ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Tips and Advice for Streaming Movies and Web TV Shows

Updated on March 17, 2012

Its coming....back before there cable TV, pre-1970, everyone had roof antennas to get the TV signals, cable arrived making them obsolete, now streaming movies and Web-TV may make cable obsolete-though I doubt it.

Streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix, Hulu or others usually goes well, but more often than not, something goes awry, something fails, something disconnects, something makes you have to start again. It is not perfect. Much of the problem is not with the streaming technology but with your system you are using to stream with or the infrastructure around your location that could impact streaming.

Most streaming, according to research, is to the computer, in fact, 26 million do it this way instead of to the TV. The reason is the complexity of understanding how to stream to the TV and knowing what shows are available. The content from Web TV and available to stream is not always the A class material you see on cable or networks, in fact, many shows or movies that failed or are B or C Class quality end up on the Hulu or Web TV channels and that is because of money. The advertisers prefer cable to Web TV, which is not sure which way to proceed. Sporting events that stream are delayed or will cost the viewer to see.

Bringing TV content via the Internet is still suffering from birth pains in a variety of ways, the major ones are not technology but the content providers, such as, sporting franchises, movie studios, advertisers, and in what form will it take that will compete cable TV. To stream, you need to have an Internet connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second ($30 per month+). And if you don't have a computer that hooks up easily to your TV, you will have to buy additional hardware costing more than $100. Make sure you own a digital TV with HDMI connectors so you can hook up the computer to it for online Web TV etc. The Microsoft Xbox 360 can show streaming Netflix movies for a $50 subscription per year, or the Roku XDS video-streaming box ($100). It has built-in Wi-Fi and easy to set up and use. Roku streams Netflix movies and video-on-demand from Amazon plus many others. Samsung and LG have integrated Netflix streaming built in to their Blu-ray players. To get Apple TV, just go to iTunes and buy only their content. One can also download Boxee software free to access Apple TV for free. You can buy the Apple TV palm sized box for $100, again, you can only see items on iTunes. The Logitech Revue ($299) will allow you to watch Google TV, Netflix and others and integrates with your TV cable, so everything is there.

But Streaming content also deals with the critical issue of bandwidth, or, how many giga-bytes does your ISP or cable allow customers to stream monthly. When you go over that amount, either you will be surcharged for it or the connection stutters, reboot or choppy\slow. Comcast allows for 250 GB a month, while it sounds like a lot, consider that a movie is 1 GB or more in size.

Give Web TV a few more years to develop, just be happy with Netflix and Hulu.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)