How To Upgrade Netflix from HD to UHD when subscribed through Comcast Xfinity

Comcast Xfinity has a fairly new package that includes a Netflix subscription. This means that instead of paying Netflix for a monthly subscription, the cost is included in your Comcast Xfinity package, and billed through Comcast Xfinity.

If you want to upgrade your subscription from HD to UHD (4K), you'll get a message on the Comcast Xfinity page to give them a call to change your package.



Don't do that.

Instead, sign into your Netflix account on the Netflix website, and upgrade there. You'll be charged through your Comcast Xfinity billing process.

Caprica: Watch on Panasonic VieraCast or Tivo HD

I want to watch the preview of next season's Caprica TV show and am looking into streaming it to my TV.

Amazon Video on Demand allows you to view the show online, download to a PC or portable device, and also send it to either a TiVo box or connected device, which in my case is a Panasonic TV with VieraCast.

Once you sign up and register your device, you can watch either way. The differences are interesting.

Let's look at hte specs:

TiVo HD

File Size 3.8 GB
Bitrate 5000 kbps
Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Audio Channels 5.1

With the TiVo you are downloading the video and watching like you would any other TiVo show. NOte the audio is 5.1.

Pansonica VieraCast

Variable Bitrate
300 Kbps
600 Kbps 480p
900 Kbps 480p
1.2 Mbps 480p
2.5 Mbps 720p HD
Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Audio Channels 2

With VieraCast you are streaming the video in real time with no wait to start watching. Quality will vary depending on your bitrate.

I'm getting a download speed of 29,728 so I should see the highest quality.

Have you tried either of these methods. I'd love to hear you thoughts.

I purchased this episode on Amazon On Demand and when my purchase was complete, I clicked to Download it to my TiVo.

Got this acknowledgement back.



I like the idea of being able to pause the show with my TiVo.



Update II:

Just watched the Caprica downoad on the TiVo HD. Awesome. Perfect sound and picture qualtiy.

Great show too.

I'm looking forward to next year and the series.

IKEA

Second video for VideoBloggingWeek 2009. Made with a Flip mino HD and edited with FlipShare software.

Panasonic SD 100 - First Look

Recorded a short clip with the Panasonic SD 100, right out of the box.

Very easy to figure out, not so easy though was trying to figure out where to plug in the USB cable.



You must remove the battery. The USB port is on the back of the battery. Then you have to plug in the power cable and power adapter. This whole process seemed convoluted to me. The USB post needs to be somewhere other thatn BEHIND the battery.

Next up I connected the camera to the USB and took a look at the files. They are AVCHD files. First time I'd seen them.



Do not like. I had no idea what to do with them. I mean, NO IDEA. So I did a Google search adn started seeing all kinds of converters you could buy to convert AVCHD to Quicktime and such. After searching for a while I decided to open up iMovie 08 to see if it could import the files. It did.

Turns out that iMovie actually converts the AVCHD files into something it can edit.

Here's more information from Wikipedia:

"Apple's Final Cut Express 4, Final Cut 6.0.1, and iMovie '08 (Bundled with all new macs) do not support editing of AVCHD clips directly. Imported AVCHD clips are auto-converted into the Apple Intermediate Codec format, (MAC OSX 10.5 or greater and intel mac)."

Would have been nice if iPhoto recognized the camera right away and let me know this. Maybe I did something wrong.

Next, I opened up iMovie 08 and it recognized it and imported it. After cropping the length slightly, I exported at 960 x 540.

Then I posted to a bunch of sites to see how they'd handle the HD video. The embedded video above if from Facebook, which does a very nice job of embedding HD on blogs. I also posted it on my video blog via blip.tv and on YouTube.

I'll be trying it out some more today...

Disclosure:

Panasonic flew me out, and put me up at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Nice place. I'm in a room with a Tarzan theme. All the rooms have themes. They treated invited bloggers to dinner at PF Changs. I'd never been and thought it was just another chain. Not so.

If you missed my earlier post about them, I'll repeat, I had the most amazing marinated cucumbers I've ever had. I also enjoyed the 14 Trees Merlot. We all had a nice time. Looking forward to the show today.

I plan on seeing that HD Scuba mask, Sarah Austin between 12 and 2 at the Intel booth, and Red Soz player David “Big Papi” Ortiz at the Sharp Electronics, LVCC, Central Hall, Booth #11024 between 2 and 3.

Tonight I'll be at the Panasonic Tweetup. You are invited. Yes. You. It's at the Panasonic CES booth #9405 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center -- and begins after the exhibit hall closes for the evening, 6:30 - 8:00. You need to have a CES pass to get into the convention center.

Look for me at CES wearing this Liquid Image HD Video Underwater Camera

Liquid Image's HD Video Underwater Camera Mask, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

I'm heading out to CES tomorrow morning as a guest of Panasonic.



At least I hope to be heading out, the Boston Twitter Storm Report says "Snow develops across the region this evening to a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain after midnight."

Perfect, freezing rain.





Panasonic had planned to send out five bloggers, but one just had to have emergency gall bladder surgery. Get well soon Cliff.

Greg Verdino explains everything about the trip on his blog. Basically, Panasonic is covering my flight and hotel, and taking us out to dinner, letting us use their products, and showing us what they are up to.

There's no requirement for us to blog about Panasonic, just to make one post a day and one after CES. So if you see the tag LIHD on my post, that's for Panasonic and means Living in HD.

Upcoming Events I'll Be At
Panasonic Presents... A CES Tweet-Up in High Definition - Thursday January 8, 2009 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm
2009 "It Won't Stay in Vegas" Blogger Party -Friday January 9, 2009 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. Pre-registration required.

On Thursday, sometime between 12 and 2 I'll be at the Intel booth with Sarah Austin doing a video streaming broadcast over WiMax.

Follow Me
Check out SteveGarfield.com for updates. The main page will show my most recent Qik and blip.tv videos, my Friendfeed stream and flickr photos.

You can also follow me on twitter.

What I'm Looking Forward To

People. Although there are going to be 2,700 vendors at CES, there are also going to be 120,000 people there. CES IS PEOPLE!

The last time I went to CES was in 2006.



Back then there wasn't any twitter. We had to walk five miles to school, up a hill, with no shoes.

This year there are a lot of bloggers and social media people headed to CES. So although there are going to be thousands of peope there, I think it's going to feel a lot like a mini-SXSW.

HP is sponsoring a CntrStg bloggers lounge at the Wynn January 7, 2009 - Sunday January 11, 2009 from 4:00pm - 12:00pm. I'll make sure I stop by to hang out over there. You'll need to register for that.

So I'm looking forward to seeing lots of people that I only get to see a few times a year.

I'm also looking forward to shooting some fun video projects. You'll see those when they happen!

I want to wear that Liquid Image HD contraption and shoot some video. Isn't it the perfect looking device for a videoblogger?

Vendors I'm looking forward to meeting up with include Mogulus, Qik, TiVo, Nokia, and Kodak.

I'm very interested in seeing how the Panasonic HDC-SD100 HD camcorder works. The only HD I've had a chance to work with is the Kodak Zi6.

If you are going to CES, drop a note in the comments and let me know what you are looking forward to.

If you aren't going, leave me a note about what you want me to go check out for you.

Comcast Rep Joins TiVo Community

Comcast Rep on AVS forum - TiVo Community:

"As I noted in my earlier post, there will be a software release coming in the next several weeks that will address many of the reported issues, including some of the complaints users have had with Suggestions behavior (including the intrusiveness of the prompts), improvements to the HD filter on the guide, and Dolby Digital output will work correctly on DCH set-top boxes."

Comcast is taking a step into social media.

Comcast Rep posts about an upcoming upgrade to the Comcast TiVo box which addresses my issue with the guide.

Thanks Brian for letting me know that Comcast Rep is out there. Comcast Rep is on the AVS forum too.

Good idea to join the existing discussion where the people are. It would be better if you used a real name though... :-)

Next up, replying to blog posts on blogs.

My Macworld Keynote Predictions

Might as well get my Macworld predictions written down so we can look back at them later and laugh...



Here's what I'd like to see announced at Macworld:

1. Video Camera with WiFi and ATT service.
Combine the experience of the Nokia N95 video camera with ATT service, and include that in a video camera that has an audio in jack and a regular tripod mount. Partner with Nokia on a phone that's more video camera than phone? I guess what makes more sense is a video iPhone. Is that something too obvious to predict?

2. Ultra Portable Computer with WiFi and ATT service.
Now that we've seen the life changing results of the iPhone, let's see if some of the functionality of being able to carry around a device that's both a micro laptop and a phone can be designed into something between the iPhone and MacBook Pro.

3. HD TV with a Macintosh built in.
I predicted this a few Macworlds ago, but it didn't happen, so it's fair to predict it again. Instead of trying to attach some kind of add-on box to a TV to give it access to the internet, why not just take a Macintosh and shove it inside a TV. A partnership with Sharp would be sweet. You really don't even need the TV part anymore since it'll end up being connected to a service provider any way. So how about a 42" Cinema Display Macintosh HD TV?

New England Patriots: Best TV Coverage

I felt bad for Channel 5 (ABC) in Boston. They signed a deal for exclusive coverage of last night's Partiots/Giants game, and the NFL broke the contract and gave the game to 4 (CBS) and 7 (NBC).

The NFL ended up giving Channel 5 three playoff tickets and exclusive access for their pre-game and post-game shows. Those exclusives didn't end up being so valuable.

Pre Game
When game time came, I watched the Channel 5 pre-game for their exclusive on field interviews. Not that exciting.

Game Time
When game time arrived, I flipped over to the other stations to check them out, and found that Channel 4 had the best sound. Much better than 5 or 7.

Post Game
When it was time for the exclusive post-game coverage, Mike Lynch of Channel 5 was left alone standing in the corridor, looking in vain for players to interview. Sad. I flipped over to Channel 4, and there was Bill Belichick's press conference, LIVE.

Watch the post game press conference footage at the Official Website of the New England Patriots.

Can We Sort Comcast TiVo Out?

When you sort for upcoming movies on a Comcast TiVo it sorts by Time.



When you sort for upcoming HD programs on a Comcast TiVo it sorts by program name.

No way to change the sort. I'd prefer it to be sorted by time...

Comcast TiVo Yellow Screen of Death

Comcsst TiVo Yellow Screen of Death - Originally uploaded on flickr by stevegarfield.

While trying to record a movie with my new Comcast HD TiVo, the TiVo rebooted and then I got this screen.

The "Comcast TiVo Yellow Screen of Death?"

Maybe it's actually the "Comcast TiVo Yellow Screen of Life" since I saw it during the reboot.

Comcast TiVo HD Guide

Checking out the new Comcast Tivo HD Program Guide.

Shows in HD are designated by 'HD'. There's also a button to filter out all shows so that only HD shows are displayed, you can also do it via an on screen menu. It took 53 seconds for the screen to refresh. Movies, Kids, Sports, and News come up right away, as does All, but HD takes a long time.

Here's a video of hte Comcast Tivo HD Program Guide if you want to see.

I logged onto Comcast chat and was told that Comcast is aware of the problem and has contacted the hardware manufacturer.

Why do I have to Beta Test these products for free after they are publicly released? Didn't they have a Beta Test period where these things should have been ironed out?

Stuttering and blurry videos, NOT

I'm tired of media reports that call online video "stuttering and blurry." It's just not right. Video are not, as a rule blurry. If producers compress them correctly web video can look great, HD quality even. As for stuttering, that depends mostly on your internet connection speed.

Here's the article: New Intel chips promise to improve online videos - The Boston Globe:

"SAN FRANCISCO - Intel plans to announce a family of microprocessor chips today that it says will speed the availability of high-definition video via the Internet. Sean Maloney, Intel's chief marketing officer, said the chips' increased computing power would begin the transformation of today's stuttering and blurry videos, the staple of YouTube and other video streaming sites, into high-resolution, full-screen quality that will begin to compete with the living room HDTV."

Watch some video on the net that doesn't look so bad over here:

Epic-Fu - Art+Tech+Music for Geeks
RGTV News - Independent Video News From Around The World

Depending on your connection, videos might stutter, but all you have to do on a slow connection is pause hte video until it completes loading, and then play it. No stuttering.
Vimeo HD