If you want to see the screen after your area is available, you can use this Las Vegas address:
2680 Topaz Square
Las Vegas, NV 89121
2680 Topaz Square
Las Vegas, NV 89121
MovieBeam
- Thread starter Ilya
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 48
- Views 9K
https://moviebeam.com/opencms/opencms/Pages/AboutUs/
"The MovieBeam service is currently available in 29 metropolitan areas across the U.S.: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C."
"The MovieBeam service is currently available in 29 metropolitan areas across the U.S.: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C."
Anyone tried vongo.com? Supposedly lets you download movies to upto 3 computers for $9.99 a month. Keep them to watch as long as Vongo has them licensed.
Hmm - maybe they aren't broadcasting from the TV towers on South Mountain.M Sparks said:
I live at the northern outskirts on Phoenix and it says it's available here.
If the box was cheap / free , or it was a flat monthly free with unlimited movie viewing I'd consider it.
Shawn
They piggyback PBS. If you get PBS HD than you will receive this service.
The most alarming aspect that no one is talking about is the bandwidth constraints. If this is going to be a sub-channel of PBS who is going to lose the broadcast bandwidth?
My PBS typically has a bit-rate of 16Mbps which leaves about 3mbps for sub-channels.
3Mbps HD. I don't think so. Bit starved PBS? I think not.
And please for all the people that mentioned saving 100 HD movies that is absurd. At ~9GB's per hour for a MPEG-2 HD movie. Unless this re-encodes on the fly to MPEG-4 than it would need a 2 Terrabyte Drive for 100 HD movies.. Realistic? I think not.
Someone please tell me there is more available badwidth on a PBS sub-channel.
Antennaweb.org tells me I cannot receive PBS 77 miles from the tower but it comes in fine for me OTA. I believe MovieBeam is basing reception on metro locations that don't suffer from multipathing.
The most alarming aspect that no one is talking about is the bandwidth constraints. If this is going to be a sub-channel of PBS who is going to lose the broadcast bandwidth?
My PBS typically has a bit-rate of 16Mbps which leaves about 3mbps for sub-channels.
3Mbps HD. I don't think so. Bit starved PBS? I think not.
And please for all the people that mentioned saving 100 HD movies that is absurd. At ~9GB's per hour for a MPEG-2 HD movie. Unless this re-encodes on the fly to MPEG-4 than it would need a 2 Terrabyte Drive for 100 HD movies.. Realistic? I think not.
Someone please tell me there is more available badwidth on a PBS sub-channel.
Antennaweb.org tells me I cannot receive PBS 77 miles from the tower but it comes in fine for me OTA. I believe MovieBeam is basing reception on metro locations that don't suffer from multipathing.
I wouldn't get too excited about this product if you're looking for a good source for HD content. I was seriously looking into it here in San Diego and went to their web site to see their movie offerings. Of the 100 or so currently available there were some fairly recent releases, as advertised, however, none of them were in HD.
I counted only 7 actual movies in HD, all older films, including Cold Mountain, Scary Movie 3, Batman Forever, The Perfect Storm, and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. None of the ones I'd like to see in HD were: Fantastic Four, Unleased, Constant Gardner, Batman Begins, Serenity, etc.
And this is the explanation they give in their FAQs section:
"Only a select set of movies on MovieBeam are available in HD. Today, not all movies are made by the movie studios in HD, and library movies were almost all made in standard definition format (or were shot on film and were only digitized in standard definition format for DVD's). MovieBeam arranges to get the best and most desired movies available in HD format. "
Anyone know if this is true? How does HBO and Showtime offer such a great selection in HD. Are they all upconverts? I thought they and HDnet Movies presented transfers from 35mm film which in terms of resolution quality is basically HD.
I counted only 7 actual movies in HD, all older films, including Cold Mountain, Scary Movie 3, Batman Forever, The Perfect Storm, and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. None of the ones I'd like to see in HD were: Fantastic Four, Unleased, Constant Gardner, Batman Begins, Serenity, etc.
And this is the explanation they give in their FAQs section:
"Only a select set of movies on MovieBeam are available in HD. Today, not all movies are made by the movie studios in HD, and library movies were almost all made in standard definition format (or were shot on film and were only digitized in standard definition format for DVD's). MovieBeam arranges to get the best and most desired movies available in HD format. "
Anyone know if this is true? How does HBO and Showtime offer such a great selection in HD. Are they all upconverts? I thought they and HDnet Movies presented transfers from 35mm film which in terms of resolution quality is basically HD.
Last edited:
I was reading over in the AVS Forum and it looks like this will be DOA. The HDMI output will work only with HDMI-equipped HDTV and if the MovieBeam box does not see an HDMI-equipped set, it does not make the HD movies available. Also, the HD PQ is horrible. Here's a link to Ben Drawbaugh' MovieBeam review: http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/03/15/moviebeam-review/
Last edited:
This thing is definately DOA. It has pieces of good ideas but yuck. Antennas only work for some folks, that HDMI thingy is a joke, poor HD PQ, only 100 movies, its not truely on demand as it can only grab whats in cache, etc. They are better off sticking with Windows Media Centers with movies over the internet as there are millions of MCE versions sold. May not all be hooked up to TV's but I would think it better to tie into something that already has a foothold than try to convince folks to use a very flawed separate device. Sorry Disney.
The original system was to have been transmitted on the VBI of participating analog PBS stations, not the digital side. It was a relatively low bitrate system that would take hours to download a movie to the box, so definately not a real-time PPV alternative. They would cycle different movies through each month and the viewer would pay for each viewing of any movie that was stored on the box. With so many other choices out there many people were wondering who would have that extra box hooked to their TV to get a few movies? Anyone with cable or satellite (or a mailbox and internet service for NetFlix) was pretty much covered already. Since they couldn't come up with a compelling business model at the time they were testing the original system they shelved it. The idea has been resurrected now as a way to distribute HD movies in an effort to get some early HD adopters hooked on the service before HD-DVD makes serious inroads. IMHO I don't think it is going to catch on, if for no other reason than that most people with HD sets think current DVDs are plenty good enough.
dlsnyder said:
To further cripple their chances of making it they have the HDMI requirement to view a hi-def movie as has been mentioned already in this thread. My hi-def TV only has analog inputs as I'm sure most other mainstream users with hi-def TV's have. Many TV's have a DVI connection for hi-def but that won't even work either.
The only other thing that I liked about MovieBeam, besides saving a trip to the movie store, is getting some of the newer releases sooner then when they come out on Pay Per View. To date, they have not come out with any new release movies that aren't already on PPV the same week, and the latest popular new release from the studio whose company has a majority ownsership of it, Disney, won't even be on MovieBeam for weeks after its initial DVD release contrary to what they claim in their advertising.
To add insult to injury, I tried to order it on their Web site last night and every time I put my work shipping address in it kicks me back to a web page to test if the MovieBeam Service will work in my shipping address area. I want it shipped to my office (out in the country) because FedEx Ground won't leave it at my house. My house is closer to Cleveland and MovieBeam says it's okay to use it there, but I can't get through the checkout process because my "ship to" address fails the test. If they can't even get their shopping cart to work right then I'm not biting and buying this thing. I wanted it so I could watch older movies for $1.99 that were no longer on PPV, or the premium movies channels. Hopefully by fall they will get these issues resolved and the price will come down at which time I may try to purchase it again. By the way, a Best Buy Manager East of Cleveland told me Saturday they have not sold a single unit in the 3 weeks that they've had it.
If you want movies on demand, try moviebeam.com or cinemanow.com . You can hook up a PC to your tv or use a Windows Media Center. It works quite well if you have good bandwidth. Its not HD quality but if you are OK with DVD quality, its not a bad supplement for Video on Demand. Akimbo is also starting to add more to their library including HD movies/shows from HDNet. If you are not familiar with Akimbo, it also requires a set top box or piggy backs on a Windows Media Center.
Last edited:
edjrwinnt, why don't you just go to Best Buy and make the Manager's month by buying one? Then, there's no shipping issues and when you activate you can use your home address.
Foxbat said:
LOL. The manager was really pushing me to buy it when I was there. He told me how many millions of dollars Best Buy does in sales every year and Best Buy wouldn't be backing it if they didn't think it would succeed. I would of bought it if I could have taken it home right then and there. I'm going to hold off for now. I think I rather go with a HD-DVD player since the movie studios are allowing the discs to be played at 1080i over component video now.
edjrwinnt said:
I'm doing the same thing. Since Netflix announced full support for both formats, I will watch the majority of movies via DVD and HD DVD and possibly BluRay later in the year. It makes Video on Demand pointless for me unless I start seeing more HD versions. But given bandwidth restrictions, I see optical discs as having extended life for the next few years until bandwidth can catch up.
Brewer4 said:
Movielink.com is another one, and they are starting to carry some HD titles. I downloaded an HD trailer just to test it on my notebook PC and it worked just fine, and looked pretty good too. You have to have a connection speed consistently greater than 100 kbps (?units?) or it will not let you into the main web page.
I just noticed MovieBeam has lowered their price by waiving their activation fee. The total cost for MovieBeam is now $200 delivered plus tax. I would buy it if they would just allow HD Movies to be played over a component video connection without being downconverted.
Is anyone using MovieBeam?
Is anyone using MovieBeam?
I wonder why MovieBeam is still sticking to that HDMI-only restriction? Even HD-DVD allows Hi-Def content on analog outputs right now. I can't see this as a long-term solution. It will probably die quickly much like OTA subscription TV did back in the 80s.
dlsnyder said:
Yeah, I think MovieBeam is really getting screwed by all the Studios, even their majority stockholder company Disney. I could see the HDMI HDCP requirement being part of MovieBeam's agreement with the studios in order to get the movies right when they are release on DVD. However, I've only seen two movies on MovieBeam that were released around the same time on DVD. With that said, why would you pay $200 for another stb when you can pay the same price per movie on Pay Per View on cable/satellite and get it just as quickly? I was only interested in this service if they actually had the new release Movies when they showed up on DVD versus waiting 30-45 days before they are on Pay Per View.
Someone on another Forum said they got an email with a price of $99 for MovieBeam instead of its current price of $200. I may jump on it if I could get if for $99.
