Downloading movies to your TV

[Mysterious Dude]

I had a roommate in college who was very computer savvy, and knew how to download movies off the internet and then watch them on his big-ass television set (though occasionally, I was unimpressed by the quality of the download). I never learned how to do it myself, but I've long believed the technology would become mainstream eventually, because it seems like a natural progression after DVD's. Why bother with fragile discs you have to keep track of if you can do it all with a computer?

Right now, Netflix offers movies that can be watched online, but you have to watch them on your computer, and I only have a laptop. It's not quite ideal. Now, Netflix is going to start offering a device which makes it easy to download movies and then watch them on your television (link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080103/ap_on_hi_te/netflix_tv_13). I know some are wary of the expense of such a thing, but this is the future of home movie watching.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm fortunate enough to be able to connect my laptop directly to my television, so I can use their Instant Watching, or anything I download, and watch it on my T.V. Still, this would be much more convenient, and I'd imagine the selection would be better.

[DSNT]

I kinda had a feeling Netflix would head in this direction. I can only imagine the awesomeness of transferring movies via the internet and getting them immediately rather than waiting for the mail. This would probably help with Netflix's overhead as well, so they may make those set-top boxes affordable.

I've tried the Watch Now feature of Netflix, but can't stand watching movies on the computer.

[number8]

I heard about this. And just when I just purchased a DVI-to-HDMI cable. :confused:

[shaun]

I play downloaded movies on my television through Media Center and my XB360. Most movies that you download are encoded in DivX/XviD, which Media Center can't play play, but if you convert them to .wmv or .avi there shouldn't be an issue.

My laptop also has an HDMI output in case of emergency but I've never used it.

[Yxklyx]

I can already connect my HDTV to my computer via an HDMI cable now that I have a video card that supports two monitors. Only thing is I need a long cable since they are in different rooms and last I checked the cable was about $200-$300 - it would also look a bit ugly to have this thick cable running from one room to another. Essentially, I can use my TV as a computer monitor so I can already watch Netflix movies on my TV using their Watch Now feature.

[Sycophant]

My lovely little video card actually exports component video. I've been watching downloaded videos on my television for years. It's awesome, particularly for using an editing monitor. It made watching fansubbed anime series a doable group event.

Me? Despite hating being loaded down by my massive DVD collection, oh how I love the tangible quality of it.

[Saya]

I play downloaded movies on my television through Media Center and my XB360. Most movies that you download are encoded in DivX/XviD, which Media Center can't play play, but if you convert them to .wmv or .avi there shouldn't be an issue.

My laptop also has an HDMI output in case of emergency but I've never used it.

I do the same. I have an Apple so I use this program called Connect 360 (http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360). And my experience with it is fantastic. I can access my whole iPhoto and iTunes library through my 360 now, which is pretty cool. It would be even more awesome if it would show the album artwork aswell. :)

And like you said, the biggest downside is that most movies have to be converted before they play on the 360. Also, I have a wireless connection so some HD movies occasionally lag a bit. I think it's probably because of interference from other machines.

[Stay Puft]

I don't have experience with Windows Media Center, but I know the Xbox 360 supports DivX/XviD with the latest dashboard update. You can simply stream the movies to your console through Windows Media Player 11. The only thing missing is support for subtitles.

But for myself, I just plug my PC into my DLP projector whenever I want, since it has VGA connectors.

[shaun]

I don't have experience with Windows Media Center, but I know the Xbox 360 supports DivX/XviD with the latest dashboard update. You can simply stream the movies to your console through Windows Media Player 11. Whoa. I didn't even know they added support for the codec. Thanks.

Now they just need to add .x264/.mkv support for HD content downloads and I'll be pretty happy.