A while ago this popped up over on LifeHacker (among other places)…
So I told Netflix I had a PS3 & wanted to sign up. I got an email yesterday saying I would get my PS3 Instant Streaming disc today. Basically, you put in the special Blu-ray they send you, select it under Video on the PlayStation 3, then you enter the code it gives you into your Netflix account to enable it as a device, just like you would with a Roku or other Netflix enabled box. After it Authorizes (took mine just a few seconds) it pulls up your Instant Watch queue & away you go.
I’ve used Instant Watch before using both the old Flash client & the new Silverlight version on my MacBook Pro, but it either involved a long DVI / HDMI cable to the TV and a long optical cable to the stereo or watching it on my laptop. Both of which weren’t really worth it, so I rarely used it. I think that’s gonna change.
Watching on the PS3 is much better. It’s easier for one, slap in the disc & away you go. I can also continue to use my computer. Whereas, when watching on the computer, if I use full screen mode, I can’t do anything else. It won’t even keep full screen if I use it on a second monitor. It also seems to be higher quality and I had no problem with lag or delays. I’m guessing they are taking advantage of the Cell processors in the PS3 to do a bit better compression. Of course this might help too…
I even streamed a little HD content and it seemed quite good too. Most of what I watched tonight wasn’t HD though. I watched the entire 1st season of Coupling. And an episode of Series 3 of Chef! (crap compared to Series 1 & 2).
All in all, I’m pretty impressed and will probably use it a lot more.
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At least that's what I've heard from others who have used it.
Personally I doubt I'll use it for recent movies too often, particularly those available on Blu-ray, but for older stuff & TV shows, it's perfect.
& Coupling is pretty good. :P The last season of Chef on the other hand was crap (the first 2 were entertaining).