New Netflix user very, very Impressed! (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Last time I watched "Desk Set" on Netflix (which was before the current Blu-ray came out, so maybe 2011 or 2012?), it was presented in its original ratio of 2.35:1.

 

[Persianimmortal]

Not sure if it's ever been on Netflix before, but the current version was only added to Netflix US on 1 November 2015. And it's definitely non-OAR 4:3:

The main titles are letterboxed slightly as shown in the first screenshot, and of course it's only SD because I capped these from my PC not my TV, and as discussed earlier Netflix restricts devices to SD in the US.


Anyway as I said before, it's a bizarre choice. Usually Netflix manipulates AR to remove black bars, not exchange top/bottom ones for side ones as in this case!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Maybe Fox sent them the wrong master when it was re-added to the service. It seems like a mistake rather than an intentional choice.

 

[Sam Posten]

Netflix seems to be on a roll with their own content. Master of None is fantastic, give it a shot, especially if you like Louie.

 

[Johnny Angell]

My wife wants to catch up on The Hunger Games. I went to the Netflix website (I used to be a disc subscriber) and found the only way to look at their library to see what they offer is to restart my account. I.E. I have to pay just to see a list of what they have. This seems incredibly stupid to me.


I called customer service and the rep I talked to told me she couldn't look at what they have either, but she asked around and it was determined Netflix does not have the movies for streaming. I asked to they have them on blu ray. She said she'd have to ask around. I said don't bother, I'm not really interested in a disc rental anyway.


Seems incredibly short sighted that neither a potential customer or csr can look at the Netflix library.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

They were on there for quite a while. I think the site instantwatcher.com will still let you see what they have at the moment.

 

[Persianimmortal]

There are plenty of third party Netflix search engines that you can use to search through and view the full Netflix library. The one I currently use is unogs.com as it allows search across the entire global Netflix library. According to unogs here, The Hunger Games is currently only available in Canada, South America and parts of Europe on Netflix.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Not sure if it's ever been on Netflix before, but the current version was only added to Netflix US on 1 November 2015. And it's definitely non-OAR 4:3:

Deskset1.jpg

Deskset2.jpg


The main titles are letterboxed slightly as shown in the first screenshot, and of course it's only SD because I capped these from my PC not my TV, and as discussed earlier Netflix restricts devices to SD in the US.


Anyway as I said before, it's a bizarre choice. Usually Netflix manipulates AR to remove black bars, not exchange top/bottom ones for side ones as in this case!

I suggest you cal and complain about it. I've found that if they get enough complaints about a movie not being in its correct aspect ratio, they will either re-encode it (if they were the perpetrators who panned and scanned or cropped it) or request a new master from the studio. I've seen this happen with Serenity and The Robe.


Netflix is also re-encoding their library to be more efficient and use less data. Variety has an interesting article about it.

 

[Todd Erwin]

My wife wants to catch up on The Hunger Games. I went to the Netflix website (I used to be a disc subscriber) and found the only way to look at their library to see what they offer is to restart my account. I.E. I have to pay just to see a list of what they have. This seems incredibly stupid to me.


I called customer service and the rep I talked to told me she couldn't look at what they have either, but she asked around and it was determined Netflix does not have the movies for streaming. I asked to they have them on blu ray. She said she'd have to ask around. I said don't bother, I'm not really interested in a disc rental anyway.


Seems incredibly short sighted that neither a potential customer or csr can look at the Netflix library.

The Hunger Games and its sequels were removed from the streaming service (along with many other Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount titles) when they allowed their contract with EPIX to expire.

 

[Johnny Angell]

They were on there for quite a while. I think the site instantwatcher.com will still let you see what they have at the moment.

There are plenty of third party Netflix search engines that you can use to search through and view the full Netflix library. The one I currently use is unogs.com as it allows search across the entire global Netflix library. According to unogs here, The Hunger Games is currently only available in Canada, South America and parts of Europe on Netflix.

Thanks to both of you for the info. I tried out both with a search for "A Christmas Carol" and instant watcher found one occurrence while unogs found 4.


I still find it odd how restrictive netflix is.

 

[Johnny Angell]

After thing about the two each sites for Netflix movies, I got to wondering is there a search engine that covers all the streaming services?

 

[Persianimmortal]

Justwatch seems to cover most of them.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I still find it odd how restrictive netflix is.

In most instances, I'd blame the studios or rightsholders, not Netflix. I'm sure Netflix would be very happy just being able to license out global rights to each title and have one site, instead of having to manage rights and settings for different areas.

 

[Johnny Angell]

In most instances, I'd blame the studios or rightsholders, not Netflix. I'm sure Netflix would be very happy just being able to license out global rights to each title and have one site, instead of having to manage rights and settings for different areas.

What I was commenting on, and I admit I wasn't clear, was how difficult Netflix made it to browse their library of titles.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

What I was commenting on, and I admit I wasn't clear, was how difficult Netflix made it to browse their library of titles.

Gotcha, yeah, I totally misread that. And for what it's worth, I agree that browsing through Netflix is not the most pleasant of tasks. I used to browse Netflix looking for titles, and now it's more like, I'll pick a movie I want to watch and then see if Netflix has it.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Just one more clarification: you can't browse netflix at all unless you are a paying subscriber.

 

[RolandL]

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