02-03-2010, 09:12 PM
The quality of the streaming video is dynamically determined by your internet connection speed, and how much "breathing room" you give the buffer. For example, should you have a fast enough connection, you'll be able to get 1080p video with 5.1 sound. Our demonstration looked good, but videophiles will want to stick with Blu-ray: artifacting was still very obvious in what was supposedly the 1080p stream. Impressively, we were able to fast-forward without any delay. When hitting play, the movie continued instantly. Instead of making viewers stop to buffer again, the Xbox simply dropped us to a lower quality video stream and then slowly returned to the 1080p stream.
While the video quality doesn't come close to a dedicated Blu-ray disc, not many instant streaming services can match the Zune Marketplace's fidelity. Silly rebranding aside, we walked away impressed by Xbox's new video store.
With the exception of Twitter, every major addition in the upcoming Xbox Dashboard update feels like a thoughtful expansion of the overall Xbox Live experience. Both Facebook and Last.fm surprised us by not only replicating the features of the PC websites, but improving upon the experience in a distinctly Xbox way. With the public beta dropping later this month for a select few in the Xbox community (and press), it won't be long until many of you get to experience the even newer Xbox Experience.
While the video quality doesn't come close to a dedicated Blu-ray disc, not many instant streaming services can match the Zune Marketplace's fidelity. Silly rebranding aside, we walked away impressed by Xbox's new video store.
With the exception of Twitter, every major addition in the upcoming Xbox Dashboard update feels like a thoughtful expansion of the overall Xbox Live experience. Both Facebook and Last.fm surprised us by not only replicating the features of the PC websites, but improving upon the experience in a distinctly Xbox way. With the public beta dropping later this month for a select few in the Xbox community (and press), it won't be long until many of you get to experience the even newer Xbox Experience.