Are Internet movies downloaded or streamed?

[Mike88]

Every once in awhile I’ll download a move via the Internet. But is it really being downloaded or is it streamed?

Usually it says I can start watching the movie in something like 20 minutes. This could mean it’s downloading or could mean a streaming buffer is being filled up.

When I delete a movie the HDD free space does increase, which makes me think it is on the HDD. However it doesn’t increase a lot. Deleting a 2 hour movie only increases the free space by about 13 minutes. I realize it’s being compressed but that seems excessive.

However when I watch a movie the next day or two the screen shows streaming quality, which makes me think it is not on my HDD. The quality always shows only 1 square out of 4 or 5.

Why does Streaming Quality show up if the movie is on the HDD? What's really happening?

 

[Bruuce]

Every once in awhile I’ll download a move via the Internet. But is it really being downloaded or is it streamed?

Usually it says I can start watching the movie in something like 20 minutes. This could mean it’s downloading or could mean a streaming buffer is being filled up.

When I delete a movie the HDD free space does increase, which makes me think it is on the HDD. However it doesn’t increase a lot. Deleting a 2 hour movie only increases the free space by about 13 minutes. I realize it’s being compressed but that seems excessive.

However when I watch a movie the next day or two the screen shows streaming quality, which makes me think it is not on my HDD. The quality always shows only 1 square out of 4 or 5.

Why does Streaming Quality show up if the movie is on the HDD? What's really happening?

I assume you are talking about VOD?

They are downloaded. Let's say you try to play an on demand movie you had watched earlier. It will start automatically without downloading again.

The reason the file doesn't take up as much space is because the quality is poorer than the quality on a recorded broadcast. I don't know if Dish does this for people who have slower speeds to be able to download the movie sooner or if they just want to water down the quality of the file.

 

[Hall]

When I delete a movie the HDD free space does increase, which makes me think it is on the HDD.

I didn't think VODs would take away any space from the user's portion of the HDD ?

 

[KAB]

I didn't think VODs would take away any space from the user's portion of the HDD ?

I know PTAT does not, unsure about PPV.

 

[Jim5506]

IIRC PPV has its own reserved HDD space.

 

[bnewt]

I assume you are talking about VOD?

They are downloaded. Let's say you try to play an on demand movie you had watched earlier. It will start automatically without downloading again.

The reason the file doesn't take up as much space is because the quality is poorer than the quality on a recorded broadcast. I don't know if Dish does this for people who have slower speeds to be able to download the movie sooner or if they just want to water down the quality of the file.

Is that the reason I can never get anything from on demand to look half way decent..........I thought it was due to my slow internet speed

 

[Mike88]

I consider VOD as the movies that are on channel 1. What I'm inquiring about is what you get when you press DVR > All Movies > and then select New Releases, Explore Movies, etc.

Even if I have slow DSL Internet I would think I'd get the same HD quality as someone with faster Internet, but it would just take longer to download. I usually download these movies at night so I don't care how long it takes. But when Streaming Quality is displayed it makes me wonder how the movie is really getting delivered to me.

I suspect the Streaming Quality shows up in case you did watch the movie right away. In my case it's not so great because of the slow DSL. But since I don't want to watch it right away I am willing to trade download time for quality. But I don't see any option to select that.

 

[ChadT41]

You are talking about IPVoD. They are downloaded, but you can stream them as they download(if that clarifies that position). Portions of the VOD are already downloaded to the receiver, and that is the companies partition of the harddrive. If you choose to download the remaining portion of the movie, via Internet or phone, then it goes to the user partition. Only the ones you physically download are on the users end, the remaining portion is all Dish's partition. I have to agree with above about the quality. In my experience, the faster the download speed, however, the better end quality of on demand. The slower the soeed(15Mbps and below) and the picture looks like crap after downloaded... I hope someone can make better sense of what is happening there, I just know the end result.

By the way, you may also hear it called SVOD which is subscription VOD, compared to IVOD which is Impulse VOD. IVOD is where you order a movie via remote and Internet connection and are not subbed to the channel.

 

[DishSubLA]

All my internet downloaded ready for playback content has looked GREAT HD, and, in some cases, BETTER than recording off of Dish's live, streaming, linear channels. But, I've never had a even a moderate quality download. It has always been very good to great. However, sometimes the downstream may be at 25-30Mbps or as low as 17Mbps, but it does not seem to affect PQ, only takes a bit longer to complete download.

The quality may vary by each subscriber maybe because when connecting for the download, Dish's servers may downgrade to accommodate what it THINKS your internet speed can handle, rather than a LONGER download time at higher quality. Remember, they want the traffic off the server ASAP so they can accommodate other requests for download, and that may be the forced compromise. It is cheaper than buying more servers to accommodate more slower connections, which has no effect for some, but decreases PQ for others. Just a thought.

 

[Bruuce]

I have 54mbps through Time Warner. I would think that would be adequate download speeds for VOD. I wish I knew why my downloads always look soft with obvious compression issues. For what it's worth, I'm using a Hopper with Sling connected to my A/V receiver then to my TV. It's certainly not the receiver mudding the picture as live and recorded broadcasts look decent enough.

ninja edit: I just want to say, this response isn't a slam to you, DishSubLA, you see what you see and I do not doubt that. But I remember when I first got the Hopper my VOD downloads didn't look the way they look now. It's very obvious.

 

[ChadT41]

I definitely see a difference in my VOD, however the difference is minimal. I still enjoy using it, as I still am the blind guy that wants and argues against the 4K TV. Lol. I'm torn, as I watch TV to escape reality, not join another. But... But... But... New toys!!!!