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New Netflix App

52K views 303 replies 56 participants last post by  Henry Guerrar 
#1 ·
It looks like Netflix finally rolled out profiles support to the Roamio app. We can finally make use of profiles in our house!

I also saw a huge banner ad for Hemlock Grove at the top. I've never seen such an ad in Netflix before but I didn't mind it so much (although it did take up half of the screen) since you can just scroll down to your list.
 
#7 ·
I didn't see the ad on mine. Although I already watched the first episode of Hemlock Grove, it was horrible so I never watched the rest.
I switched to a different profile and it showed Orange is the New Black across the entire top and I've already watched that series (although on a different profile). I'm not sure what triggers the ad though.
 
#9 ·
TiVo Roamio now gets my vote for the best Netflix player of several devices I have with Netflix players attached to TVs (PS3, Roku 3, Roku 2 XS, TiVo Premiere, TiVo Series3, Xbox 360, WD TV Live, 2 Panasonic and one Sony BDP and the various ways of playing Netflix on this PC). The PS3 previously held that title and my old TiVo Premiere featured one of the worst.

Navigation of the UI is fairly snappy; it starts up in 8 seconds and starts streams in about 3 seconds, immediately jumping to the highest available bit rate video encode and usually sticking there. It features a version of the stream info overlay that I really like (toggled on and off with INFO) which even has an indication of bit rate so you can tell which "720 HD" or "1080 Super HD" encode you're looking at.

TiVos can also output Netflix at 1080p24, a fairly rare capability.

It replaces my Roku 3 as my Netflix viewing platform of choice.
 
#10 ·
Yes, the same here. My Roamio Pro and my two TiVo Minis are my main Netflix players now. Although I will still use my Roku2 and Roku3 boxes on occasion. And of course for Netflix 3D content I still need to use my Sony 3D BD players. But overall the new Netflix players in the Romaio and Minis are superb.
 
#11 ·
As of today you have profiles up and running? Curious. I and others had them briefly and lost them. Also (still) experiencing reboots when using Netflix. Also curious (when it is working properly) pressing info does not display the bit rate, resolution or PAR items you shared in your photo.

I have a Pro with all the updates, MoCA connection, Fios 35/35 Mbps hooked to a Sony Bravia via HDMI and have had nothing but issues lately. I don't have them via BluRay but it is slower (even wired) and less snappy. However, no issues.

I checked out the Netflix versions:
Sony is an older SDK 3.1.4 release 1106457 (Sept 11 2013)
UI Build - release 38p
Tivo is SDK 4.0.2 release 1933285/nrdjs
UI Build - release 569p

There are other different items listed in both but seem to primarily relate to Sony and/or Tivo.

Other than the recurring Netflix reboot and UI issues (and now lack of bit rate, resolution and PAR) everything else works great. A recent odd channel line up conflict may be Fios and Tribune not being on the same page. However, it is curious that it would happen at the same time.

Tivo CR draws a blank. Have yet to try Netflix. Just trying to sleuth this out. Any thoughts? How does one get in contact with Tivo Margaret?
 
#12 ·
Also curious (when it is working properly) pressing info does not display the bit rate, resolution or PAR items you shared in your photo.
The text it should display is similar to the smaller text in the corner of that example. It's a snap of "Example Short 23.976", a test clip with bit rate/resolution information burned into each of its constituent video encodes, useful as a sanity test of what encode you're getting and how stably (huh--that's actually a word :D) on devices whose Netflix players don't have that stream info overlay. I just took a bad picture of what it looks like on TiVo with my phone (from Black Hawk Down):

The text is out of focus but you can make out the format of the info. The other devices I have with this display have it jammed up in the upper left corner; TiVo's is further down the screen.

I see that Profiles (and that banner content ad) has disappeared for the moment. I guess that Netflix is farting around with it; maybe they think that it's responsible for the crashes and have backed out of that feature temporarily. TiVo CS is not going to be able to help. The entire UI is running in HTML5 code using the Webkit rendering engine (I've been told that TiVo's platform for running it is a port of Opera); Netflix downloads it dynamically (it starts up so fast on TiVo--8 seconds as opposed to 30 on the PS3 and over a minute on one of my BDPs--that they're probably caching most of it, checking the versions and replacing pieces when necessary). They change it as casually as they change their web pages and TiVo has as much control over it as the web browser maintainers have over those web pages, which is to say, none.
 
#15 ·
Thanks fellow Tivoids. I down loaded the "Example Short..." and get the same SuperHD and bit rate (5800 kbps)/resolution readings(1920x1080p) PAR 1:1 with my Tivo Pro. Not so much with the BluRay (by connecting an ethernet cord from the Tivo to the BluRay). BluRay wireless and wired both give a smaller bit rate. Although it is "newish" it's still not a gigabyte processor. No SuperHD came up. Perhaps futzing about with the network/system settings will make a difference. It's an acceptable alternative when in need of a Netflix fix (say that 3 times in a row) but not smokin' hot like the Tivo version (when it works right). It DOES give me profiles and doesn't reboot but once one gets used to the Porsche, it's hard to go back to the Fiat ;).

Two questions: 1. How does one know when it's pumpin' at 1080p/24 (I have both it and 1080p ticked in Tivo settings. 2. How does one get in contact with Tivo Margaret? (I'm new in the neighborhood).

Again many thanks for the feedback.
 
#17 ·
Just hit the info button and it will show the bitrate and resolution of the current streaming title.
 
#21 ·
So is the profile-enabled Netflix app HTML5? I thought we determined the Netflix app that shipped with the Roamio in August was still Flash-based.
How was that "determined" :rolleyes:? From this TiVo.com support page:
Netflix on Roamio Series DVRs

Roamio Series DVRs use a new HTML version of Netflix, as opposed to the Flash version used by previous DVRs. Netflix will function the same way as before, with a few notable updates:

DIAL: The Discover and Launch (DIAL) protocol is a set of open-source standards used for the new HTML version of Netflix. DIAL allows you to find Netflix videos on your mobile device and open them on your DIAL-compatible TiVo devices. To use this feature, your mobile device and TiVo device must be on the same network; however, they do not have to be paired.

Netflix Kids: When you launch the HTML version of Netflix, you are presented with a choice between Netflix and Netflix Kids. This child-friendly collection features videos that are appropriate for viewers age 12 and under.
(Emphasis added). I've been told by a friend who works at TiVo on Opera SDK-based apps that they dumped Adobe AIR because Adobe stopped developing it shortly after TiVo adopted it for Premiere.
 
#22 ·
Someone around here saw a config file that showed the YouTube app to use HTML5 terminology (I don't remember the exact technical verbiage: "app engine" or "container object" maybe) while the Netflix app was still showing up as Flash.

This review from The Verge (though it depends on how you interpret it) seems to indicate only YouTube is HTML5 right now. http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/20/4638390/tivo-roamio-pro-review

But if TiVo's support page indicates HTML5...
 
#23 ·
This review from The Verge (though it depends on how you interpret it) seems to indicate only YouTube is HTML5 right now. http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/20/4638390/tivo-roamio-pro-review
From that article:

The Netflix app is the shining star of the bunch; it's now much faster, and runs on Netflix's latest platform so it'll get updates as Netflix rolls them out.
Netflix's latest platform is most definitely HTML5 for Webkit. It now has all of the features of the other HTML5 Netflix players that the old Flash one never got: scroll-by-three with FF and REW, People Search and Netflix Kids. Its debug info is multi-page like the PS3's (UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT UP UP UP UP, an homage to the ancient "Konami cheat code") and the version information displayed there is similar to that displayed on other devices. They popped that banner content ad and profiles in and out without any sort of discernible update operation.
 
#24 ·
Well, as of this very moment Netflix has not caused its daily reboot. I've been subjecting it to some serious mega viewing to see if it will. I still do not have profiles or banner ads. The Netflix and Kids choices still greet me when tune in so there's that. I didn't get any Tivo updates other than standard service connections. They DID fix a wacky guide glitch that had AMCHD and AMCHDP both occupying the same space at the same time.

As long as Netflix doesn't reboot regularly (especially while recording multiple shows) I can live with the lack of profiles until they can sort it all out. Fortunately it's locked on MY profile so the wife and kiddies have to use one of the other platforms we own to access their shows. This could be a good thing :D "Sorry honey, we just can't watch (insert syrupy romance show here) right now...how bout "Expendables 2".....again?
 
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