Step 5. Bump

I just spent a little more time on the netflix site, and I agree that the quality of the downloadable stuff isn't spelled out clearly. I have comcast cable and they have some SD and HD movies that are truly on demand and start pretty much right when you select them. There will be a delay in downloading content off the netflix site, it seems like it could be 10-15 minutes. Not sure of that though. The netflix print, to paraphrase, says something along the lines of "the quality of your movie will depend on the speed of your internet connection. At 3mps, the quality will approach that of a DVD." I have a fast connection so I should get the best they have to offer. But that tells me it won't be HD (1080 or 720), and that it may barely be DVD (480). So yes, I take from that that the downloadable stuff on Netflix isn't HD. And with a fast connection you just might get DVD, which is 480. What's standard-def TV, something like 320, right? And VHS tapes were 240? I guess the good news for me is that my projector has a pretty decent upconverter in it, but the question begs as to how well it can upconvert what I download from netflix. A plus for me is that if the picture quality isn't great at 133", I can choke the projector down to display a smaller picture and improve quality. There are a variety of boxes you can use to download content from netflx. Personally if I was going to get a box I'd probably go for a blu ray player. But my wife wants to be able to also play games for the kids, so we'll probably go with PS3 or Xbox, more likely xbox. She wants to get dance dance revolution for my daughter! I don't have a real good feel for just what movies netflix has available for download. They claim 12000 out of their offerings of 100000. We were very happy with netflix when we just used them for discs years ago. We switched to blockbuster more for the kids, they liked being able to go into the store and pick up a DVD (a couple free in-store pickups per month) on their way home when they were having friends over. But blockbuster has gotten away from that feature, and blockbuster always seems to send discs in the que out of order. Makes it tough when you're watching a series. So I guess what it comes down to is that we're changing back to netflix for the DVDs via snailmail. At this time we look at the downloadable content as bonus stuff, and an excuse to get an xbox, and by getting an xbox it will allow us to watch bluray and work on our dance steps via DDR. One big slippery slope! But I do have a bit more head scratching to do...

Adding a Blu-ray player to your system will significantly improve both the video and the audio provided you have newer components that will support the player outputs. The real key is having components that accept HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), and of course having a Television panel that supports 1080P. Two HDMI cables one from player to receiver, another from receiver to TV...that's it...the single cable link handles HD video and surround sound! If you at least have a receiver that supports HDMI there is a good chance it will upconvert to component video (G,B,R jacks) which is accepted by most HD TVs. The superior PCM sound stream used by Blu-ray discs (and SACD audio) is not outputted on optical or digital coax for proprietary reasons (ie easy to record). Some Blu-ray players will output 5 or 7 individual channels + a sub on RCA plugs...again to a receiver that has individual discreet inputs. The real solution is to go HDMI all the way to a 1080p TV...then you will be a happy camper and realize the advancements Blu-ray has to offer....if not stick with your current DVD surround setup. Best player by the way is still a Sony Playstation 3...hard to beat for the price even if your not a gamer....the thing handles Blu-ray Movies, SACD discs, and lets you browse the net if you have a wireless network to interface it to...amazing HD graphics on the games too!

Yes streaming apps is not their focus. On the 203 they included a 4k HDMI input so you can stream your Roku/Apple TV, Firestick etc through the player and not lose an HDMI input on your TV. The used to have the 103 and 105 priced similarly when they came out with these blu-ray players. If you assume a 2017 version of a similar feature upgrade from the 203 to the 205, then they are probably something like this: https://www.oppodigital.com/KnowledgeBase.aspx?KBID=37&ProdID=BDP-93 In the 103 /105 case, the higher end version was based mostly on improving the audio listening experience.