Well, recently we discovered yet another reason to love the service. In some cases, it’s actually better than the real thing.

Let us explain. Take for example, the title Annie: Special Anniversary Edition. The DVD release in 2007 was universally flogged for taking an original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and cropping it to fit in a full frame, 4:3 presentation. We guess Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which released the DVD, didn’t have much faith in the escalating high definition television sales of their parent company, right? Now imagine the horror experienced by every dad educating their children on the virtue of widescreen presentation, and all of a sudden – gasp - appears something right out of the 1990s! Call the Smithsonian!

Three years later, there still isn’t a widescreen release (in print, anyway) of this seminal broadway-to-hollywood conversion. Thank goodness for Netflix, and their agreement with Starz.

Today, the title is available on the streaming service, and although it doesn’t have the DTS 5.1 audio track from the DVD, nor does it have the special features – and we expect you agree with us that no parent has the time and no child has the patience to watch special features – it does take advantage of that widescreen format television you spent all that time convincing your wife that you absolutely needed to buy it. Kinda like blue balls for the married man.

We took a couple of screenshots from the same scene as a comparison. Here’s the scene from the DVD release:

Now examine the same scene from the Netflix streaming version:

See the extra picture available in the streaming version? Especially on the right-hand side, the entire stairwell railing is in frame. The extra picture available enhances the viewing experience, especially during those elaborate song-and-dance numbers that make this film.

Now, there is a catch. The original theatrical aspect ratio, as mentioned above, was 2.35:1, and this streaming version courtesy of Starz is clearly enhanced for today’s 1.85:1 widescreen HDTVs. So yes, there still is some picture that’s missing. The only way you can catch the movie as it was originally intended is either find a theater screening an actual film print, or buy it from Amazon’s VOD service, which seems to be a direct transfer from the original 2000 DVD release. However, although we love Amazon VOD there isn’t the same support from playback devices as with Netflix, so there may be some difficulty getting to watch it on anything other than your PC. The Roku HD Player does have Amazon VOD support, and even if you already have one for your Netflix streaming access you’re still stuck paying Amazon $9.99 for the privilege to watch the film properly – and that’s on top of the monthly cost you already pay for Netflix, mind you. Hey, we might be aspect-ratio snobs but we’re still parents – we sometimes have to make these tough decisions.

We’ve seen other instances of this across Netflix’s streaming service, so be on the lookout for where streaming your favorite film trumps the physical disc. It’s just another added benefit to an already stellar service which appeals to kids and parents alike.

]]> http://mydadisageek.com/2010/08/netflix-streaming-better-than-physical-disc/feed/ 0 http://mydadisageek.com/2010/04/pandora-the-explora-in-todays-daily-dad-gest/ http://mydadisageek.com/2010/04/pandora-the-explora-in-todays-daily-dad-gest/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:46:42 +0000 Jeremy Rutz http://www.mydadisageek.com/?p=349 Continue reading →]]> We were starting to get worried for a second; it wasn’t going to be this quiet today, was it? Yeah, we know Avatar came out on DVD and Blu-ray today. But it was only in 2D, and that gave you and even more compelling reason to pick up The Smurfs Season 1 and say you were confused and picked up the “other one with blue men” by mistake.

As the rest of the world was celebrating Earth Day on Pandora, late in the day we saw /Film’s review round-up of the Shrek Forever After premiere last night at the Tribeca Film Festival. The verdict? Doesn’t sound too promising. The Hollywood Reporter says it “has lost much of the simple charm, humor and heart that marked its predecessors”. Variety says “word of mouth likely won’t make for a fairy-tale ending”. We say, Blue Guys 1, Green Guys 0.

Elsewhere, the PS3 had a one-two punch of attention-grabbers. First it sent a late-night jab from the left with news of the 3.30 firmware update. Included in the update is the promise that one day, whenever there are 3D compatible games, the PS3 will be ready for them. But maybe not your TV.

Then it threw a roundhouse from the right with the best Father’s Day present a dad could share with his son, two months before Father’s Day. Starting today, a new MLB.TV application is available for download from the Playstation Store. With it you’ll be able to stream every baseball game your heart desires. Just one more reason to camp out on the couch.

“This app allows MLB.TV subscribers to watch every regular season game live in HD (local blackout restrictions do apply), with tons of new interactive features designed exclusively for PSN.”

The bad part? You need to shell out $120 for the season or $25 monthly to enjoy all the features of this app. A small price to pay to bond with your son; but for us, a waste of money for any self-respecting Chicago Cubs fan.

Here’s the rest of today’s news:

Redbox inks deals with Universal, Fox [The Hollywood Reporter]

Hulu Plus subscription service rumored: $9.95 a month for access to older shows [Engadget]

Netflix’s Q1 results show record subscriber growth, little resistance to new release delays [Engadget]

Marvel Planning Smaller Budget Movies For Third Tier Superhero Characters [/Film]

• Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines
• Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback
• Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
• Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required
• Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images
• Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging
• More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books
• Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns
• Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you
• Large Selection: Over 230,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available
• Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise

What MDIAG! loves most about it is its durability, most likely due to its light, slim profile, as demonstrated in this video. A drop of 30 inches would survive being pulled off of the table by my toddler, but we’d like to see if it can resist the slobbering bite of a teething infant. Somehow, we doubt it, but that’s what we get for leaving a $350 gadget in the line of fire.

As Darth Vader once said: “Impressive”. On our wishlist – we want to be able to view content in color (hello Marvel Digital Comics!) and have the ability to use the 3G network to add RSS feeds from any blog, not just the ones Amazon partners with. Still, we’d love to have one of these.

Source: Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

Over at the Roku forums, an official has made clear that demand was exceptional and the pool of private beta testers has now been chosen. Sadly, there’s no mention of when Roku plans on sharing the love with the public at large, but Dave Zatz has appropriately pointed out that YouTube could be following close behind.

This is turning into the little device that can do just about everything you would want it to. Between the amount of family-friendly content available on Netflix, Amazon and YouTube, and at a price point under $100, it should be a no-brainer purchase to expand your video library.

Source: Roku takes Amazon Video On Demand into private beta

Engadget posted news of a Star Trek Communicator which doubles as a VoIP / Skype phone.

Created by Dream Cheeky, this VoIP / Skype phone is powered by USB and looks pretty much exactly like one of those classic Star Trek Communicators. Best of all, there’s a velcro backing in order to mount it up for everyone to see.

Velcro backing so little hands don’t accidentally drop it? How sweet is that. The problem is that your children will probably have to pry it from your cold, dead hands before they can use it.

Source: Star Trek USB Communicator dials up galactic jetsetters

The Tree Camera is actually a DAP alone (sorry for crushing your dreams), and aside from boasting a standard headphone jack, it includes 256MB of storage and plays nice with OGG, WMA and MP3 file formats. We’d say it’s totally cute enough to justify the $43 price tag, and even more so if the wood used to make is, you know, real wood.

It even comes with a neck strap. Sounds like the perfect digital player .

Source: Tree Camera doubles as really cute MP3 player, doesn’t take stills

Unfortunately, the “robot” doesn’t appear to actually have many true robot abilities, although it does have a built-in camera to let you check out its surroundings via a connected computer, and it’s apparently able to do a few basic tasks like read your RSS feeds or check the weather.

Wow, a robot mini-you reading your RSS feeds. Now if we can only get us to post our stories, it might be worth it for the cheap labor!

Source: Little Island promises to craft you in creepy robot form

Following a trail of rumors, reports and speculation, AppleInsider reports we might be standing in line once again for a shiny new iPhone revision.

Specifically, a lengthy breadcrumb trail laid by Apple and its partners suggest the new model will include the use of customized “System on a Chip” components developed by Apple using ARM processor cores and incorporating new PowerVR video and graphics processing core designs developed by Imagination Technologies.

What does this mean for us? It means we won’t feel so paranoid when we give our toddlers our iPhones to keep them occupied, knowing a replacement is on the way. Kinda makes it easier to justify that upgrade anyway, eh?

Source: Report hints at next-gen iPhone in June

I decided that it would be more interesting if the model moon actually reflected the current phase of the moon based on the current date. Using an arduino and a DS1307 realtime clock module from Sparkfun, I was able to make that it do just that. The DS1307 module contains a coin cell battery backup that enables the internal clock to maintain the proper time, even without power, for up to 17 years!

Click the link below for your next project.

Source: Hack the ThinkGeek R/C Moon to display realtime phase changes

Here’s what we know about the must-have device of the year: boasting a full QWERTY keyboard, the Text and Learn has a calendar (for learning dates), phonics functions (for learning… phonics) on the keyboard, and games to teach spelling and basic computer skills, as well. There’s also some “texting” — the child can interact with their onscreen buddy/ guide, Scout.

The Text and Learn, although still not officially announced, is expected to be released in August at $30.

Source: LeapFrog intros “smartphone” for your little one