps and VUDU HDX 1080p videos only state a minimum of 4500 Kbps, a massive jump in available bandwidth might not be necessary if you already get clear 720p video. The last big hurdle? How much content will be available that way, Gizmodo points out only about 6 percent of current offerings stream in HD we’ll be watching carefully if the pace picks up going forward.

1080p, 5.1 surround sound coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in 2010? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo  |  CNET  | Email this | Comments

Sony’s latest DVDirect camcorder-to-DVD recorder creates AVCHD DVDs with 5.1 sound

It’s some 60 percent smaller in size, but other than that Sony’s new VRD-MC6 DVDirect looks and acts an awful lot like the previous VRD-MC10 and VRD-MC5: it can take 1080i video with 5.1 audio off your Handycam’s drive or Memory Stick and shoot out an AVCHD DVD that plays back on compatible Blu-ray drives like the PS3. If you’re not into the all-Sony seamless end-to-end HD experience, you can also bring in SD video over FireWire, composite, or USB to churn out regular old DVDs with automatic chaptering and custom menu backgrounds, or you can go totally old-school and just drop in an SD card full of photos and MP3s to generate a slideshow. Yeah, it’s not nerd heaven and you won’t be editing Oscar-winners here, but at $230 it’s a pretty painless way for everyone else to archive and share their videos. Ships in September.

Filed under: ,

Sony’s latest DVDirect camcorder-to-DVD recorder creates AVCHD DVDs with 5.1 sound originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Categories